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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 1908)
TITK SCXDAT OREGOMAX, PORTLAND, DECEMBER 27, 1903. IVING OF" " '.i"-v. ." i DURATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Romantic Figure of Mary. Gwendolin Caldwell, Who Founded the Catholic University of America r 5 s7tm : - n r : jtb! I, t -'fell 5 ' Rockefeller Who Finished Stephen A. Douglas' Unfinished Work; Wharton and Booker T. BT JOHN S. HARWOOD, THKRE are In this country a num ber of flourishing and well-known educational institutions, the found rs of which are still alive. Some men leave money In their will to the cause of education. Othera. while utill In the flesh, take the work In hand and have thtir declining- years mde happy bj- the contemplation of what they have accom pllhed for the intellectual enlightenment of their fcllowmen. It is not given to every man to found a college or a school, but to those to whom it Is gtven there must be an unalloyed happiness In watchrny the growth of their foundation. This applies to women a well as men, for women as well as men found educa tional institutions. Some of the living founders are men who from humble be ginnings have amassed great fortunes. Some have had a college education and some have been self-educated. Joseph Wharton Is the founder of the Wharton School of Finance and Com cerce. one of the most famous of the several colleges that go to make up the Vnlverslly of Pennsylvania. He is en titled to call himself an old man now if he wants to, for he was born near Phil adelphia In 1S26. In his beautiful home at Oak Lane, near that city, he Is spending his declining days, but still tak ing an active Interest In the great busi nesses he established and In the educa tional institutions he has founded or en dowed. He never went to college, but as educated by private tutors and by his own eTorts and unremitting study, yet he is a remarkably well educated man In many branches, and well versed i In all lines of learning. He Is a "Soc. !.' of the University of Pennsylvania and an "HiiX." of Swarthfnore College. In the latter institution he endowed the chair of history, and economics. Mr. Wharton is possessed of a great fortune. While he was accumulating it ,he saw clearly the -alue that an Insti tution as that which he afterwards founded in connection with the Univer sity of Pennsylvania would be to young men who intended to make business their calling in life. When he became wealthy, one of his first acts was to found the Wharton School. For this pur pose he gave as the initial gift JSOO.OOO. Mr. Wharton comes of an old Quaker family and began his business career as a clerk in a mercantile house in the Quaker City. He saved his money and he studied hard and worked hard. When be was 21 he left his clerical job and went Into business as a manufacturer of white lead. Gradually he became in terested in other enterprises. He became manager of a ainc company. Then he purchased a nickel works and after wards built at Camden, N. J., the first successful nickel and cobalt works in America. Wharton was now on the pieasant highway which leads to great fortune and soon became a director of the Bethlehem Iron Company, and then of the Bethlehem Steel Works, the first plant for making armor plate in Amer ica. As his fortune grew Wharton became Interested financially In several railroads and other corporations. In Xew Jersey the man who had begun life as an hum bl" clerk built the town of Wharton, and there put up three blast furnaces, o," which he Is still sole owner, as he is of the connecting railway and the mines which supply the furnaces. Sir. Wharton also i sol owner of a big iron company a: PhiUipfcOurg. N. J., and is lord of many hundreds of acres of coal and timber land." and the proprietor of coke works, etc. -Vnd all the time Wharton was accu mulating this vast fortune he was study- I Ctl r; '" v?tTN i : -Bvlj t -e rAivX who had fun)ed the Catholic Kniver- W ' I 4 i 4 ' ill li wV'" ir" ill y k - v ill If V 1 Ir.g. Ntver a day no matter how many tl:- cares and anxieties of it had been r ut Joseph Wharton studied some branch o? learning. Thus It happened tiiat his store of knowledge has kept pace with hi store of wealth, and both are good and comfortable to have in one's old Mr. Wharton Is president of the board "of managers of fwarthmore College, a member of the American vPhilosophli'a' Society and of the Academy of National Sciences in Philadelphia. s w!I as pres ident of the American Iron & Steel As Washington sociation. He has written and pub lished many able treatises upon econ omic: and on scientific subjects. He Is a linguist of considerable ability. The