Evening Star Newspaper, October 17, 1926, Page 89

MAGAZINE SECTION ILLUSTRATED -FICTION AND FEATURES Part 5—8 Pages " U. S. Documents T BY CHARLES MOORE, Acting Chief. Division of Manuscripts Library of Congress. ASHINGTON, especially the White House, tends to make lay figures of the states- men it creates. Their per. sonalities are ahsorbed by the offices they hold. The whole country reads of their public acts. Large numbers throng to watch their public appearances, but fewer know what manner of men they are indi- vidually, probably, than is the case with most workaday folk. Public af- falrs limit even their intimacies. One result of assembling the pri- vate papers of the Presidents and other men of mark in the dlvision of manuscripts of the Library of Con gress is to turn the statesman back into the man. Letters and diaries, even after the lapse of centurles, can reconstruct a George Washington who is merely a landed gentleman of Virginia, interested in real estate speculations in Ohio: can betray the autocratic Andrew Jackson as ‘the man who established a quarantine in the White House and took personal charge of a servant stricken with smallpox For generations this task. so im portant historically, of preserving, s far as possible, the documentary biog raphies of the Nation's great men was neglected. Countless illuminating let- ters probably have been lost irretriev- ably. The hunt for them hecomes as enthralling as that for a rare ante lope. a coveted moth or an almost legendary orchid. Such a search was prosecuted for years for Arthur. day for there, but parted, so far ont. leaving a then meager filer of the Executive Mansion. President Arthur alone wa tion of the documentary history of the Nation in its personages was under- taken seriously. Fach retiving chief of the manu- the White House remains Chester A. Arthur de- s can be learned, with- bt division passed the quest on to | undertaking be: Imost ch for mem- in The and probably was the s ge. Every Arthur family joined It was kept up fc Tha Arthur pape: began to the imponderability of the Flving Dutchman and the phantom deer of the fiving Scotch Highlands. News of the hunt was broadcast in the newspapers. Even this general alarm apparently was unavailing. * ok K K ETGHTF.EX months passed and there had been no results. Then a woman, who had crossed the con- tinent from California. walked into the Congressional Library with a handbag full of Executive Mansion doc t was left of the presidential files from 1881 to 1885. The papers were not numerous, nor Afd they prove to be highly important his successor. the ber of the the chase, historically, but neither fact detract. | ed in the least from the triumph. The point was that the President Arthur papers had been found and the most exasperating of mysteries solved During all the years that the search for them had been prosecuted through out the country the papers had lain forgotten among the belongings of a New York man who ha® acted at va- rlous times as oneof President Arthur’s secretaries. Upon his death the Af thur papers, with a mass of other do uments, had paseed into the pos slon of his daughter. When she moved to California che took them | A friend who knew of her Ar with her. father’s relationshilp to President thur sent her a clipping ling tention to the disappearance of the Arthur papers, and 18 months later she took them to Washington. Th are being used now in fhe prepara tion of a work which will be the first serious historical treatment of the life of President Arthur. That suitcase full of Arthur docu ments may have constituted no fncon- siderable part of his entire file. The correspondence of even the most pro- lific writers among public men prior to the advent of the stenographer and the typewriter was meager indeed by modern standards. * ok % x 'HE Taft papers already in Library number 230000 and con- stitute_the most voluminous colle tion. This collection has been cata Jogued and arranged so that any let ter can be found immediately if tha date and the writer of it are known. If Willlam Jennings Bryan had pre. served all the letters he received the collection would have on that of the Taft papers Mr. Bryvan's incoming n At times mounted Nordics Not Superior. ARE the superior mentally”> Hot slon has raged over this for many years, and now a scientist has been trying to find cut something definite about it by testing 5,500 New England &chool children of foreign-horn parents, of many different races, The Nordic is not intellectually superior to-the darker races. Such is the conclusion that this sclentist, Dr. Nathaniel M. Hirsch, formerly a fellow of