Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (April 9, 1916)
3 AUTHOR OF "BRIDGE OF GODS" LIES BURIED NEAR CASCADES HE LOVED . . . . i Story of Frederic Homer Balch Is That of Self-Educated Son of Oregon Pioneers Who Entered Ministry, but Could Not Repress Inclination to Write of Nature's Wonders. EAGLE CREEK BRIDGE IS REGARDED AS ONE OF HIGHWAY'S WONDERS Span Has Setting of Magnificent Scenery and Canyon Is Considered One of Most Attractive and Rugged in America Trail to Connect With Larch Mountain Road Proposed. TIIE SUNDAY OREGOXIA1S', PORTLAND, APRFL 9, 191G. jayr-:- j'vh '--"- V-- ' if'. HOOD RIVER, Or.. April 8. CSpe clal.) In a little rural grave yard not far from Lyle. Klicki tat County. Wash., is the burying place of Frederic Homer Balch, who as the author of "The Bridge of the Gods." a romance dealing with Indian legendary tales, has made for himself a name in the history of Northwestern literature. Not far from the gorge of his Inspiring Columbia, and in the eastern foothills of his beloved Cascades, the body of the pioneer writer has found the long resting place, and perchance the spirit of the youthful dreamer still contem plates the scenes of natural wonder that so thrilled him during life. When one really interested in pio neer life of Oregon, and the legends of the Indians of the Columbia River communities, reads of the life story of Homer Balch and of his early death at the age of 30, he cannot help feel ing that a loss came to the literature of the stP.te when Atropos wielded too early her shears and clipped the thread of the young man's life. Story Is Appealing. It is intensely appealing, this story of the days of the young manhood of the man who wrote "The Bridge of the Gods." Frederic Homer Balch was self educated. He passed less than a year attending school. For six months in 1875. when the family resided on a farm owned by James A. Balch. the father of the author, in the Mount Tabor community, the boy was a stu dent at a school taught by T. R. Coon, "who later removed to the Hood River Valley. After a few months of study at the Pacific Theological Seminary of Oakland. Cal., in 18S9, he was forced to return to Oregon because of illness. Because of the poor health of the mother, the family removed, when Balch was still In his teens, from Mount Tabor to Goldendale, where they had formerly lived. After a short residence there they removed to Lyle. While young Balch was a dreamer, he was by nd means an idler. Work was scarce in the early days, but he found employment In his boyhood rid ing the range of the Southern Wash ington country. In the solitude of the great stretches with the great peaks of the Cascades to inspire him, he felt the first gnawing of an ambition to tell the story of the mountains and the rivers in books of romance. The im pulses of a genius lind stirred within him befor.; the family left the Willam ette Vally. and in his diary is found jot.d the following: Dream In Recorded. "To make Oregon as famous as Ecott made Scotland: to make the Cas cades as widely known as the High lands: to make the splendid scenery of the Willamette a background for ro mance full of passion and grandeur, grew more and more into the one cher lgiifd ambition of my life." While the family was living at Lyle, Young Balch. eager to make money, secured a Job as an ordinary laborer in the construction of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company's line, which was then being pushed to com pletion along the south bank of the Columbia. During the daylight hours, according to his sister, Mrs. James W. Ingalls. of this city. young Balch wo-ked hard at manual labor, wield ing pick and shovel. But the lste hours of night were spent in reading and re-reading the stories of Scott and Dickens, and the essays of Macaulay. And he was trying his own hand and - ' 'lr 'til, i I. 1.. Mm. Ml Ill II J nt.M.ljllfl vr" 1 i' . f 5 mind at sketching out romances of the Oregon country. Even before the family had removed from the Willamette Valley the young man had written a romance built from pioneer history. "Wallulah," the story was called. It was later revised and given the title of "Genevieve." The book, however, has never been pub lished. Story Is Burned. ' Young Balch also began another story, which he called "Kenasket." He made a sacrifice of the manuscript of "Wallulah" when, obeying the desires of his mother, he decided to enter the ministry. From tne stories that are told of this period of the young man's life by his sister, the young romanticist must have undergone the keenest agony. With the decision made to enter the work of a minister, young Balch's conscience, impelled by the more Puri tanic standards of early day morals, told him that it would be a sort of a sacrilege to preach the gospel of Chrlt and at the same time continue the writing of stories. "Wallulah," which has been de clared meritorious by readers capable of judging, was burned, and Frederic Homer Balch became a home mission ary of the Congregational Church. After serving a time as traveling min ister in the Mid-Columbia district,, he was given his first pastorate in 1885, when he took charge of the work