following Incident will show the thorough methods which Wharton haa pursued ell through life and to which he owes his success both mentally and financially. When he went Into the zinc business the first snag he ran up against ,) .. ,.. , , vl t.. these two studies he at once applied himself with zeal and devotion. That a man would require a knowledge of chem istry in order to be a successful manu facturer of zinc was obvious, but Whar ton's friend." wondered where the French came in. They found out shortly. As soon as he could converse freely in French he sent to Belgium for the most effiicient zinc workers to be had for hiro and brought them over to convert the American zinc ore into the marketable material. None of these workmen could speak Knglish, but having a knowledge of French, Wharton could converse wits them, direct them, learn their wants and. in short, get so close to them that he could get the best work out of them and work in harmony with them as they worked with him. Naturally he mnde a success of his zinc venture. Had he not taken the precaution to learn FTench it might have been a failure. It is such apparently trifling things as being able to talk with a workman in his own language which makes or unmakes for tunes. And It is to such detail that Wharton has always given attention. Some one once said of Wharton. "Oh. he is a creature of circumstances." "No." replied a man who knew him and hls career. "he la not;, he has simply grasped circumstances with both hands." It has been said that in the first suc cessful experiments In the manufacture of steel on a large scale in this country, "others furnished the money and the ap pliances; Wharton furnished the brains." Romantlo Mary Gwendolin Caldwell Among living founders there Is proba bly not such a romantic and perplexing figure as that of Mary Gwendolin Cald well, now the Marquise de Montsiers Merinrille. who founded the Catholic University of America at Washington. As a girl and as a young woman. Owen dolin Caldwell was exceedingly devout. She and her sister were brought up in the Catholic faith, to which their parents had been converted, and were educated In the convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City. Gwendolin.- it is saM. thought seriously of becoming a nur. but gave up the Idea, and after graduat ing made a trip to Kurope. where her good looks, her wit. her lively spirits and a certain dash which came natural to her and which the convent training had r.ot entirely eradicated, made her at one popular in society and a person in the public eye of two continents. It was rumored that she had become engaged to Prince Murat. grandson of the Murat who married Napoleon's sis ter and was once King of Naples. The rumor was shortly con firmed by Miss Caldwell herself and she began to pre pare her bridal trousseau. The day of tho wedding drew near and Miss Caldwell engaged a private room at Worth's, in which to "try on" her wedding gown, She did not appear for the "trying on' and all Paris society became agitated. It had been agitated before over the fact that Miss Caldwell had Imperial crowns embroidered on her trousseau. Her prince was descendant of the Bonapartes and the head of that house wad an em peror. The American girl thought the Imperial crown of the great Corsicarc was more picturesque than the kingly crown of Naples and she made use of it. to the rage of the Bonapartists. But now all shades of political opinion were wondering "What next?" The "what next" was a statement from Miss Cald well that she and the prince were not to be married it was "1I off." It came out later that while Prince Murat and his intended bride were dis cuf.'iiig the final arrangements for their wedding Murat coolly asked, as a prere quisite to the ceremony taking place, that Miss Caldwell mske over to him half of her fortune. The American girl arose in wrath. She did not ive tne if yA . . , -. VLRt ,f - . , 1 ill j i Pnnce half of her fortune, but she gave him "the mitten" then and there. It was while sue was In Kurope that the Catholic T niversity was planned. Bishop Spalding, who was one of the trustees of herself and her sister. Inter ested Miss Caldwell In the project and she offered a gift of tW.'Wi to the Coun cil of Baltimore. In order that the In stitution might be at once begun. Her sister gave an additional JoO.000 for a chapel. After a sojourn In Europe, Miss Cald well wert to live In Washington, where the two orphaned girls their parents had both died when the girls were small children became at onre prominent In society. Miss Caldwell was generally known as Gwendolin and she and her cream-colored ponies, her musical en tertainments, her dinners and her chari ties