The Sunday Oregonian., January 19, 1908, Magazine Section, Page 3, Image 47

THE SUNDAY OREGOMAX, PORTLAND, : JANUARY '19, 1908.
Si V-'W
i m it. & t. a
I III!
IMH " manner of man is James
LHMinai Gibbons, the catnouc
prelate who' now, when 73 years
old. finds time to preach one day
against race suicide,' to write a long
letter to the International Tuberculosis
Congress, to- attend meetings of .the
Catholic University, of which he Is a
trustee, to hold in his hand and guide
the destinies of tlie Catholic Church in
America, t be ever abreast -of the
times, and, through it all, to maintain
the quiet strength, the mental repose
of the priest? Recently Cardinal Gib
bons' opinions have appeared much in
the public pn s. In a few weeks the
cardinal will load the procession of the
forty hours' devotion, which will begin
in the old Baltimore cathedral and be
taken up successively by church after
church in the diocese, beginning the
season of fasting and prayer for the
priost. The cardinal will go into his
annual retreat, at St. Charles' College
at Kllicott City for the long -meditations
of the cloister. The world will
be forgotten in the contemplation of
the divine and the balance of each of
the cardinal's years accomplished. -
Balance is the secret of the cardi
nal's life; first activity, then repose.
Cardinal Gibbons tramps.
Tramp, tramp, tramp, three paces
from you; tramp, tramp, tramp, three
paces toward you, the same vital tread
continued for 3 5 minutes, 20 minutes,
half 'an hour, the force with which the
foot is put down seeming to measure
the walker's thought.
That is tho most vivid Impression
any visitor to the cardinal's residence
carries away with him after he has
waited in the reception hall on the
first floor. It is the cardinal walking
above.
The house stands on Charles street,
midway between -that section where
Mistress Baltimore In purple walking
suit these Fall days, violets at her
belt, buys from the high-toned shops
and between that old aristocratic sec
tion where tho same lady lives. Wash
ington's monument rears it3 - gray
shadow where the lines gf the street
converge in tho distance and the out
lines of the equestrian statue of John
Kager Howard, famed in Maryland
history, are dark at its foot. The glow
of the northern skies is a background
for both. .
' The Walk Before Bedtime.
The cardinal walks much in the
street in tho diiylight hours, his short,
slim figure, a little bent at the shoul
ders and enveloped In a long overcoat
and topped by a silk hat under which
the red of tho cardinal's hat creeps,
venerated by both Catholic and Prot
estant. But he tramps much Inside
when the lights from 'his study win
dow fall on one of the darkest sec
tions of the city; back and forth, in
a hallway about 20 feet long and 10
wide on the second floor, a bay win
dow, lace-curtained at the end, ' his
study door and the door of his bed
room opening on it. The sound of
those footfalls never foils to impress
at least the Catholic waiting in the
hall beneath with the. energy of- the
venerable wearer of .the' red cap, mak
ing him or her wonder what spiritual
strivings, fought out alone, those foot
steps are linked with; what memories
of days when his eminence was locked
in the1 sacred conclave of Rome, of
days when he has stood In the center
' T popular rejoicings in his own coun
try, now the object of the adoring wel
come homo of his own followers, now a
liart of some National pageant with
he greatest warrior df the day on one
side and the greatest statesman on the
other; what memories of days when
ho was riding a circuit in the Caro
linas, of the years of boyhood before
he became a eorvant of the church.
Tramp, tramp, tramp it might indi
cate the turbulence of the man, of the
cause of the turbulence it gives no
hint. The cardinal walks this way in
the evening all through, the year, but
particularly on Saturday nights during
the Winter on the day before he is to
preach one of his monthly sermons;
sometimes, doubtless,' in prayer, some
times conning his words. When he has
mastered what he has to master, there
is tho door of. his bedroom, where he
may eeek repose from storm in sleep,
or of his study, where he may write
down the words which have harried
him.
A Plain, Cheerless Bedrooms
The bedroom into which he retires
Is such as hundreds of those who fol-.
low him humbly would turn from as
bare and comfortless. 1 It commingles
the suggestion of bedrooms of a gen
eration ago. with the suggestion of
bedrooms in country homes in which
the cardinal was once the father con
lessor. Warm carpet, neither brussels
nor axminster, though, cover tho floor.
Two or three chairs -set primly
against the wall, an old-fashioned
washstand with the familiar spiral
legs, an old oak bureau, with a mirror,
a small marble-topped table, and a
. four-posted bedstead furnish tho room.
The bedstead is tlie most striking'
piece. Jt Is undeniably out of date.
Small, covered In Winter with a "com
fort" of many hues, it is high enough
to make a short man like his emin
t enco .climb 'to get into it No. expanse
of costly wood rears its polished sur
face at the head or the foot. There
Is only the swell of tlie frame and the
four high posts, with their acorn -fhaped
knobs, standing guard ' over
the cardinal through the night.
