SUNDAY OREGON! AX, PORTLAND, DECEMBER 27, 1908.
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AR1S has just erected a monument
to "The Father of Mother Goose.
Vnhmlv will deny that he de-
aerves it. for stories' that have been the
1ov of children for more than two cen
turies certainly entitle their
some need of consideration
creator to
from the
world today.
It wasn't an Englishman who Invented
these tales that are so dear to the world
not only of little orfes. but of grown-ups
as well.
A Frenchman, Charles Perrault. was
the. originator of the whole line of beau
tiful little nursery tale?, and the monu
ment In l is honor In the Garden of the
Tumeries. which Identified through its
history with the. deeds of the great men
of France, never vet has been the site
of a memorial more thoroughly deserved.
"Mother Moose I" What a train of
mmnrlt-.s it evokes.
The children of the whole wor'.d. more
than two centuries- of them, have listened
lit the knees of their mothers to revel
r-llbound !i the experiences of the
many characters that Perrault save
Juvenile fiction.
to
Who has not trembled at the terrific
tory of "Little Red P.iding Hood" and
her adventures with the hungry wolf
that llrst .10 up the other unfortuntaep.
art had Its designs on Little Red Rkl
Ing Ho.-i had Fhe no: by craft known
how to foil the cruel monster?
And the pretty story of the "Sleeping
Beauty." how man little pillows, has
not this soothed, and lioV many thou
sands of parents have not been besought
to tell its detail--, to iM-gaing little ones?
Th terrible "Bl.ie Heard." whose long
marital experiences were one record of
murdered wive, till the brothers of one
of them Anally wroupin the summary
-na-ennc that tli- nm"t"r s" richly
merttd: the beautiful story of
Tln-
derelia." witii its l'r.ii'
and the tiny li't'.e flipper
Charming.
that no one
could wear but the slighted
litil- daugh-
ter of the fami'y who was ever pushed
aside to take .are of her two older and
i:is!i sisters. tVst cam- to the world
through, the pen of ttie gi.teu i errau.i
and in ti;e years that have
has bc-n made the subject o
of plays, of pantomimes, and
on Brand opera.
Moreover. Its' details liaVr
elapsed It
f paintings',
of at least
be"n told
f.gain In a score of beautiful books, rich
!n the colored pictures that mean so
much to the childish heart, and which
re not without a certain amount of
pb-asur
for even the grown-up children.
A monument for Ptrrauli: Certainly
he deserves it: If he had never lone
anything more than write "Tom Thumb
he would have earned his place In the
Walhaila of the heroes of the child
hood stage.
But Perrault did more than furnish to
th mothers of a wore of nations those
stories by which they should bring joy
to the hearts of their children. These
perhaps were his greatest works, though
undoubtedly it would surprise him now
If he could know that the world best
esteemed him for what ho wrote to de
light the youngsters or tne people 01 ,
all countries.
For Perrault was more than a writer
of Juvenile fiction.
He was 'a proud student, who did not
fear to enter into a controversy with one
of the most profound students of bis day.
the (treat Hoileau.
Bolieau was a believer in the classical.
He took the position that none of the
contemporary writers of that period had
a right to be classed witii the masters
of all time.
rerrault. who was intensely modern,
took issue wit n Boileau. and the result
was a controversy that was the delight
of the nation.
In the United States. In fact. In Eng
land or Germany, it is not possible to
arouse the national Interest in a contro
versy where tho subject 1 anything that
has little direct bearing on the lives of
the people as a question of literature.
Fut France loves these warfares. It
has followed them closely, and Perrault's
powerful denial of the position of Boll
eau. and bis appeal for the contempro
rary writers, made a profound impres
sion. Perhaps the most notable thing he did
in the controversy was to write a poem.
"The Century of Louis the Great." In
this lie detailed the notable literary
achievements of the men of the period,
and aroused France to the greatness of
Its mm of letters.
So deeply interested did Perrault be
come In the controversy that he pro
ceded to make a specialty of contem
porary writers, and the result of his study
was the production of his masterwork.