of the church at Hood River. No church edifice had been erected, and it was through the personality of the young- minister and through his instrumentality that the second local church, now known as the Valley Christian Church, was built. At the same time Mr. Balch was engaged in preaching for the congregation of White Salmon, just across the Colum bia from the Hood River Valley. Indian Lore Learned. Despite his resolutions to cease writing romances, the young minister, much of whose work was among the Indians, never lost an opportunity to learn from them the stories of legends. These he has embodied so well in "The Bridge of the Gods." It is said that most great writers reach their moments of climax, while writing their life history. It was true, indeed, of young Balch; for "The Bridge of the Gods" really tells the story of the sacrifice of the young minister. Cecil Gray, the hero of "The Bridge of the Gods." who sacrificed his life to teach the Indians the re ligion of Christ, despite the advice of members of his family and of his con gregation, typifies Frederic Homer Balch. The young minister, suffering be cause of dictates of a sensitive con science, is the prototype of the minis ter of Colonial days, who offered up his entire being and plunged away from home anoV civilization into the dense and unknown wilderness. Writing Is Resumed. But the spell of romantic literature was too strong for young Balch, and after deciding that he could continue consistently as a minister, and at the same time write of the dreams that were daily his, he completed "The Bridge of the Gods" at the age of 25 years. Drawing on his fund of Indian leg ends, he told the story of Cecil Gray and immortalized the legend of the great masses of basalt that rear them selves on either bank of the Columbia at Cascade Locks. This story of the mighty bridge . . that . spanned . . the "'If''' i . '"Sat " 5 '1 Wauna is now well known to the readers of the entire United States; for "The Bridge of the Gods" is now in its 18th edition. "The Bridge of the Gods" was given its greatest prominence and publicity in 1911, when, as a spectacular drama, it was presented at the Astoria Cen tennial Exposition. The drama. for the most part in the open air, with the hills in the rear of the city at the mouth of the Columbia as a unique background, was staged under the di rection of Miss Mabel Farris. "The Bridge of the Gods" was later played in Multnomah field in Portland, and afterwards Miss Farris presented the drama at Oklahoma City, Okla. Both Parents Pioneers. Both parents of Frederic Homer Balch were pioneers of Oregon, having crossed the plains from Indiana. The mother. Miss Harriet M. Snider, the adopted daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Robert Crawford, arrived with her fos ter parents in 1852. They formerly re sided in the White River community of Indiana. Miss Snider's mother, and Milton Wright, father of the noted aviators and aeroplane inventors, Wilbur and Orville Wright, were sec ond cousins. The father, James A. Balch, was born at Sullivan. Ind. He attended Wabash College, and for a number of years was a student of Law. James A. Balch arrived in Oregon in 1S51. Both settled in the Willamette Valley near Lebanon, and it was there that they were mar ried. The author of "The Bridge of the Gods" was born at Lebanon, De cember 14, 1861. From 1864-66 James A. Balch served as Lieutenant of Company F, Eighth Regiment, Oregon Volunteers, which was stationed on the frontier. While he had been a student of the law he never applied for admission to the bar, nor did he ever practice. A large por tion of his pioneer life was devoted to teaching. When the family resided at Goldendale he served as County Judge of Klickitat County. Frederic Homer Balch leaves a sister Mrs. J. W. Ingalls. of this city, and a brother. Herbert Balch. now a resident of Southern California. Monument Is Dedicated. On September 26. 190S, the members of The Old Fort Dalles Historical So ciety convened at the handsome little structure on the hills of Lyle. and formally dedicated the Balch school house. Following the dedication of the school buildings, a monument that had been erected to the young author was dedicated. Not far from both is reared th.e little church of the community, a large share of the carpenter work hav ing been done by Mr. Balch himself. The following surviving pioneers participated in the ceremony of dedi cation: Mr. and Mrs. T. R. Coon, of Hood River; Mrs. Jennie Jewett, of White Salmon: Mrs. C. J. Crandall, Miss Sylvia Cake. Miss May Campbell, Miss Lucille Armstrong, of The Dalles, and Rev. J. L. Hershner, organizer of the Congregational Church for the Co lumbia River district. Rev. W. C. Gilmore, pastor of the local Congre gational Church at the time, delivered an address, and a paper of eulogy from the pen of Dr. T. L. Eliot, was read. The stone over the grave of Frederic Homer Balch is of rough, natural granite, quarried from the hills he loved. But out of the dreams that he could not down he has woven a story and written a book that will ever be a greater monument to his genius and the indomitable-energy that possessed