The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 12, 1904, Page 12

THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL *=\ URING the b w TION A sentiment ha bond be- leges. At eton they oo tutions at were not ins’ d remained, of Oakland, on of rank to erect the only dis- bell tower in the formally dedicated, was made possible through the munifi- cence of and Mrs. Frank M. Smith « d David B. Hewes of Los brother-in-law of Mrs. Jane L. Stanford. Designed by Miss Julia Morgan in the style of the old Spanish missions, the tower is bullt of rough faced gray concrete. Red terra cotta tiles cover its roof and corner buttresses and California redwood furnishes the ornamental work. It rises in three sections to a height of seventy-five feet. At the base its dimensions are 12x26 feet, but &t the top it is but half that size. The walls ar jerced, mission-like, on side and gable with arched bell niches end panel windows. On the front ga- ble alone appears the bronze face of the clock, which marks the quarters and at hourly intervals gives the full ‘Westminster chime. This clock is the gift of the faculty, students and friends of the college. Especially in- teresting is the door with its quaint old lock and nail-studded surface. It is the gift of Mrs. Amelia W. Trues- ale of San Francisco, a graduate of who procured it from an h church in Mexico. Above ce is a small tablet, which s the names of the donors of the tower. Another to the left records in similar fashion the name of the giver of the chime. On the opposite side is the inscription: “In loyal remem- brance of those who by tongue or pen, by generous gift or noble deed have aided woman on her upward way, these bells chime on.” A parapet of concrete surrounds the base of the campanile, its walls sup- porting large, beautiful vases design- ed after those at the Alhambra in Granada. The tower is fortunately located. It G WiH AR TON JAMES PasAaDENA R i e ALTAarR CHAalR AT SanN i MIS S O SUE - - 99 PADRE L F\ET TO DVUNIFEROC S =ERrRRO h) stands to the south of the old sem- inary building and just within the edge of a noble grove of live oak, fir and eucalyptus trees, which stretches over the larger part of the campus. The bells, which are ten in num- ber, vary in size from 250 to 2500 pounds. They are attuned to a musical scale and ‘connected not only with the clock, but with a console within the building. Following the old cus- tom of naming bells, Mr. Héwes de- sired that they should bear the names of the graces of the spirit as found in Galatians v 23. The four that ring the chime are Faith, Hope, Peace and Joy. The largest bell is Love; the smallest, Meekness. The others are Gentleness, Goodness, Self-Control and Long Suffering. Their history is an interesting one. They were cast at Cincinnati and were first heard at the Chicago World's Fair. Later they were exhibited at the Midwinter Fair at San Francisco in 1894. At both falrs they were awarded medals. They were bought at the close of the California exposi- tion as a gift to Stanford University, but that institution was then laboring through the “‘dark days” of the great lawsult and was unable to erect even #6 small a building as a bell tower. Mr. Hewes accordingly offered the bells to Mills College and they were accepted in 1902. For over a year, because there were no means to erect & sultable tower for such a chime, the bells found a quiet resting place on the ground near Lisser Hall and there they soon became known as “Our Silent Ten.” At the recent dedicatory services Mrs. Mills told the story of the gift of the tower. She sald: “At our last commencement as I .was passing with some of our friends near the bells, I said: ‘And here are our silent ten.’ A gentleman asked his wife afterward what I meant and she explained to him. Not long after he asked her: ‘Would you like to help those bells to ring?’ and, planning as ‘they always do so beautifully together, they decided to give the bells a home.” The campanile is not the only gift for which Mills has to thank Mr. and Mrs. Smith. * They were the principal donors 'a year ago of the large organ in Lisser Hall. And Mr. Hewes is not to be remembered merely for his chime of bells. At the Stanfora Museum he is represented by a large and valuable art collection, given in memory of his wife, Anna Lathrop Hewes. F. W. POWELL. OF THE {"\ TALIEORMN A MisSSION S, DOVET FrRoM THE PHIL| =12 L= e e The rounber ESS INES HERE 1s no such thing as “Mis- sion furniture” in the true sense of tha word. The tables and chairs and benches used by the Franciscan fathers in the oid missions were Spanish or Mexican and generally of the rudest and crudest class. Here and there a better piece may be found, as in the confessional chair of San Miguel Méssion, but more often the chairs are clumsy and crude- ly made, ab is opne of tne old altar chairs of San Miguel. So rude and shabby. did it appear that when, some years ago, Bishop Montgomery (now Archbishop) made his visitation, the priest removed it out of doors and put a more modern chair in its stead. The Bishop, with that keen appreciation of true senti- ment for which he is noted, bade the priest restore the chair to its wented place. He said he preferred to see and use ~ chair in which, doubtless, often had rested the sainted Junipero Serra, than the finest of modern chalrs. The chairs and other furniture made by me are very different from any of the furniture used in the missions of California. 1 never called it by the mission name and never suggested that it should be sc called. The reason for the name, however, I think is clear. The old r-ission architecture is simple, ‘dignified, frankly adapted to its pur- pose, and without frills or furbelows of any kind. That is exactly the fact in regard to my furniture. There is no seekin~ for flashy and cheap adorn- ment. Nothing is stuck on. It is sim- ple, dignified and frapk. And in this clese similarity to the oid miss 2 you have the reason for the name. Not, as so many people have imagined, in that I was copying the old mission furniture brought over from Spain, or from Mexigo, or made here under the direction 6f the padres. 