Illustrious Men or the Century of Louis
Fourteenth."
This was a most prodigious work. It
contained more than -Oft biographies of
the foremost men of the time, and for
much that Is known today of these men
of genius the world is indebted to the
painstaking work of Perrault. who
searched out his facts with greatest at
tention to detail, and then gave them to
posterity through the medium of a style
that Is beautiful in its clarity.
rerrault had advanced well in years
' before he began tho writing of his famous
"Contes Des Fees." or "Tales of the
Fairies."
Born in litfit. In Paris, he was rich in
honors, and had passed his 60th year be
fore be began thinking of putting Into
book form a series of stories that he had
Invented for the pleasure of children of
whom ho was very fond.
It Is related of the inventor of all
these classics In childhood talcs that he
would recite them by the hour to chil
dren who would listen, and had his
greatest pleasure and reward in seeing
their delight.
The fame of the tales went abroad.
The foremost families of the brilliant
court of that day vied with each other
In getting Perrault to tell his tales to
their children or even to the grownups
at tho salons of the period.
But Perrault was 69 years old before
the world got his book.
It became at once the literary sensa
tion of the day. and those who had ad
mired th writer in the more profound
productions of his art were dumbfounded
al the lightness and Juvenility, so to
speak, of these products of his closing
years. Into books and plays they were
Inetantly rushed. nd Perrault. in the.
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HAS
MIGHTIEST
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aunset of his life, found himself wor
shiped as he rfad never been before.
lie lived for six years to revel in the
fame gained him by the fairy stories,
and even in that day, before the" methods
of printing now in force had been in
vented, he lived to aee his stories cross
the Channel aid go to England and
make their way in Germany.
Many of the stories were not original
with Perrault. He was a close student
of the legends, and he picked nia mies
In all countries. Many of them are Ger
man in origin.
What the Exposition Did
By Henry K. Ri. Secretary of the Lewis
and Clark Centennial.
Indianapolis Star.
Portland's principal benefit from the
Lewis and Ciark Centennial Exposition
was confidence In itself. Prior to the
financing of the exposition the city,
wlille wealthy, enterprising- and capa
ble of big things, had a reputation of
being "ultra-coiiserVatlve" -in common
parlance it was called a "slow town."
The panic of 1S93 had tested the cour
age of the people to the limit, and
from lt effects the mergence waa
gradual, though sure. When the sun
of prosperity began, shining again in
1838, it revealed a new trans-continental
railroad terminating- on Puget
Bound, and the cities of that region
reaping thfi harvest of the Klondike
rush. On the South, San Francisco
had the call on the Immense volume
of business which the Spanish" War had
developed in the Philippines.
The struggle for control of the
Xorthern. Pacific in the Spring- of 1901
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Some of them, forbidding a
were more bo on the original.
tered them in order to Impart the happy
finale, without which he contended that
no tale ought to be told to children.
A little pathos or even a little horror
was all right at the beginning', or even
In the middle of the . story. In orde,r to
chain their closo attention, -but It was
his dictum that when the time for the
ending, ha-ppiness ought to reign su
preme, tiiil the couple married, at last,
after all their tribulations, should "live
happy ever afterward."
Perrault has long been the cult of a
was declared to be a struggle for Xorth
Pacific Coast terminals on Puget Sound,
in which Portland was not considered.
The commercial prestige which. Port
land for over 50 years - had maintained
on the Northwest coast seemed to be
endangered by tho progress of events,
the railroad battle for terminals, the
development of other trade centers
and a perceptible narrowing: of the
Portland trade field. It Is not any
wonder that Portland, with a commer
cial position unsurpassed by any city
in the world, looked abou,t and in
quired In what situation it found it
self. It was not dead or dying, nor
even stationary, but it was not going
ahead as rapidly as it should. Mani
festly it needed a stimulus to arouse
It to a recognition of Its geographical
position and its potential resources.
The exposition furnished the stimulus.
Away back In 1S9S, when the general
run of people in the Pacific Northwest
were as poor as poverty could make
them, a Portland ' merchant suggested.
