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About The Montanian (Choteau, Mont.) 1890-1901 | View This Issue
The Montanian (Choteau, Mont.), 12 Nov. 1897, located at <http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn85053033/1897-11-12/ed-1/seq-3/>, image provided by MONTANA NEWSPAPERS, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana.
« O Q - ^ <*> ( .« j ü f e â ? * « - G r V70W:A-Ne®-0 C O L L E Q Ç - This is the story of Anita Hemming •of Vassar, '97. In all the news of the past few weeks there has been nothing .more dramatic than the story of this woman and the sudden revelation of the secret she had kept so well. The public was told that one of the most beautiful, the most brilliant and the most charming graduate of this year’s class at Vassar was a negro girl. The public was intensely interested, but to .no one did the revelation come with ¡such overwhelming surprise as to the classmates with whom Miss Hemming had been so closely associated for four years. In no mind, until very recently, had there been the slightest suspicion •of the truth. The story of Miss Hemming’s college life and of the influences and charac teristics that made her what she is will be told here. There is interest in It, as well as a moral lesson. There •Is inspiration, too, in the splendid trumph of this young woman who came into life so heavily handicapped for the career she has achieved. These are •the things that she has done. How she has accomplished them and the* 1 * 3 manner in which she has surmounted ail obstacles will be told in detail later on. In 18SS she was graduated from the Prince Grammar school, Boston, at the head of her class. In 1890 she completed, with the highest honors, the full course at the Girls’ English school in Boston. Subsequently she at tended Dwight L. Moody’s school at Northfield, Mass., and there prepared for the entrance examination of Vas sar, astonishing her 'teachers and as sociates by her brilliant work. In 1893 she entered Vassar, from which she has this year been graduated \with high honors. During her four years at college she ■was a prominent and brilliant figure in the life of the great institution. She became a leader among the girls, a member of the most exclusive college societies, a guest in the best Pough keepsie families and the idol of a large following of enthusiastic freshmen. She was lovingly called “the beautiful brunette.” It was supposed that she bad Spanish or possibly Indian blood In her veins. No one dreamed that in a little, modest Boston home there Jived an honest mulatto who was her father and a prepossessing mulatto woman who was her mother. Both of these were light in color, and they had beque'athed to their child, with the ’mixed blood of their race, regular fea tures and a clear olive complexion which many a white woman would give much to possess. To these parents Anita was born twenty-five years ago. Her father was a clever and industrious man. He who has probably had most influence in the young girl’s life. This woman was a philanthropist. She had broad sympathies and keen observation. She met Anita at Trinity Church, Boston, where the girl had been a communicant since childhood. The clear-headed and sympathetic woman of the world be came deeply interested in the beautiful colored girl who was making such a steady, brave, up-hill fight against en vironment and tradition. She suggest ed college, and in the contemplation of this vista of delight Anita almost for got her peculiar relations to the world of ideas, achievements and white skins. She entered Moody’s preparatory school at Northfield, and it is at this point that her career may be said to have really begun. She was at this time a girl of twenty, with a beautiful face, a splendid intellect and a habit of introspection. Her parents mingled wholly with their colored friends, and her home life had brought her into contact with the people of her own race. The line between her and the life she wished to lead seemed very sharply drawn. There was nothing about her, however, to suggest her negro blood. Her skin was a clear olive, her eyes soft and dark, her hair straight as an Indian’s, her figure and carriage per fect. She looks like a Spanish or Italian girl. At Northfield Miss Hemming first had the experience of associating in timately with girls not of her own race. Her room-mate there, however, .was a Miss Bessie Baker, a mulatto like herself. Miss Baker has since be came the wife of W. H. Lewis, a well- known negro citizen of Boston, who was known in his college days as Har vard’s great center rush. Miss Hem ming was bridesmaid at the wedding, which occurred last autumn. • During the year at Northfield the two colored girls were closely associated with the social as well as the educa tional life at Mr. Moody’s school. Strangers looking at either of them had no suspicion of the presence of a strain of negro blood. Their class mates seemed to have forgotten it. The happy life there and the temporary absence of the cloud that had hung over her may have aided Miss Hem ming in her resolve to enter Vassar without the great handicap which she had carried so long. She determined to conceal the fact of her negro origin. This implied no false