the National Research Coun- cil, draws from his tests, Polish Jews averaged the highest in intelligence, the next in order being Ewedes, English, Russian Jews, Ger- mans. Americans, Lithuanians, Irish. Rritish Canadians, Russians, Pole: Greeks, Italians, French Canadians negroes and Portuguese. The chil- dren tested were all attending public schools in four factory towns of Mas. sachusetts with the exception of 449 negro children from Tennessee “The intelligence of the national groups showed that there is no con- nection between high intelligence and the possession of so-called Nordic blond,” said Dr. Hirsch. “The eight national groups that were superior in intelligence co ted of two national groups that have bren called Nordic, the English and Swedes: two groups that have been thought to possess 60 per cent or more of Alpine blood, the Germans and Lithuanians: two quasi national groups of Jews: one quasi national group of so-called Medite: ranean blood. the Irish, and one na- tional group that is a composite of all four bloods. the Americans.” Dr. Hirsch points out that during the past 3,000 yvears migrations and in- termarriages have blended the three distinct European racial types. the fair, long-headed Nordic. the hrown- haired, round-headed Alpin and dark-haired, ean; so that in no part of Europe to- day is there even approximately a race of one of these pure types. differences among Europeans of to- day are more national than racial, he finds. Each national group has a distinct personality, as a result of its culture and fts heredity, and the dif- ferent nations show marked dif- ferences in intalligence. ¢ “blond Nordics” really the papers of Président | Bric-a-brac purchased in his | rap of paper in the | unrepresented when the compila- | :et envelopes. which contained all | - | arranged and calendared by the Roose. " | Is to be published and will be a unique the | % Art Wealth to Be discus- | the | long-headed Mediterran- The | | | | | | ] Ne— = = 5= he Sundiy Stwd WASHINGTON, urn Statesmen Into Living Personalities D. SUNDAY MORNING, OCTOBER IT \idassy e EH S 17, .1926. HUMOR Letters and Other Papers in Custody of Library of Congress Give Material for Modern Type of Historical Writing. Great Change Observed Since Day When John Marshall, Great Interpreter of Law anc} Friend of Washington, Wrote His Impersonal Story of the First President——Interesting Tale of the Search for Papers of President Arthur. NGRESS BY E. H. SUYDAM. THE SKETCHES ARE REPRODUCED FROM “WASHINGTON, THE BE AUTIFUL” THROUGH COURTESY OF THE SOUTHERN RAILWAY. 1 to 1,000 letters in a single day. He | destroyed all he regarded as unim- | portant. however, and those he saved are being sorted anew by Mrs. Bryan. The Roosevent papers are tremen. | { dous in volume and deal with a re- | markable diversity of subjects. There {are autograph letters from Emperor | William. the Czar of Russia, the King of England. statesmen of many na- | tions. authors. explorers and politi- | elans. This correspondence is being | velt Memorial Association and the Library of Ccngres: The catalogue | document, valuable to historians. o B { "THERE are documents in the collec- | L tion of manuscripts in the Library of Congress which are intrinsically of | inestimable value. such as the Decla- ration of Independence and the Con- | stitution of the United States; others | which may be said to have a definite | pecuniaryvalue as well as historical value, such as the three signatures of | Button Gwinnett, signer of the Decla- |ration of Independence, and still others whose chief value may be said to lie in the light they throw upon events of the time. A signature of Button Gwinnett, who was most parsimonious with them apparently, recently was bought at an autograph sale for $20,000. The | | Library of Congress has his siznature affixed to the Declaration of Indepen- | , TWO DRAWINGS OF THE LIBRARY OF C | with personages rather than persons. | vice: dence, another in a book of auto- graphs of signers of that document, which was given to the library by the late J. Pierpont Morgan, and a third. which' is affixed to one of the most significant autographic documents in existence—the Agreement of Secrecy which each member of the Continental | Congress signed when he assumed his seat. It contains the names nf[ all the members of that body from 1775 to 1777. More personal information concern- ing George Washington is to be found in documents in the Library of Con- gress than In the wrtiings of his co- temporaries. John Marshall and George Washington were friends for vears. The intellect of the man who became Chief Justice certainly was