The Sunday Oregonian., November 21, 1909, SECTION SIX, Page 4, Image 64

Tire SUNDAY "OREGOXIAX, TORTLAND, NOVEMBER 21. 1909.
OW
I
urprising Contrasts Today
Between the Incomes of
Men Who Do
Those of Former limes.
TST JOHN' ELFRKTH WATKINS.
THE reward ot genius is far more
prompt than it evr was before,
and far more generous, aa -well.
Within a month after his home-coming
Dr. Cbolc was receiving $3X a night for
lectures on his polar trip. One lecture
has probably netted him more than he
realised in a half year previous to his
departure for the, arctic, and he has al
ready realized, on public appreciation of
his success more than President Taft will
receive for two years of hard work at
his trade. Dr. Cook U said to have been
in debt when he returned from the north,
and his house is alleged to have been
' mortgaged to pay for the relief expedi
tion that was sent for him. 'but already
-the gratitude of his countrymen has built
him a fortune to be written in six figures.
His reward has been immediate, as was
Mr. Peary after he made his -farthest
north" record in 1906.
And it is food fr optimism to note how
times have had to 'change In order to
bring about such a condition of the public
mind. Christopher Columbus, after open
ing the gates of the new world, finally
came home to die in squalor after a
period of shameful neglect, privation and
even hunger. And John Cabot, by dis
covering the mainland of North America,
did not splash loudly enough into, ante
mortem fame to have the dates or place
of either his birth or death recorded in
hiotorv. Tr.en there was Jollct. who iave
us the Father of Waters. He had to
struggle along on a pittance after his
great labors wr over, while Jonathan
Carver, who unlocked, Canada and the
regions beyond the Mississippi. after
valnlv trying to earn his bread by ped
dling a book describing his exploits, be
came a clerk in a lottery and finally died
In d-atitution. leaving a family to be
rescued by a literary charity. The world
In those days had mtle appreciation of
the courage demanded by such exploits
over thousands of miles peopled by nos
tile Indians. It was the same story with
Robert Grav. who found for v.s the Co
lumbia River and its basin. Public neg
lect left him so poor that his widow had
to appeal to Congress for aid. But Con
gress was not always generous In such
cases. When Lieutenant William Clark
returned from the expedition wherein
he and Lewis opened up the entire Louis-
lana Purchase Jenerson pnm
Lieutenant-Colonel, but the Senate re- .
fused to confirm him. and ne resnsncu
from the Army. All of these men have
enjoyed posthumous fame, but as the
. late Speaker Reed said:
Taffy Iletter Than Obituary.
"An ounce of taffy is better than a ton
of obituary."
But our own genera lion has been char
acterized by a growing generosity toward
men who bring back tales of newly found
land and of curiosities that they have
unlocked from Nature's storehouse.
Thus as a reward for his African ex
plorations Henry M. Stanley was show
ered with all sons of honors varying
from diamond-studded snuff boxes of
told given by royalty, to the freedom of
the City of London and from the Legion
of Honor to English knighthood and
the- thanks of our own Congress.
His receipts from James Gordon Ben
nett, the London Telegraph and King
Leopold of Hclgium for opening up Af
rica are understood to have been
princely.
Inventors, too. are getting prompter
NEW LORD MAYOR OF LONDON, RECENTLY INSTALLED
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SIR JOHN KMLL
NKW YORK Nov. tSpeclal.) The new Lord Mayor of London,
installed last week, dispensed with the pomp and circumstance of
former Inaugurations and substituted for the ancient ceremonial a
military and naval parade. He roJe. however, in the wonderful gilded
chariot which lias been used for many years In the Lord Mayors pro
cession Sir John Knill is the second of his title. He has been a mas
ter of the Plumber Company and has served as Sheriff, and Aldermanv
of the City of London.
Things and
reward than they used to. Here is Wil
bur Wright receiving $1 2.500 for his
daring airship ride over the Hudson
from the Battery . to Grant's. tomb and
back. Tliis is more than the Vice-President
or the Secretary of State gets for
a whole year's labor in . the shop, but
nobody begrudges the plucky Wrights
their awards of small fortunes for
flights here and abroad, which began to
be earned within less than a year after
they had perfected their biplane.
All of this is In sharp contrast with
the manner in which rewards came to
epochmaking Inventors of previous gen
erations. Pitch, after having invented
the world's tlrst steamboat, one that
regularly carried passengers In the 18th
century, had to work his way across
the water as a common sailor and
finally ended his poverty in a tavern by
commltting suicide. Pfllton. too. died
poor, and Whitney had a hard begin
ning with his cotton gin. the original of
which, after having been carried off by
thieving rivals, before he, had patented
it. was reproduced in various inven
tions, giving rise to. continual infringe
ment suits that vexed him for years.