The Cardinal's Cigars.
Mis eminence writes his sermons In
a book like that which the children
call composition" books: a little
more voluminous and substantial,
writes them in his study adjoining his
bedroom. On Saturday afternoons toe
fore he is to preach he receives the
reporters for the Baltimore newspapers
111 his study, placing the volume be
fore them and reading the .opening
paragraphs of the discourse that their
path may be broken through his
c ramped ehirography. No one ever
sets him smoking, cither in his room
or on the street, yet there arc times
when the scent of tobacco is stro7t
upon him. If the newspaper men are
long at their task, his eminence waits'
until the tedium of tho hours has be
gun to wear on them. Then tho cigars
are brought forth ono for each man
never a box. They are long, thick,
and exquisitely fragrant. Under the
influence of this ecclesiastical child
of "My Lady Nicotine" the work is a
pleasure. No one who is not admitted
to the closest confidences of the car
dinal knows the name of the cigar.
That is tiio prelate's 'own secret.
As the cigars help to prove and his
reputation with the' public Indicates,
the cardinal is very human and there
are times when he is sharp in irrita
tion. Just as there are times when he
is heartily amused.
One "cub" reporter visited him one
evening after he had returned from a
meeting of the trustees of the Catho
lic University.
Uid you do anything of importance
ut tho meeting?" tho cub asked.
His eminence knows newspaper men
well enough to know that this is a
"leading" question, when the inter
viewer knows nothing about the sub-
"V
Personal Side of the
Beloved Prelate, His Kindly
Spirit
His Love of Children, r
Janies Cardinal Gibbons;
Latest PbotbgrapRs
fill
ff
llllilWIIll
ject of tho interview; the leading ques
tion of the Imperfectly trained of the
craft. His diijner must have been a
particularly pleasant or a particularly
unpleasant one that. evening. His eyes
twinkled.
"We were not there just for fun," he
replied, while the reporter's face
showed a cinemetograph . change of
colors.
His Kindly Spirit.
But any one who-has waited Tn tho en
trance hall, and seen the cardinal return
ing from some one of the evening services
in the Cathedral could not doubt that the.
same kindly spirit which suggests' tlie
cigars is marked in a broad line through
his whole nature. Opposite the. door which
leads into this hall from the street is an
other door 'opening upon a courtyard be
tween the residence and tne Catnedrar'a
stone flagging, bordered by shrubbery,
making a path between. As you stand in
the corridor near tlie street door, with a
tremendous oil of David slaying Go
liath before you, the giant's blbod poured
from the headless trunk right out of tne
picture and at your feet, there is the tap
of quick feet upon the flagging, a half-uttered
harmony as some one of the priests,
returning from the service, hums its mu
sic, dashes in, lifts his gown and clatters
up the steps to tho second floor. Then
the door opens again silently and his emi
nence, in red and white vestments, enters,
his arm about the shoulder of one of the
boy acolytes who attend him, the fresn,
curl-lipped, large-eyed face of the child
turned up to the strongly lined face of his
companion as he talks fn eager childish
tones as he might talk to his father. The
cardinal laughs ami pat3 him on the
shoulder, and. they disappear npst.Vrs, the
head of the archbishop bowed over that
of the boy. his quiet laugh mingling with
the flute notes of his attendant.
Cardinal Gibbons likes children, jlany
stories are told of his encounters with
newsboys and there Is one of how ho once
forgot the cares of the church and ham
mered a golf ball for two hours with the
12-year-old son of one of h'.s friends.
There is another of how Baltimore ma
tron was once horrified, crpon walking into
her parlor, where she had kept his emi
nence waiting while she put some finish
ing touches to her toilette, and finding
one of her small sons on ono of his emi
nence's knees, with the high silk hat of
the "-cardinal about his own small 'ears
and the second son fighting for possesion
of the little red skull cap, the constant
weaning of which is a sacred duty. The
cardin'al did not see lier and there were n
few minutes in which he tussele.1 with
tho boys, laughing and chuckling, in
veritable "daddy", romp. -
How He Receives Visitors.
