Oakland Tribune from Oakland, California • Page 3

.1 8k Baft S8 1. Kl. tn I ft-3 KM K29 Wharton Jamcvr tpt jf WOfcjWa UUUIV iiiQ iivji in illy yiuiosk prophecy; It via my testimony in be Edwin Markham; Some Experiences In Oakland poverty-stricken, the workman of the world, the, man that has no time to restk no tlrhe to think, no time for the mighty hopes that make us men. "Immediately the picture struck my heart and my Imagination. Here was the man at the bottom of the labor pyramid.

I saw that the world's wrong is not righted till his wrong Is righted for all men are brethren. "Immediately I Jotted down the rough 'field notes' of mypoem and laid them aside. For years the print vas on my wall and paint of it In. my heart. And then, thirteen years later.

Last Sunday) 1I0.1J. Ul U1B 11.U1UU1CU, iiiQ tiiuruto the silenced. It is said; ItWtruth; let it stand." Yet it required spiritual courage to give it to the wortuY As I wrote soon after' It was tiblished: "Markham knew full wll that those who have favors, wealth and patronage to distribute fto not like to be criticized, and thtfy resent any attack made upoT the manner In which they have gained thei wealth, or the system unde they live that has made accumulation possible. Hence he was aware that if. In any way, he at- tacked, or even seemed to attack, the wealthy and methods of gatn- Si ing wealth, het would become a strong candidate for their disfavor direct object for their disapproval and rejection.

If, In addition to at- tacking the present selfish method of accumulating great fortunes, he took up the cause and allied himself with those Who were trodden under foot by- the inordinately rich, he would add insult to offense, find put himself decidedly beyond the pale of those' who could confer large and desirable tn I yk ErvX -f A -mV A tl yt I I 1 krn wammm 1 I I "4 I II favors." And that was what he did. He has ever since been known as thapoet of the common man," even as Jesus was the friend, companion and savior of the common man. The poem. written, what was to be-' come of it? With characteristic esty Markham wished the Judgment'" of his friends. He had become mate with a little foterle of poets and others, led by Ambrose.

and which comprised George Sterling, 'V 7 4 Herman Scheffauer, Jbsepblne Cllf-' ford McCrackln and others, who used to in the Santa Cruz mountains at week-ends, at the home of Miss Luella Lee Coffin. He read the poem at one of these meetings, and it was argued about and criticized freely:" Then, a little later, ln Oakland, at a cat harlnr nrh a TJn ftlntt nn of the early writers of the "Overland. Monthly," and editor of the San fran-Cisco Carol pwcci-Bviniuu, genim, ueuiKiiii.ui ci versatlonalist and raconteur, on MARKHAM and LUThfeR BURBANK (left). v. (Continued From Markham traces his love for melodious verse and his desire to create It to those- three wonderful months under the spell of Hill's poetic love! As Mr.

Hill continued to read and stir up his eager scholar's poetic soul the boy felt he, too, must possess Moore, Tennyson and Bryant, and also a real unabridged Webster's Dictionary. He persuaded the teacher to go home with him and urge his mother to get them for him. But the mother was In sympathy with the de-Bire her poverty made the request seem an Impossible extravagance, but she did give her willing consent that Ed win should go out and seek work so that he could earn the money that would buy them. FINDS NKKiHIiOll. Even before school was out he had found a neighbor who had twenty acres, of land to plough, for which he was willing to pay a dollar an acre.

The lHd set to work, and as Mm. Hoss writes: "Ariel never danced with greater joy than did the spirit of Ytung Markham dance as he ploughed that twenv-acre field. The days went by on golden feet; for all the time the boy's head was a hive of happy expectations. Every accomplished furrow carried him a little nearer to the paradl.se of his dreams, the paradise of books. Soon, soon, he should hold in his hands the precious vo.lumes; he should see there the poems he had gotten a taste of In the stark old schoolhouse, in the hours never to be forgotten In all the chances and changes of his after life." On his mother's next trip to San Francisco for the winter's supplies the took her son's hard earned gold end on her return he could scarcely wait for the packages to be opened that revealed the long and ardently coveted books.