attracted an International attention. She received the Golden Rose from the Pope, being the second woman in this country to be, so honored, Ms. William T. Sherman being the first. She received the Lactate medal, which is awarded once a year by the University of Notre Dame to the layman who has rendered the most distinguished service "in mor als, religion or education." Her sister married a German, the Baron Zadwit. afterwards German Minister to Mexico. Ufe was going on very pleasantly for Gwendolin Caldwell. Then all at once it was reported that she was engaged to a certain French noble, the Marquis de Montsiers-Merin-ville. At that time she was visiting her sister and her brother-in-law In their Gorman castle. It was there she met the I Marquis and soon after she married him. He was of an ancient family, but seems to have been possessed of a good share of those imperfections which Amer ican girls are pretty apt to find when they make rash matrimonial experiments with the nobility of Kurope. They quar relled, they parted. The Pope himself tried to reconcile them, but without avail. : ' tTi l y. s-i . -:. . -'4 j . r- C-- : rr!" - ' . - ?' . ' v: ilv -" . P trn t I' I , ft I I , lM v y"; v t ,a r i y' I I r:f -jit fit, J NEW ORK, Dec. 26. (Special.) ''. In- eNplosion in the Rachel mine at Marianna, Pa., was one of the chief sub jects of discussion at the Mining Congress, held last week at Pittsburg. Coming so soon after the meeting of ex perts from other countries at Pittsburg to discuss the question of mine dangers, this great disaster will not per mit the subject to lose interest. The dead taken from the Rachel mine numbered 13S. The scenes at the mouth of the snaft just after the explosion were pitiful, and, though the crowd of trends and relatives of the miners grew more quiet as time passed on, many a tragedy could be read in the faces oX the men and women who stood waiting lor the bodies to be brought out. , c?OWJf- 1&MZTJVT Jzvr CJM7j4.QIA A. Golden Rose and the Iaetare medal and who had founded the Catholic Univer sity at Washington, publicly renounced her religion and turned Proteslant. She gave as a reason, it is s:Ud. th differ ences between her husband's life and his creed and the fact that it would en rage his family to have her turn Pro testant. Since that dramatic episode little has been heard of her. Tt Is re ported that she Is In bad health and partly paralyzed. Man Who Helped Found Cornell. Although Kzra Cornell was the prin- cipal founder of the university at Ithaca which bears his name, and Henry W. Gage has claims to be considered a co founder, yet Andrew D. White is en titled to a first place after as a founder. He was its first president and worked hard In Its Interesls for many years. In deed, his interest In the university has never flagged and although he has given more than JOtUXK) in money to it, what he has done in other ways in its behalf has been still more valuable. In fact, from what he helped Cornell to do when the university was in danger of dying at birth, he is entitled to be considered as helping Mr. Cornell in the foundation. In July Of ISfiS President Lincoln signed a bill appropriating Government land for educational purposes in all .the loy..l states. This land was, of course, nearly all in the West, and a state which took advantage of the offer could not hold land lying in another state, but must issue "scrip" for its value the people Kwho took the scrip to be paid out of the sale of the land. New York State got 9SO.00O acres. The market became over loaded with land scrip and prices fell. New Tork sold some of its land at AO cents an acre and there was a prospect that the price would go still lower. Andrew D. White and Ezra Cornell were in the State Senate together at the time. Cornell had made a great forruno.! by introducing the telegraph into the Northwest and wanted to found a uni versity. He asked that the money de rived from the Government land be ap plied to the establishment ' of one great university and offered to add half a mil lion dollars to the Nation's gift If the institution were located at Ithaca. He took White Into his councils and White worked hard to get a decision that all the Nation's gift should be applied as Cornell wished and got it. Cornel! L nlversity seemed to be as- ( SCENES FOLLOWING THE MARIANNA MINE 4 sured. but now came the great drop In the la:id scrip. Cornell, when he saw the land going for A cents an acre, stopped the sale and took all that remained at CO cents. He located the land, paid the taxes and contracted to guard it against squatters and looters. He also prom ised to-turn into the State Treasury the Increase of value which he plainly foresaw- would