him than any" pillars admiring friends may erect to his memory. Teacher Reads Poem. At the dedication service the following- poem. written by the young author's first teacher, T. It. Coon, was read: How clear the Bun comes over the hill And casts Ions shadows for' a uhiLe On rocks and plains, on lakes and rills. While songs of larks the morning fills. To praise the grand old hills of Lyle. Eternal seem these hills of green when Springtime verdure paints each p.'le Of mountain height and level sheen: But Summer's sun transforms the scene And gives the great brown hills of yle. Fair Wauna flows beneath the ivall And murmurs as past the isle Of Memaloose, the Indian's all When life has flown, and mighty pall Hides now from, him the hills of Lylc. The red man comes, the red man goes And Wauna's flood flows on the while. The white man builds as b-st he knows. But red or w hite, the day must close, And darkness claims the hills of Lyle. Behold the double tracks of steel That bind the river's every mile: How vain the sense of rest to feel When barge and steamers, strong of keel Pass by to vex the hills of Lyle. For those ar3 but the tokens 111 Of men's mad race for lucre vile. Give me the cottage by the hill With orchard fair and man's good will Among the sun-kissed hills of Lyle, And let me dream of ases flown When cliff met cliff in massive style And shore to the arch made one By "Bridge of Gods," eternal stone. That joined mayhap the hills of Lyle. . The legends old. the red man's lore That poet's vision lives the while When rocks eternal live no more To mark the path that gods of yore Once trod among the hills of Lyle. Here Balch's spirit bowed in prayer Mid Nature's charms and Heaven's smiles And sang of Genevieve the fair. No more with him in life to share Earth's Joys among the hills of Lyle. And here the mound of earth is shown And granite rocks to mark a while The poet's ashes 'neath the stone. He bore the cross but not the crown Among the sacred hills of Lyle. The bridge of time shall be no more. But human hearts made free from guile Shall feel no pains on any shore. And this my life shall keep In tore Sweet thoughts of the blest bills of Lyle. Lift up mine eyes ointd the hills. From all below and find rest a while; Be free my soul from all thine ills. Look up and live, for God so wills. And these ere his brown hills of Lyle. STANDISH TALE "MYTH" John Alden Wooed for Himself. As serts One of His Descendants. PHILADELPHIA. April 1. One by one the good old tales that cheered child hood's happy hours are being taken away from us. First'comes Sidney George Fisher and declares the Wash ington hatchet and cherry tree tradi tion an "exploded myth." Now comes the Rev. Paul Sturtevant Howe, rector of the Church of the Advocate, Cape May, and declares that Miles Standish never sent John Alden to woo Priscilla Mullen. Dr. Howe told the members of the Mayflower Society at their annual banquet that he knew there was no foundation for Longfellow's famous poem because he himself was a de scendant of John and Priscilla. John Alden "spoke for himself" all the time, said Dr. Howe. and Miles Standish barely knew Priscilla. EDITH LANYON READY FOR BATTLEFIELD NOW War Nurse Offers to Go "Anywhere" War Baby, Born at Military Hos pital, Wears Armlet to Show He Will Serve His King and Country. SOMEWHERE IN ENGLAND. March 14. (Special.) The little hospital baby who was born February 29 had a present the next morning of a wee khaki armlet with a crown on, to show that he was willing to serve his King and country. Baby's father said he was not going to have a conscien tious objector in his family. At present the armlet decorates his little cot. Nurses. 1 notice, have no time to keep up to date on war news. I usually manage to read the morning paper just about bedtlmer Earlier in the day I depend on my patients to tell me the news. They usually know any thing of importance. I spend my time mostly in the morn ings helping the staff nurse to do the more important dressings. If I were an ideal -assistant I should know ex actly what instrument or piece of dressing she wanted next merely from the look in her eye. But I am not ideal yet. Only a lucky amateur to be allowed the privilege of being there with her at all. A good assistant, like a good golf caddie, is born, not made. I do not yet always pass her the right club. If surgical instruments really were clubs and I were really a caddie, what an awfully big bag I should have to carry around! Muck Walking Required. I am still wearing out the soles of my shoes at a rapid rate. I must walk thousands of miles. My appetite U exceedingly good and I can sleep at ni-ghts. so all these exer tions must agree with me. It is an astonishing thing that a nurse can go straightway from a most horrible op eration and eat an exceedingly good dinner. It takes more than the thoughts of Zeppelins to keep us awake at nights. It is a wonder that our hands ever survive the amount of scrubbings they get per day. It is rather depressing to have a lit tle girl whom you have bthed and scrubbed and made beautiful at bed time in the children's ward turn' up again as dirty and neglected as one did