Los Angeles herald. [volume], January 01, 1891, New Year's Edition, 1891, Page 15, Image 15

About Los Angeles herald. [volume] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1890-1893

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CLEVER WOMEN ARTISTS.
THEY LIVE IN NEW YORK AND HAVE
BRAINS A 8 WELL AS BEAUTY.
Us* Bheta Loulso Chllde's Interesting
Story of the Way la Which Some of
Them Have Conquered Success—An Ar
tist Who Ie Also an Author.
[Copyright by American Press Association.)
MRS. RHODA HOLMES NICHOLLS.
Mrs. Rhoda Holmes Nicholls was born
in Coventry, England. She early evinced
a strong bias for art, which was cncou •
aged by her father, who was at that th 0
vicar of Littlebampton.
Her first serious study commenced at tho
Bloomsbury School of Art, where she car
ried off the queen's scholarship for three
years, to which is attached a small pension,
further increased in this case by v contri
bution from tho queen and the judges.
Mrs. Nicholls availed herself of the pen
sion but a short time, leaving England for
Italy, where sho studied under Cameruno
and Vertanni. Some water colora made
at this time procured her election to tho
Circle Artistico, a select body of about
fifty artists, prominent among whom have
been Fortuity, Siraonctti and Villesgos.
Soon after she wus elected to the Society
of Aquarcllcsts, to whose annual exhibi
tions she still contributes.
Her Venetian palaces and moonlit la
goons first mode her known to American
MISS MARIE GUISE.
art lovers. Very soon after her arrival in
New York, in 1884, her canvases attracted
attention. A gold medal was awarded her
picture "Those Evening Bells" by the
American Art association. This picture
has been etched by Mr. James King, and
is very popular. For the past two years
Mrs. Nicholls has worked almost exclu
sively in water colors. Among her more
Important pictures "The Scarlet Letter"
is a vigorous example of what may be
done with that very attractive medium.
A more ambitious work recently exhibited
is entitled "The Survivors of tho Schooner
Viking," full of dramatic power and feel
ing
Mrs. Nicholls is vice president of the
New York Water Color society, and some
of the best work seen at the recent exhi
bition is from her brush. Her studio on
Twentieth street, New York, contains, be
sides studies and pictures in great variety,
wany properties such as artists are prone
MISS CLARA T. M'CHESNET.
to collect—old carved chairs and a wondet
ful Venetian Bail, combined with fish nets
from the Massachusetts coast in a profu
sion of artistic disorder.
S- Miss Marie Guise is an American girl in
Site of her French name. She has a stu
o at tho Holbein, but is more often to be
found painting at the Dalham and other
stables. Horses and dogs are her delight,
and she paints them probably as well as
anyone on this side of the water.
Miss Guise studied for three years at
Ecoueu under Schenk. "Plowing at Eco
uen" and "Haying Time," large canvases
exhibited at the Salon and at the Universel
about this time, attracted favorable notice.
Miss Guise admires Rosa. Bon hour, and
paints in very much tbe same strong, vigor
ous manner which distinguishes that cele
brated artist. Her canvases are generally
large, and the subjects almost entirely
animals, Peasants and hay fields she loves,
the latter giving opportunity for the floods
of sunshine she knows well bow to depict.
A very fine Percheron horse was repro
duced in The Art Interchange some time
ago, and Miss Guise's favorite, "Vie," a
very cross little dog, will have his portrait
In the same magazine early next year.
Miss Clara T. McChesney commenced her
art studies in San Francisco. Later she
entered the Gotham in New York, remain
ing there fbr three years. She paints
charmingly in water colors and pastel, and
her pictures are growing rapidly in popu
lar favor. Miss McChosuey is a charter
member as well as one of the jury of the
New York Water Color society, and had a
number of good things at the recent ex
hibition. The "Old Woman Knitting" was
■old before it was hung; that and the
"Head of on Old Mao" have been; admired
more, perhaps, than anything that her
clever brush has produced. "AStudy of an
Old Woman's Head," at Kennel's, is paint
ed with a g»oat deal of dash and freedom.
THE LOS ANGELES HERALD THURSDAY MORNING. JANUARY 1, 1891.
Miss Louise H. King is also a native of
San Francisco, although her home since
her childhood has been in New York. At
the Art Students' league, which has sent
out so many of our younger artists, Misa
King was a favorite pupil of Kcnyon Cox.