capable of the finest biographies. But at_the time Marshall wrote his four- volume biography of Washington such works were stately affairs, dealing and in his life of Washington there is no personal touch anywhere, and. indeed, the only mention of Washing ton's name in the first volume is on | the title page. Yet the author was | the man who wrote from London, in a letter as vet unpublished, that the vices of Europe were something terri ble, adding that he meant the public vices—that there were some private which he and his friend could hardly withstand. Today the tendency in biographies | is in the opposite direction, and, in Iy 4 &2,7 o34y 251 = LourlslS Folvessy sttty Ao Composfs tnfillos Himasel) on'on Sl Lo 1} vinlos, Loren 2 e 071 Countog 17 BBy Wirnlls o ldngit ey Ualln o1 oy 895 @ o3 Bk D o Gzt & e Lot L8 AL Lt Belinom o9, Wittt boase pesind I losignsf; o 81y imalin o Sl ng Wt A &h{uiw,..g'./mf,mé, 7/& Alt ke 0 e fop! et 020 5 ey " et Sl orelle fil .,um-//z 22 T eapctlcd Ko rf-ny,m/‘ A'(i«lm} G s lo G ten v boable lote feadD e S i tentes of Bimens fognty # lfnt- 2 Rt il o It bis S //X‘/u(,/ 2 > 7. : £y S farnd). e As sgaceinent by, /2; . . zmzr/( 7z sk fay B — i . o P Ty meses &< n ~ Hand @,’r;fir Coae 10/ e, oty e %fififlt 2L o Fyihosnt Horriy Wm Ve %M«gz_ %.//a’ys THE AGREEMENT OF SECRECY ENTERED INTO BY THE CONTI- NENTAL CONGRESS ON NOVEM- BER 9. 1775, WITH AUTOGRAPHS OF SOME OF THE MEMBERS WHO SIGNED IT. ¢ deed, there is a_general letting down | letters, which permanently weakened of barriers, evident to a marked de- | the foundations of the chancelleries gree in the publications of the Page of Europe. where it has been the cus- tom to let diplomatic letters between an ambassador and his master gather | decade: the dust and cobwebs of court gossip before being brought to the convivial board of history. The diaries of Washington, recent- published, which have lain for in the Library of Congress, shed infinitely more light upon Wash- ington the man than does the pon- derous work of his friend. They re- veal the daily life of the man as a planter, a genial and respected mem- ber of his community. Not much is to be gleaned perhaps from the daily thermometer readings. except that they show that George Washington, ¢arrier. considered the iweather, as sarmers do the world over. The letters written by Washington and received by him make 300 vol- umes of manuscripts in the Library of Congress, and their number still is growing. Many volumes more are filled with transcripts of his letters and public papers: there are 11 volumes of his letters in the papers of the Con- tinental Congress. and other letters are scattered through the Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton and other collec: tions. Thontas Jefferson was almost as prolific a writer as Washington, and, like Washington. his biographers have dealt with him as a statesman rather than as a man. Among his letters are many intimate ones to members of his family. many ‘dealing with scientific problems and many con. taining dissertations on topics sug- gested to him by correspondence. He was a many-sided man, but the world BY VICTORIA F’BER STEVENSON. | F ONE has never taken the time to enjoy the beautiful fountains of the city, the appeal “no time | like the present” is appropriate | to the season. He will find many | works of art as beautiful as Old/ World fountains which have immor- | talized themselves because of their atmosphere of mystery and legend. As America is not a land of tradition, the city fountain has relied solely | upon its setting. its beauty and the | story its sculpture tells to win its | place in popular favor. | The "Court of Neptune, in front | of the Congressional Library. com-| mands the attention of tourists on the | hottest days. for there are almost al- | ways travelers in front of that 30-foot | semi-circular basin to pay homage to | this monarch of the deep. The ani- | mated bronze group of 12 figures | among jets of spouting water forms | | one of the most elaborate fountains ! |in America and absorbs one in the | world of myth, where the sea king | [ reigns supreme. ‘ The stone background of three archways which seeminzly lead from | grottoes are marked by carvings of dripping water or stalactites and of | dolphins. King Neptune. a powerful | bronze figure which would be 12 feet | high if standing. sits as sovereign on | a throne of rugged rock. His hairy | head and long beard suggest Samp- son’s strength and the powerful mus- | cles and prominent sinews of his nude | form portray him as an able con-| queror_of the mighty forces of the sea. The open-mouthed sea serpent | that raises its head and half of its | body above the water in front of him snaps out the deflance of its master to other denizens of the deep. Neptune's sons, the staiwart Tri- tons standing at his right and left, blow througn their conch-shell bu.