ONE OP the DEATHS of Christmas Day Was That of Mrs. Maud Durbin Skinner, Wife of Otis Skinner, Famous Actor
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ONE OP THE DEATHS OF Christmas day was that of Mrs. Maud Durbin Skinner, wife of Otis Skinner, famous actor. Marital adventures of stage people furnish material for sensational writers and diligent moralists. But the relations of Otis Skinner and his wife were of little use to the paragraphers, for the couple remained happi1y wedded to each other for more than forty years. Back in the early nineties, when Otis Skinner was leading man in Modjeska's company Maud Durbin joined the county 26 4-H clubs with a mem-company while it was playing in Denver. Skinner and the young actress worked together as members of that company for two years, when they formed their own company, and about a year later were married. Mrs. Skinner played many prominent roles, including Juliet to her husband's Romeo and Ophelia to his Hamlet. Shortly after the birth of their daughter in 1902 Mrs. Skinner retired from the stage. The daughter, Cornelia Otis Skinner, now adorns the stage of which both parents were distinguished members. LORD NUFFIELD, WEALTHY British motor car manufacturer, made a Christmas gift of $10,000,000, not to King George and Premier Baldwin, but to a board of trustees who are to use the fund in co-operation with and augmentation of the efforts of the government to improve conditions in the country's most distressed areas. The gift was accompanied by an expression of confidence in and admiration for the new king and the premier. LORD NUFFIELD, OF WHOM few of us ever hear, is known to have given away millions in charities of which there is no public record. Among his larger single benefactions during the past eleven years are the creation of a trust fund of about $11,000,000 for employees in his motor works and $16,000,000 for the endowment of a post-graduate school of medical research at Oxford. SUCH GIFTS ARE SELDOM noted by "share-the-wealth" agitators who, having nothing of their own, are eager to share the wealth of others. Yet every year great wealth, accumulated in commerce, finance and industry, is being de- voted to the public welfare under wise and far-sighted management. The most conspicuous illustration of this kind is the manner in which the Rockefeller millions have been devoted to the spread of knowledge, the improvement of health and the raising of living standards in every continent on the globe. The foundations established by Andrew Carnegie, Russell Sage and others in this country are well known, and in other countries there are numerous men of great wealth who regard themselves as trustees rather than selfish owners. EVERYONE KNOWS OF THE existence of 4-H clubs. Not everyone knows just why those clubs exist, or what they do, and still fewer, even of the members themselves, know that they owe their existence to a man who is soon to retire from active work at the age of 70. Albert B. Graham, who has seen many years of service in the federal department of agriculture, and is now approaching retirement age, is credited with founding the first agricultural club for young people, out of which grew the imposing 4-H organization and its companion organization, that of the Homemakers, which includes only girls in its membership. In these organizations there has been erected a monument to Mr. Graham finer than anything that could have been fashioned of bronze or marble, and one of the fine things about it is that Mr. Graham has been permitted to witness the growing of that monument into the magnificent thing that it has become. IN A REPORT JUST MADE County Agent Page tells us that there are now in Grand Forks county 26 4-8 clubs with a membership of 267, and 21 Homemakers clubs in which 374 are enrolled. In these clubs farm boys and girls are receiving training which will make its impress on their whole lives, increasing their efficiency in every way and adding to the sum total of their happiness. STATIONED AT CAMP LEE, Virginia, during the war, C. O. Tverberg amused himself during leisure hours visiting historic spots in and around the old town of Petersburg, which was founded in 1733 by Colonel William Byrdand Peter Jones and named in honor of the latter. The city was the center of the closing struggle of the Civil war and its capture by Grant was followed closely by Lee's surrender at Appomattox. From his notebook Mr. Tverberg has selected a number of interesting bits of information. THE CRATER, SAYS MR. Tverberg, is a place of great interest, as part of the siege of Petersburg took place there. What is now the Crater was once an ammunition dump, which was blown up during the Civil war, leaving a great excavation in the earth. Around the battlefield the fields are still full of bullets, and the boys at Camp Lee amused themselves wandering through the fields and kicking bullets out of the dirt. The home of the Stedmans, of historic memory, still stands. It was from that building that President Lincoln watched the progress of the battle. ONE OF THE FAMOUS OLD Petersburg buildings is the Blandord Bristol parish church, which was erected in 1735. It ceased to be a place of worship in 1800, and the walls were crumbling into ruins when in 1901 it was taken over by the city. In 1912 the property was turned over to the Daughters of the Confederacy, who restored it and have maintained it in excellent condition. Each of its windows has been dedicated to one of the states of the southern Confederacy. On one of the walls of the church is the following poem, said to have been written in 1841 by Tyrone Power: Thou art crumbling to the dust, old pile, Thou are hastening to thy fall; And round thee in thy loneliness Clings the ivy to the wall. The worshipers are scattered now, Who knelt before they shrine, And silence reigns where anthems rose In days of "auld lang syne." And sadly sighs the wandering wind Where oft in years gone by Prayers rose In my heart to Him, The Highest of the High. The tramp of many busy feet That sought thy aisles in o'er, And many a weary heart around Is still forever more. How doth ambition's leaps take wing; How droops the spirit now. We hear the city's distant din; The dead are mute below. The sun that shone upon their paths Now gilds their lonely graves; The zephyrs which once fanned their brows The grass above them waves. Oh! could we call the many back Who've gathered here in vain, Who've careless roved where we do now, Who'll never meet again, How could our very hearts be stirred To meet the earnest gaze Of the lovely and the beautiful, The lights of other days. IN THE AD JOINING CHURCH-yard are the graves of many of Virginian's first inhabitants, and on the tombstones are epitaphs quite in keeping with the customs of two centuries ago. One, of an English baronet, reads as follows: Here lyeth the body of Sir William Shipwith Created baronet by James I. Was honored for raising men to aid against the usurpers of the throne and always remained faithful to the King; was driven to exile to Virginia by the usurpers where he remained a refugee. Deceased Feb. 25th, 1764. IF THE DATES ARE Correct Sir William must have lived to be a very old man, as James I died in 1625. Tombstones do not always tell the truth. HAVE WE EVER HAD AS open a winter as this has been, or a New Year's day with as little snow?" Questions like that are often asked. The answer is "Yes, often." We have had many milder early winters than this has been, and several times the New Year has come in without any snow at all. Without checking the years one by one, I am sure that January 1, 1889, holds the record as the finest New Year's day that this territory has yet seen. There had been some snow and some sharp weather earlier in the winter, but the weather had turned mild and the snow had all disappeared. Cattle turned loose, instead of seeking the shelter of straw stacks and burrowing in the chaff for stray gernels of grain, roamed at large over the fields and grew fat on the scattered grain which they found in the stubble. NEW YEAR'S DAY DAWNED bright and clear, and not a cloud obscured the sky all day. The air was like summer, with not a breath of wind stirring. Lakota had a baseball game that day, not as a midwinter stunt, but because the day was so pleasant that the boys just couldn't keep from playing ball. THOSE WERE THE DAYS OF New Year's calls, when the matrons of a community and their daughters made it known that they would be receiving, and the young men made the rounds, calling at the several homes, and at each being regaled with eatables and drinkables. A new touch was given to the season by about a dozen Grand Forks young men who went calling on horseback, and in recognition of the mild weather they wore long linen dusters to protect them from the heat. Clarence Hale or E. J. Lander may remember whether or not all in that party were able to remain upright in their saddles during the entire pilgrimage.