r,
TRAGEDY OF THE AMERICAN BEAUTY ROSE
MAN WHO CREATED IT IS BEGGAR
ON THE STREETS Of WASHINGTON
1 Historic Blackguards y
I By ALBERT PAYSON TERHUNE J C;
CHK man who mad
the American
Beauty iom to a
beggar on the
streets of Wuk
lngton. The state
ment sounds mora
Ilka a "curtain
line" for a Theo
dora Kramer melo
drama, or a riotous contrast
from Jules Verne, than a set
ting forth of sober fact:
though It la none the leas a
fact of doe and attested so
briety, and even. In all kind
ness, of some solemnity.
The rose was "created," aa
the phrase goes. In George
Bancroft's famous rose gar
den, by the hostorian's errat
ic old English gardener, John
Brady: It was a legacy to
Brady at v Mr. Bancroft's
death, la token of long and
honorable service, and of the '
tact that Brady had brought
It to perfection only after years of in
exhaustible patience and care; and It
was sold for a pittance, but that la
getting ahead of the story.
One upon a time. In 18&9. to be pre
sise, after George Bancroft had re
tained from long diplomatic serrice In
Germany, and had settled down to a
tranqulllxing old age in his home In
Washington, there grew up among the
Bower enthsiasta of England. Amer
ica and the continent a sealona quest
or a red rose which could be made to
Moom in winter.
Mr. Bancroft's ascendency as a rose
aaltnriat In this eoantry had been be
fond dispute tor half a eentary.
At taw time of the inauguration of
Abraham Lincoln. Mrs. Uncoln de
spaired of pleasing herself la the ar
range men ta of the White House gar
ana, aw she called oa Mr. Bancroft for
help This she received la such good
and sowing measure that, la acknowt-
it of bar debt, aha seat to the
a splendid boaqoet of Ja
la reply he wrote her that
the bouquet was a
fair eoaaterpart at air. Lincoln's
Wulas."
What of official reeogalttaa thaa was
for Mr. Bancroft's genius
grower was supplied by
Herr Bismarck, who so admired the
minister to Berlia that ha
him with rosea and rose cut-
froea the great Bismarck estates
Bat aD this while, despite the genial
eo-operattea of rose
diplomats and stateamea.
tad rose refused to grow In wta
Ita wlatarttma beharor was. la
tact, eratperatlag beyond all words.
IX, after months of herculeaa effort, a
eoald be mada to pat forth a
i nne asoratns. It waa a sickly
by aooa. and browa by saaset.
Ltttla yeOow rosea had thriTed. Urn
awt of satod, aad these, with casMllsaa
mad Japoaicaa. war the sola raimace
a those who wwaM bar Bowers tor
tal thla state wheaMr.
to Waahtactoa. brtnaw
tax tabs aia charming aid aouso oa
tadayatta aquare two treated servants:
tier ma a, waa came from BerUa, aad
Joaa Brady, the gardeatr. tram Bag-
Brady waa Installed ta the
Iraaaped gara. which ran
Sevaateoath street, and ha was
isaoag other thlags. to
the gterr at creaUac a tractable
The task waa awa which Jumped
wtth am awa deetrea. The Bancroft
scarcely hasa a aaraoaal
ta Brady thaa to Bancroft, and
aacreUv believed that an miu
at It coaM ha really ha axtravagaat.
It hsoams a raadaavoaa tor Wasaiac
sma moat dtrtfaguishad awrsoaaz
m, aaa cam gweaa from
Arthur- dictum that "The
m psraritted ta aocea the
svttaUoaa at members at ats eaaiaat.
Supreme court
hraaca
bad aoa
'aw- v- .y"r
on the ere of being able to announce
the success of his red rose ventures.
Once a friend from France brought
Mr. Bancroft a cutting of a red rose
called "Madame Ferdinand Jamais."
which, although it had failed at home,
was thought to have possibilities In
an American climate. Brady nursed
it along with a fair degree of conscien
tiousness, none too pleased, likely
enough, that France had been so pre
mature la this honorable business.
But the little alien rose bush sickened
and died, and was thrown aside, pre
sumably at the end of Its history.