Much of his strong draughtsmanship and
simplicity of design are visible in her
work. After leaving the league Miss King
devoted some time to study in the Berlin
Gallery and in the London National, where
she seems to have absorbed considerable
of the Preraphuelite, Burnc-Jones spirit.
, Miss King's specialty is high art decora
tion, stained glass and cartoons. She has
recently finished two windows for Tiffany,
and aspires to cathedral wall decoration.
This is a branch of art comparatively little
crowded, and to which Miss King's genius
seems admirably adapted. She delights in
aesthetic pinks, yellows and heliotropes,
and her combinations of greens and blues
are often rather daring and original.
"The Lotus Eaters" was exhibited at the
Exposition Universal, Paris, 1889, and was
much admired for its dreamy beauty and
poetic fire, suggesting the conceptions of
Botticelli and Fra Angclico.
A little blue and green water color
"Lisa" was well hung at tbe American
MISS LOUISE H. KINO. '
this full, and the artist is now at work on
a composition of three women in old Flor
entine dress, which will probably be seen
at tho spring Academy.
In the face of the largo subjects most
congenial to her, Miss King's girlish face
and figure are particularly noticeable. It
is said that her arrival at a fashionable
school in Toledo, where sho had boeu en
gaged to teach, was tho occasion of a most
amusing sensation. "By their works shall
ye know them," however, rarely applies to
artists.
Miss Emily Slade, vice president, and
Miss Francos Hunt Throop, treasurer, of
the Woman's Art club, have an attractive
studio in common at the Sherwood. These
two clover young women, while they have
studied togothcr at tho Art Students'
league under Carroll BecUwith and in
France under Alfred Stevens, have man
aged to preserve each her individual style.
"The Reveille" exhibited at the Salon is
in Miss Throop's best style. It was seen
also at the Academy in 1889 and much ad
mired. The picturo at present on the easel
is a very ambitious subject, "The Child-
MISS FRANCES nUNT THROOP.
hood of tho Virgin." Miss Throop writes
and illustrates charming little stories for
children's magazines. Readers of St.
Nicholas will remember "The Story of
Turk," a noble St. Bernard dog, nnd will
be interested to know that the story is
quite true, and that Turk's skin ornaments
Miss Throop'B studio to this day.
Miss Slade paints children and flowers,
a very agreeable combination There is
much of Beckwith's brilliance and a great
deal of her own breadth of handling in her
work. Her flesh tints especially are fine,
her drawing unusually good, and her sub
jects interesting. She has painted some
portraits, "Tho Concierge" being exhibited
at the Salon of 1880. Lost summer Miss
Slade studied under Dumoulin, the leader
of the new art movement in France, and
this year's work shows traces of his ad
vanced theories. Her latest picture, "A
Flower Show," is a beautiful study of
children, groaned admiringly around a
MISS EMILY SLADE. '
.able, ornamented with a huge pot of chrys
anthemums. The latter flower Miss Slade
paints extremely well. An unfinished
picture of the little blonde head of a child
with a background of yellow blossoms is
very effective. Rheta LorasE Childe.
Early American Statesmanship.
He—Why should you refuse Mm on
account of his not being your equal?
Tour grandfather signed the Declaration
of Independence. Don't you believe that
all men are born equal?
She—Oh, yes, of course I do; but some
men deteriorate after birth, you know.—
Life. ■
Ulsqnoted.
Aunt Polly—Come heah, chile, an*
tole yo' ole mammy de tex* wat de
preacher took'n fo' his disco'ae die
mo'nin'.
Master George—l diaremeinber ex
actly, mammy, bnt it ended. "Many am
cold, but few am frosen."—Harper's Bu
aW
CONTESTING BOYD'S SEAT.
The Farmers' Alliance Han Claims to
B» lile'tel vcruor of Nebraska.
Experienced political prophets predict
that John H. Powers, the Farmers' Alli
ance candidate, will bo the next governor
of Nebraska, although tho Democratic
nominee has a plurality of 1,144 on the face
of tho returns. Tho state had always been
overwhelmingly Republican, but at the re
cent election the Democrats cast 71,831
votes for (jovernor, the Farmers' Alliance
70,187, nnd the Republicans 68,878.