| gles, which are raised to their lips to | summon other water deities to attend As a result streams of water | from these shells. From right and left water nymphs courageously riding sea horses’with | fish tails hurry to the king. The huge | animals seem almost exhausted in| their fight with wind and waves and in resisting the streams of water played on them from the sides of the fountain. The artist's skillful ar. rangement, turning the sea horses’ heads to the sides, allows the beauti- ful faces of the sea nymphs to be fully seen. Though their hair is blown back by a heavy sea wind, they ride easily and gracefully, and each holds on to her horse with but one | hand. | In order that this unusual piece of | fountain sculpture ;might be distinc- tive to the National Capital. Hinton Perry. its designer and sculptor, is | said to have destroyed the design un. | der the terms of his contract. All" that the fountain lacks is a tradition similar to_tnat connected with the “Wishing Fountain” in Rome. where travelers throw pennies to insure their return to the Eternal City. ok ok o¥ THE Bartholdi Fountain in the Botanic Gardens is notable among the most beautiful of these works. Fifty years ago the fathers or grand- fathers of this generation saw that | masterplece of sculpture made by the | same artist who afterward made the Statue of Liberty in New York Har- | bor. [t stood just outside the main | | building of the Centennial Exposition | at Philadelphia. As nothing at that | great exhibit attracted more atten- | tion, Congress purchased it in 1877, | when the doors of the fair were closed. | This imposing fountain, said to be one of the important pieces of sculp- | ture {h America, breathes an atmo- sphere of quiet recreation. The three | caryatides in form of graceful maid- | ens. 11 feet tall. stand back to back, ' with arms extended to support a large, ornate basin, 13 feet in diam- eter, over which cooling streams shower from above. Their classic beauty and ease of posture attract the attention. Above the large basin three roguish infant tritons crouch under a smaller basin, also sheddi; water over its sides. The whole is surmounted by a mural crown and has its setting in a 90-foot marble | lk;lslsin. in which are colorful water- e “‘Where will this fountain be placed when moved from its present position because of changes in the plan of the Botanic Gardens?" is a question often asked. Found in the Fountains of Washington be placed on the south side of B |surrounds the Carrara marble struc- street between First and Second |ture attracts the children, who wade southwest. If so, it will stand in | and splash there. Though this monu- beautiful surroundings in an appro- |ment was planned with the intention priate driveway to the Capitol. {of having elaborate fountain features, When_water is turned on at the | the plans were never fully carried out. Peace Monument, the lake which 'The monument was installed in 1877, It is probable that the fountain will | but never formally accepted, either by the United States Government or the city authorities. It was not until 1892 that it avas supplied with water. It was always a matter of doubt as to what office was in charge of the plece of sculpture. Its artist, Frank- lin Simmons. has made the two figures on top of the monument representa- tive of History reading to sorrowing America the story of heroism of the men of the Navy who gave their lives in the Civil War. Whether a picture is taken north, south or east of the White House, it | usually shows on of the three foun- tains of the mansion. The typical fountain spray of the water jets in the large basin at the north side has lent its grace and beauty to the President’s home for so many years that photographs showing it are fa- miliar all through the nation. Dur- ing the Harrison and Cleveland regimes these were even beautiful at night because they were electrically lighted. In the fountain on the south side of the White House the spouts of water jet from the outer edge of the basin toward the inside, giving a pleasing effect as the water falls among the lily pads and goldfish. e CCORDING to some authorities, the 12°foot urn fountain, cut from one piece of granite, which is in front of the Treasury, is the oldest sculp- tured fountain in the city. It was probably put into position shortly after the north front of the building was rebuilt