Then came the shocking aewa from
England that William Francis Ben
nett had won the red rose race. He
had had aa astonishing lack with his
plants, and had finally established
their hardihood and their permanence
of color. Bancroft and Brady mourn
ed In secret. True, there was still the
American championship to be tried
for. but the first fine careless rapture
of success had been already captured.
A rose eufturist la New York had
the good fortane, about this time, to
make a aew Sower, which ha prompt
ly earned the "George Bancroft." bat
this was aot compensation enough,
either tor the historian or his garden
er, so back they went to the seedling
beda, with renewed determination.
la the face of such a touching faith
aad such, aboaading energy, the fates
w ere bound to be kind, Aad so. one
moraiag. a delighted yell from his
gardener brought Mr. Bancroft scur
rying Into his garden, to find that la
a bed of white and yellow seedlings
thera stood a strange red rose, look
ing tor all the world aa If It aad cccae
to stay. Its stent had a stiSaesa the
like of which had aever before been
seaa. Its petals looked to hava the
hardihood to weather a hundred dis
Where tt had coma from nobody
could find oat. It might hava been a
stalwart seed left from the acorea
aad dwcredlted "Mma, Ferdinand Ja
mais." and tt might hava been Just
that myMertoaa freak which the rose
cuttarist aaa come to take tor granted
under the name of a "sport."
At any rata, thera tt was, aad tt re
mained to be developed.
For tt must be haowa at the outset
that getting a single bloom la the least
at the rose cultericra troublea. la tact.
tt merely marks their beciaaiag.
All aew brands at rosea are growa
from these cariosltiea called "sport."
In a bed ot seedlings, about oaca ia aa
oftea, aa orphan roc win appear
which will bear aa trace ot Its parent
are, aad will usually be touad to hava
aeither longevity aor the ability to
reprodwc after tta kind. Its seeda will
revert to type.
So Joha Brady set forth aa the up
hill climb ta perfecting aia hi tie red
"spore" ta due Urn he did it. Aad
uhea ha had three bashea which ha
could perseaatty guarantee to repro
duce red rosea after the original pat
tern h placed them ta the gardea
where they weald Uket&st ha seea.
Ha had aot ta watt tar the etamor at
approval. Quests tor tea tan the after
aooa were led bat the garden by M.
1 )Y yAv' I
, r 1 1 r. Ni' ft ivw.
Bancroft for a "private view" ot the
coveted red rose.
"Oh. that must be Bennett's new
rose, the English beauty." said the
first woman to spy it.
'Not at all. martame," said Bradly.
proudly, "that Is the American red
rose."
"Then It Is the American Beauty."
said the lady, not to be outdone.
And then and thera the name orig
inated, and not all ot Brady's storm
iest persuasions could aver dislodge
it. For the rose's maker had already
decided that it should bo named for
Judge Hagner. a warm friend of Mr.
Bancroft, and Brady's bright particu
lar star, and to have the choice of Its
name aad the christening ceremony
swept out ot his reach at one fell
swoop would hava tried the patience
of a saint.
Brady finally made the best ot It.
and contented himself with assuring
Judge Hagner that things would hava
been different If he had had any say
la them.
From this time on. however, the his
tory ot John Brady and his precious
rose begins to take a somber turn. Mr.
Bancroft died in 1S91. bequeathing the
American Beauty to Brady as a testa
ment at his affection and appreciatioa.
The famous gardens passed into other
hands, aad Brady moved, with his
large and hungry family and his
handful of American Beauty rose
bushes, lata a little house outside ot
Washington.
Things went rapidly from had to
worse. Brady had aeither money
aor the knack of picking up odd jobs.
His eldest sea waa still too young for
responsibility, aad the agea of the
others, la regular succession, dimin
ished punctually by a year. His wife
was trail, out ot paHeaca with pover
ty, aad wora to exhaustiOB with the
care ot children,
Brady survived the first part of this
bleak period by observing the Span
is proverb. "Patience, aad shuSe the
cards," No stress ot waat could make
aim part with his rosa bushes, though
his wife, regarding him as a sort of
monomaniac oa this subject, put her
noblest persuafilona lata the task of
uadoias ats resolve.
