The Inter Ocean from Chicago, Illinois • Page 39

lY 1 ft 'All who Tie with a kindly eye the advance made by women during the last bait century know full well that Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who has Just died, wrought Incalculable benefit to her sisters. -As one of the world's greatest leaders among women be fought during her long life for the op-preestd of her sex. and to grant all women rights "and advantages which they had never known. Few persons of either sex have lived to show better than she what can be wrought by devotion to a purpose. With the movement for woman's suffrage, that movement which for many years was a sort of an incubus to most men and women, her name will always be Inseparably connected.

Whatever has been done in the past, whatever may be the present popular opinion of the suffrage quest ion, and whatever It may be destined to become, Mrs. Stanton will always be. mentioned as its pioneer and as -one of its sturdiest and most successful Her life was closely linked with the life of another great suffragist, Susan 13. Anthony, and the-, history of the one Is largely the history the other. Their cm-' reers were botk pictrejue, they worked in conjuration, the raitsbelong to both, -The Essayist and the Orator.

Of these two women, Mrs. Stanton was the more scholarly. Hiss Anthony the mora vigorous. The former was the essayist of the suffragist movement; the latter was the orator. Jlri.

Stanton, burdened with the cares of a large family, and during a part of her career kept at home, wrote many of the resolutions and author of many of the epigrams that Miss Anthony carried to the there to electrify the assembly. The history of the woman's suffrage movement for a great many years is really the history of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, if we now eliminate the names of her co-workers. For about ten years, however, she had not beon so actively engaged in public work, yet the Ink on her pen had rarely been allowed to dry. Sho was 86 years old when she died, and she had been a champion of women Bince she was a mere girl. I first met Mrs.

Stanton about thirty years ago. It was not until the centennial at Philadelphia, in 1876, that I became closely ecquainted with her. At that time she and Mirs Anthony were together and were working hard upon their book, "The History of Woman's Suffrage." It was during their literary partnership, as well as their united work for a more general recognition of women in public life. At that time she was. of course, a woman of mature mind and well-formed purpose, and she had already seen a grcftt part of her work bear fruit.

It was at a period in her life when her mind was the keenest, her work the most vigorous, and her hope the brightest. Of her earlier years and the work with which they were burdened, I know only what she and her coworkers have told me. Incidents of Her Girlhood. The incidents, of Elizabeth Cady's girlhood are well term as interesting a chapter as ts'cbronlcled'in the life of any woman this country ever has produced. The work begun in her girlhood hat resulted today in more tangible benefits to woman than most people know of.

At least twenty-seven. states grant some measure of suffrage to wemen, Australia Is largely an equal-rights continent, and throughout the world women are granted a measure of consideration not dreamed of a century ago. Elizabeth Cady was born Nov. 12. 1816.

Her father was Judge Daniel Cady of Johnstown. N. T-, a distinguished man in his day. Her mother was Margaret Livingston, a daughter of James Livingston, an officer in the revolutionary war. Thus were blended In the child strains of the best blood of the country.

To her father she owed a training that fitted her for whatever she accomplished. She was an utterly self-reliant child, and her father's attitude toward her perhaps enhanced this trait. She interested herself In the studies generally considered best only for boys, snd affirmed her intention to master Greek, Latin, and mathematics. During her i NILES CENTER TREMBLES OVER DIRE Residents of the village of Nlles Ceater are In a state of terror over frequent attempts to destroy the settlement by fire and by anonymous letters containing threats to blow up the homes of the village offictals. Mysterious Area have destroyed several buildings, and many of the.

structures left standing are being guarded day and. night to prevent the firebug from carrying out bis declaration to wreck the dwellings with explosives. So greatly wrought up are the villagers that a vigilance committee, composed of al- most every man and boy in the town, has bee formed. A volunteer fire department, la which every able-bodied man in the village Is enlisted, has also been organised, and ven the women, old and young, have formed an auxiliary bucket brigade. Every citizen has resolved himself into a detective, and a number of persons are under close surveillance.

The movements of every stranger or suspicious-looking character who enters or de-. parts from Nlles Center are watched, and at night the roadways are closely guarded. Aa Old German Settlement. Nlles Center Is an old German settlement. It has no rsilroad, and until the present year has been content to be a typical country town, although now the prospects of railroad being built through the village have awakened the metropolitan spirit.

