THE SUNDAY , OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, SEPTEMBER 19, 1920
CHARACTER INDEX FOUND IN BOOKPLATES OF CELEBRITIES
Often the Design Chosen by a Man to Mark His Books Gives One a Bar-like
Beam on the Man Himself, the Man Behind the Screen of Convention
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CQUISITIVENESS Is the char-
acterlstlc that makes collectors
of us all. Every one collects
something it is only the article we
concentrate on that varies. One
man (and his type is legion) collects
money, another searches the universe
lor presentation books or to match
pearls, a fourth finds entertainment
In oriental images, et cetera, through
a long list of objets d'art and ob
jects frequently more bizarre than
artistic.
Perhaps no collector has happier
taunting than he who assembles book
plates, although he may be as poor
as the frequently quoted biblical ex
ample, of penury or in succinct
slang his last name be Croesus,
financial output is not the gauge for
either the size or the splendor of
such a collection; and he will find
many facets of interest that do not
immediately appear on the printed
or engraved surface
bits jOf paper.
The most obvious
of these small
"point" is. of
course, the design itself. A book
plate Is to prove individual owner
ship and in modern usage has de
veloped to present more of Its owner
than his name (and sometimes far
more than he Imagines or desires.)
A man usually becomes conservative
In a second or third, but the first
plate that he chooses is liable to
group several symbols of whatever
he Is interested in art, sport, social
ism and present to the stranger who
chances on the plate a fair idea of
what its owner focuses on, both -in
his work and his playtime. This
character revealment is a point of
interest that offers a great deal of
entertainment and particularly so
when the "ex libris" belongs to a
celebrated personage. (
The small, scroll enclosing the
name of Edith Kingdon Gould forms
a simple and sufficient design for a
plate that If everyone adopted the
mark books would quickly discour
age the collector; It fulfills the orig
inal ex libris use but has few points
of interest. The. larger George J.
Gould- plate is the usual pictorial
type that the collector delights In.
A garden is a fairer subject than
an Americanized chateau, particularly
When it has the detail of the Italian
green and white loveliness of the
is
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Anderson garden that
shown on
of dramatic instinct and his plate
the Isabel and Lars Anderson plate. I follows these characteristics.
In Andrew Carnegie's ex libris
there is evidence of the man. He
announces his fidelity to Scotland in
the thistle motif, and adds, quietly,
his family crest.
Chauncey M. Depew had no such
simple idea in mind when he decided
to protect his books with a pasted
in label, frie light he chose was the
classic oil lamp, i his book was appar
ently an early manuscript or a tome
of price, his crest became the size of
a library table, and himself more or
less his subconscious seeing of him
self shall we say a knight who was
both a soldier and a litterateur. Mr.
Depew is a rather ostentatious man
The Harry Elklns Widener plate
at onoe tells the personality of a
man who wished the world to roam
in and who interpreted the world's
treasure in terms of art. It has
many symbols; the open book, the
leafage, the scrollbearers. the classic
border and Ihe meditating lady all
tell a story that reveals the charm
and the discrimination which marked
its owner. The plate was engraved
by J. A. J. Wilcox of Boston.
The ex libris that Alice Hegan Rice
pastes inside her books is of interest
because of its owner rather than
from drawing or design. No doubt
Mrs. Rice likes to sit under the trees
and read. Most authors, from Omar
on, have enjoyed such leisure mo
ments. But. unlike the oriental, she
gave little thought to comfort mark
her position upon a pile of books.
On close scrutiny the volume she
appears to be reading is blank, fo
perhaps I have misunderstood the
plate's significance it mayrepresent
the clean page on which the Imagin
ative pen of the author is to trace
Its path toward a novel. Entertain
ing, yes, but an example of mediocre
drawing and poor printing; a book
plate for the collector rather than
for private ownership.
Dorothy Furman, whose entertain
ing accrument of books was recently
sold at auction in New York, had
plates made by French, Spenceley
and other celebrated engravers. She
was an ardent ex libris collector her
self and always made a generous
response to the young collector.
It isn't amusing to buy bookplates;
one should acquire them by some
other method to receive their com
plete entertainment. A thousand is
a small showing, but if one discards
the dull and the pretentious, ten
hundred ex libris may be a collected
data of international angrle on several
subjects design, processes of print
ing, heraldry, the aforesaid human
nature, architecture, etc.
