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OF LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
Life Story of o D*areit” (Mrs. France* Hodg
son Burnett), Once a Barefoot G-irl
Os Tennessee.
The Courtshp, Marriage and Subsequent Do
mestic Unhappiness of Doctor and Mrs.
Burnett—Divorse Proceedings in
Progress.
Little Lord Fauntleroy has
come of age.
] 9 little Lord Fauntleroy hap
py ? Do you know how his birth
day was celebrated —the twenty
first birthday of the little fellow
who captivated two worlds? His
famous mother, Mrs. Frances
Hodgson Burnett, the author,
and his famous father, the ocu
list doctor, started a suit for
divorce. That is how the birth
day of the little lord who charm
ed you all was kept by “dear
est.”
The love of the little lord and
“Dearest,” his mother, is strong
RS ever —strong as a rock. But
»vhere is the love of “That lass
e’ Lowrie’s?” She brought her
first “piece” of writing to a
lame and intellectual student tc
have the spelling corrected. I uci
dentally, he taught her the old,
old spelling lesson —amor in
Latin a id love in English—and
started her ou her marvelous
career by ottering her his hand
as well as his heart to help her.
She is as rich today as she is
famous. She was as poor in
world’s goods as in spelling
then.
She was barefooted when he
met her, and she was a berry
girl out in Tennessee. With her
first sale of blue berries she
bought her first lead pencil.
But all that was years ago.
With his first money he took
her to Paris, where he studied
and she wrote. And then came
Lionel, ank then Vivian, hand
some boys—enough, you would
think, to keep any man and
wife together.
But it wasn’t. The idyllic au
tobiogiaphy of love, which is
called ‘‘That Lass o’ Lowrie’s,”
was over years ago. For the the
ttisttime is told the tragical ro
mance of the great oculist and
the great writer. It is a secret,
kept by both husband and wife
till their one boy should come
of ago. The other died in his
mother’s arms seven years ago,
says the St. Louis Republic.
The separation forever of Dr.
Swan M. Burnett, the scientist
and oculist, and his famous wife
for 25 years is a story of love
and letters. The upshot of it
would seem to show that the
two did not go together very
well— at all events, not for 25
years. Perhaps, if it had not
been for the literature the love
,u ight have been more lasting ;
and it all ends in the divorce
court.
And how beautifully it all
began I ft is like a tale in the
old fairy books,
It bad its beginning in a little
town ’way down in Tennessee.
Its heroine was a pretty girl
with big blue eyes and a shock
°f reddish yellow hair Any
°>dinary observer would not
have seen anything about her
that was remarkable, but there
was latent depth of expression.in
the blue eyes, and now and then
the girl had some hing to say
that showed she was possessed
of more than ordinary gifts.
She was bright and thought*
and a smile constantly dim-
pled about her mouth. Evident
ly she looked out upon the world
with a gaze that was somewhat
amused, though she was so very
young—not yet 17—and her ex
perience of life had been ex
tremely limited.
BAREFOOT TENNESSEE GIRL.
Bless you ! how time flies.
That was a quarter of a century
ago, andyet it seems as if it was
only the other day.
The girl’s name? Nothing
very high sounding or aristo
cratic; simply Frances Hodgson
she was called. Her parentage
was almost bumble, and her fa
ther was so poor a man that his
young daughter wen t barefoot
most of the time.
Everybody in that little Ten
nessee town liked pretty Fanny
Hodgson, and in the ordinary
course of events she might have
been expected to marry some
young farmer and be transform
ed into a buxom rural matron,
to rear a flock of barefooted boys
and girls and superintend the
milking and churning, with
nothing in the way of an inde
pendence beyond the “hen
which is the customary
perquisite of the woman of the
house in agricultural communi
ties.
How surprised the good neigh
bors and gossips would have
been if a fortune-teller had come
along and informed them,
through the medium ot a shuf
fling of the cards, that this
youi.g girl would some day be a
world-famous novelist; that she
would secure a celebrity too
large for one continent, and that
millions of people in Europe and
America would read her writ
ings.