accrue to the said land. He died in 1874 and the trustees of the uni versity. In the name of which Institution the land was held, assumed his obl'sa- tion. i Then Henrv W. Gage came forward with hi millions and by his generosliy I enabled the university' to hold on to the land. The university it the time did not have enough money In its treasury to pay the faculty, and the temptation to sell the land was greet. But it was re sisted and. other beneficiaries helping along with Mr. Gage, the bad times were tided over and in the end Cornell became richly endowed. All this time Andrew D. White, who, because of his successful efforts In get ting the decision applying all the Gov ernment land given to New York to Cor nell, was looked upon as one of its founder;', was almost supreme in the councils of the institution of which he had become president in lSfi6. There were no students, no hooks and no scien tific apparatus when Mr. Wlflte assumed the presidency. He went at once to Europe, where he studied the educations' methods Jn-vogue over there and came "back with ideas, books and appliances. Then, in 1S68, the first class entered Cornell. It was not until 1S85 that he finally retired . from the presidency of the university, though In the meantime he had become prominent in the. political life of the country and had held several important diplomatic positions. Andrew V. White's career as a public man. as a diplomat, and as a publicist Is too well known to need repeating. When he was 70 years old he resigned as Minister at Berlin,, with the avowed intention of spending his old age in the seclusion of private life. But he is a man of too much importance to be able to live entirely out of the public eye. White's malernal grandfather, Andrew Dixon, was the founder of Courtlandt Academy, at Homer, N. Y., so he comes of a college-founding ancestry. It was at Homer that he received his early academic, training. Mrs. Scth Lowr is fairly entitled to be DISASTER 1 : UJt' Jg W it included among the list of living found ers, for it was she, together wilh J. P. Morgan. Jacob H. Srbiff and a dozen or so others, who established Barnard College. It was In 1SS6 that Columbia began giving d?groes to women who could pass examinations showing that they had done work equivalent to that done by men at the University, hut no provision was made for the instruction of women in connection with the institution. In the Spring of ISSf a movement was set on foot by the women who had received degrees from Columbia and by those who hoped to receive them, for the establish ment of a woman's college as a part of the university. The plan wa approved by the faculty of Columbia and Mrs. Low, whose husband was president of the university, gave a considerable sum of money to start the project along. The project was. of course, carried to a successful conclusion. - Seth Low gave Ji.OOOXX! to build a great library at Columbia as a memorial to his father, and his wife is one of the founders of Barnard, so the University would seem to be greatly indebted to the Low fam ily. . Mrs. Low was the daughter of Benja min Robhins ("urtin. one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Slates. She was born and brought up in Boston. She is a dignified woman, rather retiring, and not fond of much society or publicity. In training schools and such work she is greatly interested and devotes much of her time to such matters. Her favorite amusements are said to be golf, walking, riding and housekeeping. When her husband was Mayor a reporter would sometimes apk her for an interview. Her reply always was. "You must pardon me; I have no public life." Army Officer Fallier of Carlisle. Brlgadler-Gencral Richard Henry Pratt. U. S. A., retired, is the originator and the founder of 1he famous Carlisle School for Indians. He lives in Denver now and is 6S years old. but for a long time he was the head of Carlisle and he regards the Institution, as does every body else who knows the facts, as the greatest accomplishment of his life. When the Civil War broke out PralT enlisted as 'a private in a regiment of Indiana volunteers. Though born in New York State his parents took him to In diana when he was young and It was there, at Lornporf, that he received his early' education. Pratt did not long stny a private. He came out of the war a Captain and was appointed to the regular establishment, in which he rose from grade until his retirement four years ago. His early service in the regulars was hunting the Indians in the Southwest, ar.d by means of this exciting and peril ous occupation he came to know the red man and his little ways well and to take a deep Interest in the problem of what to do with him. The