today. She was such a nice little girl when she was clean and liked to have a little toy duck in her bath. Oh, the pity of it! I also feel sad because one of my miner patients had to have his right hand cut off. I drew the line at see ing it amputated. I just could not bear to see him lose it forever. Such a splendidly built young fellow, too! . It fell to my lot to try and comfort him afterwards, but words seem un commonly inadequate- at such a time. Or is it that any seem too many? Teeth Pulled Fridays. . Friday evening is tooth-pulling even ing at the hospital. One of the den tists of the town attends and the house physician gives "gas." I was astonished to see the rapid rate at which those teeth came flying out. It was like watching a game of "tid dledewinks" to see them rattle one af ter another into the receiver. But I do not want to play. I would rather tand by and refresh the victims with a drink of tepid water, as I did. I saw a remarkable number of clips taken out of a man the other day. He actually had 58 in one leg and 68 in the other after an operation for vari cose veins. There were several stitches besides. He seemed exceed ingly proud of having had such a rec ord number in and was carefully sav ing them for future use. He told me that when he was well he should win a lot of money at his club from friends making bets and guessing how many of them there were. He did not say much when they were being removed, but I dare say he thought a lot. I nobly presented a friend of mine who was going to the front with a sealskin cap to keep his ears warm in the trenches. He was bound for the usual unknown destination and wa duly grateful. . I have since discov- AO' feVv- lvt? k- vCfcss . - II Foe-,;- wn ifc:;5&yv. f ti , fcsS) i S5iz cfzsr. fzJ - 'r.-wS STTt " rs-.j-T.r- c-o. f ( S ii ,.-jiy -Ai. .. 1 1 ktr V. . 1 j pT?, - -t-d ?T 1 ONE of the many unique and dis tinctive features of the Columbia River Highway is the stone and concrete bridge over Eagle Creek, be yond Bonneville and near the Hood River County line. The bridge is in the form of a ribbed arch of reinforced concrete with a veneer of natural stone. The arch forms a bO-foot half circle. The bridge has a fitting setting in the scenic surroundings along tnat por tion of the highway and is really one of the most prominent show places of the entire route between Portland and Hood River. Eagle Creek, at the location of the bridge, is not more than 50 feet above sea level, but within three miles up the canyon the stream reaches an elevation of more than 4000 feet. The Eagle Creek Canyon is said to be one of the most beautiful and rugged canyons in America. On account of the abrupt sides of this box canyon, it has never been completely explored. Officials of the United States Forest Service, who have negotiated some parts of the can yon, say there are several high water falls along this stream, one of which is higher and has a greater volume of water than the famous Multnomah Falls. One of the early plans of the Trails Club of Oregon is to build a trail up Eagle Creek Canyon to a point on the high plateau, where it will connect with an .extension of the Larch Moun tain trail. ered that he went to East Africa! Per haps it will keep his ears from getting sunburned. Patient Knows Portland. I saw one of my military patients out yesterday and he gave me such a noble salute that I felt like a Field Marshtrl. at the very least. My Fusilier patient the one who had been a sailor and knew Portland well has gone to London for special treatment at the Duchess of Portland's Hospital there. He is a man. indeed. He just hopes they can make him well enough to go back to the front and join his regiment. No home serv ice for him, he says. If he is just strong enough to shoulder his knap sack and be off he will go back and fight some more. One might think he had already had more than enough, after being gassed, torpedoed and finally wounded in the spine. I went up to the Military Hos pital to bid him goodbye and good luck. The Highlander is back in Scotland on long leave. He was irate because the authorities would not let him come here first and bid his nurses goodbye. He was not really strong enough to manage any side trips, but he had made up his mind to come, so the pow ers that be sent a military escort with him to put him on the through Scotcn express. I fear he will never be able to fight again, but he has set his heart on being back at the front fighting with his old regiment the Black Watch. , They say now that special consta bles have had orders to draw Zeppe lin bombs by going to desolate places remote from any town and making a noise like a cathedral. Perhaps this wise advice hails from America; it sounds rather like it to me. An old woman told a friend of mine that her soldier son got gassed just because he was hot and took off his "perspirator." The same friend was also informed by a wounded soldier that, al though he was still in bed, he had a good appetite and could eat enough to make him very uncomfo.rtable. So you see he was getting on splendidly. I have quite a long line of soldier photos on my mantelpiece grateful patients and others. My