A simple dignity, devoid of pomp, char
acterises him when he receives you, al
though he never wastes time. Alonzo or
Bridget opens the door for you. You
send your card upstairs and if you get an
audience, you are escorted to the nail
In which his eminence tramps. There
you are alone. Presently the cardinal
appears at the door of his study, looking
shorter and frailer when devoid of over
coat and hat. He weans a black cassock,
with fine, red lacings. A long cold
chain hangs over hi3 breast and falls to
his waist, with the pectoral cross at the
end. He is slightly bowed, and. when not
under the influence of the swing of tie
tramp, walks with short, quick steps, his
head hung a little forward. His sman
face is deeply marked, particularly in the
UmmmmmammmBm
lines running -from the corners of the
mouth to. the nose ana uiose ; aooui uie
eyes, the eyes gray-blue, tlije hair gray
1 I TV,awa ia ' an llllderlvinE
strength about the mouth and the chin
and an alertness and latent sympauiy
which gives you some hint of what, has
j ' i. : Mn4atitn fnr HHernlltV. .He
ii wiu t; ins .v. .
runs Ills hand up and down on his coin
and listens with Ins neaa Dowea uu a.,,
ear turned toward you. Short quick nods,
-i cantonn&a liua.pLerize him
at such moments. The conversation lag
ging, he retreats into nis otuiwiu, uuw...s
silently. (All this unless you're a papal
nf AAiiran or the reDresentative
of Something Some'thing or have a letter
from SometKDdy sometning.
Or you may meet him in his stuuy, at
his rolltop desk, books reaching from the
floor to ceiling behind glass cases, the
cardinal, in red' dressing gown, looking
like some gentleman of a hundred years
ago taking his ease in the evening. The
study is furnished in the same sever sim
plicity which characterizes the bedroom,
. " In the Dining-Room.
The dining-room is the ' only room of
which this simplicity does not force itself
upon you. It is large compared with the
parlors. In the parlors there are red
covered tables, bookcases filled with ec
clesiastical works, oil portraits of the
popes and church dignitaries', and marble
busts. A mahogany extension table large
enough to permit the placing of a dozen
plates occupies the center 01 tne dining
room. At bis back," as his eminence sits
at the head, is a wide, lace-ourtained bay
window looking upon Charles street and
flooding the room with light during the
day. chairs and a -mahogany buffet, on
which latter the silver and glass sparkle
in domestic prettiness, completethe fur
nishings. The "cardinal's secretary, ' the
Rev. William T. Russell, 'and four-other's ;
of the clergy, dine witiv him. There;' is
the Rev. William A. i'letcher, tall and
strong of build. leonjneW headr his ace
the lined face.of-a man who has fought
many battles; the Rev.v Patrick -Gavin,
young, tall, slim, with - dark ': hair and
laughing black eyes; the Rev. L. O' Dono
van, short, round, -with llght-.curlipg hair
blue eyes, and a face like one of Raphael's
cherubs; Bishop Alfred -A. -Curtis,; tall and
bowed, at .convert from . the , Episcopal
Church to the Catholic, a -quaint figure 'oh
the street' in his , flat-crowned, . wide-1
brimmed clerical hat. '
Alonza waits on the table".-" -Alonzd is a
negro of uncertain age, but ner-f ailing
cheerfulness, a survivor of -the slave-owning
days of Catholic families. He must
be 70. years old, but there "is no sign of
grayncss -in his wool. Black as- a negro
could be, his1 head is long and eggshaped,'
his feature the large flat-nosed, thick-lipped-
features of the pure African. He is
always in his shirt sleeves, a blue and
white cneckered apron reaching from his
neck to his feet. . Like a ship the cargo
6f which-has listed, Alotizo always walks
with one side leaning. . This distinguishes
his step when he comes creaking to the
door to answer your ring. If some of the
priests address him,'the high chuckle, fol
lowed by the never-faili-ng. "Eh he, yesT
sir,' yessir," tells you beyond question who
will open the door for you. ' His cheer
fulness comes from long -eating of good
meals, cooked by Southern cooks. : -Bridget,
the " cook, is ' aggressively
Irish. .Her brogue seems to. have come
the day before from the, Emerald Isle.
Her face is a face - wiich i causes - the
comic, paper portraitures -of the Irish
to pass from the realm-of imagination'
,. r ',- . ":-'.- . - - ..'- ...:'.." : '
into" the., realm ' of actuality- at : once.
The bulging" forward of the-skin, just
fSelow the1 month "and just -.bove -th
mouth 'and the innumerable creases in
these, -.surfaces,. takenr with"tfie "oxher
lines of the' face and-the "Oh, bedad,
the .-worruld-wasn't-made-in-a-day ; habit
of her walk," mark her . boldly for what
she is. She lhas the housekeeper's dis
tast,e for answering jthe bell at. hours
when good people' should be abed, the
housekeeper's fondness Tor gossip, and
the"houBekeeper's whisper.' it tendency
to, come to the "door wiping the' signs of a
good meal irom ner ups. one is wnai sne
would say of .another "a good sould."
The' cardinal -. and . the priests are so
'busy. 'that there Is no light thing, built
merely, for pleasure serving, in the res
idence, nothing to. relieve the general
somberness. (Although.' it is not, to ;be
assumed that the diners, do not have
their .pleasant' exchanges of ' wit over
meat.) -.Because, of ; this, the visit' a
year or .so' ago' .of ,a' priest from New
Zealand, with his violin, was an epoch.
