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.
