5
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAJT, PORTLAND, AUGUST 22, 1920
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Says Annie Peck, the World's Greatest
Woman Mountain Climber, Who Tells
Why Her Three Brothers Have Celebrated
the Fiftieth Anniversary of Their
Graduation From College and Are Still
"Qoing Strong"
Ccoree B. Peck, father of Annie Peclc
He died at the age of 74.
Annie Peck, from photograph taken at
20 yeaVa of age.
Old-fashioned folk frequently aigh for
a return of "the good old daya," while we
of tho present generation think how much
more enjoyable the living conditions are
today than they were when grandmother
was a girl. And If grandmother is ap
pealed 'to for an opinion she slgha remin
lscently, and cays that while scientific
feeding, hygiene, rapid transit and other
modern improvements may have contribu
ted greatly to our bodily comfort, she still
thinks that in "the good old days" people
seemed more contented, even though they
fared more simply, raised larger families,
aeemed healthier and lived happily to a
ripe old age.
Annie S. Peck, the famous mountain
climber, who ts now preparing for her
econd ascent of Mt. Huascarar, 21,812
feet high, is qualified to apeak of "the
good old days." for her mother was a
strong believer in old-tashioned methods
of raising a family and she apparently
applied these methods successfully. Three
sons, stilt hale and hearty after passing
the allotted three Bcore and ten, are evi
dence of that fact. Another important
piece of evidence is their Bister. Annie S.
Peck. And Miss Pock, who tells here how
he and her brothers were raised ac
cording to old-fashioned methods, explains
Interestingly the Important relationship
of health to happineas in the family life
and also why the healthiest family is the
happiest.
BT CLIVE MARSHALL.
A RECENT Incident. probably
unique In the annals of college
commencements, deserves wider
publicity than the brief chronicle of
a local paper, since it has a practical
interest for us all.
Always, at commencements, there is
mention of an oldest "jrrad" alive
somewhere, usually-in the nineties;
while on the ground are a good
many rather "old boys," a few of
whom are celebrating the 60th anni-.
versar'y of their graduation. The
unusual circumstance is this:
At one commencement last June,
where a youthful stripling of 71 years
WW enjoying his 60th. anniversary
with some of his surviving class
mates, there stood by, so to speak, his
two older brothers who. In 1914 and
1916. had celebrated theirs. Stranger
still, the father of these three, who
In 1S76 entertained his half-dozen
surviving classmates, graduated from
the same college in 1S26.
To many the country over this
. record will have a more personal note
when they learn that it is of the fam
ily of Annie S. Peck, the famous
mountain climber, holder now for 12
years of the altitude record in moun
taineering, 21.S12 feet, of all North
and South America
Blether's Old-Fashloned Ways.
Of course, ehe expects at some later
date to celebrate the 50th anniversary
of her own graduation. This no one
can doubt since Dr. Royal S. Copeland.
commissioner of the department of
health, city of New York, after tak
ing her blood pressure declared that
she ought to live to be 100, a decade
more than Miss Peck had been plan
ning for. Her celebration, however,
will not be at the same college, as
Brown university refused her plea
for admission when she desired to
walk in the path her brothers trod
Believing that behind this record
of a long-lived, healthful and very
happy family might be found a les
son of profit to us all, I asked Miss
Peck how It happened; whether it
came as the result of natural endow
ment and extraordinary physiqUe or
from a mode of life which others
might follow with similar effect.
"I am happy, indeed." said Miss
Teck, "to have the opportunity of
explaining- this matter, in the hope
that some persons, especially mothers,
may profit thereby. Those" who pre
fer a short life and a merry one, as
they call it, will not be interested
but any who believe that sane enjoy
ment and usefulness for a longer
period are rather to b,e desired may
find It easily attainable. .
"Our family comes of the best old
New England stock, so perhaps we in
herlted what I could call a strain of
endurance. ' De had great-uncles and
aunts galore, who lived Into the
nineties, our Grandmother Peck to
S8. She indeed was a wonder, who a
TO did the work for a family of 12
and once, I am told, lifted a barrel o
5
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MISS ASME S. rEtK, THK t HXMPIO.V MOl'.VTAl . CLIMBER. HER LAT
EST PHOTOGRAPH.
Mount Hnaacaran, perpetually anovr-clad and 2112 feet hljch, wu climbed by Annie Peck. She la the only iroman
who ever attempted that daring feat and now she la preparing: to climb the mountain a grain. The photosraPh
was taken from an altitude of 10,000 feet. Photo Copyright by Harper & Bros.
ANNIE PECK'S THREE BROTHERS; WILLIAM, JOHN AND GEORGE, WHO GRADUATED MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY AGO.
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WlLXIAM T, AS HE LOOKBD BEFORE GRADUATION AND AS
HE LOOKS TODAY AT 72 YEARS.