Whatwould she have thought
if she had been told that one
day she would write a play that’
would yield a profit to her alone
of more than $100,000?
Yet it was only an accident,
after all, that brought these
things to pass. But for a chance
meeting, this flower of genius
might indeed have been left to
blush unseen. But destiny had
declared otherwise, and things
so came about that the romance
and the possibilities of future
fame began together.
There happened to be a young
man'staying in the neighbor
hood. He was considerably old
er than Frances. Hodgson, but
still young—that is to say, not
over 30. The disparity between
them was not so much one of
years as in respect to situation.
This young man had been born
i > the condition of a gentleman,
whereas the father of Frances
was a media nic—a mechanic of
the higher grade, it is true, but
still belonging to that class of
1 fe which, in England, where
he was born, constitutes a caste
of itself.
He had been the foreman of a
large factory in the old country.
Times became hard and he join
ed a company of colonists who
were going to America to seek
a new boms. It was in Tennes
see that he settled. If he had
gone elsewhere this story, in all
probability, would never have
been written.
BURNETT AS HE WAS.
Young Burnett was not the
sort of man to take the eye of
girlhood at the first glance. He
was not only small of statue,
but very lame, so as to halt
painfully in h a gait. In Mrs.
Burnett’s book, “that Lass o’
Lowrie’s,” will be found a spir
itual description of him as he
first appeared to her. The hero
with the crippled arm was in
real life so crippled that he was
obliged to walk with one knee
stiffened, using the toe of that
foot to step upon. His face,while
having somewhat of the painful
expression of a physical sugerer,
possessed in a high degree the
beauty of intelligence. Its ex
pression was sensitive, sympa
thetic and, above all, intellectu
al .
All of these qualities distin
guished the young man in a
high degree. lit was by prac
tice a student, and by instinct a
scholar. Observation was Habit
ual with him. and he became
interested in the girl, from a
mere motive of curiosity at first.
She attracted him even more by
her brightness than by her pret
tiness.
He amused himself sometimes
by talking with her when she
brought a tin pail filled with
blueberries to sell to his mother.
She herself was the original
of the pit girl, “That Liss o’
Lowrie’s,” whose rude, r ugh
life was quickened and develop
ed into a'fiiiished splendid char
acter by the love of the London
Engineer. For Derrick simply
read Burnett. For Joan, Fanny
Hodgson. It is a literal fact that
the proceeds of her first blueber
ries were invested in the pur
chase of a lead pencil, with
which she wrote her first story.
She took the story to the young
man, who was so kind and sym
pathetic, and he told her how to
touch it up here and there and
put it into shape; what words
were spelled wrong, and how
there should be a simicnlon here
and a new paragraph there. It
was about as pretty a begin
ning for a romance as anybody
could well imagine, and it is not
surprising that Mrs. Burnett
should Have utilized the theme,
even to some of its minor inci
dents, for the novel which was
her first great success, and which
gave her a first footing in the
literary field. A quaint thing it
must have been to see the pret
ty head, with its fluff of yellow
hair, in close cogitation with
that of the thoughtful student
’’O* Ou.rd.”
/ 1 XsSfTT When diseM«
</ 'y. 'll shoots the first
A I arrow th* truly
'k Vp* YU wise man will
' 'vylkcotne instantly
? 0,1 guard. He
1/1. will not wait for
A \.Vthe He
y ) 'k 'J w ’" not h ‘ : ‘i tate
until the full
\ force of disease
' and misery and
death comes crashing about him.
When a man begins to feel “out of
sorts,” when his appetite is failing and his
energy is not up to the mark, when he has
bilious attacks and a feeling of lassitude
and incapacity, if he is wise, he will take
Dr. Pierce's Golden Medical Discovery
right away. It will bring his appetite back
again, ano what is more it will bring back
his digestive powers. It will give all the
assimilative functions the edge and power
to extract abundant nourishment from the
food he eats. It will make good, pure,
healthy blood and send it coursing rapidly
through his veins and arteries into every
organ and tissue of the body. It will put
flesh on his bones and force in his muscles;
it will give him strength and courage and
cheerfulness, in a word it will give him
complete health.