To his reiterated tales of the for
tane that would coma to him some
day throega the Ameriraa Beaaty
rosa Mrs. Brady reasonably replied
that aha aad the children were hungry
that very day and hoar, aad that more
thaa her soul was sick with hope de
ferred. But some prescience of the Inherent
vale ot his roe kept Brady obdurate
ta appeals, domestic or professional
The world ot fashion had all hut
forgotten the taterregaam ot the
American Beaaty ia the Bancroft gar
dens, Ks call arista had thought,
many ot them, that It had never out
bved tta heyday. Only a tew at the
mora observant aad remembered that
the treasured hushes had been a lega
cy from Bancroft to hi gardener.
Oa of thee last waa the elder of
the FMd Brothers, wholesale fioriata
oa the aid Seventh street road, aat
stda at Waaamgtan. They saada con
stant offers to Brady
offers which, from the
point of view of their
own poverty, were
handsome enough. But
they seemed beneath
contempt to the gar
dener who dreamed of
empire.
Not so, however, to
Mrs. Brady. She wept,
cajoled, threatened.
She conjured her hus
band, in the name of
common humanity, not
to let his children
starve before his very
eyes. He made her no
reply, other than by
the crushing method
of leaving the house,
to take counsel" of his
dreams outside.
It was on one of these forlorn occa
sions that Mrs. Brady's patience snap-
ned and her loyalty falterea.
seized the pampered rose bushes.
made haste to Field iiroinera. unu
sold them, one and all. for scarcely
more than the price of a single meat
When this was told to Brady, ne
touched the hour ot his supreme tribu
lation. His world fell away from be
neath his feet, Not once in. the IS
years since then has the stupor which
came upon him lifted for long enough
for realisation ot his misery to sift
through.
Matters went merrily with the rose
he made. Field Brothers, by skillful
advertising, ware able to sell their ex
clusive right to its reproduction for
$5,000. Within a year ten times that
amount was being paid for It by en
thusiastic purchasers here and
abroad.
Far tea years past a moderate esti
mate ot the amount of money spent
annually all over the world for Amer
ican Beauty rosea is $25,000,000.
John Brady ia still homeless In
Washington. His wife and the fam
ished children have died, one after
another. Ha himself is the recipient
of constant small charitiea from Wash
ington fioriata. any ot whom will give
him bits of work, spraying, or cutting,
when his mind can be held to his
task,
At the funeral of William R. Smith.
the famoua old Scotch superintendent
of the National Botanical gardens,
who had, at eighty, the repatattoa of
knowing mora public men diplomats,
statesmen, aad politicians than any
other person then firing ia the Ceiled
States, there waa an assemblage of
men aggregating almost incalculable
personal distinction. Into the midst
ot them crept a shabby, bent old man,
who, with avarted eyes and bowed
head sidled into a corner aad wept
with unmistakable suSerins. H waa
without ary doubt the most hamate
and obscure sorrower at the funeral
ceremony. Ha waa John Brady, maker
ot the Americaa Beaaty.
Merdfulty ha does not tee) he ia
finite pathos of his lot, lit real
tragedy ended IS years ago. when,
having nothing left to hope, he had
nothing left to tear. If you search
him out aad qaeeUoo him. you will
Sad him curiously apathetic
"Me? I am nothing nobody." he
will say to you, "My rosa? Tea, that
was my fortune, hat they took it
away from ma. I cannot make an
other t am nothing."
Aad ha will tell you this wtth the
most exQUislt manners, teamed, per
haps, ta the Bancroft gardens. His
eyea.wia tighten, his voice will ia-
toae geatty and courteously, and tor
aa iaetaat before the lethargy steal
over aim again you will gUmps th
power that could drag from earth and
make permanent tha most wonderW
rosa aha rives.
Ha has kept, or perhaps sot back
an Impressive sweetness ot aatare.
Qua thing only stirs him to ewr;
Sashes at raaeltloaa misery s t
be asked ta aaa or handle an A&k.-
loan Beaaty
Copyright, by the Press Publishing- Co. (The New York World).