And the years of struggle and hardship
which Elias Howe had to endure while
he was striving to introduce his sewing
machine so completely broke his health
that he could never enjoy the honors
and money which came to hlin in later
years.
Some Slow KegiimiiigK.
Beil. after inventing the telephone,
scoured a good jiart ot the world try
ing to work up some public apprecia
tion of his Invention. He could find no
purchaser for half his Kuropean rights)
in 1S77. and Cliauncey M. Iepew. when j
offered a one-sixth Interest In the en
terprise, took the advice of the presi
dent of the Western I'nlon Telegraph
Company and refused what would today
have amounted to lo.'Vx) times as much,
or J100.000.0u0. Similarly George West-
lnghouse. waited for appreciation of his j
airbrake, for the first train that It was
tried on had stopped so quickly that It 'j
was wrecked by the process, but even'
after mechanical success was realized,
this man, "who had saved more lives j
than Napoleon hail lost." received the I
rebuff from Commodore Vanderbllt.
"Tell him I have no time to waste on a
d d fool." But here came these Wright j
brothers bursting into success as quick- j
ly as they blaze Into glory; and doubt- '.
less they will die millionaires. ,
Itoofevoli's Big Honoraria.
!
Prompter rewards are coming also to 1
writers not only novelists, but Journal
ists as well, and spiaking of journalists i
we will commence with Theodore Roose- '
velt, one of the latest recruits of the
fourth estate. Prior, to his leaving tiie
White House Ills sanctum was besieged
by publishers, outbidding one another for
anything he might put pen to after re
turning to private life. One publisher
Is alleged to have offered him J1X).000 fiat
for a travel book and another J50.000
for a volume on sports and hunting. And
finally he is said to have contracted with
one firm to furnish IOO.OjO words from the
African jungles for Jl a w'ord. which
means an honorarium equal to two years
of his last Presidential salary. And In
addition to this, he is to receive X.O0O
a year for editorials in a New York
weekly. This amounts to about 1577 pen.
editorial. Never before was there such
magic in the title of "ex-President."
The first of them to earn a good rate at
journalism was Benjamin Harrison, who
it is said, got JloOO apiece for the series
of articles. "This County of Ours," which
ran' in a noted woman's magazine. Mr.
Cleveland also got big rates from a
weekly Journal published by the same
Philadelphia firm. But in 'the old days
our White House veterans had no such
.tew. 1
or S-Vctzzoss-
ehances. Jefferson, with all of his mas
tery of the pen, died so poor that his
home had to be sold to pay his debts,
while his daughter had to depend for a
livelihood on funds voted to her and her
children by the states of North Carolina
and Virginia. Them too. there was poor
Monroe, who spent his last day urging
the Government V Pa" 1,ls clain1 for tlie
return of .expenses which he had in
curred abroad while engaged on Govern
ment missions. But the Government did
not pay. and Monroe died without leaving
even enough to bury him:
Of course these big rates given to Mr.
Roosevelt arc due to the fact that his
pen is dipped always in the sulphitlc and
never in the bromJUic fluid. And the
magazine which Is to pay so generously
for his editorials will lie the exclusive
channel for his views on political, indus
trial and local topics.
Hovv Writers Jtates Have Grown.
Indeed, for anjt man with something Uig
to say, and with a big way of saying il.'
tills is the age of generous honoraria.
Thai master genius, de Maupassant, was
satisfied to write for 2 or 3 cents a word,
whereas Conan Doyle now estimates that
Ids last Sherlock Holmes scries has been
worth $2 a word to him. Indeed, to date.
Sherlock has put Into his creator's pocket
no less than $oQ.o. which Is 80 times as
much as Henry Esmond was worth to
Thackeray. And on her novels Mrs.
Humphry Ward realized an average of
$10.C"X more per volume than Scott did
for his and Scott once held the record
for "best sellers," -as also did 1iarles
Dickens. But our Winston Churchill from
a single novel, has realized over $300,000.
nr more than the prolific Rnd successful
Dickens could earn in six years when he
was at the height of his fame. Milton
sold the copyright of "Paradise Lost" for
JC3. while Tennyson, shortly before his
death, received $100 a line for a lullaby
printed In an American juvenile monthly.