Tho Alliance has tuhen steps to make a
legal contest for the governorship. There
nre many specifi
cations in its for
mal notice, but
the chief charges
are intimidation
at certain polling
places in Omaha,
the failure of no ve
nd small cities to
comply with the
registry law and
tho payment by
the Persona]
Rights League of
the fees for natur
alizing 2,800 for
eign born voterg
7 I
JOHN H. POWERS. (
in Omaha, such payment being held to be
of the nature of bribery. If tho votes of
the precincts in question be thrown out it
will give Mr. Powers a clear plurality of
the votes. The contest will be decided by
the legislature and tho Alliance has a
majority in both houses.
Mr. Powers was born in Madison county,
Ills., in 1831. Both parents were from New
England. Threo years later they took a
squatter's claim in La Salle county, Ills.,
and bought it when put on the market.
For a number of yeans, beginning at the
age of 20, Mr. Powers alternated teaching
district school in winter with farming in
summer. In August, 1862, be enlisted as a
"private in the One Hundred and Fourth
regiment Illinois infantry, and was honor
ably discharged because of sickness. In
1873 he took up homestead nnd tree claims
in Hall county, Neb. In 1888 he sold out
and took up a farm in the extreme south
western part of the state, where he now re
sides. Mr. Powers is president of the State
Farmers' Alliance, which fact undoubted
ly won him his nomination. He has been
supervisor in Illinois and in Nebraska.
These are the only political oflicej he has
held, but he is v representative farmer of
rugged honesty and good hard sense.
DISAGREEMENT AT CONCORD.
New Hampshire Politicians Engaged in
Perplexing Arguments.
There is a lively struggle in progress at
the capital of Now
Hampshire, and
the storm center
for some days has -
been around Dr.
Gallinger, ex-con
gressman and now
candidate for the
United States sen
ate, to succeed
Senator Blair.-
Mr. Blair of course
desires to succeed £
himself. Thej
great struggle has \
been over tho con- '■
trol of the
I,'iturc. aud it in
volves so many
issues that only un
It
Dlt. GALLINGER.
expert on the ground can understand their
merits.
These are as to whether men who served
as census enumerators are "federal office
holders," and therefore disqualified as
members; whether men who moved out of
their districts uro still qualified if they de
clare t heir intention to move back; whether
the towns are entitled to representation
according to this year's census, and, most
of all, whether the deputy clerk of the last
legislature shall make up the roll of the
next, the chief clerk having moved to an
other state and resigned. On the deter
mination of these it depends whether Dem
ocrats or Republicans shall control.
Dr. Gallinger and his supporters are
earnestly opposed to the policy recom
mended by Senator Chandler, aud refuse
to join in all the measures proposed by
their fellow Republicans, and this adds
another clement of uncertainty. Tho gov
ernor convened the legislature (which has
a legal existence till the constitutional d:ite
for the one chosen in November to meet),
and the first struggle was OS the right of
that legislature to adopt unusual measures
to prevent, trouble when the next one meets,
the Gallinger party of Republicans being
classed as the "moderates."
Ever}- Family Has an Isaac.
"Mrs. Partington's" a:ixietios aud pertur
bations have served to amuse millions, for
the American pres.j gave wijjo circulation
to her "felicitous infelicities of speech."
They long divided honor and applause
with the airy paragraphs and sharp wit
of George D. Prentice. "Ike," the irre- .
pressible and very human boy, was a live
ly presence in thousands of households at
a time when John Godfrey Soxe, Mortimer
M. Thompson ("Doesticks") and Capt.
George Horatio Derby were convulsing a
continent with their quips and quirks, odd
whims or whimsical oddities.
The century renowned dramatic proto
type of this species of misunderstood and
misunderstanding feminine was assuredly
not the model chosen by our home bred
humorist. Richard Brinsley Sheridan's
Mrs. Muluprop was an egotistic, gaudily
dressed, well bestowed, imperious and ef
fusively aristocratic ignoramus, who had a
good heart and a weak he:id. Name and
idea may both have been borrowed by Hu
morist Shillaber, but his creation of "Mrs.
Partington" is nono tho less unique or dis
tinctive. "Bco" is a literary creation far
beyond all other prankish boys that grin
from the pages of modern books. He is
natural in hia mischief, and ucts like an
impulsive youngster always does when ho
has too much play time and too many
tempting opportunities. Every family
that boasts of its half dozen active, healthy
boys has one or two Isaacs in tho bouse,
nnd they aro too wide awake to nod in
broad daylight.