JOHN AT THE TIME OF HIS GRADUATION AND TODAY
AT 75 YEARS OF AGE.
cider from the ground into a wagon. !
Our parents, however, were by no
means robust, both delicate in youth,
my father always remaining so. And
the poor children, alas! I have often
heard my mother say that every nurse
she had declared that that baby
would never live to grow up. Yet
here we all are, not so very old, 'tis
true, the boys aged respectively now
77, 75 and 72.
The true secret of the matter is
that we had an extremely sensible.
ntelligent mother, who brought us up
the way we should go, and when
we were old we did not depart widely
from our early training. An occas
ional remark of my mother's which
may displease a few was that we
should never have survived had she
not, when the second, an extremely
delicate child, was 3 years old.
changed from allopathic to homeo
pathic treatment. Therefore, no
strong drugs, no cathartics, quinine,
calomel, or such like remedies, and no
patent medicines were administered
to us. I well remember having every
few months attacks of gastritis (we
called it bilious fever) until I en
tered my teens, but almost never
thereafter.
We lived a simple life; plain liv
ing and to some extent high thinking
was our portion. There were not so
many frills in those days and we all
found time to read. My mother, I re
member, took Hall's Journal of
Health, by which she doubtless profit
ed, having besides a great deal of
plain common sense.
First and foremost we were
taught obedience and self-control.
Whether we wished or not (it was
always 'not' with me), we went to
bed at 7 o'clock until at the age of
or 9 we reached the grammar
school; then at 8 o'clock till we en
tered the high school, at 13. For two
years more 9 was the hour, then oc
casionally later. Plenty of sleep for
growing children is surely the first
requisite. I pity the little ones. I
see in the street at 10 or 11 o'clock
and' wonder at the selfish negligence
of their parents, as also at those I
see carrying their offspring in the
subway and crowded trolley cars even
at later hours.
Fed on Wuoieaome Food.
Next in importance is food. It was
before the days of balanced rations;
proteids were unheard of, cereals had
not become the mode; yet in, view of
our beginning we thrived fairly well.
Milk unpasteurized was our drink
night and morning, two large tum
blers full, double the size of those for
which you may now pay 10 cents. We
had a cow which my father or
brothers milked, and though skimmed
for cream sauce or (sometimes) but
ter, the milk was richer than most
of the milk you will find today. Meat
once a day was the rule with fresh
vegetables of the season at our 1
o'clock dinner. A little left-over
might be used at breakfast, such as
hash or creamed codfish.
"Our favorite breakfast food was
delicious sweet corn fresh from our
own garden, two or three ears
apiece; later in the season sweet po
tatoes. Oriddle cakes. corn bread
and other warm foods, rye drop
cakes, milk or. cream toast were also
breakfast fare, but never hot biscuit
or warm raised white bread which
my mother deemed unwholesome.
Light suppers were her fad; a gen
erous slice or two of excellent bread.
a cookey or a piece of plain cake, a
little sauce or fresh fruit and milk.
"Pies were an occasional' luxury,
thick of . fruit and thin of crust, pud
dings of various kinds being consid
ered more wholesome. A single piece
of pie was allowed, yet these were of
good size. While Horace Fletcher
was unheard of we were taught to
chew our food thoroughly and eat
slowly. .
"When we had ails absolute diet
was the rule. Nothing whatever to
eat while serious symptoms prevailed,
then perhaps gruel, of which 1 de
clined to partake, preferably going
for a week without anything at all.
By generally nipping ailments in the
bud we had few
nesses. Two of
whooping cough
if any severe I II
us have escaped
to this day, none
ever had typhoid fever, pneumonia or
diphtheria, one only scarlet fever,
none malaria, at least never a chill.
At the same time we would never at
any time have been called rugged,
much less so than most of our
friends, now a lone time in their
graves.
"On two matters my mother was of
the strictest, strongly opposed to the
use of tobacco and to drinking. She
preached and trained with such effect
that not one of the boys ever drank
wine or. beer or smoked a cigar or
cigarette. Other stimulants, tea and
GEORGE B.'a GRADUATION PHOTO,
LATEST PHOTO AT 77 Y
coffee, were also taboo to us chil
dren, though used by our parents, and
up to now two have never drunk
them habitually, the. other two tak
ing up morning coffee after arriving
at years of discretion that is, 60 or
more.
"We were not stuffed with sweets
like the children of today; an infre
quent penny for a stick of candy was
a gift of value; ice cream was a rarer
treat, soda water undreamed of.
"For exercise we played ball and
marbles in the yard, climbed trees,
slid down hill in the winter; the boys
worked in the garden, but they had
no regular athletics, and asile from
walking a great deal they took .no
habitual exercise.