Kipling was glad to sell his best India
tales for $50 apiece, when he' first came
to America, but today our big So-cent
magazines pay unknown writers from $100
to $125 for 5000-word stories. And one of
our 10-cent magazines is now offering
10 cents a word for "the best obtainable
stories about prominent people, witti
cisms, clever verse and very short
fiction.", all of whicli again recalls poor
De Maupassant turning out classics aX
2 and 3 cents a word. . One of our 5-cent
weeklies today pays 3 cents to the un
known beginner.
More for Nialit -Vow Than Cor -Season
Then.
The muisician. too, is receiving imme
diate reward for his genius. It is said
that Leopold Mozart went breathless
when the prodigies. Wolfgang and Nan-;
nerl, drew 100 guineas at one concert. And
he would doubtless fall lifeless were he
to see Paderewski receive his regular
$0000 for one performance. And Pade
rewski gets this at 80 concerts within
four months. No wonder he can afford
his private car. his chef, valet, secretary
and personal manager. When Frederick
the Great wanted to be lavish in his gen
erosity to the noted prima donna. Mara,
he appointed her court singer at $2250 per
year: and of Katherlne Tofts the favor
ite Kngllsh prima donna of the early
18th century It was written that "her
salary was some $3000 per season, over
$100 per night:" Her great rival, Mar
gherita de L'Bpine, received per season
gup,- , , .
z.t:- coos?-
WlllllMlMUJMWI
f '
SKIN OF NEGRESS TURNING
FROM BLACK TO WHITE
Mrs. Dave Strader, of Martinsdale, Mont., Victim of ".Vitiligo,"
Rare Disease That Baffles Physicians.
CTTK. Mont.. Nov. 30. tspcciai.i
-Had Jeremiah. the wise mar.
of the scrinlnres. seen the
strange affliction of Mrs. Dave Strader,
a negress living at Martinsdale. Mont.,
he never 'would have propounded the
query "Can the Kthiopian change his
skin or the leopard his spots?" when he
wished to assure his hearers thnt some
things in this world are impossible.
If in the case of Mrs. Strader this
remarkable and mystifying change of
color continues as rapidly In the next 1
months as it has the past four years she
will be a white woman.
Mrs. Strader recently visitd in Ana
conda, where her husband formerly was
the proprietor of a colored men's club,
and many" friends failed to recognize
their old acquaintance. Her complexion
had changed from a coffee color to an
almost pure white. , She is of comely
features, and all there is about her to
show that she ever was a colored woman
are small rings of brown about her
eyes, and her fingers to the knuckles are
brown. Elsewhere the skin is of milky
white, the tissue transparent througn
which the blue blood shows as plainly
as it does on any Caucasian. She is 36
years of age and has had no serious ill
ness of any character, her health in fact
having been remarkably good.
Mrs. Strader's affliction is one of the
rarest known in the history of medicine,
and science today is absolutely at a loss
even to suggest a remedy. Scientists
are powerless to offer any explanation
for the disease which by them has been
termed "vitiligo.'' The disease attacks
the pigment that imparts color to the
skin, the black to the negro, yellow to
the Oriental and the white and plnkto
the Caucasian. It is not a fatal ailment,
nor. so far as known, contagious.
It has been known by some scientists
to envelop the entire body, but such,
cases are extremely rare, and the case
of Mrs. Strader is as great a mystery
to medical men as is the case of Charles
Price, of Phlllpsburg, Mont., who on a
certain day every year sheds his entire
skin.
"The change of color began four years
ago this month." said Mrs. Strader In
speaking of her case, "with a small
white spot on the back of my right
I 4 ? -" t - W
fniu. i-j-.y 7 v
hand, and it has been spreading con
sianlly, 'slowly but surely until you itan
see. my face is almost entirely white, as
is my body.
"My face is clear witli the exception
of these spots around each eye and a
small area on my chin, and on my hands
there is only the original color on my
finger tips, which makes some people
think I am wearing gloves. There Is a
slight itching on the edes of the spots
but aside from this I suffer no inconve
nience. Again, there is no sensation at
all.
"I am. not proud of this change, I
assure you. I am a colored woman and
proud of my color as it was.-' and I
never did anything to bring about this
change, although there are lots of folks
of our race whom I meet that would
like to make their color change. Some
of tho more ignorant believe that I am
a conjure woman or a priestess, but I
do not need to tell you there is nothing
to that sort of a tale.
"I do .not wish for notoriety and am
no freak. I have never exhibited myself
and never intend to. .1 was born in St.
Louis and my mother's name is Mrs.
Priscilla Watts. We were on our way
home from a visit to St. Louis when the
spots first were noticed. Specialists we
consulted could do nothing for me."
