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.
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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
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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
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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-
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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-
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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
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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
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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
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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.