Many architects have designed
bookplates and not a few painters
have succeeded in creating one
themselves or a friend.
for
I.ovrr States III" Philosophy.
Exchange.
"Cheer up. Dick, old man! Absence
makes tti heart grow fonder, you
know." "Humph! The trouble Is I'm
by no means sure that it's having
the same effect upon the girl."
MOSLEM PERILS BRAVELY MET BY OREGON MISSIONARY
Margaret Hinman Writes of Turks Who Hem in Their Own Suffering People With Irksome Restrictions That Prevent Their Receiving Proper Aid So Freely Offered by Church Field Workers
Miss Marraret Hinman. author of ..the
accompanying article. Is a former resi
dent of Korest Grove and member of a
pioneer Oregon family. Hore than six
months ago she went to Turkey as a
missionary and la teaclilns in the Anatolia
firls' school at Sdarsovan.
BY MARGARET HTNTXTAN.
MARSOVAN, Turkey, Aug. 10.
(Special correspondence.) As
I write these lines the voices
of orphan children float in from the
kindergarten, einging to Turkish
words, ".You in your corner, I in
mine" happy, joyous, hearty singing,
with no hint in it of the sorrows
through which they have come and
those which, may threaten in the
future.
In the tops of tha mulberry trees
scores of little 'birds are pouring forth
their songs, while from my windows
a peaceful scene is spread before my
eyes. Broad plains of yellowing grain,
with here and there a stack, long
lines of vineyard trees, cool and green
in the hot sunshine, back of all the
wonderful hills of Anatolia, bare,
rugged, but touched with soft, opales
cent tints. Nature's palette here has
so much of the pastel, as if the age
of the country had toned down, mel
lowed, softened the colors.
As one drives along the Asia roads,
the cenery seems not of the present
day, but as if one drove through an
illustrated edition of the Old Testa
ment. It all -speaks of the past and
has that peculiarly pastoral look
given by flocks of grazing sheep
and by men and women working with
oxen and clumsy hand tools rather
than steam tractors and up-to-date
farm machinery. Even, a steel plow
is wanting here, merely a heavy,
wooden concern such as Father Abra
ham might have used when he first
came to the land of Caanan.
All this peace of nature seems so
at variance with the tragic etory of
the land and yet picturesque, quiet,
country folk as. they look they are
not. A reaping scene near the com
pound seemed just made for a picture,
so my friend and I brought our
cameras to bear upon the three old
fellows In red turbans and gay
patched and striped trousers, labor-
iously cutting with hand scythes, and
a.3 we chattered away about "taking
in the stack and the college buildings
in the distance" I glanced around at
one old chap who had,' withdrawn as
we came up to see him standing
scowling, with a huge stone in one
hand, poised and ready for us. Not
wishing our kodaks or our head
broken, we moved on and no harm
was done, but if being stoned makes
one a martyr, then we are all that,
for no ride is ever taken without a
few, ranging from pebbles to the
eize of our heads, being thrown at us
and sometimes when the aim is good
there are bruises.
These tokens of esteem come from
the children, it is true, but one sees
no look of restraint, hears no word
of protest from their elders.
However, Americans are the people
who are in favor here in Turkey.
Often as the N. E. R. trucks go whiz
zing by men salute the Stars and
Stripes and at Amasla, when two of
us attempted to enter the grounds of
the old Seljuk mosque the Turkish
officer at the gate barred our pass
age until a native friend explained
that we were American teachers.
Then he bowed and salaamed. "Buyu
run Buyurun." "Come in come in;
special privilege," etc., and personal
ly conducted us to the door with
much ceremony and show of favor.
This old mosque, by the way. is
well worth seeing. Built by the
Seljuks, who, as everyone knows,
were the predecessors of the Otto
mans, it is a fine specimen of the
ancient glory of those people.
Of course no one enters !n shoes,
so picture us seated on the marble
steps at the entrance in a drizzling
rain, unlacing high boots, then step
ping over the low railing in stock
inged feet, shoes in hand (for it's
well to keep one's possessions in hand
here) and on into a dim, dark interior
carpeted with Turkish rugs, walls
decorated with rich old oriental
frescoing, woodwork dark with years
and elaborately carved. Over in a
corner a divinity student, with white
cloth wound round his turban, chant
ing in a monotonous but pleasing
manner from the Koran soldiers and
officers dropping in from time to
time to kneel with faces toward Mecca
for a moment of prayer.