1 have been a furniture maker for many years and have long wighed to make something of a different class from that which there was a demand for. But people were not ready for it. They were hot educated to care for such simple furniture as that which I had in mind. They wanted showy, flashy, ornate stuff. I wanted some- thing distinctly American. The more I thought about it the more I came to the conclusion that we, as a nation, were doing nothing more than imitating the work of other nations, living in a different country, under different conditions withean en- tirely different environment from ours. We had our imitations of classic and empire and Louis XIII and Louis the magnificent, and Queen Anne and a score of other styles, but nothing original, nothing of our own, nothing American. 1 was assured that furniture, as everything else, ought to represent ourselves, our conditions, and that it was better to begin with a single style that was our own and adapted to our environment, conditions and life, than all the time be imitating something else, no matter how excellent that something else seemed to be In its own place and time. Little by little this plain, simple style evolved itself. Certain prin- ciples formulated themselves and to these my American furniture must conform. First of all It must be honest. There must be no sham about it. It must be what it proposed and appeared to be. Then it must be adapted to its purpose. It must be plainly and openly a chair, or a table, or a settee. Then it must be stryctural. Its lines must be simple, dignified and those best adapted to the uses to which the made article was to be placed. \ Accordingly I made plain, simple, strong furniture, using plain woods and leathers, preserving in every case the original grain and texture of both leather and wood, giving them a change of tone by simple but potent processes, and at once the whole line leaped to success. My workshops are increasing its capacity all the time and now I am contemplating more than doubling them. The ideas I started with have grown and multiplied and thousands now agree with me. And the more I thought upon the subject Ihe more aia I see that furni- ture was but a small branch of it. It was as great and wide as life itself. Rightly understood the principles that I lald down for the making of my furniture apply to everything in life. Everything should be simple, digni- fled, frank, honest. So I started my magasgine, “The Craftsman,” to propa- gate these ideas.’ I did not need the magazine to push the sale of my fur- niture. That was already pushing itself. But I dld want to, show that plainness and simplicity can be ap- plied to everything in our lives with- out loss of elegance, dignity and power. Nay, indeed, rather the op- posite. Not the greatest people and pations are the simplest. In our work we are imitating no one. A O MISSION BENCH A~ LOS ANGELES S HAaPEL- We honor Ruskin and Morris and all the workers in that line, but our work is purely American and we are slavish followers of no one's ideas. Our aim is to teach simplicity of life in all its manifestations and the success our fur- niture and magazine have attained has far exceéded our most sanguine expec- tations. The world is now ready for such teachings. As to the report that I am about to establish a co-operative community in California my plans are not yet for- mulated, though it is true that I am Stic kley gV Gustav j%lal:t:&r aftsmn thinking serfously of the matter have a number of tracts of land under consideration. I expect before purchase one of these and t upon It craftsmen in all ti lines used in bullding and furni a house. This is a matter I have long had mind. Indeed, ever since I wa man I have dreamed of it and for lated my ideas. In talking W h friend here, George Wharton James, [ find we have almost similar ideas intend to start a shall live the simp Here in California you have the conditions for such a ¢ ity. H are the climate, the pure air, ery, the fruit 1 tions which re and possible, comes from & everything you things that w community Ppri And as we sentially practical be a sterling bw thing. We shall take cate them practical of Europe used to d carpentering, stor ing, silverworking, weav of textlles, gardening and the while at the same time giving them ¢ ucation in the simpl mon knowledge. It technical school on a broad pla If a youth wishes to learn a he will be taught to do the t being required to work on sor or buflding just as If he were a pald workman. In this way his work W from the outset mean somet him. It will have a definite, p commercial value. There is much more to my plar as the establishment of & printing concern, where endeavor to print books equal to any {ssued in the new or old world. We shall then bind them in the ng of all ¥ sible, where music of 3 all kinds and craftsmanship kinds will be practiced a Yes, certainly It is a this is an age of big thl ing can be accomplished b to work on a small sca plan large, begin small a v K to a full achievement of all we have planned and more. big pla gs, | THE REFORMATION OF A BROTHER. { Fable For the Foolish. | | o+ AMES Henry was the president of the Association for the Punish- ment of Strong Drink and he worked at his business most of his waking hours, as well as many of those when he _wusn‘( sure whether he was awake or not. Also, he was a director of the International Society of Boosé Fighters and of the Union for the Promotion of Bromo Seltzer. As a horr example for the use and Instruction of the mem s of the W. C. T. U. he would have been a tremendous suc- cess and the fool killer would have found enough material in him to work over for a month. Ostensibly James Henry was practicing law, but the only bar with which he was appreciably fa- miliar was the one with a ralling around the bottom and a handout of cheese and crackers at