.J to
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achool in Paris that -has kept alive his
memory- He is much . better known to
Ivis native country than outside of it, and
the monument placed in the Tulllerles is
intended to have the dual purpose of
showing the gratitude of France to the
great writer, and also of testifying to
the rest of the wor'.d the affection It owes
to the inventor of the immortals of the
for Portland
the holding of an international exposi
tion at Portland. Tie sowed the seed
and the plant waa of slow but sure
growth. The more the people, thought
of the . ldta the more they liked it.
Finally matters came to such a pass
that it devolved upon the heavy busi
ness interests of the city, which alone
could furnish the necessary money, to
ay bo ahead or not. Buffalo was
nearinsr the end of its exposition, with
disaster facing it. and enough had
leaked through from Charleston to in
dicate that its exposition would have
serious difficulties. There was no pre
cedent for planning an International
exposition In a city of 95,000, situated
at the extreme western end of the
continent and in a sparsely settled re
gion whose aggregate population with
in a radius of 300 miles of Portland did
not exceed 1,200.000. Then there was
a feelins that the people of the United
States were surfeited with expositions.
Again, while only $300,000 was wanted
to finance the exposition corporation,
tho Question was asked:-"How- is Port
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land to take J300.000 out of the regular
channels of business and put it Into an
exposition?"
At this point - Portland's stimulus
needed a stimulant. It came forward
in the person of H. W. Corbett, one of
the most eminent financiers the Pacific
Coast has ever produced. He said the
exposition could be made successful if
Portland would keep within Its means.
As evidence of his confidence he of
fered to make a subscription of 10
per cent of the authorized capital. The
decision of the people of Portland was
then and there for an exposition to
celebrate tho 100th anniversary of the
exploration of the Oregon country by
Lewis and Clark. All past differences
of opinion vanished in the general aim
to crown with success the exposition
to be. The $300,000 capital and $117.
000 additional was subscribed promptly
and cheerfully, and more was promised
if needed. The stockholders, one and
all, said they did not care to be repaid
ono cent of their subscriptions. Their
slogan was: "Let the money be used
for the good of Portland and the coun
try; the advertising that we shall get
will put us on the map." The unfa
vorable results at Buffalo and Charles
ton were discounted. Wrhen they were
mentioned at all. the Portland answer
was: "But Portland will be different."
In June. 1905, the exposition opened,
representing a total expenditure from
all sources for all purposes of $7,500,
000. The United States Government
and 18 states of the t:nion joined with
Portland and Oregon in celebrating the
great historical event which formed
tho foundation of the exposition. From
the Eastern States came. 122,500 people
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to see the Northwest and the exposi
tion. Portland and the West loyally
supported the exposition from the
start, and it was a success. Paid ad
missions were 1.600.000. equal to nearly
2 per cent of the estimated population
of the United States in 1905. At the
close of the exposition the stockhold
ers, were paid, In the form of distribu
tion of assets, 21 per cent of their sub
scriptions. Only two expositions that
have been held in the United States
have paid back more to their stock
holders Omaha with 95 per cent and
Philadelphia with 30 per cent.
Steals Opal "With Bad Kccord.
Xew York World.
A burglar entered the apartments of
Mrs. Silas Smith, . Patcrson, N.. J., and
from a' bureau drawer, which was
forced, took, with other jewelry, a ring
which those -who know Its history think
will bring the thief bad luck. Mrs. Smith
attributes to the baleful Influence of the
ring the death of her son, as well as the
misfortune which attended him previous
to lils death.
The ring is an opal. It has been In
Paterson 15 years and each of lis own
ers has had bad luck wiiiie me ring re
mained in ' his possession. Hen who
owned 11. failed .in business, were wrong
ly accused of misdoings, were dischargea
or lost their positions, were beaten by
thugs, fought with their friends or were
hit by. a trolley car.
The one woman who dared fate and
wore .the ring in open defiance of the
hoodoo which was attached to it had
domestic, trouble and - tried auiclde.