We went up. a tiny dark stair
case with narrow marble steps to the
women's gallery behind the lattice
and were glad our prophet looked
with the same favor upon women as
upon men and had not bidden us shut
our faces away from the light of day.
'This old city of Amasia is a re
minder, not of a past, but of several
pasts. The ancient capital of Mith
ridates, the ruins of his castle crown
one of the highest hills, showing
arches and walls, bearing ancient
Greek inscriptions and what seemed
more wonderful to me in the walls
we saw beams looking as if good for
many years yet. Think of wood last
ing all these centuries! .
Near the castle is an old Roman
well, a huge pile of masonry we
ascended on the outside by means of
steps built in and . then, candle in
hand, slipped and slid -down an in
clined plane, within, to find at the
bottom what should be at the bot
tom ofa well 'water. But forsooth,
we had been down an old Roman
well!
Mithridates and hiS castle, the
Romans and their well-seemed mod
arns, however, when we had worked
our way around the mountain, spider-
fashion, to the Tombs of the Hittites
tombs of which Strabo wrote in the
time of Christ, ' "old in his day"
tombs hewn out or ttie solid rock,
honeycombing the hillside long
flights on steps with galleries along
the side leading to huge chambers
connected with stone passages all in
good state of preservation some
showing signs, of Christian occupancy,
having Christian emblems on the
walls. The rock of which they are
built is capable of taking a high
polish, and some of the steps are slip
pery and smooth as glass, and the
face of one of the tombs is so pol
ished that it is known as the Mirror
tomb.
How the children who love Hans
Christian Anderson would rejoice in
the Stork villages! To our American
eyes it looked. to put it mildly odd
to see on the broad, low tree tops and
the roofs of the mud houses tall
mother storks with their long bills
and red legs forming silhouettes
against the sky as they fed their
young in a nest which looks like a
disordered pile of straw and rubbish.
Great good fortune comes to the
home which bears on its roof a stork's
nest! No sickness no death no
burning out while the storks stay.
they think.
There are bits of scenery that seem
transplanted from Japan Japanese
prints dropped by the roadside. Tall
yellow iris growing with the reeds
along the watercourses, and sweet as
"the hedge rows of old England" are
the drives along roads bordered with
the wild olive with its dull green
foliage and tiny fragrant cream flow
ers. Later the wild clematis lays a
drift of white, and the blackberry
adds Its note of pink (for here the
blackberry blossom Is a delicate pink,
not white as with us).
In this Asia landscape the familiar
sweetbriar with its pink roses seemed
far away from home even as we are
as we came upon it in our spring
drives. Would it not seem so to you
if you had just passed a train of cam
els padding along their way to the
coast, or had an ugly, awkward water
buffalo kick up his heels and come
charging down upon the auto?
I am not sure whether the buffalo
objects to the odor of gasoline" or re
sents the speed wagons around thii
country where rapid motion is not
the order of the day. But it is no un
common thing for them to give over
their grazing and come galloping
after us but even the worn-out
trucks of the N. E. R. can go faster
than a water buffalo or anything
else here thank fortune!
. These water buffaloes are used
farm animals, and are horrid, un
couth creatures, ugly in more ways
than one so, when walking through
the fields we always keep an eye out
for them. In fact, we do keep our
"weather eye" out most of the time
anyway, and our ears open, too, for
rumors.
Real news is not always to be had
here in the interior, where our mail is
held up for weeks at a time to be
"censored" by men who do not read
English or comes at rare intervals
in the X. E. R. mail bag from Con
stant. These rumors are known among us
as "the imish" (the Turkish word for
yellow journalism). All the Ameri
cans at Maisoran meet at dinner,
when the "imish" is always called for.
The doctor tells what he has gathered
from his patients (some of whom
come from distant villages for this
doctor of ours is known far and near
as "the wonder working doctor" and
has the finest hospital in Turkey),
and the president tells what he has
gleaned from the city officials and
others who drop into his college of
fice for a chat and if any of the
party has chanced to meet, during the
morning, a certain estimable Greek
gentleman he is sure to have a full
budget, for Mr. knows all any
one in this section of Turkey knows
f happenings end there are, just
now, happenings to know!