The Cliurm of Gen. liooth's Hook.
One charm of Gen. Booth's recently pub
lished book, "In Darkest England," is the
frankness with which he treats of all other
schemes of reform—Christian socialism,
land nationalism and the like. He has a
good word for all of them aud one criti
cism—they look to a distant future. ' He
frankly confesses that he cannot work that
way—ho wants to help those who are in
misery now, no matter whether it is their
fault or not. And, another unusual pro
ceeding for his class, he flatly declares that
in a majority of cases the misery is largely
the fault of the miserable. Hence—and
this is the strong element in his book—we
must attack the evil physically and spirit
ually at the same time. All Schemes-work
ing on one side only of man's nature will
fail as all such have failed.
r Eeila Lewis, a sister of Julia Arthur,
the leading lady of the "Still Alarm"
company, is one of the few American
members of Mr. and Mrs. Kendal's com
pany.
Great hopes are entertained in Paris
for Sardou'a "Thermidor." The play
made a deep impression when the author
read it to the committee of the Comodie
ffrancaiso.
CENTENARY OF A FLOWER
FASHION HAS KNOWN THE CHRYS
ANTHEMUM TEN DECADES.
Once It Was Called the "Tradesman*
Flower," but Now It I* the Pet of So
ciety—Dazzling Displays of Recent Date
In New York and London.
The visitor to tho Madison Square Gar
den during the recent New York flower
show had an ocular proof before him that
there are fashions in flowers. If that im
mense grouping of plants, flowers and
ferns had been called a~ chrysanthemum
exhibition instead of a "flower showlL_the
CHBYSANTHEMUMS AT MADISON SQUARE
GARDEN.
term would have been better applied, for
the hardy stranger from Japan was
queen of the garden. Wherever she was—
in groups, in beds, in varieties or in single
one flowered plants—she wielded her scep
ter with an equally firm grasp. Beside
her the eccentric orchid twisted from ap
parent .nothingness without attracting
much attention, although the year is not
far gone when the orchid had no rival in
the hearts of the fashionable people.
Yes, there are fashions in flowers, as
there aro in colors, as there are in robes
and jewels. There are seasons of which
the rose, the lily, even tho violet (although
the latter seems an inherent contradiction)
is the comet. Today the chrysanthemum
rises highest in the sky of popular favor,
and few there are who will question her
right to reign, while there are many who
predict her sovereignty will bo lasting.
The chrysanthemum wos first brought
into Europe in tbe year of the French
Revolution by a merchant of Marseilles
named Blancard. In the autumu of the
following year (1790) some plants having a
small flower of a dull purplo color were
sent to Kew gardens, London, and a mag
nificent chrysanthemum show in celebra
tion of tho one hundredth anniversary of the
"golden flower" given by the National
Chrysanthemum society, of which Lord
Brooke is president, was recently held at
the Royal Aquarium, Westminster. There
were only twelve varieties known in Eng
land up to the year 1820, and in 1847 the
first Chrysanthemum society was formed.
Yet it was not until years afterward that
the flower was taken up by the aristocratic
classes, and one of the most enthusiastic
members of the Stoke-Newington Chrysan
themum society does not hesitate to chron
icle the fact that for many years it was
THE CHRYSANTHEMUM IN DECORATION.
contemptuously designated "a mere trades
man's flower." Yet the case of the chrys
anthemum is not the first where Dame
Fashion has by wayward fancy taken to
her bosom the flower dear to the hearts of
tho people.
To such proportion and in almost in
finite variety have the chrysanthemums
been cultivated that there is no space even
to mention their names. Wherever they
are shown, in all the shop windows, in all
the boxes of private houses and in the
grander flower shows, their colors and
shapes appear with so many differences
that it is almost incredible that they be
long to one family. White flowered, violet
rose, yellow, golden bronze, pink purple
and brunette—in every color they traverse
the flowery gamut. Beautiful indeed are
the beds of mixed varieties, but far more
beautiful do the chrysanthemums appear
when shown in great masses of a single
color. There are the Cullingfordii, a
crimson flowered variety, and these wind
down through every shade from the gayly
flowered kinds to the pale and colorless
white. The one flowered plants show the
perfection to which the chrysanthemum
may be brought by v severe application of
the of the survival of the fittest.