statements. She had merely to let It be assumed that she was as the others were. Miss Hemming entered Vassar. No one asked her whether she was negro or New Englander, Indian or Spanish. She was young, brilliant and beautiful. That was enough. She had passed an ANITA HEMMING. S - , ! . ’ worked hard, and, almost from, the be ginning, he was'able\ to give his'family the advantages offered by the4 average white husband and father of the. middle^ class. Anita had a happy childhood.' She was sent to'school, where she as sociated with the white children of her age. At this time there was no effort made by her parents to conceal the negro strain in her blood. It was prob ably the unconscious shrinking away from her of some playmate that first taught the colored child her own aloof ness and showed her that she must make much of life’s journey alone. The thought did not discourage the ambiti ous little girl, who quietly laid out the plan of life which she has so consis tently •followed. In her wish for an , education she/had her father’s affec tionate-support and aid. She entered the Prince Grammar school,.in Boston, where she is still remembered as one of' its, brightest pupils. At the end of two years, during which she easily dis tanced all her associates, she was grad uated at the head’ » ! her class. This honor .secured her - entrance to the ‘ Girls’ ; English school; where for four \years she gained new laurels and wore ;them modestly. .;-V , •• Just a,t this time she met the woman, excellent entrance examination, t she had met' the necessary requirements as to “good moral character.” She promptly and quietly took her place at the head of her classes, friends flocked around her, professors praised her, she was initiated into the mysteries of se cret societies and midnight “fudge” parties. Her college career had begun. For almost a year she kept her se cret well. Then she suddenly disclosed it. . Perhaps it weighed upon her mind and she told it to obtain relief. Per haps the disclosure was accidental. No one knows. But the girl chose her con fident wisely. She told' her story to a member of the faculty—one of the most popular professors in the college. This woman’s attitude towards her brilliant pupil may be assumed from the fact that she subsequently visited Anita at her Boston home during the holidays. The Hemmings were humble people, and they made no effort to conceal the fact from the college professor who was their guest. Their friends and associ ates were colored, people. There was no pretense of being white. With' the exception; of this friend, Miss Hemming entertained no guests from Vassar in her Boston home. Ths: • i professor, like Anita, kept .the, secvef.;; well. Anita’s room-mate was a beaut!-'' ful and popular student, whose family held a high social position. Not even this girl suspected the truth for years. When she did Anita’s first great trou ble came. Miss Hemming’s progress through Vassar was a triumphal one. She had - a beautiful voice, hence she joined the glee club. She was also taken into the choir, and became a leader in the musi cal set of the college. She joined the choral club. As the months passed she was made a member of other college associations. Among these were the Contemporary club, the ’97 Federal De- bating society, a Greek club and the Marshall club. But these were not all. her triumphs. There are dances and festal days at Vassar, in which Harvard, Yale and Princeton men are allowed to partici pate. In large numbers these young men bowed at Anita’s shrine. It was a Princeton youth who gave her the sobriquet by which she became re nowned—“ the beautiful brunette.” It was her room-mate who finally caused the temporary downfall of this striking figure, from its fine college eminence. In some manner this girl had discovered that Anita was of negro parentage. She immediately changed her room and discontinued the ac quaintanceship. It was the first blow in the colored girl’s college course— and it was a bitter one. Anita awaited further blows with an agonized fear. She knew that the story would spread like wildfire through the college, and she felt that the upbuilding of the structure she had raised was but a waste of time. To what end was all her work and study, if the friends she loved turned from her and the college she loved closed its doors to her? No one knows what the girl suffered, for she never told. She kept to herself, withdrew from her associates and be came absorbed in her work. But they would not have it so. For some rea son the room-mate, too, kept the se cret. A few rumors started, but were immediately scoffed down. As the weeks passed, and her friends still ral lied around her, Anita breathed again. She had had a narrow and a most dramatic escape. During the last year of her college career Miss Hemming held one of the most prominent positions in.the insti tution. It was admitted that she would graduate among the first. Without ef fort she held her supremacy as student and leader in the college set. She had never been a solitary nor a “ dig”—two unpopular types at college. During her last year it was natural that she should cling fondly to the friends she had made and the social eminence of whieh she knew she