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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 1913)
The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page MrsLorillard Spencer New Ybrks Mrs. VanderbiWs Next-Door Neighbor to Give Up Social Frivolities and Become a Missionary Among the Savages of the Philippines MRS. LOItlLLAIlD SPENCEK, ono of tho most beautiful and charming as well as ono ot the wealthiest women In tho fash ionable Newport "colony, will closo Ler lovely homo on tho harbor front and go to the Philippines as a mis sionary. At present "Mtb. Spcncor's nearost neighbors are Mrs. John Nicholas Brown, mother of tho "richest boy In the world," and Mrs. Elsio French Vanderbilt, tho former wlfo of Alfrod Gwynne Vnnderbllt. In tho future her nearest neighbors will be the war like, ferocious and Ignorant Moros, many of whom lire on treo tops on the island ot Jolo. Could nny contrast be greater than that between Mrs. Spencer's present and future? Tho mombors of Now York and Newport socloty aro still dazed with astonishment over her decision. Her only son, Lorlllard, Jr., who married pretty Mary Sands, is aghast,, but no ono Is able to mako Mrs, Spencer ohango her plans. 'Think of the opera you will miss," ay her friends, to no avail. "Think of tho loneliness of life ftway from all your friends," say the Junior Spencers, but to no avail. "Think ot the money you will spend on wretched, dirty savages," warn her financial advisors, but their warning, too, falls on stony ground. No worldly consideration weighs with this high bred, brilliant woman, who might lead the Newport Sot It she wished, and who has long been a brilliant member ot what Ward Mc Allister named the "400." Knowing her firm determination to go to tho. Philippines, dt is interesting to dis cover her reasons for giving herself to such a mission; and. equally inter esting to Bee what she gives up. Before her' marriage,- Mrs. Spencer was Carolina BerryaaHer parents were enormously Wealthy, and her fortune far exceeded that ot the man ehe married, the popular "Lardy" Spencer, a. grandion ot old Pierre Lorlllard. Their combined fortunes placed them among the wealthiest members ot the Now York-Newport set From tho day of her marriage, which took place before her eighteenth birthday, Mrs. Spencer became an Important factor In so ciety. Tho Newport mansion, which had belonged to Mr. Spencer's fathor. fell to the bride and bridegroom, and their entertainments wore lavish and dollghttul. As time passed, the Spencers be came more and moro firmly en trenched socially. Their beautiful town house on Fifth avenue was a favorite placo with tho exclusive members of society, as was their Newport home. Their opera box always held the gayest parties. From a social viewpoint, Mrs. Spencer could deslro nothing else. Threo years ago Mr. Spencer died, and his fortune was left -unconditionally to his widow. This, with her own fortune, made Mrs. Spencer one of tho riohost widows in New York. To fill in her period of mourning she took a companion and went for a trip around the world. On this trip she visited the Philippines. Because ot her wealth and social position, she was entertained in as elaborate a fashion as the Manila and other posts could deTlso. One day she expressed a desire to Bee tho fierce Moros in their native Islands. She was taken to tho Island of Jolo, which Is tho farthest south of all the Philippines. There Bhemot Bishop Charles H. Brent, the Protestant Episcopal head of that wild diocese, and there she saw savagery at Its worst. Generously sha gave to the various missions, but she returned to New York overcome with the feeling that there was some thing moro for her to do. When the Newport season opened sho threw herself into Its gayetles. It seemed as though she wanted tq test hersolf, as though she must see just bow strong a bold "the Philip pines had on her imagination. But even at the gayest dance she would THE poetry editor ot ono ot tho Now York publications re cently selected one ot Andrew Lang's poems, "The Odyssey," to de light his readers. But Mr. W. J. Lampton, who Is himself a poet, road the editor's poetry column and had something to say. This particu lar stanza especially attracted Mr. Lampton's eye. As ono that for a weary space has lain Lulled by the song of Circe and her wlno In gardens near tho pale ot Proser pine, Where that Aegean Isle forgets the main, And only the low lutes of love complain, And only shadows ot wan lovers pine, As such an one were glad to know the brine Salt on bis Hps, and the large air again. A poetry post read this to me in rapturous tones, writes Mr. Lampton, and with bated breath, and wh"i I iked him what tb d' Venn t rr havo those savage Moros on her mind. The next Winter, when she gave opera parties, she