Aa electrlc-llght plant is being Insulted, and many of the wealthy retired farmers who live In tho little burg are erecting costly and handsome dwellings. The settlement Is one of the oldest In Cook county, and frequently during Its compara- tive long history It has been the seat of many mysterious occurrences, of which the recent fires are the most perplexing. In the almost forgotten days when the Indians roamed through the north-shore woods and hunted on the prairies, the site of the village was the meeting place Of Indian envoys, and the traditions of the village tell of the mys- terious disappearance of a Wisconsin chief who camped with a number of braves In the woods just west of the present village. "Ghost stories and tales of haunted houses and the headless rider of the Grosse Point road are yet recited to the wide-eyed-and awed children on winter evenings. The seers of the Tillage aUll have their theories re- gardlng mysterious murders committed long sgo, and It Is said that on dark, damp nights strange lights are sees In the marshes cast of the old-fashioned Tillage.

Some of the younger people claim that these lights are Will-o'-the-wisps, bnt the older heads tell them that a Frenchman was foully murdered la the edge of the marsh half a century ago. But more puzzling than all the vague stories mt bygone Incidents In the mystery that has VOIiTJltE XX XT. CHICAGO, SUNDAY MOBNHTG, NOVEMBER 2, 1902. KITMBEIl 223. A LIFE'S STRUGGLE FOR SUFFRAGE REMINISCENCES OF MRS.

STANTON BY DR SARAH HACKETT STEVENSON. 1 i 0 i JUIJi. tARD HOWE. girlhood her father permitted her to remain a great part of the time In his law office, and It was among her father's books that she first became imbued with the Idea of fighting to place upon the statute book laws that would change conditions. Jurisprudence always had a fascination for her, and she delved among those dusty old law books, noting particularly how insignificant a thing was woman from a legal standpoint.

Wished She Wii a Boy. The objectionable points found by her In the law books were those acts pertaining to women and children. Women had no property rights. They had nothing. They could not control the wages they earned.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, was theirs by right of law. Of these things Elizabeth Cady' would complain to her father, whose only answer would be. "I wish you were a boy." Judge Cady would have made a lawyer of the child had she been a bay. Mrs. Stanton bat often told me that it was one of her father's great disappointments that she was not a boy.

Elizabeth Cady was dismayed by what she saw in the law books In her father's office. "There is nothing here to protect women and children." she woald poredover the legal she was too young to understand legislative but quite old enough to see that something was terribly wrong with the laws, she would insist that her father allow her to cut from the book the pages bearing the laws she regarded as oppressive to her sex. I have heard her tell how disappointed she was when she learned that such a process would not result in any benefit. But she did not stop thinking when she learned that the scissors could afford no panacea. The things the precocious and pensive child dreamed of as she sat with the heavy tomes on her lap have been responsible in a large measure for the recognition which women receive today.

A truthful account of the deeds performed first by the young woman and later by the more mature thinker and originator would make up a heroic history. As an abolitionist, candidate for Congress, and champion of woman's rights she showed the power of an aggressive woman. And when one knew her well it was not difficult to see how she could 1 DR. bTNTZEZ Niks Center Residents Who Have stricken terror Into the hearts of the Inhabitants during the last week. The firebug first appeared In Niles Center about two years ago.

AMELIA. BLOOMER IX THE COSTUME Women Who Gave the Suffrage Movement Its be one of the central figures in a great movement and yet be ridiculed and vilified less than most of the other workers. Slleaced Horace Greeley. She had a rare and charming personality. I would have- called her beautiful.

She possessed a personal magnetism that tamed even her most rabid opponents, and the grace of her bearing mellowed the bitterness of those who opposed a change In the status of the ranch Tse question. She was a keen observer and a brilliant conversationalist. Her aptness In turning an epigram often entirely disarmed her opponents. I have rarely known a woman quicker at repartee. Mrs.

Stanton modestly told me how she broke down Horace Greeley's argument against woman's suffrage. She had gone to the dffice of the New York Tribune to present a petition asking Mr. Greeley to turn his paper over to the cause. After the great editor had listened to Mrs. Stanton for a while he turned.

In a self-satisfied way, and asked her what she would do in case of war. Without a moment's hesitation she answered: "I would do as you did, Mr. Greeley. I would send a substitute." Mr. Greeley had nothing more to say, but he ever afterward had the deepest reverence for ElUabth Cady Stanton.