could never be sure agah\ She was a fas cinating woman, and prefessors and students and strangers alike fell under the charm she exercised during these last months. In the midst of all this the revelation came. Once more the little rumors began to circulate—this time more loudly and persistently than ever before. The girls began to eye her curiously, won- derlngly. She knew that they were commenting, discussing. There was bitterness beyond words in this to the proud, senstive woman. To her these girls had come to seem like sisters. To them she was merely a creature to be discussed as a problem, a phenome non. In grief and humiliation she went to a member of the college faculty, and in plain words told her story. There was nothing more for her to do but await the result. A faculty council followed. Some of the professors had surmised the truth. Every one knew it now. President Taylor himself advised that at so late a day no official action be taken to prevent the girl from graduating with her class-mates. And so Miss Hem ming’s fate was decided. But she had worked harder than -two-thirds of her class, and was graciously permitted, as a favor, to take equal rank with the members of that class. Miss Hemming carried off the honors of commencement day. In the circum stances, it. was not. as happy an occa sion as her splendid-record deserved, but she made the best of it. __ . ’ , ’ ' ' L ‘ ’ ~ ~ M useum E p isode. * , *. , * « * S ' , - “The rubber-man thought he;; would be safe, in treating’the d^yarf 'girl'to Ice cream.” , %. Y;?-' :•• 1 “Well, how.’did it,come put?” , - , “Gracious,, instead..of taking, half a plateful she ate three'.’’—Detroit-Free Press. r 1 ■; ■ ’ '' •» ■> - ! ? .■ .RAM'S HORNS. The common' saint is> air uncommon stranger to himself. • ^ . He is well balanced that will take advice against inclination. Christ taught to teach; not to win admiration or applause'.“ - Aggressiveness without control, is \the animal turned loose. . The gospel and the long face do not travel well together. The man who loves his neighbor as himself, cannot be a hermit A dollar has more power in America, than the Ten Commandments. The careless man wrecks his com fort; the covetous man his destiny. The eagle bathing bor pinions in the clouds, is but one of God’s thoughts materialized. If your schooling does not help you to better the world, your time and money are both lost. The man who thinks he knows all there is to know, is already too dead to know that he is eying.. Scatter sunshine as you pass along, and by and by, you may. gather bou quets. of.. Immortal gladness.- .. ...We.maygain a-reputation for piety by.looking solemn, but we shall slan der the Lord while doing it. 3 Ghost Carnival | '«! S* 2J _ ...OF... g I Klondyke Indians 1 The gold seekers flocking to the Klondyke are obliged to go through a country inhabited by some very queer aborigines, who dwell along the coast of Southern Alaska. These natives do most of the freighting across the passes into the interior, carrying loads on their backs; but their population dur ing many centuries has been so shut away from other tribes by gigantic ranges of snow-clad mountains that they have developed a peculiar culture and customs unknown anywhere else. Hence the .exceptional value of a mon ograph about them, prepared by Dr. Franz Boaz, a distinguished ethnolog ist, which is to be published shortly by the National Museum. . One of the most remarkable of the festivals celebrated\ by the Indians is a carnival of ghosts, which is held each winter. It seems to be derived from a tradition that tells of a journey made by an adventurous individual in a re gion beneath the earth, inhabited by phantoms. • The celebration itself Is a mimical representation of the visit to Hades aforesaid, and the performer who represents the sub-mundane trav eller wears a necklace and headdress set round with skulls. This festival requires elaborate prep arations. Speaking tubes of dried giant kelp are laid under the floor of the lodge house so as to terminate in the fireplace. When the ceremonial is in progress the performer disappears into a ditch previously dug behind the fire, and then many voices are heard com ing out of the flames—really the voices of persons hidden in adjoining rooms, who speak through the tubes. Later on, an image representing a ghost is seen to rise out of the ground, carry ing the performer. Cannibalism is very conspicuous in the myths current among these people, who have themselves been eaters of human flesh up to a recent period. In deed, though the whites are supposed to have put a stop to such «practices, it would seem that secret indulgence in them has not been wholly done away with. Quite a number of strange demons are worshipped as guardian spirits, among them a cannibal demon that lives on the mountains and is always engaged in the pursuit of human be ings for his table. The smoke of his chimney is the color of blood, and he has a female slave, who gets food for S O M E T R E A S U R Y “ N O T E S ;” / While counting money in the nation al bank division of the United States Treasury, I gathered together a strange \collection of which I have made a scrap-book; these objects are of no value to any one except