These plants are propagated from cut
tings in pots; all side branches they may
have borne are pinched off as soon as they
appear; all root sprouts are removed as
soon as discovered; only the main stem is
left to develop into great size and luxuri
ance, with the forces of all combined into
itself. It is so, by this concentration of
the whole strength of the plant, that we
have the magnificent large blossoms of the
BEFORE HER THE CROWD BOWED DOWN.
single plants. Those that are called the
standards are produced in not quite the
same way. They are older, ranging from
ten months to a year, and are grown in pots
by the same process of culling used In the
single plants until they have clean, naked
stems from two to four feet high, when
the end is pinched off and a broad branched
head of many blossoms appears.
It is known that as far back as the end
of the Seventeenth century the chrysan
themum, under the name of "kiku," was
extensively cultivated in Japan, and most
of the finest varieties produced in America
were imported directly from there. We are
told that what we see is as moonlight to
sunlight compared with the marvelous
chrysanthemums of the Flowery land, but
we can take these travelers'stories with
a grain of salt. It may be true that in
point of size the home bred chrysanthemum
outgrows its imported sister, but, on the
other hand, Arocric«n florists are adding
scorei of new varieties year after year to
the list ot cultivated sorts. Another thing
which must be taken into consideration to
uphold the national variety is that the
climate of America is distinctly favorable
to the production of this flower, and before
long the tables will be turned and the
Japanese take to importing instead of ex
porting the best varieties in color and race.
In China the chrysanthemum must have
grown for ages, as not only does it afford a
general type of architectural ornament,
but seems to have a place in the ancient
history of the country. One of the nation
al honors is the "Order of the Chrysan
themum." In Corea, where chrysanthe
mum culture has been brought to great
perfection, the annual chrysanthemum
festival is one of the greatest national
holidays. I have called the chrysanthe
mum the queen of the flower shows re
cently in progress throughout the country,
in other cities as well as New York, but the
term needs specification, for mixed and
crimson and brunette pay homage to a
queen among themselves. She who has
been . elevated to the chrysanthemum
throne is the magnificent white flower
grown on a single stem,, and braidlixe in
its breadth, but gentle and flexible as spun
glass.
Before her the crowd bow down, and, in
truth, since the season is not June, she has
no rivals she need fear. How long she will
wield the scepter, who can tell? There are
fashions in flowers, to return to my state
ment in the opening paragraph, and if a
more beautiful member of her own family
do not depose her some new flower will.
Who has not heard of the craze for black
tulips, which almost bankrupted Holland,
and which did rain many amateurs? The
chrysanthemum craze is as widespread as
that, and yet, without desiring to utter a
paradox, I may say that the present craze
has far more of sanity in it.
Francis Livingston.
TALKED HIMSELF IN.
Congressman-Elect Bryan Has Little
Money, but an Eloquent Tongue.
William Jeunings Bryan, of Lincoln,
Neb., one of the Democratic congressmen
elect who will represent a district having
450,000 people, was born in 1860 at Salem,
Ills. His father, Silas L. Bryan, a lawyer
of high standing, represented his people in
the state senate for eight years, was circuit
judge for twelve years, and as tho Demo
cratic candidate for congress in 1872 was
defeated by a small majority.
The son was brought up on a farm near
Salem, and was instructed at home until
10 years old. Then
followed five years
In the public
schools, two in
Whipple acade
my, at Jackson
ville, Ills.,and two
at Illinois college.
He graduated
from the latter in
1881 as orator and
valedictorian of
his class. While
attending the Un
ion Co 11 og c of
Law, at Chicago,
from which he
5 W. J. BRYAN. J
graduated In 1883, he was connected with
the law office of ex-Senator Lyman Trum
bull. He began to practice at Jackson
ville, but removed to Nebraska's capital
city in 1887, and has gained prominence
rapidly.
For ten years Mr. Bryan has taken a
deep concern in political questions, and
began speaking on the stump before ho
was old enough to vote. He stumped his
i district in 1888 for the Democratic ticket,
and his geniality and eloquence brought
him into acquaintance and prominence.
When the congressional convention met
last July he was nominated unanimously,
and began his first canvass for himself.
His was a remarkable campaign. A young
man barely turned thirty, a resident of the
state but three years and without money
to use in the contest, he overturned a plu
rality of 3,400 given his opponent two years
before, and rolled up a plurality of 6,713
for himself. Ho is a Presbyterian and an
anti-Prohibitionist who does not drink.