in 1868 and 1869. The fountain base, with its water forming a circular spray in the larger basin, commands attention at one of the busiest corners of the city. Its unique teaturd, however, is the unusual growth of feathered parrot moss, which completely covers the top part of the fountain. Another quiet fountain of Wash- ington is that which is discovered among the trees in a sequestered tri- angle south of the White House. . Its inscription reads: “In_ memory of Francis Davis Millet, 1846-1912, and Archibald Willingham Butt, 1865-1912. This monument has been erected by thely friends, with the sanction of Congress.” It tells the story of its erection to two victims of the Tit: which sank off the coast of Newfommg: land. Maj. Butt has been honored becau he was a military aide to Presidezet Taft. and Mr. Millet because of his services as vice chairman of the Fine Arts Commission. \oThis garden fountain consists of a ow granite pedestal supportin howl of Tennessea marble. from- the center of which rises a square shaft of similar stone. It is the work of Thomas Hastings, architect, and Dan- iel Chester French. sculptor, who do. nated their services. The dgign of the bas-relief on one side of the shaft presents an armored knight with shield and sword ready for deeds of valor. It refers to the chivalry of Mai. Butt in aiding the women and children in the sea disaster in which he lost his life. Art is personified on the stone by the figure of A woman in classical robes holding the palette board of a painter. This symbol is a tribute to Millet's ability and useful- ness in the world of art. Whether the day be cold or hot, clear or stormy, the piece of pink marble sculpture by Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney in the patio of the Pan-American Building is always at- tractive to visitors. Tourists who sit on the marble benches in that garden enjoy the fountain in its setting among tropical trees and plants. The carving on the illar of the fountain commands first attention, and repre- sents three epochs of life. The war- rior who is pictured portrays Aztec civilization, and is famliliar as the archaic type of American of the re- mote past. On another face {s the living, or present, American, and the third symbol is the figure of & woman, half emerging and yet shrinking away in mystery, as if refusing to re- veal herself. She represents the fu- ture, which holds its own secrets. The carvings around the eight sides of the second basin of the fountain tell in pictures of the life of three periods of aboriginal civilization south of the Rio Grande. It is sald that this fountain is pro- vided with the most intricate, minute, electrical equipment ever built and that no h!l.than 4.500 feet of tubing (Contintied on Fourth Page) | to historian: Library of Congress by other collec- knows him as the exponent of the early democracy, opposed to the Fed« eralist doctrines of Hamilton. Yet he was a connoisseur of art, a loves of nature, the founder of a great unk versity and a minute philosopher. Hl‘ letters apparently reveal a man _of fiber different from Washington's, but Jefferson never had to lead the ar- mies of his country against an invader, wrangling meantime with debating socleties designated as assemblies or congresses for the wherewithal to fight. It will be many years before the Lincoln papers are gathered in one place, if. indeed, they ever are. Oliver R. Barrett of Chicago has a rich store of Lincoln letters, portraits and personal belongings, and there are many other important collections, but the most valuable historically, and the largest, is the collection in the Library of Congress. It was given to the Nation by Robert T. Lincoln just before the Lincoln Memorial was opened. Much of the value of the collection lies in its support in the tions—the voluminous Welles diaries, the 130 volumes of Chase papers, the Lyman Trumbull correspondence. the Grant manuscripts (including _the Charles A. Dana dispatches from Grant's headquarters). the 100 vol- umes of Gen. Sherman papers. the still larger collection of Senator Sher man papers, the reccrds of the Con- federate Government and many other collateral collections. In making his gift to the Nation Mr. Lincoln stipulated at first that the papers should remain sealed for 21 years after his death, his purpose being to maintain the primacy of the Nicolay and Hay “Life of Lincoln.