All through his'visit the mellow notes
of the violin were floating out on the
Summer night .throufh the ' waving
laces at .the windows;- causing many'
to stop in the heavy, hush of the Sum
mer darkness' on? the- street, to listen.
The .airs were devotional for. the most
part, but at intervals they would move
in, lively fashion. His eminence seemed
to enjoy the music' as much as anyone
for that tramp,, tramp, tramp in the
hail outslde.his room was less frequent
than at other times.-(Copyrightv1907,
by.H. S. Sherwood.) ,-'.' . ' '.' '
Take Money Back to Germany ;
THE Hamburger Nach'richten, one of
. the ' principal : North German com
merciar organs, discusses In one of its
recent issues, the remarkable, back flow
-of emigration .from .North lAmerlca to
German -ports. - The paper comes to the
conclusion that; it is a - mistake - to re
gard . all those . who "'have returned as
penniless, victims. Of -the ' financial depression-in
the United. States. .,
A -return' t flow of emigration, the
Nactirichten points' out, Isin itself far
from -abnormal. Last year. 71,000 emi
grants returned to German ports.; If
during'the past 11 months this'number
has grown' to 100,000, account must be
taken ot the' fact "that the .emigratory
movement . has also' grown; in a propor
tion thaOat ! least . partially explains
the recent 'influx.'-,. . '. . , '. : '
. A.large'proportlonxif the emigrants,
especlallyr those, of -Slav nationalities,
are Persons who go to the United States
for- a couple- of" years and then return
home with-their savings.. Taking, the
"first 11 montbs-of each year, the Influx
from German ports amounted in 1905 -to
240,000 persons, and-for the-corresponding
periods of 1906 and 1907 to 280,000
and 340,000 respectively. The. number
of these Slav temporary emigrants has
increased proportionately.
The : economic, crisis in the . United
States has. not, in. the opinion. of the
Nachrlch ten, 'been the ''direct cause 'of
the back flow, but has, of course, stim
ulated it. In this way: that, owing to
the .wholesale dismissals of labor in
America, those unable to return before
now seized the opportunity to revisit
their native homes. The flow was further-assisted-
by the cutting . down of
steerage 1 rates in November from $35
to 22. '. . :
In December - the rates were raised
again, with the result that ' German
steamers-have arrived at home ports
with only rom 700 to- 800 between
decks passengers, instead of thousands
carried In November. , - f
The bulk of the immigrants have
through tickefs to their various points of
destination, only, a few remaining behind
at the ports of debarkation. The errone
ous impression that the returned travel- '
ers were impecunious me-i out of work in
duced various public bodies in Europe to
come .forward with offers ot assistance.
. This was especially the. case in Hungary,
which country has -for the last few years
shown an increasing efflux of population
to the United, States. Delegations were
sent-to the Hanse cities with tlie mission
to direct the stream of supposed unem
ployed persons to those parts of Hungary
where jabor was most needed.
These' weir meant efforts were complete-,
ly superfluous. Among the many thous
ands who landed ' during the past two
months in Hamburg and Bremen there
Was. not a single person the Nachrlchtfen J
asserts, who appeared anxious to obtain1
immediate employment. The Hungarian
delegates in questioning their people re
ceived almost, invariably the same an
swers, somewhat as follows;
; "We can direct you to places where
good steady work is -to-be had. Do you
want-work?"' i -.
-No." - 0
"Have. you money, then?".
- "No" hesitatingly.- , ;
. . "Where are you bound for?" '
"So-and-so, my home."
"How long do you propose to stay?"
' -"All the- Winter." .
"But if you have no money, surely, you
will have to work?" '
' "Oh, I have enough money to tide' me
over the-winter."
"What are you going to do afterward?"
"Go back to America. . .
..In further proof of the comparative af
fluence of the immigrants tho Hamburg
organ, quotes tho fact that hundreds of
steerage passengers were found to be in
possession of sutr.3 from 52." upward In
cash. Taking as an -example the record
number of 2372 steerage passengers landed
at Bremen on December 3 hy the North
German Lloyd steamer Main, one local
exchange office alone changed J75.000 of
American money into German money, and
it may safely be assumed that not all of
the arrivals changed all their dollar bills.
- As fa,r as German ports are concerned .
it may therefore be concluded, says the
Nachrichten, that the majority of the Im
migrants are fairly well off-and are tak
ing advantage of the temporary slump In
America to -go away on a vacation. No
doubt there will - be a corresponding rush
back to the states in the Spring.
When. They Are Quiet.
Bohemian. .
' "I like to go to church." , . -
"Why?"
"Well, it's . comforting to see a man
keep 100 women or so quiet for an hour."
Subject to tne action of liquid air, lead
becomes elastic, and can be made to re-
I puuuu I, i i n ,i . ....... -, r. ' '
J the continuance of thlt low temperature.