The Tribune eventually became a champion of woman's rights. Upon' another occasion she was approached by a number of women who had just heard her deliver a long address. They complimented her freely, and then one of them said, "What do you do with your children With a patience that was almost divine, Mrs. Stanton replied, "Ladies, it takes me no longer to speak than you to listen; what have you done with your children the two hours you have been sitting hereT But to answer your question: I never leave my children to go to Saratoga, Washington, Newport, or Europe, or even to come here. They are at this moment with a faithful nurse at the hotel, and, having accomplished my mission, we shall all return home together." Wk She Wore Bloomers.

Despite the fact that she was vigorous In her expression and said many strong things, she never offended. She always put people in a good humor. Her keen wit served her well 1 1 i. i I jr-' .1 Received from Fire IUpon that occasion ho barely escaped tha wrath of the citizens, for he was chased from the Tillage, and for three milts was closely 7 i WHICH SHE ORIOIKATED. SUSAN in getting an audience to give her the closest attention.

She would never seem to oppose her listeners, and she always sought to allay any antagonism. If sho assailed anything she did It In a way to win approval rather than to incur disfavor. Few women have been so diplomatic as shew During her earlier work In the Interests of women many accused Mrs. Stanton of being freakish, a runner after fads. She was -a.

friend of Amelia Bloomer, and she braved ridicule and appeared upon the platform garbed In the bifurcated garments which even today retain the name of their inventor. She wore bloomers for a whole year, and her friends who did likewise were Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony, and Mrs. Miller, the daughter of the grat abolitionist. Of the coterie of women who donned bloomers Miss Anthony was the bravest of alL She had a white satin costume, which she wore to receptions, and a rich, black velvet affair which she affected when on the street.

She often said she could see no reason why a could not wear mannish garments it it suited, her convenience. During her public appearance In bloomers Mrs. was hooted and derided by the audience. iter dear friends besought her to cloth and declared that her principles were odious enough without being made more odious by absurd dress. But Mrs.

Stanton had no idea of being freakish. New ideas fascinated her and she would brace herself against nothing novel If she thought it sensible and light. In 1840, the year Elizabeth Cady was married, she and Lucre la Mott, the famous Quakeress, were delegates to a great abolitionist convention In London, but they were not permitted to sit as- delegates, becauee they were women. It was from her cousin Gerrlt Smith, the abolitionist, that Mrs. Stanton, before her marriage, received her abolition sentiment.

Her equal-rights ideas had been largely formed before this. It was while she was a student in Miss Wlllard's seminary that she experienced the greatest disappointment on account of the denial of privileges to women. She was preparing herself to enter Union college, but before she left the seminary she learned that she would not be admitted to the college. She, therefore, returned followed. He at last made his escape In the woods.

There wss no indication of a return visit until two months ago, when several buildings were fired during one night. The concerted efforts of all the villagers resulted In every fire except one being extinguished. One building wss entirely destroyed. Several theories are advanced as to why the firebug began anew hla work at that time. One of them Is that August marked the beginning of a new era for the The Chicago dc Northwestern Railroad company In that month procured the right of way through the village for a new railroad.

The tide of public spirit arose to flood, and the village fathers began planning man Improvements. A new electric-lighting plant was provided for by approprlstlon, and the dynsmos will be set In motion next week. The wealthy citizens began tearing down their old-fashioned cottages and building large and costly brick and stone dwellings, and plans have been made for a system of public waterworks. Existing for years out of bearing of the locomotive whistle, it hss always been a restive hamlet, content to pursue the even tenor of Its wsy. As soon as the citizens began celebrating the advent of a new day the firebug He touched his torch In different parts of the village, and always In auch olacea as to rive the blaxo a good chance to spread to other buildings and destroy tho Threatealag Letter Re-eelvod.

The first fires were of little consequence, and while the villagers believed them to be the work of an Incendiary, no concerted action waa taken to prevent a further visit A frenzy of fear was to follow tho passive attitude of the people of Nlles Centef The first fires had been almost forgotten when, on the night of Oct. 8, a building belonging to George C. Klehm, justice of tho peace, was burned to the ground. On the mornlag of Oct. Dr.