The possibilities of future investigation
into this, strange disease are startling,
involving as it does the chance that the
vitiligo germ or bacillus, if such there
be. and it can be Isolated, will be har-
nessed by the man with the microscope
and In some serum set to worK. wnat
a field he will have! Then no longer
will the colored man hopelessly sing:
"I wish my color would fade." He can
hie himself to some specialist, be in
noculated and in due course of time be
as white as any of his neighbors. The
Mongolian may no longer be yellow, and
the last of the red men may yet bo
white. '
An Original Place Card.
New York Times.
A dainty name card that can be made
at home for a woman's luncheon or
formal dinner is easily gotten up as fol
lows: A short length of pliable .wire . is
r i
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I
C . aw 'S Vv
'-tP
4 & WOS?Z' S&fAK.
twisted into the shape of a circlo or an
ellipse and fastened by doubling the ends
over and twisting them neatly down. A
spray ot smllax or. prettier still, of some
tiny flower is then twisted around the
wire in and out until the circle is covered
and a miniature floral wreath is formed.
A tiny card, sometimes with a narrow
silver or gilt border, with the mime of
tho guest written on it is attached to
the little . wreath which hangs over the
rim of the water glass or rests against
it when guests sit down.
Perorations for an Artistic Table.
Harper's Bazar.
Candlesticks for the table may be of
silver, cut glass.' Bohemian glass or brass.
Here, aprain. thi simpler designs are ura
naore craceftil. Thcr
ire simio very
Bohemian and
beautiful shapes
the
IRISH GENTLEMAN-SPORTSMAN WHO MAY TRY AGAIN TO LIFT
AMERICA'S CUP.
1 1 ' :
ni p.--.-v - v
TWO SNAPSHOTS OF Silt THOMAS MPTllX. MAIIH SI.M'K UK AHIIIi;il
J. AMKIUCA.
what our great prima donnas now draw
for each performaneJ'Wu. lxndon
gasped when Mrs. Bellington m given
$15 (0 for one six-month season of 7S
performances or what amounted to $1!3
per night, or less .than a tenth of the
modern diva's price. The whole musical
world talked for years over the $1000 Riven
to Angelica Catalan! for singing "God
Save the Queen" and "Rule Britannia" at
one performance, but our newly rich ,
millionaires now think nothing of paying
a grand opera star three or four timeaj
that sum for a couple of numbers and
an encore. -Howards
of Legal Genius.
Legal and financial genius are also
being rewarded as they never were be
fore. William Nelson Cromwell Is said
to have received a fro of no less than
$:. 000.000 for selling the French-Panama
canal to Uncle Sam. and James B.
Pill Is alleged to have received a cold
million for settling the suit between
Andrew Carnegie and If. C. Frick. whlla
this same amount has been credited to
W. P. Guthrie as a fen fr breaking
the will of the late Henry Hradley
Plant. When he was about to enter
upon his Cabinet career Klihu Root Is
understood to have been offered $100.
00.1 a vear simply as a retainer, Insur
ing liis services for the Metropolitan
Traction Company. And in addition
to this periodical allowance Renero'is.
fees were to be paid for such work
as might be done for the corporation.
But Mr. Root declined the offer, pre
ferring to take chances ou gaining the
prestige of a brilliant political career.
And Philander Knox Is said lo have
made as great a financial sacrifice when
he entered public life.
The highest salary ever paid in the
I'nited States is said to have been
$250,000 per year, drawn by Samuel
C. T. Dodd as general solicitor of the
Standard Oil Company. But since Mr.
Dodd's death two yearsago the distinc
tion of being the highest salaried
American Is said to have fallen upon
John Hays Hammond, the distinguished
mining engineer, who is now as warm
a chum of President Taft as he was ot
the late Cecil Rhodes.
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cut glass. Cheaper ones, still very good
in shape, come in glass.
Shades made of cut glass or silver over
linings of different colors aro -very rretty
and also very practical, since tho color
can be change'd so easily. The silk
shades made of imitation roso petals
come in all colors, and arc not expensive.
Those with the bend fringe arc very
pretty, but arc apt to bend the candlo
with their weight. Hand painted shades
uro sometimes extremely attractive, hut
frequently not in good taste. Tho Em
pire shapes are at present highest in
favor, but certainly are not as graceful
as the more flaring shapes.
The Wsievan Conference or Knplaud re.
rentlv passed by a large majerln h. niol.ott
to admit women as lay deb-gates. I his res
olution must be approved bj Hi" -n--"l n
fr.re It can become a ruio of tin: deinonl-nailon.
s