as curiosities, and would naturally have fifcid their way to the wsate-paper ba&et. I will say first that all money sent to the Treasury for redemption is thor oughly disinfected before it is given out—in packages of five hundred dol lars and over—to be counted. No less than six persons count it and put their names on each package, thus making themselves responsible for any error found after it leaves their hands. ’ My curious collection is composed of things used to patcli mutilated bank notes, so that they might be sent to the Treasury and redeemed by fresh new ones. Many of the patches had to be soaked and taken off so that we could read the name of the bank. I have nearly two hundred specimens in the collection. There are all sorts of United States stamps, express stamps, railroad stamps, druggists’ labels of all kinds, several of the “skull and cross-bones.” Election ballots and lottery tickets, and one photograph cut in strips, which, put together, shows a man’s face that could easily be recognized. Court plas ter of all colors, cloth, lace, ribbons, pieces of letters and envelopes, menu cards, hardware tags, and pieces of cal endars; in fact, every page is a curios ity. Some were pasted on the backs of the notes and show where the signa tures of the president and cashier had been cut from each corner, which is done before counting. I have noticed many times how far a banknote had traveled before it returned to Wash ington a poor mutilated remnant. A New England note was patched by a druggist in Colorado, and in many oth er instances they came from places equally remote from their banks. Some notes were carefully sewed with fine thread and many had names of persons and places written on their backs. On a flve-dollar bill was writ ten quite a story in a few words, it be ing the “ first money earned and saved to go toward the purchase of a first suit of ‘store’ clothes.” On a ten-dollar note was written: “This note is tho last of a fortune of ten thousand dol lars spent in drink.” Papers filled with mutilated notes ! , W O M E N 'A N D * T IP 3 .- ‘ ' ,'Y --Y There is something'in the feminine, character which rebels against the lav ish’ giving of tips, and if porters and maids- had to depend wholly on women for their additional fees, there , is all probability that the poor creatures would find very small satisfaction. It is true that the matter of giving fees to servants is not so strictly observed in America as it is in foreign countries, but the habit is growing, partly from the circumstance that the custom is a foreign one, and hence appeals to many aping Americans from that very fact. The custom of giving small sums tc railway porters and hotel servants Is pretty generally followed, but it is only lately that any decided tendency has arisen in this country toward tipping maids and men servants in the homes of our friends where we may have been spending a few days. It is a great drain on one's pocketbook to remember the maid who unpacks one’s trunk, the man who brushes one’s shoes, the gardener who obligingly cuts a fresh rose and presents it with an in sinuating glance, the boy who runs ahead to open the gate on one’s early- morning walk and the waitress who brings up one’s breakfast the time a headache keeps one in bed. There is an additional strain, too, in remember ing all the various individuals, so that when the time for parting comes, the right servant gets the right tip. It is always a queer sensation for a girl visiting in a country house to hand a fee to a giant of a man servant, but that dignitary’s sense of gallantry does not keep him from accepting the sum with a gratitude altogether out of pro portion to the gift. Every one who crosses the sea for the first time is warned by experienced travelers that there will be no peace of body or mind unless she is liberal in her fees to the various stewards, and the sum required is sometimes enough to discourage the woman who expects to go over on a small sura. The whole system of feeing is an unfortunate one for the people who are trying to make a brave face with a cruelly thin purse. Things were worse, however, in the last century—especially in France. Jean Jacques Rousseau used to say. that he could not afford to stay in the houses of great people. This was, ap parently, because French aristocrats did not pay their servants any wages. The servants were expected to fatten on the guests. Maria I-Iolroyd, in her amusing letters, describes a visit to a French chateau at the beginning of the FROM INDIAN BUREAU PHOTOGRAPHS. n by catching mem and collecting •pses. In his house is a fabulous d with an immensely long beak, lid® lives on the brains of persons :ose skulls it fractures with its bill, ybody who is so unfortunate as to counter the cannibal spirit may be .nsformed into a grizzly bear. On i other hand, if he can please the de- >n, he may obtain power to handle 3 without being burned. Another guardian spirit is a fearsome rrior, who lives in the far north. He ivels constantly and never leaves his ioe. By obtaining his protection a in may become invulnerable, or he ty acquire power to catch the invis- e disease demon. This, demon., is at times flying about int)ie aip. in^the •m of a worm.