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Native Indians
of Peru
IX THC mountains and other out-of-
ilie-v.ay places of the Peruvian region
of South America, an estimated num
ber of about 1SXI.O0O vi 1U Indians, in color
and many other respwts not very unlike ;
the original inhabitants of our North I
American continent, scour the woods in I
scanty clothins, occasionally wage thibal j
wars upon one another, build huts now j
and then, uae stone axes, or bows and
arrows and lances, cat queer foods In !
ono locality, it is said, still practising:
cannibalism. and exist according to their j
standards of living, in great part un- :
disturbed by tho civilization that has 1
grown up on many sides of them. ,
An authoritative account of these j
Indians, transmitted by Charles C. Kber-
haidt, formerly American Counsul at i
Iquitos. has just been published by the j
Smithsonian Institution at Washington.
in one of its scrips of otHeiiil publications ;
for "the diffusion of knowledge amoug
men."
The survivors of aboriginal stock are
roughly included in some lis tribes, but ;
subdivisions of these tribes and remnants
of families now nearly extinct could,
en-iiy swell the number more than ten
fold. "While some general characteristics
run through the whole race, each tribe
retains certain peculiar customs' of its
own. followed, as ever, with religious
diligence.
The tribe known as the Orejoncs, for,
instance, gets its naitio from the curious
habit its members cling to. of enlarg
ing the lower part of the car by a pro
cess begun when tiny are children, until
sometimes the ear hangs down almost to
the shoulder- Such was the manner, It
seems, in which were tagged the original
descendants of the lncas of "royal" blood.
The Xahumeues, now almost extinct
tradition l.as It. were -responsible, on ac
count of their siiort skirt-like, "cushmas'.'
and their long, loose Mowing hair, for the
naming of the great Amazon. It was
they who in this garb of women warriors
attacked a river party on the exploring
expedition of the Si aniard Pizarru. and
were Immediately dubbed "Amazonas."
The great river naturally took its name
from them.
nattier gruesome to civilized eyes must
he tho nrenaraticin of human heads prac
tised bv the Aguarunas,
of the Maranon
Ulver district. This
tribe, sometimes
called "head-hunters.'
has the repulsive
custom of treating
the heads of their
enemies, alter (icain, in nm u , ,
that though reduced to about onc-flftll
their natural size, they retain the same
shape throughout that they possessed
during life, and In a seemingly mummi
fied diminutive l ead thus prepared, can
easily be recognized the features of the
individual when alive.
The American Consul Bays: "Specimens
of these heads became so much in demand
a few vears aso for museums, etc., that
a tremitmi seemed to-be tiius placed on
the heads of persons venturing in the
vicinitv of this tribe, and many murders
resulted The Peruvian government has
now forbidden the practise, and the spe
cimens, becoming more scarce, are com
manding higher prices. I have known
of them selling for $150 to in gold,
and rather a poor specimen was recently
sold in luuitos for $. In the Rio Negro
and
Orinoco regions meio '
exist a
tribe widen prepares entire
In tills manner
trie! they are
and In tne fiuiiniaju -.un
said to retain in natural
the Lands
e vi tlV n FVHI.C1I1 Ul raw-"
nking.
slain in battle. 1
have seen
.D, shin bones and inner pa. i
skeletons thus treasured."
Ml the tribes of Veruviian Indians prob
ablv possess individual customs of greater
or less variety but, so far as is kwn.
no one liar, as yet made them the suojCCt
of a systematic study. They have ir
common, however, many practises strange
A,ni-ieaiis of the inn ceiuui.
Through Intermarriage
i.t-... .ilctncn and wars.
with the
the Indiana
of Pei-'u are rapidly disappearing, and
it l said, statistics compile"
for a
i ,i (lMrinir recent
years show
that their numbers are diminishing at
at
la
v... -,t of r, ner cent per annum
"5 years the wild Indians of tho Upper
Amazon win havo disappeared almost
entirely, and it seems only a question
when the dying tribes of South
,,.,i,-.m Indians must
meet the fate
of their brothers of North America
and
i... turn in common, onco
Ihe rulers of
two continents, become only scattered
remnants of their former greatness, if
not entity engulfed by the wave
which seems sweeping over them.