was still thinking of what seemed to her tho wretchedness of tho natives on the Island of Jolo. Then a few weeks ago, during tho great Episcopal Convontlon, held In New York, Mrs. Sponcor was again brought in contact with Bishop Brent, and almost before sho realiezd it she had announced her intention to go to Jolo and work as a missionary, paying all expenses tor horself and a companion worker. Socloty was properly staggered. Her son was dumbfounded, but noth ing could, nnd sho frankly Bays that nothing can, sway her from her de cision. In tho most savago corner of this barbarous Island sho will found and support a social mission. Every cent ot expenso will bo borne by her. Hor financial advisers and her frlonda say, "What a tearful waste of money." Sho snys, "Not nt all." That it H a greater waste ot money to entertain society as Bhe has dono In tho past. The amount of money which this Mrs. Lorlllard Spencer. From Miniature by Amalla Kussner. A Native Tree House. A Poem That Offended a Poet he said he didn't know; that It Just swept him on. When I asked him what the "palo of Proserpine" was, and how far from tho gardons of Ctrce it was located, and wbero were the gardens ot Circe, ho was stumped. Then 1 wanted to know how an island could forget the main, seeing that everybody In this coun try remembers the Maine which is no Joke and why the low lutes of love should complain, In view ot the fact that Circe wasn't a married lady and Proserpine didn't want to be; and how the shadows ot wan lovers, or any other kind, could pine; and why one should bo especially glad to know that brine was salt on bis lips, when brine never Is any thing else but salt except possibly in unusually saccharine verse to all ot my insistent queries he failed to reply, and gloried in his failure. When I asked him at last about the "large air," be merely threw his arms around like windmills and made no answer. Next I asked him why "Proserpine" sho- ' I srrtr. to rhymo with a ii t was merely a Dne of the Unconverted Natives settlement will cost will bo no greater than the annual expenses ot her Newport house, her season In Now York and her trips abroad. Mrs. Spencer has figured every thing out. Instead of leasing- an oper box for the season, Bhe will equln a hospital for tno Aloroj. in stead of opening her Newport man sion and lavishing money on her friends, she will support a school where Moro children will be taught the three R's and habits of personal cleanliness. Instead of spending thousands of dollars on gorgeous clothes tor horself, she will spend that money clothing the Bavages. matter of pronunciation, and bad nothing to do with the poetic feeling. I admlttod the matter ot pronuncia tion, but argued that as authorities, as well as poets, differed on that, and as poetry was sublimated eu phony, why mako a trisyllabic word of It and get a cacophonous result that was harsh to the ear. "Wine" to rhyme with "Proserpine!" Might I not as fitly have written: To thee alone. Lost Persephone. Of course, I might, for Persephone is the original Greek of it, and a poet who would make a rhyme like that ought to have bis feet sawed off. The Latin of it is Proserpina, and it doesn't rhyme with hyena, either. He sat before me wagging his head and crooning the lines of Lang to himself ecstatically. But I kept right ahead, putting the plain facts up to him. Following Mr. Lang's pronunciation he's dead and It Isn't his fault that he isn't here to defend himself I handed out this classic bit? I might adore' a'r Terpsichore, CopyrlKbt, 1912, by Instead of cruising in Mediterranean waters on aporfectly equipped steam yacht, as In tho days when her hus band was living, this beautiful widow, who is still youthful In face and spirits, will crulso In and out among the southern islands in rude native canoes, facing danger every day ot her llto. Danger? Yes. Not alone the pas tlye dangor of disease, engendered by tho filth of the peoplo and tho heat ot the islands, but the actlvo dangers, due to the warlike charac teristics of tho Moros, the wild men of the bills, as thoy are somotlmes called. When tho United States took over the Philippines, it assumed cbargo ot their more than 8,000,000 natives. Of these, moro than 1,000, 000 are Moro Mohammedans. They have caused tho Government more anxiety than all the other 7,000,000 combined. Thoy are divided in groups, each group dominated by tierce and lawless leaders, one group of 350,000 are the descend ants of pirates and cannibals. It la this group that has been In constant rebellion, and has killed many Amer icans who have gone to them only to help them. And It Is to this group and Its civilization that Mr. Spencer Intends to devote her time and wealth I From tho cultivated, high bred, ultra-reflned social circle in which