popular idea at that time was that the only good Indian was a dead one, but Pratt thought that there might be good Indian while still alive. When lot of Indian prisoners were ordered to be taken from Fort Sill to the old fort of St. Augustine. Florida. Pratt was detailed as commander of their guard and then ordered to command the old fort to which they were taken. He began aided by his wife and by other officers' wives at St. Augustine, to try and teach the prisoners something of the white n an's way and knowledge. Indians were at thut time received with negroes at Hampton, but Pratt believed that more oould be -accomplished if they hud a school of their own. So he de veloped the plan of an Indian collega snd got the Government to assign the old barracks at Carlisle, Pa., for a place to work out his theory. This was in 1S79. and from that day to this General Pratt hag iK-ver ceased to work for the school and for his' red-skinnprotege5. From small beginnings the Carlisle school has come to be what It Is today, and Pratt Is its father. John 1)., of Chicago University. What Stephen A. Douglas attempted, John D. Rockefeller accomplished that was the establishment of the University of Chlc-aso. It wrs away back in 18.16 thai Douglas, the "litil? giant," who seemed to have fame and place before him, gave a sum of money to establish the Univer sity of Chicago under Baptist auspices. It never flourished. It was a university In name only, and after languishing along until 1856 its affairs were wound up. Two years later prominent men of the Baptist persuasion began to agitate for the re-establishment of the University. John o. Rockefeller, being a staunch Baptist and also a man of reputed wealth, the men who had tho re-establishment of the university at heart cast their eyes in his direction. They had some misgivings ar to how Rockefeller would respond to their appeals, but to their delight he responded warmly ar.d generously. Then they looked about for a man of reputa tion as a scholar and educator who should, as president, give eclat to the institution. Dr. W. R. Harper agreed to take the presidency if the institution could b:; made a "real university" arr.d that meant puttit a lot of money into Who would furnish the money? Mr. Rockefeller came forward gamely and at the first annivenaary of. Hie Amer ican Bapti3l jScncalional Society, held ir, Chicago in May of l$s9. announced that he would give iw,0()o toward the establishment of a "well-equipped col lege" to be called the University of Chi cago if others would raise J-iOO.OuO with in 90 days. The time wag short but the stake was big, and penerous Baptists came forward, unloosed their purse strings and contributed. When the time limit had expired the HOO.OOO was all subscribed and Mr. Rockefeller was in formed that his J600.000 would be re ceived with thanks. Thus was the first million raised for the endowment ot the University of Chicago. So what Douglas had dreamed of Rockefeller made a reality. Now Mr. Rockefeller became much interested In educational affairs pen?rally and in the University which he had revived and re fuundd especially, and began thoss bene factions to in-slitulions of learning which lLave Iwpn called "prnu-ely." bur which have been in magnitude greater ihan any Prince ever bestowed. In S?ptember. .1SS0. Rockefeller gave another million dollars to his pet Uni versity of Chicago on condition that the Paptist Theological Seminary at Morgan Park should be removed to the ground of th? University and made a purt of ii. Ths condition was compiled with. Mr. Rockefeller also stipulated that i".KV) of his new gift should be devoted to the r.on-professional graduate instruction. The university now has a fine site, the late Marshall Field having given It tho land for It's buildings and JlOO.OOi) be sides. In 1R92 Mr. Rockefeller gave the university another million and In Decem ber he gave it another. In lf!:l he gave it $150,000 and the next year KiS.OOO. In 1S96 Rockefeller made another proposition to the university. lie would give it fl.noo, Oo and as much besides, dollar for dollar, as the university could raise elsewhere, up to two millions, before January. 