It excretes from the system every par
ticle of dead, useless, flabby tissue. It
even reduces the weight of the corpulent
man at the same time that it builds up his
strength aud working power. The weight
it adds to people who need it is the kind
that comes of pure blood and every organ
doing its work properly and thoroughly
what pugilists call fighting weight.”
over the childish output.
The natural impulse and de
sire of a man who has caused
the unfolding of such a flower
is to pluck it and wear it in his
bosom. Not otherwise was it
with young Burnett.
In a few short months th”
girl had emerged from the crys
alls, and from a country lassie
was transformed into a happy
young wife.
Her husband was at the same
time her lover and her teacher.
What marriage could begin
more auspiciously, or with bet
ter promise of happiness to
come ?
IN THE LATIN QUARTER.
Soon after their marriage the
couple went abroad, and for
some time they made their home
in the Latin quarter of Paris.
Burnett was a student of medi
cine. He had chosen the eye as
his specialty, and it was his am
bition to become a famous ocu
list. The schools of Paris afforded
exceptional opportunities for
study in this line, and in the
French metropolis there were,
as is the case today, several very
celebrated eye specialists from
whom much might be learned.
The mode of life chosen by
the newly married pair was dis
tinctly bohemian. One of the
bonds of sympathy between
them was this bohemian inclina
tion. So, while young Dr. Bur
nett studied his profession, his
pretty wife busied herself with
literature work. It was not long
before what she wrote began to
attract attention, and this was
the beginning of what was di
stilled to be a vast reputation .
There is no question of the fact
that at this period of their mar
ried life Dr. and Mrs. Burnett
were extremely devoted to each
%
other.
The proceeds of the young
wife’s work went to help out the
expenses of her husband’s high
er studies. One of those happy
days they went on an excursion
together down the river, and a
friend of theirs who saw them
on that occasion remembers to
this day how sweet and still
girlish looking Frances looked
as she sat at the doctor’s feet in
the boat, leaning her head upon
his knee. At that time she must
have still felt a sense of depend
ence upon his stronger brain and
his superior knowledge of the
world. It is not surprising tHat
h<- should have expected her to
feel it always, and that this ele
ment in the relation between
them should constitute, from
his point of view, an intregal
part of the pleasure derived from
her companionship. But the
seeds of discord were being sown
even then.
It is a trite saying that married
people get along best together
when they differ m< st in respect
to temperament and disposition.
This belief is open to dispute, to
say the least. Judging a priorit
it surely might be expected that
the persons who have tastes in
common feelings in common and
views in common, would agree
best. Atal) events, it is undeni
able that the differences between
Dr. Barnett and his wife arose
from unlikeness rather than
likeness. His was the serious
turn of mind of the student, de
siring repose and caring little
for gayety : she was full of life,
longed to be famous, and was
fond of being admired. She liked
society, handsome gowns, the
theaier, entertainments of all
sorts, and, in a word, all the
delights which accompany social
success. Her growing literary
reputation brought this kind a
success to her and there was a
consequent separation of inter
ests and employments.
Mrs. Burnett’s advanced ideas.
Th» re whf »lather element in
I School Supplies. I
0 We are pioneers in the school books and school sup
ply business and we are also right up-ro-da*e in every
thing lha' should be kept by an up-to-date Bookstore. »>;
J MM MMMM MM MMM* MMMMMMMMMM |
II in pipes, j
TO (<<<
No hcuse ip. the ytite car. serve vou better when von de-
«<< Bire '*■ a new covering fcr tr.e dear ?id wall* of
«<< home. See our stock on hand and samples
to to
I H. A. SMITH, |
■| THF OLD RELIABLE BOOK STORE. |
hsMMMw
' •*
$ To the People of Rome. $
Mr to au,lounce that I have bought the Model fii/
Steam Laundry and propose to rearrange and aid to it
so that you will have in your city a plant second to none \lj
in the soucß.