Before this reaches you, what Is
news now will be ancient history; yet
when they wrote from home that one
of the men connected with N. E. R.
affairs then, said he had received
word that we had all been ordered
into Constant, it seemed to me a little
ancient history that if correct might
not prove amiss.
The workers in the Caucasus were
ordered out and came, with a few ex
ceptions, one notable exception being
Miss Shan,e, who bravely stuck to her
post, transferring from N. E. R. to
missionary ranks to do so; but the
rest of us are all at our inspection
posts except those at Hadjin and
places where they were driven out by
fighting, not ordered out by N. E. R.
Poor, poor Caucasus! The .very
best that could be done for the people
was one-third of a ration enough
only to keep life: not enough to build
up strength and put into condition to
work and now, workers called out.
That pitiful one-third will not reach
them. Those who have come from
there say it is a wonderful country
and the cities of Baku, Tiflis, Kais,
etc, with many modern conveniences
and up-to-date people; but the "reds
were coming, so our people had to
come out "while the coming was
good." leaving behind most of their
possessions, but goods and chattels
soon become very secondary consid
erations over here where the average
person feels he Is fairly fortunate if
he can still count among his posses
Bions life.
A few days ago 50 men over at Zile
lost that most precious of their assets
lost it by hanging. Turks, but not
loyal to Kemal Fasha Effendi, whose
party believes in strong measures to
put down insurrections and disloy
alty. In addition to the hangings, a
good portion of the town was burned.
Zile is within our relief district. Last
winter there was much distress and
suffering among the poor and our
workers carried over food, clothing,
money, brought back orphans and
other dependents, so .the trouble at
Zile seems pretty close home to us.
Zile, by the way, is the historic point
where Caesar wrote "I came, I saw, I
conquered," and I wish some modern
Caesar might repeat those words,
some Caesar who would bring peace
and order and a chance for prosperity
to this troubled land.
It is with sadness we think of
Greece undertaking the task of put
ting through the terms of the allies,
for all around us are Greek friends
pupils, teachers friends liable to
suffer for their country's share In
this. Greek villages scattered all
around. You will understand ,why we
wish some country who had not so
many people over here had taken the
Job when I tell you the Turks around
us are saying, "When the Greeks
reach Samsoun (our seaport) we will
kill all the Christians here," and
while that comes under the head of
"Imish," this comes straight from the
officials themselves, that some of
them wanted to begin deporting all
the Greeks from Maisovan, but the
calmer, wiser counsels of one rather
liberal-minded man saved the day so
far. After our schools closed in June
some of our college tutors and the
teachers from our girls' school start
ed, some for Smyrna, some for Con
stant, some for America, or.ly to find
the port at Samsoun blocked to all
native people' going out. The Ameri
can consul tried to help out our Greek
tutors, but the answer was, "No; they
are Ottoman subjects and of military
age." However, the last time our
truck visited Samsoun the boys were
not there and we are hoping and
praying they made it through and on
over to God's country.
In- talking with the people around
them, our men have found, most of
those, not of the strictly military,
tired of war, not wanting to enlist
for further service, many lukewarm
In their allegiance to either party
half afraid. In fact, to line up too
definitely with either side some
doubtful as to the leaders and
though all say the terms are im
possible to be borne, many not ap
proving of the harsh measures, the
fresh atrocities, they rightly feel,
are only alienating sympathy but,
with such instances as Zile before
their eyes, those men, who would wish
more conservative methods, are care
fully keeping still.
Various means have been resorted
to for recruiting. At Chorum, a few
days ago, all the villagers who came
in to trade were seized and put into
the army. A good way to promote
trade? but poor fellows they sure
ly are "between the devil and the
deep sea" for If they do not come
into the larger centers for supplies.
how can they go on living? And if
they do they are kidnaped for millT
tary service. Here in our particular
locality we have been fortunate in
having as officials men who are in
clined to be liberal and fair-minded,
friendly toward the Americans in
our schools we have bad the sons and
baughters of leading city officials,
and have had good treatment.