™ in 10 volumes, and the two supple- mentary volumes of letters and pa- pers. That condition was modified later by Mr. Lincoln, however, and while the papers are not accessible to the public at present, the seal upon them is not inviolable for the term at first mentioned. * ok ok K THE first draft of Lincoln's Gettys- burg address, written partly in ink at the Executive Mansion and partly in pencil at Gettysburg, was given to the Library of Congress by the chil- dren of John Hay: also the second draft, an amended and enlarged edi- tion of the first and entirely in the writing of Abraham Lincoin. The library also has photographs of the three coples which Lincoln made later, one for Edward Everett and two for the Baltimore Fair. The original manuscript of Gen. Grant's memoirs, with his own era- sures and corrections, is in the li- brary. The first half, approximately, is in his own hand. The rest he dic- tated to his son, Gen. Frederick Dent Grant. There also is a sketch of an Italian scene which was made by Gen. Grant while he was at West Point and was signed by him “U. H. (Ulysses Hiram) Grant.” Then there are the Henry Clay pa- pers, a collection of especial interest, now that students are giving more attention to that crucial period in the history of the Nation. They cover his career in Congress and the develop- ment of his theory of protection of American industries. They deal also with the period during which he was Secretary of State and the new re- publics of South and Central America were rising. These papers had been inherited by the granddaughter of Henry Clay who belleved with a fervor almos religious in intensity that she was the person who should write the biog- raphy of Henry Clay, and spent prac- tically her entire life arranging and docketing the papers and making ex- tracts from them. Upon her death the papers went to the Library of Congress. There are wastes of manuscripts still unexplored which will yield rich treasure. The Holker papers tell in detail of the transfer of American commerce from the British flag to the French during the Revolution, of the organization of French syndicates which expected profits of 16 per cent or more on their ventures and of the traffic in bonds of the new republic. The Genet papers contain the report of an eye-witness to the debate over the condemnation of Louis XVI and reports of the conferences relative to the purposed escape of that monarch to America, conferences in which Thomas_Paine took part. The Reverdy Johnson papers in- clude letters of Robert E. Lee con- cerning the confiscation of his wife's property and his own return to civil rights, and letters which Mrs. Jeffer- son Davis wrote while she and he husband were prisoners in Fort Mon- roe. = Documents of similar importance continually are coming to light, to the mingled despair and_gratification of historians. As Dr. Worthington C. Ford said on learning of the recent discovery of evidence relating to the Conway cabal against Washington “Such a discovery makes one desire to defer publication until one's rein- carnation.” Historians frequent the Library of Congress. Virtually no historical work is published now that has not drawn upon its rich stores of information. Students from 50 universities work in the library during the year. The policy of Dr. Putnam during the 25 years he has been librarian has changed the institution from a local, provineial collection of books for a limited numbwr of readers into a national library, vitally related to every other library in the country, and througts ¢hem with every student in the land, , may draw on the central library for any desired book No other national library is so hos- pitable. Wool From Pine. 'HEMICALLY treated pine needles have worked out in Germany as a substitute for wool for certain pur- poses very successfully. By varying the process a woolly product is ob- tained that comes either in the shape of fine sheet wadding or in soft fleeces that are used to stuff mattresses. ‘The pine wool has fine, strong fibers not unlike hemp, and finds its bet use when woven into heavy materials, such as carpets and horse blanXkets. The new process has a valuable asset in one of its by-products that reswt from the chemical treatment neces- sary to remove the resin from tne needles. The sticky residue is shaped into resinous briquettes, which have a very high fuel value and which have found a ready ux in the manu- facture of artificial ilMiminating gas. —_— Breeding Sea Lions. REEDING sea lions for sale is the latest commercial exploit under- taken in the scientific world. The San Diego Zoological Society has shipped 57 sea lions so far this year to different parts of the world, One pair of breeding lions, 10 years old, has furnished 44 offspring to the zoo, 42 of which have been sold, with two Cubs left. The whole stock of the zoo's animals s val . ued at about