Mr. Bryan's wife, a graduate of the Jack
sonville Female academy, has also been
admitted to tho bar, not for the purpose of
practicing, but that she might enter more
fully into her husband's plans.
Tho Indian Manhood Test.
The Indian ghost dance, now so promi
nently brought to public notice, contains
no details of physical muti' '.tion or bar
barity; yet among the ancestors of these
savages Catlin witnessed ceremonies of the
most painful nature in connection with
the manhood test applied to young braves.
Through holes in tbe flesh weights were
tied by tendons to the different candi
dates, and then removed by tearing out.
Batch after batch of the devotees had
made "the last race" to the number of
fifty or fifty-five, till the weights had been
torn from their bodies and left them with
honorable wounds; but there was one poor
fellow who was dragged for a long time,
with the skull of an elk hanging to the
flesh of his legs. Several men bad jumped
on it, but to no effect, for the splint was
under the sinew, which could not be brok
en. He was dragged so furiously that a
cry of horror arose from the spectators,
when the medicine man ran forward and
bade the young men stop.
The boy, who was a line looking youth,
smiled in triumph at his ghastly wounds, -
and then crawled through the crowd to
the prairie to a secluded spot, "where he
laid yet longer three days and three nights
without food, until suppuration took place
in tho wound, and by the decaying of the
flesh the weight was dropped and the
splint also, which he dare not extricate in
any other way. At tho end of this he
crawled back to the village, being too weak
to walk, and begged for food, which was at
onco given him, and he was soon restored '
to health."
A Difficult Political Problem.
The present condition of the "Irish
question" is a fresh illustration of the ex
treme difficulty of creating a federal of
complete home rule system where it does
not arise naturally. All recent writers on
civil government concede that America
has added one great and valuable feature
to the science, but it was the result of a
happy accident, The colonies were planted
separately and acted separately; the states
merely continued and developed their in
dividual control of local affairs, and the
problem of the men of 1787 was to com
bine the separated sovereignties in a na
tional union. In all other countries the
problem has been exactly the reverse—to
create the local governments—and no
country has yet fully succeeded in it.
THE GENTLER SEX.
Mrs. Dorothy Tennaut Stanley is two
inches taller than her husband.
Hiss Ellen Terry has become the presi
dent of the Ladies' Cycling club in Lon
don.
Mrs. Plumb, tho wife of Senator Plumb,
of Kansas, has been an invalid for several
years.
The Duchess of Portland is endeavor
ing to revive the woolen industry, which
is carried on in many cottage homes
about Langwell.
Mrs. Kendal, the , popular English
' actress, says she has boon made an hon-.
! orary member of overV woman's club in I
| tilt* TJmtftd Sr-itaa |
15
CYRUS W. FIELD'S GULDEN WEDDING.
Four Famous Brother* licet at the Feaw
tlvltlen—Laying tile Cable.
Cyrus West Field, financier and philan
thropist, millionaire, railroad operator and'
author, if one may so phrase it, of tho
At lantic cable, celebrated his golden wed
ding the other clay, and his mansion in>
Grani';rey park, New York city, was the
scene of a gathering as remarkable as ever
took placa in America. Four noted broth
era were there—David Dudley Field, tlwr
great lawyer and author of the Field code-,
Henry Martyu Field, editor and owner of
Tho Evangelist, noted traveler and relig
ious writer; Stephen Johnson Field, jn»
tice of the United States supreme court. -
and the famous Cyrus himself. It. Isa fam
ily of Immortals. No ot her country in ttwy
world probably can show four such broth
ers.
The family is of fino old Puritan stock,
and the father, David Dudley Field, nas
born at East Guilford, Conn., May 80, 1781.
In his time he was a minister of note anti
author of several works of interest. His>
oldest son, named for the father, was bora
CYRUS W. FIELD.
at Haddam, Conn., Feb. 13,1805; Stephen'
Johnson at the same place Nov. 4, 1814:;
Cyrus West at Stockbridge, Mass., Nov.
80, 1819, and Henry Martyn, the only ow
who adopted his father's calling, at ttv&
same place April 13, 1823. In infancy and
early childhood Cyrus was so feeble that
no one expected that he would live to ma
turity; yet his frame is erect and sis
health firm at 71, and he will doubtless
have the most permanent fame of tbe
four, for the Atlantic cable is his monu
ment.