she has always moved, Mrs. Spencer will go to Jolo, where her companions will be elthor the hard working mis sionaries or the savages. From the unglazed windows ot her mission hut she will look out on dirty, un clad natives living In trees like great, unclean birds. What a contrast to the outlook from tho wide windows of her Nowport homo! There sho looks out upon the superb gardens of the Vanderbilt and Brown estates, or upon her own beautifully kept lawns. The children of her Newport and New York neighbors have expensive tutors and governesses. They are taught all tho graces ot modern civil- Did I not hopo That Penelope Would be my fate; Unless Hocate Or something worse That she-cat Circe Got in her curso And fired my shades Plumb down to Hades. But to proceed. Among the last six lines ot Mr. Lang's, not mine I find these three: So gladly from the songs of modern speech. Men turn and seo the stars and feel the free Shrill wind beyond the close ot heavy flowers. "Which gets ray goat," as the Satyr said to tho Dryad. Nothing short ot a search warrant or a magazine edi tor could get tho meaning ot that, in my judgment. What Is a shrill wind beyond the close ot heavy flowers? What shrills the wind and closes the heavy flowers? I am inclined to think the late Andrew, who was something elso besides a poet, was passing out a puzzle to the posterity row the Star Company Great Britain RlU Reserved tzatlon. Of the 300,000 children ot hor Moro neighbors, only 1,000 are receiving evon the crudost education. Tho United States Government pro vides schools, undor military rulo, for these children, but naturally the Moro takes to schooling no quicker than to bathtubs or soap. Mrs. Spencer's aim is to teach the parents of thoso children tho wisdom of sending them to school. But por haps the greatest nocd In all this Island is tho social. In splto of their warlike aggressiveness and their prowoss In troacherous war, theso MoroB aro a sickly race. Hospitals must be established where tho poo pie can be cured of chronic ailments euch as malaria, hookworm, black fever and othor tropical dlsoases which como mainly from unhygienic habits. . fortune , will devoted to develop! Native Hut Mrs. Lorlllard Spencer Will Carry the Teachings ing such a hospital In tho city ot Jolo, whero resides the Sultan ot Sulu, bead ot the Mohammedan faith in tho islands, the same Sultan who gavo to the then Alice Iloosovelt a pearl necklace. Jolo is tho capital of the Sulu group ot Moral, many of which are the so-called "Irreconclla blcs" ot the Philippines. They aro perhaps the most bar barous ot nil the Moro groups. They are highly immoral, their women are little moro than slaves. Unless In timidated by tho presence of the United State soldier, a husband will beat his wlfo wheuever he feels like it Among the subjects of tho Sul tan of Sulu are men and womeu who hare never worn clothes, who fight and who live like wild uulraals. It is among these unfortunate women that Mr. Spencer hope? to do her greatest work. She plans to go Into their homes, which are, lu Wjpj ,33jctty yi yjjyy,Tv Boat Used by the Missionaries mo iviveiB in most cases, wretched filthy huts ot straw and mud, so indescribably un hygienic that words fall in the por traying of them. There aro terrible Oriental diseases among the womeu, thero aro scarred and blind babies, crippled children. Among such as these, Mrs. Spencer will spread the gospel of cleanliness. Tho mothers wjll bo taught how to caro for their bablox, nurses will be provided to attend these mothers In the wilder ness. They will learn tho efliency of certain drug In tho prevention of blindness. These savage Moroa kill blind babies. Tlicy aro looked upon a something evil, and even those lu authority over tho groups order the speedy killing of these unfortunate bablew. What will happen when this bril liant product ot a modern civiliza tion meets this personally dirty, bar barous product of savagery? Will i to Reach the Native Far uie irucnui. of Christianity in These Home the Sultan of Sulu shock the sensi bilities of the former society leader, with his lack ot clothes, his habits, his customs and his cruelties? Or will he be shocked at her temerity, her "immodesty" In attempting, to meet him. a Mohammedan ruler, un veiled and garbed In what he believes to bo Indecent clothing? There are many among Mrs. Spen cer's friends who believe that her going personally to the Philippines is a sheer waste. Some students of economics would call her going a great economic waste. These friends, und student believe that moro good would be done by sending trained workers, paid from her great wealth. Their contention la that her culture, her beauty, her education will be ot no great use in the taming of the Moro. But Mrs. Spencer believes very differently.