George Slntsel, president of the village, announced a meeting at which it was proposed to take steps to guard against the further destruction of property." Hs and Edwin Klehm, both of whom are erecting new dwellings, met at tho postoffice before starting for the meeting. When he called for his mall Dr. Slntzel was handed a small bine envelope. Tho postmark showed It had been mailed at tho Union Passenger station In Chicago at 7:30 p. m.

on Oct. the night of the fire which destroyed George Klehm's building. He did not open the letter at once, but went to the meeting. After he had announced the purpose of the gathering ho tore open the envelope. Inside was a small bit of paper ut from a bill head.

Scrawled upon tho paper t' Jf i 1 xV Bw A NTH NT. Start in America. home after graduation and became Interested in the anti-slavery movement, and later as sent to the London convention. Addressing; the Lcarialatar. But one of the most Interesting episodes of her life was to result from her failure to act as a delegate in London.

She saw clearly how little women could do by permission, and she Impressed! upon Lucre la Mott the necessity of calling a woman's convention to begin agitating the equal-rights idea. When he returned to America she began agitating the question throughout the state. After several years she finally secured permission from the New Tork Legislature In 1848 to speak before that body on the married woman's property bill, which she had largely framed. Her father was incensed when he learned that his daughter was to address the Legislature, but she finally won him over. When the momentous day arrived she spoke for two hours, and soon afterward bad the satisfaction of seeing the measure become a law.

During the same year Mrs. Stanton, and others called, the woman's suffrage convention at Seneca Falls, the first ever held. The meeting was the target for no end of ridicule, but that made little difference with the heroio women. They were-called "cross old maids' and what not. but they went ahead and adopted their list of grievances, and thus started the movement which has had such a great and widespread Influence.

After that time Mrs. Stanton never faltered. From one end of the country to the other and in foreign lands she prosecuted with tremendous vigor the work she long ago set out to do. How well she did It is best seen by an examination of the statute books of today. four states.

Wyoming. Colorado, Utah, and Idaho, women today have full suffrage and a vote on all matters and for all officers. Kansas grants a municipal suffrage, and twenty-seven states have a school suffrage. In Iowa women vote on the question of Issuing bonds and on the question of Increasing the tax levy. Montana grants women the right to vote on all questions submitted to the taxpayers of the state.

Woman's property THREATS were these words: 4 "Dr. Tour house and Ed Klehm" house will go up with dlncnlto when you live In It." The note was not signed, but Judging from the chirography Dr. Slntzel at once decided that the envelope had been addressed by a woman while the note had probably been written by a man. As the doctor read the note ho turned pale. 1 -J 1 ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.

rights are' also recognized by the suffrage laws of Delaware, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Louisiana. Thirteen cltlea and all villages In New Tork state give women the power to vote on questions of taxation. Illinois grants them only the school suffrage. Want Hai Ba Accomplished. It can readily be seen what the woman's political rights movement has done for the sex.

But It has done much more. It. has opened the colleges. to coeducation: it has allowed woman to enter the professions upon a footing equal with men; it has given her a more independent and self-reliant force. Women foday are pre-eminently better off than they were when Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B.

Anthony, and a host of others began -demanding that, tbey be allowed a voice in affaire. It is not alone to Mrs! Stanton that the credit belongs. A great list of great women make up the roll, and In the list are found the names of such women as Julia Ward Howe. Mary A. Livcrmore." Ellen Foster.

Frances Wlllard. Anna Shaw, and scores of others. An army of workers-has striven long, and is striving tidaor. to couplet- tea work begun by- the pioneers of the move ment. The movement Is destined to bring about Just what It was at first desired should be brouarht about.

It cannot bo withstood. One sight aa well try to prevent the development of a species as to try to stop the flow of the tide toward political equality. It la evolution, and the change will be complete. By working, first with this and then with that Legislature laws will be righted, or, not righted, stricken from the books. New laws granting to woman all her rights will be enacted and woman, will receive every privilege.

Halt Centnry'a Work. This transformation, so far as It has Kone. Is not the change of ages, but is the result of half a century's work. Full enfranchisement has not yet been reached universally, but each step brings the workers nearer the goal. Many Legislatures will be asked this winter to extend further suffrage rights to disfranchised women.

Basing the statement upon what has been done. It la quite within FROM A Dr. Slntzel and Edwin Klehm were chosen to captain the two divisions fnto which the body was divided. Tho vigilantes at once set to work. Toung men were seat to watch the highways at night to see who1 came to and went from the village.