"One notable circumstance is that
ONLY WINNERS ARE HAPPY
AT CORNWALL FLOWER SHOW
Judges Blunder as in Baby Contest Everybody Vents III Feeling on Tea
Dispenser W ho Doesn't Understand "Ha'penny, Tenner and Bob."
BY EDITH E. LANYON.
CORNWALL, England, July 30.
(Special Correspondence.) After
all we have had one perfect day
this summer. When it came we said:
"Here is a perteci day; let's have a
picnic." And off we drove, to Holy
well beach with our little donkey. A
picnic must be a spontaneous affair
a wet summer like this.
Our donkey "Bob" is a character;
fair words and compliments may In
duce him to hurry, but the driver
who uses a etick had better hire a
snail. One of the maids. describes him with the world.
of crushed wild thyme in our nos
trils and 'the taste of the salt spray
on our lips. The turf, sprinkled with
wee snail shells, is more delightful to
rest upon than the most luxurious
mattress ever made by man.
Rabbit Hole Hold Tea.
A convenient rabbit'hole held our
flask of hot tea just as if the rabbit
had vacuum bottles in his mind when
he made it- Sea pinks rustled gen
tly in the breeze; above us was noth
ing but blue sky, below us nothing
but blue sea and all seemed well
as "cunning as a adder."
He is a tiny mite with a pleasant
little face, and if he sees a particu
larly succulent clump of clover by
the wayside the picnio has to halt
until he refreshes himself and feels
like continuing the journey.
Sometimes he takes to the high
road again with a decorative bunch
of yellow dandelions hanging out of
one corner of his mouth, and then
we feel like part of a rose festival
parade. The country roads and
hedges are so charming, that it Is a
pleasure to dawdle past them rather
than whizz by in a motor car.
AYoodMheds Travel Over There.
Everything we meet seems huge in
comparison with our tiny vehicle.
Once I thought I saw the Woolworth
building from New York or the
Masonic temple, Chicago, coming
along the road, but when it got close
it was only, a woodshed on a wagon.
We walk up all the hills and we
mostly walk down all the hills, and
Bob follows along behind like a faith
ful little dog. As Cornwall is mostly
up and down hill, we get plenty of
exercise, which helps us to digest
ths Cornish pastries and other good
things in the picnic basket.
Yesterday's picnic was a joy.
.We sat on the springy, short turf
on the top of the cliff with the smell
Arter tea we climbed down onto
the beach, peered into mysterious
caverns and deep pools and clam'
bered over treacherous rocks Juet
abandoned by the tide and covereo
with. dripping, slippery seaweed.
Once we came upon horrible masses
of barnacles torn from deep sea
wrecks by the recent storms and
thrown upon the ! beach, fast becom
ing heaps of corruption in the hot
sun.
Barnacles were a nightmare of my
youth. As a child I saw some cling
ing to a wreck and they were pic
tured In my mind ever afterwards as
hateful cockroaches imprisoned in
mussel shells with long fleshy, pink,
boneless fingers reaching out and
clutching anything within reach. The
very thought of them was a horror
to me in the night.
Same Old Barnacles.
I never saw any again until yes
terday and was surprised to find how
faithfully my child-mind had por
trayed them. They were just as I
remembered them, but seemed smaller.
Kemorseies, coia-Diooded sea crea
tures with tenacles make me shud
der. One could never appeal to their
better natures.
We turned from the horrible barna
cles and came upon a cave all fes
tooned Inside with beautiful ferns,
and they hung from the roof and
grew in every cranny above the water
line. It was like turning from hell
to heaven.
My companion gathered up little
bits of wreckage and filled the picnic
basket. She says she feels an irre
sistible impulse to do so whenever
she gets on a beach, and puts it down
to her pure Cornish ancestry; "wreck
ing" Is in her blobd.
Home of Wrecking; Industry.
Holy ' Well beach was the very
heart of the wrecking industry, its
wild .stormy sea. Jagged rocks and
Inaccessible cliffs made It pecaliarly
suitable. In olden times the Cornish
were asTad as the sirens, and coaxed
ships to their shores to be wrecked on
the rocks. Then they swarmed out
and settled on1 the goods washed
ashore like vultures. They robbed
the dead and often slew the survivors.
Cubert church stands on the high
ground above Holy Well. It is very
ancient and has an uninterrupted
view of 40 miles of sea. Legend says
that in the bad old days a man rushed
into church during morning service
one Sunday and cried "A wreck, a
wreck!" The congregation melted
away like magic, the parson follow
ing, tearing off his surplice as he ran
and shouting: "Wait, wait, let's all
start fair!"
It was he who prayed: "O Lord let
there be no wrecks; but if there be
wrecks, pray let them be on our
shores."
' Pirate Sons Since Reformed.