Within the past few days, however,
a change has taken place in the
higher officials in one district and it
remains to be seen how things will
go. The military leader in one dis
trict is a man who goes through the
towns, combing with a fine tooth, so
no men who could enlist, escape. A
man who would be called if you
wished to be very polite "Stern" with
a capital S."
The situation is in many ways a
hard one for us, as orders from head
quarters are so strict much of the
help we had been giving our people
can no longer be rendered. We may
not carry native letters in our mail
bag. and. since only letters written in
Turkish and open for censorship, go
through Turkish post, you see where
the Greek and Armenian friends find
themselves. We may no longer carry
any but Americans in our N. E. R.
conveyance, and must, of course, pre
serve a strictly neutral attitude, not
interfering In politics in any way
whatsoever. Though our president.
Dr. George E. White, says "the pros
pect for a quiet school year is not
so promising as last, even," when
they had all sorts of rumors of im
pending evil just as we have now.
Living in Turkey is ever one of un
certainty; yet we are going on, plan
ning for next year's work, hoping we
will be permitted to carry on." So
much has been done this past year in
the way of reconstruction, putting
buildings and grounds into shape,
Catherine ud and reorganizing the
! schools, as well as the more strictly
relief work; it would. Indeed, De
heart-breaking to go away again."
CRUSHED FOSSIL BONES USED
BY CHINESE FOR MEDICINE
By Assimilating Portions of Dragons Oriental Believes He Is Inspired
With Vigorous and Energetic Qualities.
FOSSIL bones and teeth of extinct
animals are called dragons' bones
and dragons' teeth in China and
are a regular stock medicine in the")
Chinese pharmacopeia. Some years
ago the American museum of natural
history in New York city obtained a
small collection of fossil teeth and
bones which had been purchased by a
German traveler in Chinese drug
shops and their use. as medicine was
noted. They are in fact quite regu
larly and extensively used and are
said to be administered in four ways:
Crushed to a powder and swallowed
raw.
Crushed and mixed with sour wine
and the mixture drunk off.
The same mixture is left over night,
decanted and the liquid is drunk
clear.
Powdered and fried.
These teeth r.nd bones are said to
be a specific especially for diseases
of the liver and for nervous disorders.
All of this sounds rather absurd, but
perhaps their chief value is as a
"faith cure," the assimilating of por
tions of dragons inspiring the patient
with some of their vigorous and
energetic qualities. But also it is to
be noted that the teeth and bones of
animals.' whether fossil or not, are
chiefly composed of phosphate of lime,
insoluble in their natural condition,
but by steeping in a weak acid they
can be partly converted into a soluble
acid phosphate. In this form they
would have the same tonic effect as
the acid phosphates sometimes pre
scribed by physicians and more often
taken at the soda fountain without
any prescription. It-would seem then
that taken in sour wine the dragons'
teeth may really have some medicinal
value.
Why fossil bones should be used
i instead of fresh ones is not so . ob
vious, unless It be that as they have
all the gelatin and organic matter
removed, they may be more easily
crushed and dissolved. However
much or little this use of fossils has
served to reduce the prevalence of
insanity or liver complaint among the
Chinese, it interferes seriously with
the scientific researches of Dr. J. G.
Andersson of the Chinese Geological
survey. For as a consequence the
fossils have a very considerable com
mercial value and those who know
where to find them are very secretive
about it. Not only is it almost im
possible to trace the localities from
which the material in the markets has
come, but any promising localities or
prospects are likely to be claimed
by theo wner of the land, or raided
by inquisitive natives, with the re
sult of ruining the specimens for
scientific purposes by breaking up
the Bkulls to extract the more valu
able teeth.
Dr. Andersson has had to start a
campaign of education to teach the
Chinese that good fossil skulls are
worth more to the foreign geologist
than their shattered fragments will
bring at the local drug store.
These Chinese fossils are of very
considerable interest and importance
to science if only they were better
known. For various reasons scien
tists have come to believe in recent
years that the cradle of the human
race, the part of the world where if
anywhere man really evolved out of
the animal world and acquired those
qualities of mind and body which have
set him apart in a higher plane of ex
istence, was somewhere in Asia. Only
after he had acquired that dominance
over the rest of nature did man in
vade and overrun the rest of the old
world and still more recently the new
world. This theory is believed equally
to be true of many races of the lower
animals now widely distributed over
the world.