last one is of the gunner-sergeant and he certain ly looks a good fighting man. He re ports that they are very busy out in France. Every woman in England has a pic ture collection of -fighting men. Per haps the men at the front likewise treasure photos of nurses and others. Anyway we often see pathetic pictures in the newspapers of photos picked up on the battlefields. Our men in khaki have not much room to keep their treasures. A kit bag is rather an un satisfactory storehouse for photo graphs, although I have often tied up bunches of love letters for my soldier patients with nice pink ribbon. One hates to see them all mixed up loose witn pieecs of shrapnel and brushes and combs and things. Every house in England Is. as it were, a shrine for the soldiers who have gone out from It to battle hus bands, fathers, brothers and sweet hearts. Their woftien folk are kept busy packing with loving hands "grub boxes" of delicacies, cigarettes and ex tra socks, etc., etc., to send out to them every week. Mall Delivery Prompt. The army service corps are certainly kept busy. The delivery of letters is prompt even to the front line of trenches. Parcels wait over a day or two until the front line men come back for their rest, hot baths and change of clothes. They seldom stay more than four days at a time in the front line trenches now. After the horrible mud and water of those trenches they say that a hot bath is paradise. 1 have attended the last of the course of 23 medical lectures and have volun teered, for drni jr. nursing .service .any- - ! - . . - 111 V'' f ' 1 , 1 ' - Id v :.-.-,sa-.-.w-vvW-,. v;-: - v ... I A f' J&& $ acS'" 'LlJ.---"'' .'.1 1 where. I am to go to the Naval Hos pital in the south for the three months July, August and September. After that I am most likely to be kept on home service. The army authorities like to catch their nurses young for for eign service, particularly if they are not fully qualified nurses. Of course 1 am younger now than I really am. I can only do my best, but If they will insist on a birth certificate of course it upsets things. CHARMS LOST; MAIM TAKEN SIiowiiiAn Illumes Missing Rabbit's Toot and 111ns for Ill-Luck. ST. PAUL, Minn.. April 2. Will someone please return Louis La Porte, veteran showman, his horseshoe nail ring and his rabbit foot? In police court, awaiting arraign ment on a grand larceny charge, the showman reviled fortune and cursed the unknown person who stole his luck charms. "If I hadn't lost that ring and rabbit foot three months ago at Waterloo, la., I -wouldn't be here today," bemoaned La Porte. La Porte is charged with robbing John McMahon, 7a years old, rancher and partner in the La Porta enter prises, consisting chiefly of a six legged sheep, two alleged mummies, a tent and equipment and a two-ton mo tor truck. McMahon says La Porte took his vest, containing $75 and a $400 draft. "That's bunk." said La Porte. "He wanted to buy an interest in the show, but he didn't get his $700. He did pay me $100 for a half interest in the broken truck, now at Jordan, Minn. I was broke and had to get something. He's got a contract for that deal, though. He hasn't any interest in the freaks." BUG'S BACKBONE IS SPRING Snapper Has Spinal Column Like Knife, Is l-'inding. PHILADELPHIA. April 1. The snap ping bug has a spring in his back, like a knife. When not in use as a spring it serves him as a backbone, so you see he is a believer in 'scientific effi ciency, and makes one part of his ma chinery do the work of two. His spring backbone, - or backbone spring, if you prefer, gives him power to jump. JPjfll 3scfgr- Over- "k which in turn gives him his name. Nature probably gave him the spring to help him get on his feet when he's on his back. You've noticed how help less some insects are when you lay them on their backs. Not this one, however. He slips his backbone out of its groove and then slips it back again, suddenly. The spring pops him up in the air, he turns a somersault and drops right-side up. Spring backbones are common in sev eral other beetles. The beetle of the pestiferous wire worm, which destroys the farmer's crops, has a spring in his back. Other members of the family make their homes in trees or decayed wood. The suffrage is exercised by about 16, OOtUMMl in th Vriitd States. DARKENS YOUR GRAY HAIR Q-Ban Hair Restorer, No Dye, Surest and Only Harmless Hair Color Restorer Known. Actually does so you can see It with your own eyes turn every gray, streaked with gray, prematurely gray, or faded hair in your head beautifully dark after a few applications of Q Ban Hair Color Restorer to hair and scalp. Every strand of your hair, whether gray or notbecoraea evenly dark, soft, flossy, fluffy, full of life and health, full and heavy and fascinat ing, just as you like to have your hair appear, and the entire head of hair is so beautifully and evenly darkened no one could suspect you had applied Q Ban. It is absolutely harmless, and no dye, yet not even a trace of gray shows after applying Q-Ban. Give it a trial. Sold on a money-back guarantee. COc for a big seven-ounce bottle, at Hunt ley's Drug Store, Portland. Out-of-town peoplo supplied by mail.