Now we are all reformed charac
ters in Cornwall, and many people
with pirate ancestors are good Ww
leyans. On the site of the old cock
pit stands Newlyn's Wesleyan chapel.
If the ghosts of' the fighting cocks
haunt the place they must find the
new surroundings a bit unfamiliar.
The rain Is spoiling the crops and
the disease is in the potatoes. A
good deal of the outlying hay was
snatched In yesterday while the sun
was shining. Today a gray sleet is
blowing on from the sea and soaking
everything.
Under the subsoil of this district
lies the gray granite. It seems par
ticularly good for dairy farming. It
is a case of getting milk out of a
stone, for the yield of milk becomes
less when the cattle are changed from
the granite lands. One farmer found
that a cow gave les .than half as
much butter fat in other pastures.
The black Cornish pigs always
amuse me, they do seem to enjoy life.
They scorn lives of leisure spent in
stuffy stj-es and prefer to range the
country and seek that which they
may devour.. They are equally capa
ble of tearing up the white clothes
spread out on the furze bushes to
bleach or eating up the young chick
ens and partly-hatched eggs.
Devila In Hok.
The country people excuse their
misdeeds by saying: "Well, poor
things, the Lord sent the devils Into
the swine so what can you expect?"
The well-satisfied expression on the
face of an old black sow who has op
ened the gate and let herself and her
family into a neighbor's cornfield has
to be seen to be believed.
The little black piglets are very
fascinating and there always seems to
be a line of them following "mother."
There was a flower show In the
village last week and plenty of huge
cabbages, peas and potatoes attended
to be admired. Flowers were not so
abundant.
There was an exhibit of table dec
orations with 13 entries and great
excitement among the competitors.
Everybody liked something different
and nobody agreed with the judges'
choice. I was admiring a yellow
scheme -carried out in "Aaron's Beard"
when a scornful voice behind me said:
"Well, that's a whisht looking lot,
anyway!" And I felt duly crushed.
But the Popples Died.
Wild scarlet poppies in a burnished
copper bowl, with tiny sheaves of
corn for the corners of the table,
pleased my eye, but, alas, the poppies
withered before the judges saw their
beauty. Rolls of butter, big brown
eggs and glasses of luscious clotted
cream sat side by side, and well
browned cottage loaves and sweet
cakes were neighbors to the Jars of
bottled fruit.
It was a social event only second
in importance to the baby show. I
was helping in the tea room and
handed out cups of tea, saffron cake,
white cake, sweet cake and well
buttered cornlsh "splits" until I felt
like a well-buttered bun myself.
Customers paid f"br what they ate;
first cups of tea twopence, second
cups a penny and a lump of sugar
a half-penny extra.
TAKEN IN 1K64, AND HIS
EARS OF AGE.
of the four children, three Ineludin-r
myself, have been always under
weight. This fussing about children
being a little below average weight
seems to me ridiculous. A lean horse
for a long race. Doubtless Kme of
us at times have been too thin to be
as vigorous as desirable. I remem
ber that my father who lived to be
74. once weighed 128 pounds, about
his average, though 5 feet 10 inches
tall. A brother, 5 feet 9 inches, when
in his twenties weisrhed from 115 to
130 pounds, only once in his life arriv
ing at 150.
"Good hearts and lungs we were
doubtless endowed with, and we
have never abused them, though giv
irfg them plenty of the exercise which
they need.
Not Rich, But Quite Happy.
"One of the brothers has been a
practicing physician, one a teacher,
tt,. t v. ; n .- i : i . . . :
but some years in farming. Of the
first two, one has led a very regular
and one an irregular life. Each of
the three is confident that he could
not have survived had he lived like
either of the others. Nevertheless,
some things they have had in common.
"As a rule they have avoided over
eating and habitual indulgence in
very rich food: .they have not made a
practice of keeping late hours no
engaged in any form of dissipation.
AM are church members and respect
ed citizens.
"All of us have no doubt spent
more hours in work and fewer in re
creation than the majority; we have
been interested in our work and dona
it as well as we were able.
"Hence, although not so gay or so
rich as many, we have probably wor
ried less and had more satisfaction
and enjoyed more happiness than the
giddy, discontented and envious; a
healthy mind contributing to a
healthy body.
"Certainly I would not claim that
we were brought up in the best man
ner possible. More exercise regularly
taken in youth and mature life would
have been an advantage, but how
ever agreeable it may be to spend
two hours or more a day in the open
air . it is not absolutely necessary.
Also I maintain that it is far better
for health and more essential to good
citizenship to enjoy a worth-while
book at home, to read and to thfnk,
than to spend almost ever evening in
extravagant pleasure-seeking."
So those of us who have wondered
at times whether modern living con
ditions promote happiness in the fam
ily life 'may be inclined to think that
grandmother's desire for a return of
"the good old days" may not be with-
out its merits after all.