1fm1. The entire amount thus raised w as J9.000, 000. It will be seen that Mr. Rockefeller has been the god from the machine for the University of Chicago, as well as its Midas. Mr. Rockefeller did not found or refound Vassar. Brown, Columbia, the Theological Seminary of Rochester. Bar nard or Bucknell. but he lias given large ly to all of these, anil "Rockefeller Halls'" etand thick in the land upon many col lege grounds. Founder of Chautauqua. Bishop John Heyl Vincent of the Meth odist iCpiscopal Church is the founder of that educational institullon which Is known as ChaulaiKiua. If? started the "Chautauqua movement" and founded the Chautauqua Asem'oly and Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, of which he has beh chancellor since 1S7X. He was born in Tuscaloosa, Ala., 75 years ago and brought up among the mountains of Pennsylvania. He was educated at Lew'shurg and Milton, Pa., with such facilities as these towns afforded. lie was early dedicated to the ministry and began to preach at the age of IS. He was ordained elder In IR57 and then began his work as a minister of the Methodist Church, which has led him to many charges and in which capacity he has been preacher at Yale. Harvard. Cornell. Wellesley and other colleges. He has always been act ive in Sunday school work and has writ ten much on religious and historical sub jects. Though largely self-educated, the bishop is well-educated and has degrees frnm several colleges. There used to be an old camp-meeting ground at Lake Chautauqua, provided with buildings, where annual gatherlncs -were held. The Sunday School Associa tion. In which Bishop Vincent was much interested and. In fact. In which he was the leading spirit, tool; over the grounds and buildings of the camp-meeting asso ciation and added Chautauqua to 111 name. In the Summer the Sunday School Association used to meet at Chautauqua. In 1S8S Bishop Vincent met Lewis Miller, of Ohio, and got him Interested in the work. At first the meetings at Chautau qua were intended for the instruction of Sundav school teachers only, but the bishop saw the opportunily for extending the work and so did extend it until It has become what all men know a great educational factor. Born a slave in the old conventional slave quarters of the South, a cabin of one room with a dirt floor and a hole In the middle of the floor where the potatoes were hurled to keep for tho Winter. Booker Tallaferre Washington is now the president of the great educa tional Institution of Tuskegee and aNo one of the founders of It. for he organ ized it and made it a success. Other gave money to the work, but Booker T. Washington gave himself. A Midas of the Mountains. General William Jackson Palmer, the founder of Colorado College as well as of Colorado Springs, got his title In the Civil War. He has led an actfve life ns a railroad man. in mining and in various walks of the business world. He w.is born in Kent County. Del., and when the war broke out. went to the front. At the time he was employed as a rod mnn on the Pennsylvania railroad. When the war was over General Pal- mer went back to railroading and became successively treasurer, director of sur veys and manager of construction of the Kansas Pacific Railway. He became president of the Denver & Rio Grande and president of the Mexican National. For seven years he served as president of the Rio Grande & Western. Now he lives in a beautiful home called Glen Fvre at Colorado Springs and takes his chief delight in looking after the wel fare of the college which he founded. He was a pioneer in the development of the resources of Colorado, and the slate owes much to h(m as a develop ?r of its possibilities. He founded the Col orado College the same year he founded Colorado Springs the year 18il. When the Rio Grande Western was sold Palmer gave $1,040,000 to his fellow workmen. Because of competition and rival railroads, their loyalty and fidelity had been necessary parts of the good railroad -niploye. Palmer had Inspired these qualities In the men under him; anil when he left the Denver A- Illo Grande to go to the Rio Grande Western many of his men went with him. He had always paid them well, and owed none of them anything, but when the railroad was sold, he said: "To my loyal friends and fellow workers, each according to his seniority and station, this money Is due." And he gave out the $1,010,000 with his own hands, in amoutrts varying from $2UU0 to a greut more, to brakemen. switchmen, superintendents. etc., and asked them to remember the giver and not mention the gift. lie made no an nouncement of the gift, and ll was only when some of the beneficial ies did "men tion the gift" that p-ople In general knew of hi generosity. Among other living founders must not be omitted tlie name of Andrew Carnegie founder of t lie Carnegie Institution at Washington. The work of Carnegie as a founder is almost too well known to need more than a reference. H's various bene factions in the way of libraries and of Carncsie "funds" are also well known. r3. A. Stevens, although not strictly a founder, is at least entitled to mention, for he has given much money to the Stevens Institute of Technology at Ho boken, which his father founded.