Kins John, Who Did a Great Deed in Spite of Himself
A LEAN man,
clad in royal
robes and
walking with
with a shambling
gait, entered his
palace on the af
ternoon of June
15. 1215, followed
by a crowd of
laughing court
iers. He and his KINA JOHN
attendants seemed vastly amused over
something that had just happened and
which they professed to regard as a
fine joke.
But the moment the regally clad
man reached his private apartments
in the palace, away from the eyes of
the public his mask .of false gayety
was cast aside. He hurled himself
upon the Boor, screaming, raving and
howling fearful blasphemies, foaming
at the mouth and biting like a mad
dog at the rushes that strewed the
Boor.
Nor was this burst of Insane fury
without an excuse. For the man was
a tyrant; and that day had been forced
to sign 'the death-warrant of tyranny.
He was John, king of England. Mora
than a century and a half had passed
since William the Conqueror had won
England, beginning the blend of Nor
man and Saxon races and giving the
English a new line of kings and no
bility. Henry II.. king of England,
had several sons, all of whom hated
Utelr father and at various times con
spired against him. John was the
roungest. From his poverty he be
came known as "Lackland." The eld
est son, Geoffrey, died during Henry's
lifetime, leaving one son.' little Prince
Arthur. Geoffrey's next youngest
brother, Richard (known as "Lion
Heart"), became king of England at
Henry's death. He spent nearly all
his ten-year reign fighting in other
countries, and died childless.
During Richard's absence from Eng
land John had tried to seize the crown
for himself. On Richard's return he
had to fly for his own life before the
wrath of the brother he had striven to
supplant. Richard, however, forgave
him, and named him as heir to the
throne. On "Lion Heart's" death
John became king of England in 1199.
Some of the nobles tried to make his
nephew, young Prince Arthur, king in
John's place. Civil war broke out.
John was victorious. Arthur was cap
tured and thrown into prison. John Is
said to have had the sixteen-year-old
boy's eyes put out and then to have
murdered him. The king of Franca
Pizarro, Licensed
ATOTJNO
s wineherd
born In
E stramado
ro, Spain. In 147S
heard vague ru
mors of the New
World across tha
Atlantic which
Columbus had
lately discovered.
He heard ot ffTTAR R O
boundless wealth, mountains of gold
and silver, rivers and caverns Banning
wtth priceless gema all of which were
supposed to he found for tha search
ing, everywhere ta America.
Tha swineherd Francesco Fixarro
by name had perhaps never ta his
snort Ufa seen a single gold piece or
oaten a hearty meaL The tales ot
riches made him suddenly discontent
ed with his own humble routine. Ha
waa Ignorant. To his latest day he
could never manage to learn how to
read or write. But far wiser men thaa
himself had been taken In by these
stories ot a land ot wealth. Tha only
difference between such men and Pl
xarro was that ha actually succeeded
in winning such riches.
Leaving his swine Pizarro sailed
wtth a company ot seedy adventurers
to tha West Indies. Thera was much
work and small reward at first. But
ha kept on, Through trade and rob
bery ha had. picked up enough money
by 1515 to settle near the new city of
Panama as a farmer. It was a laugh
able anti-climax to his visions ot
wealth. But Pitarro was not tha sort
ot man to be laughed at.
As aooa as ha could scrap together
a little capital he formed a partner
ship with another adventurer. Amat
gro, aad a priest named iJeoue. aad
went ta search of fortune. The expe
dition was a tatiura. But in tha course
of tt Pttarra heard of a southern
coaatry Pent where gold was said
to be as cheap aa iron. He raided tha
Paravian coasts, but gathered acaaty
spoils.
Nevertheless, h believed he was at
last on tha right track. Ha went ta
Spain to get ntoaey aad royal author
ity tor further explorations, ta Seville
he waa thrown tn prison for debt. His
career seemed to be at an aad. Bat
ha managed to Interest tha ktas ot
Spain tn ata scheme. Tha king re
teased him aad car him a royal com
mtsloa to conquer Peru. He set forth
and. ia lSl. began aia tarasion ot the
gold land,
Usinjc a civil war ta Peru to help oa
am adreatura, he at length touad at
made war on John to avenge this al
leged murder, and seized nearly all
England's French possessions.