He began his business life at the age of
15, hiring himself to a New York merchant
for $2 per week to sweep out the store, put
up and take down the heavy shutters thee
used and "other light duties." Yet at 38
he was rich enough to retire temporarily
from business and travel in South Amer
ica. On his return from this trip he tu>
came satisfied of the practicability of an
Atlantic cable, and after a brief interval
in business he devoted twelve toilsome
years to the project. The world know*
the history. Even in the heat and fury of
the civil war he toiluJ on, sometimes as
completely absorbed in his great work at*
Archimedes was in his study while tlttf:
barbarians were taking the city.
When but two days past his twenty-firs*
birthday Mr. Field married Miss Mary
Bryan Stone, of Guilford, Conn., a comely
lady of such very retiring habits that fevr
New Yorkers know her by sight. She ie
well known, however, to regular attend
ants at Dr. Parkhurst's church, in which •
she and Cyrus may be seen every Sunday
regardless of the weather. All tho Fields ■
ore orthodox, and none more so than tho
old financier. They are the parents ot
seven children, of whom six are living.
After laying the Atlantic cable Mr. Field ■'
returned to business with renewed energy,,
and was at one time worth probably $8,900,
--000, but a few years ago there was a "dr«p •«
in stocks," which reduced his pile a few
millions. It is scarcely necessary to say
that Jay Gould quit a few millions aheadu-
The history of the Atlantic cable is as
interesting as any romance, and the mere
Mr. Field's course in connection with it is
studied the more admirable it appears*.
John Bright, in one of his most eloqueat
addresses, said of him that, like Cyrus «f
old, he freed the messengers of peace from
their bonds, gave lightning wing's to inter 1 "
nat ional speech, and moored the New Worh£ I
beside the Old. -The idea of course was not ■
original with Mr. Field. Frederick K_
Gisborne, a telegraph operator, is some
times credited with originating th**'
scheme, but his plan now seems vwjy
vague. >
Professor Morse mode the experiments
and calculations demonstrating that the*
electric power could be carried from New-,
foundland to Ireland, and urged Mr. Fieidl
to go ahead. The original company coo-,
sisted of David Dudley Field, Marshall Oi
Roberts, Moses Taylor, Peter Cooper ai»»:
Chandler White, but tho last named dying;
soon after Wilson G. Hunt took his plaeul
Mr. Field has retired altogether frcsu
business and spends his summers at his
country home, near Dobbs Ferry, on the
Hudson. Both in country and city he is a
great walker and only uses spectacles foi
very fine print, though naturally near
sighted. Such is the septuagenarian who
was an invalid in boyhood.
South Dakota Sena to rah tp.
South Dakota is gently agitated over
the question of a new senator, as the Dem
ocrats and Farmers' Alliance men hold »
majority in the legislature just elected, and
appear to be unanimous in the determine.
tion that the pres
ent senator, Moo
dy, shall not be re
elected. Twoques
tions confront
them: Shall the
senator be a
straight out Dem
ocrat or an Alli
ance man, and
should the ques
tion of locality be
paramount?
If the latter,
then the senator
. FRAKCIS H. CLAKKF. "
must come from the Black Hills end of the*
new state (as Senator Frank Pettigre*r
lives at Sioux Falls), nnd Hon. Francis ft.
Clarke, of Fvapid City, is the Hills casdv
date. Mr. Clarke was candidate for cor»
Kress on the recent Democratic state ticket,
and made an active canvass and "splendid
run" till taken sick, going ahead of hi*
ticket in every part of tho state. He is »>
lawyer, and a very successful one. Unfor
tunately he was stricken with typhoid fe
ver in the very height of the canvass, audi
Is not yet entirely recovered.
Another candidate is Judge Bartlett
Tripp, who was indorsed for the positions
by the Democratic state convention. Hm
is supposed to be stronger among the Alli
ance men than any other Democrat, bn*
the embattled farmers may conclude to
have one of their own men for senator,,
and stick to it till one of the other partita*
yields.
The mother of Miss Willard deni«ci
that the president of the Woman's Curie
tian Temperance union aspires to a*
Methodist bishopric.
Mrs. Isabel Poland Rankin, daughter
of the late- Luke P. Poland, has given to
the town of Morristown, Vt, |1,000 to
ward a library which- is being estab
lished there-.