The trains striving and departing from Morton Grove, the real-road station nearest to Nlles Center, were watched, but no clew came from this source. Parents and children took turns at sitting at the darkened windows at night, keeping a close watch for prowlers, and that method, failed- of results. The handwriting of many persons living In the village wss examined to show whether or not It resembled that ia which tho letter or tho address on the Ruins of George Klelam'g Barn, One of tiie Buildings Then he arose and read1 the missive to the assembly. Immediately there was a howl of rage. The greatest excitement prevailed, but finally the citizens quieted sufficiently to of some means.

of forestalling the threatened destruction of the new buildings. vigilance committee was organised and 1 bounds to say that much of the old opposition has been swept aside. Where limited rights have been granted the wisdom of the change has been seen. As time goes on the changes so far made wilt be superseded by more complete change looking toward the complete and equal enfranchisement of both sexes. The movement Is gaining friends each year, and where there has been no victory It is not to be understood -that there Is no political equality sentiment.

Isnaesee of Her Efforts. In the death of Elizabeth Cady Stanton women lost a champion, even though of recent years she had not been as active as formerly. The beneficent influence of her work has -not waned and the impetus sho gave the movement will help to carry it steadily forward. Shi knew full well the value of her work, but "he. had no desire to -take more credit than belonged to her.

To -Susan B. Anthony she always gave credit for -a large part of her own success. It Is difficult to Imagine how closely these two women were drawn to each other. In reference to her co-operation with Miss -Anthony, Mrs. Stanton wrote aa follows: "It Is ofUa aald by those who know Miss An- thony best that she has been my good angel, 1 ws pushing and guiding me ba work; that but for her pertinacity I should' never have accomplished the little I and.

on the other hand. It has been said that Irorged the thunderbolts and she fired them. Perhaps all this la. In a measure, true. With tho cares of a large family.

I might In time, like too many have become wholly ab- -s or bed in a narrow family selfishness, bad not my friend been continually exploring new fields for missionary labors. Her description of a body of men on any platform, com- -placently deciding questions In which women had an equal Interest, without an equal voice, readily roused me to a determination to' throw a firebrand In the midst of their as- -sembly. Fa-rtmaatoem Fall of Facta. "Thus, whenever I saw th stately Quaker girl coming across my lawn. I knew that some happjf convocation, of the sons of "Adam was to be set by the ears by one of our appeals -or resolutions'." The little portmanteau stuff with facts was opened, and there we had what the Rev.

Smith and the Hon. Richard Roe had said false Interpretations -of tho Bible texts, th statistics of women robbed of their property, shot out from some college, half paid for their work, the reports of some disgraceful trial injustice enough to turn any woman's thoughts from stockings and pudding. We were at once fast friends. In thonght apd sympathy we were one, and In tha division of we. exactly complemented each other.

In writing we did better work together than either could alone. While she la slow and analytical in composition, I ant rapid and synthetic. I am the better writer, ah tha better critic She supplied the facts and statistics. I the philosophy and rhetoric, -and together we have made arguments that have stood unshaken by the storms of thirty long years; arguments that no man has an wercd. "Our speeches may be considered the malted product of two brains.

So entirely one -are we that In all our associations, ever side by side on the same platform, not one feeling of Jealousy of envy has ever shadowed our lives. have Indulged freely In criti- clam of each other when alone, and hotly con- -tended whenever we differed, but In onf friendship of thirty years there has never been a break of one hour." In the long and beautiful life of Elisabeth Cady Stanton there was nothing more beautiful than her undying friendship for Susan Anthony. What wonders were wrought by these two incomparable women! What trials, what ridicule they endured togetherl What obstacles they overcame! Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a true humanitarian. -and her work cannot altogether be measured by what we see about us.

envelope wss written. Again the search proved- futile. By this time the villagers thought theli watchfulness would frighten the Incendiary away, and for several nights the guards were withdrawn. But they reckoned anwleely, foi upon the first night that the town was left unguarded a mysterious fire destroyed a large barn belonging to George Busch. Guards were again placed cn duty, but de- Destroyed by spite their vigilance the next night the bam of Andrew Schmits was burned.

In the latter case the flames threatened to destroy the entire village, and a telephone call was sent for tho Evsnaton fire department, which hurried four and a half mllea across the country and arrived la time to prevent the FIREBUG.