John, forced thus to confine his tyr
anny to his own country, proceeded to
make his people's lives miserable. Ha
seized at will the few possessions of
the poor and laid heavy taxes on the
rich. He insulted and Ill-treated tha
clergy, defying the pope himself. Tb
church thereupon placed an "inter
dict" on the blackguard and his realm.
His holiness- also called upon th
Christian rulers to unite sgainst Joha.
This last danger scared the cowardly
tyrant Into submission. But he re
fused to make his people's hardships
lighter.
Then It was that the powerful bar
ons, led by Stephen Langton. arch
bishop of C&stterbury, presented a
code of laws for the betterment of tha
people and for the curbing of oppres
sion. Thsy called this document the
Magna Charts (Great Charter).
Among other reforms, the charter pro
vided fair trial for every prisoner,
authorized the nation to resist unjust
royal demands and put the will of tha
people ahead of a mere king's wishes.
The church's liberty was to be re
spected and no man's possessions
were to be wrongfully seized by the
crown. '
John was asked to sign the Magna
Chart a. He refused. The barons and
the common people combined to forea
him to sign It. Frightened by their
power and his own weakness. John at
last consented. Thus was English lib
erty born and the rights of man were
established. John met the barons at
a meadow, near Runnymede, on June)
15, 1215, salved his vanity by pretend
ing to make a jest of the matter,
signed the charter and safe la his
palace gave way to a fit of maniacal
rage.
Though he had been coerced Into
performing an act of splendid jostle
by signing the Magna Charts, John
had not the faintest idea of keeping
his promises to the barons. He called
on foreign hired soldiers to help him
crush his rebellious subjects. Tha
English retaliated by asking a French
prince to come over and be their king.
The land was once more rent by civ
il war. John showed no mercy to his
own country, but desolated and
wrecked it wherever his armies could
find a foothold- At the climax of tb
struggle his mind gave way. Ha sick
ened and, on October 19, 1Z1S. died.
Some historians believe he waa pot
soned.
"Hold-tip Man"
or). Entering- the palace aa a trust ad
guest, Pizarro made tha Inca a pris
oner, and under threat ot death by
torture forced the luckless prisoner ta
pay for freedom by a Strang ransom.
This ransom waa no less thaa a
huge roomful of gold. To gain this i
it was necessary to strip tha
Peruvian temples of thetr goidea
menta. The full amount, when It was
at last turned over to Pizarao. was
worth more than $17,000,000. Havtaw
secured this, he calmly murdered tn
Inca.
Tha vile act sat aD
about tha Spaniard's
ful of enraged hornets. Bat
paid little heed to tha
Wealth eiung- by
treachery flowed fast
fera. Ha had found no literal
tains ot gold and caverns of i
he had discovered how jest
riches could
cruelty. His i
to soma extent ta tha prosperity
new-found power. This did not
Pizarro. .Thera war roarrels, aad
Amalgro was induced to teac
dtUoa against Chin. This
July. 1535, The Indians took advastaga
ot Amabrro's absence to attack n
aarro. but were wnabl. tn spite ot tnctr
vast numbers, to overcome am.
When Amalgro cam hack new
quarrels broke out. And tha two for
mer eomradea at last
war, Amalgro waa captured by
sarro'S troops and waa pat
But his followers kept ap tha strtta.
On Sunday morntne. Jan SC. lSU.
a band of theat
ros palace at
up from his
armed, and Sew at his ;
n wild beast. Ha '
tare, and desalt his stxty-dv
he was still a danawroaa f oa. A
battle waged. Tare of tan
war amid by Ptsarro before he tan.
mortally
sword thrusts.
stm
"Dibbles says his Ufa h
series ot disappointments."
"Tear
"Whan quite small h cried tor tn
moos, later on he wanted a musical
comedy star and now he sighs tn vain
tor a ttttla
Had Mm
"Bo you
aSi
Ptunksr
Tm sorry that I
. "Taw
htm, aft rights
-way ta the palace at tha men (