-The fortunate protege the warrior Spirit; catching v- the :rm, can throw it into the body of an emy, who \will die at once, rhese Indians wear wooden masks in iirjceremonials. Some of them are enormous size and astonishingly otesque. The mask worn by a per- •mer .who represents the cannibal irit, f°r example, is a huge, croco- e-li’ke head. Another, representing ; bird servant of this spirit, is like 3 head of a bird, with a bill four feet ig. By means of strings, pulled by 3 wearer, the great beak is made to en and shut rapidly, producing a loud ippering. One o f L ife’s Puzzles. ‘I am longing,\ remamrked the pis- torial boarder, “ to have one strange ing explained to me.” ‘Want a recipe for making this kind coffee, maybe,” remarked the dys- ptic. \Naw. I want to know why it is at when I’m digging for bait I have turn up an acre of dirt in order to t a few measly worms, while, Ijal- lys find\ dozens of ’em in every spade- l when I’m'making a flower-bed for f wife.”—Omaha World-Herald. tell strange and sometimes funny ex periences. Many families of mice have had rather costly homes made of chewed banknotes. Hundreds of dol lars have been hidden in stoves—while not in use—and forgotten and narrowly escaped entire destruction when the fires were lighted. Burnt money, if not handled, can very often be easily de ciphered, as the letters stand out clear and distinct, something like “blind\ letters—though perfectly black. It is wonderful to watch an \expert\ put together the many fine pieces of a mutilated banknote, pasting each piece carefully on thin pape in ita proper place, using a fine pointed flat knife and a glass plate the size of a bank note. This plate is marked off in sec tions, in order to determine the value to be placed on the part redeemed at that time, as some one might bring the other portion later, and so get more than the value of the note. Every pre caution is taken to prevent fraud, and under the sharp eyes of the lady count ers an error very rarely occurs. On one occasion money was carefully hidden in a pair of heavy working boots, to be remembered almost too late; for even Uncle Sam’s experts to save the remnants of the once crisp notes. A hundred dollar bill is so small an obstacle in a boot, compared with the good it might do in circulating some other way. In one instance I saw a box of tiny bits no larger than a little fingernail, with an affidavit all correctly filled out and signed, but as the lady expert picked up the pieces she said: “This paper does not feel like the right kind of fiber,” and sure enough, when put together, it was found to be the trick of a counterfeiter. He had hoped to get from the Treasury two hundred dollars in good new bills for that box full of worthless paper. Thousands of dollars are saved every, year for earless or; often over-careful people by the expert ladies of the Treasury Department. A. E. RANNEY. revolution. “ The servants receive n< wages,\ she writes, “ but take vail§.’ It is no wonder that tho impecunioui philosopher who handed over hii progeny to the foundlings’ hom< could not afford to pay visits to th« great and the rich. The same systent would appear to survive In the Frenci cafes and restaurants of today, foi quite recently the waiters of Paris and Marseilles have been holding meeting« in favor of an eight-hour day and suit able wages. Costly Archives. The United States archives include some very costly as well as interest ing papers. The papers of George Washington, in 336 volumes, cost $45,000. James Madison’s papers, in 75 volumes, were purchased for $25,000. The papers of Thomas Jefferson, in 137 volumes, were acquired at a cost of $26,000, besides $6,000 appropriated for their publication. Sixty-five vol umes of Alexander Hamilton’s papers, bought for $20,000. The papers of James Monroe, consisting of 22 vol umes, were bought for $20,000. Ben jamin Franklin’s papers, in 32.. vol umes, were bought in 1S82, at a cost of $35,000. Although the government paid $165,- 000 for these papers, they are regarded as priceless. Still, they are not so val uable as the papers of the Continental Congress, which are Included in tha colection 6f the department of state. T o Jlnlce C a ram e l Costard. For six ordinary-sized custards melt six tablespoonfuls of sugar, stirring carefully to prevent burning. Pour into the bottom of the custard cups, give each a sort of whirl that the sugar-may also line the sides. Beat three eggs without separating; add three table spoonfuls of sugar, half a teaspoonful of vanilla, and a cup and a half:of milk. Stir until the sugar is dissolved; pour the mixture into the cups-on* top of the caramel. Stand in a-baking- pan half filled with water, and cook, in the oven fifteen minutes. Turn whils hot from the cups. Serve cold.—Mrs, S. T. Rorer in Ladies’ Home Journal, -j
Teton Chronicle
(Choteau, Mont.), November 12, 1897
Teton Chronicle
(Choteau, Mont.), November 12, 1897
Teton Chronicle
(Choteau, Mont.), November 12, 1897
Teton Chronicle
(Choteau, Mont.), November 12, 1897
Teton Chronicle
(Choteau, Mont.), November 12, 1897
Teton Chronicle
(Choteau, Mont.), November 12, 1897
Teton Chronicle
(Choteau, Mont.), November 12, 1897
Teton Chronicle
(Choteau, Mont.), November 12, 1897