I have had years ot practical ex re tence, the past \f/
Uy thr>e years of which 1 have own >|>-ruled one of Ui
Mr the largest plan shj Texas. With the -urs of ex peri- W
eUCe have had and as I will d->v my entire time and kA/
attention to the business I will he a position to guar-.
antee that anything coming to my laundry will be done /A\
/Ak satisfactorily. A trial will convince you that 1 can do all
p|\ that [claim' Send in your bvn lie. If it 'ails to please /|V
yik J >V there will be no charge . Stop our wag >n or telephone yiC
C|j No 158, and your bundle will be returned promptly. C|j
/K Hoping t<» receive a fair sh ire of your Jp itroaage, I am /AW
C|s yours to pleas« CU
* H- PARKIN *
Proprietor Mo lei,Steam Laundry,
<0 $
the problem. Mrs. Burnett had
come to consider that she w
past the time of tutelage—that
'he had outgrown leading strings.
She thought that the develop*
ment of her own mentality no
longer required ibe superintend
dence of her husband.
It may be that this change of
ttitude on her part was account*
able in a measure for the fric
tion that was beginning to be telt
between them.
The wife entertained notions
which a-e still regarded as “ad
vanced.’" Some cf these ideas of
hers had relation to the status of
woman . She believed in the doc
trine that woman is as capable of
leadership as the man, and this
theory, while admissible on ab*
stract grounds, perhaps, is calcu*
lated to irritate a man when his
wife backs it too strongly. Never*
tbelees, ak ng while elansed p
the fiiciion grew into positive
estrangement.
To the credit of both the doctor
and his wife, it must he said that
they never ventilated their mutua
grievances It became known only
very gradually to their intimate
tnends that relations between
them were strained.
When they came back to Amer
'ca from Paris they had a charm
ing home in I slrejt. Washington
in which the lehemian method ol
tin ir living whi’e in foreign parts
was r produced to some exten’.
The doctor had hie own den to
work in, and his wife bad here, so
that they could pursue their chosen
occupations as each elected.
Their acquaintances were invited
to drink tea first in one den and
then in the other. Burnett loved
to entertain in his own way, but
'hat was not hers, 1 .r the gay side
of life, as has been slid he cared
nothing. It was the beginning of
the end.
The doctor did not approv of Mrs.
Burnett’s recklessness in mon
ey sn utters. And she certainly
snent a gre>.t deal. N'oney came
flowing in liku the showers ot go'd .
on Danae, and easily flowed out
Thi- was, in fact the first defined
*
cause of the trouble.
No question between nan and
wife, leaving infidelity and drunk
enness aside, is so j reductive of
, trouble as that of finance. Ail thia
added to Mrs. Burnett’s notions of
radical independence and could
| hardly fail io make discord. And
t ii did.
It was only a month ago, in
Washing’on. that she stated em
phatically the heroine of her no
vel, “A Lady of Quality,” was her
ideal of what a woman rhould tie.
Dr. and Mrs. Burnett have sim
ply waited for their surviving son
to attain his majority before tak
ing the final step, which is the re
sult of mutual agreement and long
continued friction.
'1 he surviving eon, Vivian, is a
student at Harvard. He is a bright
young fellow and really never was a
bit like the little Lord Katin! leroy
of the book, He has his mother’s
coloring, with sandy hair and blue
eyes.
In Washington last winter, dur
ing vacation he stayed at the home
of his mother, who gave him the
gayest time imaginable, with thea
ter parties, suppers and dainty lit
tle lunches, to which a cumber <>f
her most charming y-ung girl
friends were invited.
On the occasion of one then'- r
paity, the box was decorat'd wi i
ths Harvard colors, and in horn r
of the university, the girls wore
crimson corsage bouquets.
He still adores her. She wor
ships him. To him she is still
“dearest. ”
But they say the doctor, sitting
among his books, is very lonesome
sometimes .
i WT-r ;
LADIES’ FINE SAILORS.
Go tc Lanham & Sons and got
one of those fine sailors they are
celling so cheap. They are ac
tually worth SI.OO, $1.50, $2.00
I and some even more, yet they
are selling ch ice f i 50 cents.