the other end. It was generally supposed that James Henry's case was incurable. The only hope for him was that the supply of spirituous liquor would run out before he had succeeded in quenching his thirst and that he would turn his feet into the paths of righteousness and sobriety because the other roads were marked 0 Thoroughfare.” Those who are familiar with the yearly cutput of the breweries and distilleries of this brodad land p to and including Ger- many and Scotland, will realize how slender a thread James Henry's friends and creditors were clinging to. It so happened that James Henry had a brother George who was every- thing that a young man should be who was distribyting such a name as that over the country. The only thing that George had ever been known to drink that was stronger than spring water was ginger ale and it was currently re- ported that he imbibed that only on the advice of his family physiclan. ‘While James Henry was making night more or less hideous with his search for new places to get drunk in George was sitting in the shadow of a stu- dent’s lamp with a green shade over his eyes and soaking up learning from a bound file of the Popular Science Monthly, with Darwin on the side. ‘When he felt the need of relaxation he would go around the corner to an old friend of his mother’s and play euchre with the young ladies or sing “Bedelia™ to a mandolin accompaniment. He was a standing imitation o> the model young man, and could talk by the hour with the old lady about the awful habits that the young men of the pres- ent day were subject to. After the old folks had tried moral suasion and flnancial pressure on James Henry to induce him to for- sake the ways of sin, and even con- sidered the advisability of a small in- Jection of bichloride of gold or a pinch of the willow bark treatment, the great idea suddenly burst upon them that the proper caper was to send brother George out with him as a sort of amateur missionary. They had it all figured out that the pres- ence of George would be a standing reproach to James Henry and that in the course of time he would forsake his evil ways and the cocktail that fileth by night, and likewise by high noon, and would join George at the ginger ale fount. Accordingly the suggestion was made to James Henry that he should invite his brother to live with him in his bachelor apartments for a few weeks for a change. James Hehry was on to their curves, but he had an idea that he could see a little amusement for himself in the dim distance and he accepted the proposition without a quiver. He knew that if there was any trouble coming it wasn't ad- dressed to him. He had had such a wide and varied experience with tha article in all its forms t he hadn't a doubt In the world of handle all that might cor pike. The first night that th wo brothers foregathered in James Hen- ry’'s choice apartments George sug- gested that they do a little turn with “Romola” by way of stimulating the imagination. He Informed James Henry that he had mapped out a course of reading that would last them through the winter and was guaranteed to give them more pure, dyed-in-the-wool culture to the super- ficlal square Inch of gray matter than any other Intellectual programme that had ever been put together. James Henry's reading had been lim- ited to the hotel directory and the tips for the next day’s races, but he wasn't averse to trying his hand at a new game if it promised any sort of stimulation. Stimulation was the thing that he was after. The course of every man his own culturine sailed along beautifully for a week or two until even George began to wonder if there wasn't something that he could do that would break up the monotony a little. Away from the family circle without any obligation to announce the schedule and running time of his next trip, every time he went outside the house after dark he felt that it would be a pity if he couldn’t put his time to better use than in reading about things that never happened and wouldn't have Interested very many people if they had. So when James Henry suggested one evening that Instead of sitting down and communing with the spirits of the past they should saunter around the corner to where some spirits of the very immediate present held forth he was nothing loth. James Henry let him down rather easily the first night, although George had a dim idea when he pried his eyes the next morning that the ginger ale he was supposed to have absorbed must have been In proximity to something stronger at some perfod of its career. Every one knows that gin- ger ale under certaln circumstances has tremendous absorbing powers, but in the course of the next month George developed similar powers that made ginger ale look !fke a stone wall. He could go the pace with James Henry any night in the week and two or three times had been the only one who could tell the cabman the way home after the meeting had adjourned. All this while the people at home were congratulating themselves that they had struck the nail on the head when they sent George down to reform his brother: they hadn't heard the est bulletins from the seat of war. they had they would have consider the advisability of recalling Jam Henry to keep him from being rv by assoclating with George. The la ter had by this time displaced his brother from all the official positi enumerated in the introductory par graph of this brief but exceedingly | teresting account and had doubled the quarterly dividend of the whisky trus James Henry was so far in the rea that he wouldn't even be menti 1 in the Hst of entries. « George was still runn two new bars to his er Henry was trailing along The people in the grand that it will be a hot finis! happens. The mistake that the people who ar ranged the contest made was recognizing the fundamental fact in human pomology that it is always the good apples that are spoiled. If th: wasn't the case there would never be any damaged fruit in the barrel. (Copyright. 1903, by Albert Britt.) in. not