Now he set to work and' every minute not required on the farm or at school was devoted to the devouring of these poetic delights. How his soul reveled in Byron, Bryant, Moore, Tennyson, Is proven by the fact that to this day he can quite many even of the longer poems from memory. One day, recently In speaking of these days of stress and struggle to obtain the books for this mental food, 1 asked Mm how. he now regarded that period. t.5 His reply was characteristic: "I believe in struggles when they are not too severe.

They tend to build character, to impel the struggler to be-come something worthy. They fix his soul In righteousness and order." While he had determined that as 1 soon as it was possible, he would study to be a teacher, he felt it would be wise also to learn a trade, and so he became a blacksmith. How wise he was, or, how wonderfully he was led! For the physical strength developed there and on the farm have been of Inestimable value all through his later And then, too, he knows of what he writes when ha sings of the dignity of labor. Most orators ostensibly believe In this dignity, but it Is for the "other fellow." They know little or nothing of its deep sense In their own souls. To have tht consciousness that one Is helping do the actual, needful, physical work the world is to bring ones self into close relationship with a divine brotherhood, for all true work is beautiful ar.d sacred and brings its own spiritual reward to the receptive.

When I Mad what Markham says about labor and its dignity I am -far more impressed than when I read Ruskin, Carlyle, or any of the mere theorists. They wrote "about" labor. He "ljved" labor, and wrote about Ufa. One can feel that Markham realizes that "work has fate in for the spirit in which a man does his work is creating or destroying his character," hour by hour. Then, too, as I see his vigorous, muscular frame, his magniflcontly developed lungs, and experience his tireless energy I see how much labor has dons for him In body, and I receive a new thrill when I read such sentenoes as "Light-heart love that finds no labor mean." "Blessed Is the man who has found his work," exclaimed William Morris, but thrice-blessed he who has found work that pleases and satisfies the demands of his threefold nature, body, mind, soul.

When each la being built up by Joyous exercise how full of satisfaction Ufa la And only when the world thus learns nd physical labor goes hand ln.hand with Joy and "mental and spiritual culture, and rnental workers find a spiritual uplift l.n doing some of the needed physical work of the world, will a true solution of the vexing labor problem be reached. Thus worMsftV thinking, reading, Kiting visions, Edwin Markham grew li.to young manhood. He was eighteen years old when he went to San Jose to the State Normal School. But he had not fully calculated on his expenses, and at the end of a year he was face to face with financial trouble. He had made a' friend in the sheriff's 'and to him he went and confided h's difficulty.

Empty purse, clothes, books, needed; living expenses, room rent to pay. "Is that said his friend. "Then I'll see you through." And he did, so that In 1872 the name of Charles Edwin Markham. was placed on the list as. one of the graduates of that grow-Ingly great institution.

I had the Joy of being present when, during the year 1915, he, returned and received the honors such institutions are so happy to accord when ene of their sons has made a world-wide fume, i OFFER COMES. It was not long before the young, but only authorized and accredited, teacher received an application for his professional services. It was from a country dlstriot in San Luis Obispo county. There was no "Coast Line" route of the Southern Pacific railway In those days, hence he had to take the stage, which after bumping and Jumping, toppllns and sliding for three days and nights deposited him near his new scene of But when, the next morning, he went forth, he found a group of eager children but no school-house. It was a newly organized district and no provision had yet been made for the necessary building.

Eager and impetuous then, as now, to be up and doing, the muscular young teacher-to-be cried, "Give me an. axe." With the bigger his scholars-to-be, after choosing a lovely live oak, whose spreading' branches far outrivaled those of any spreading chestnut tree' that Longfellow saw and sang about and cutting off Interfering branches, they cut down saplings and made a fence completely around the tree, thus giving them as fine a school house as heart could desire. The branches made the roof thick and dense, and it was comfortable at all times in the summer, save when the rain and lightning came. As soon as it was ready, or even before, the scholars-to-be had made a raid on the various stores of the settlement, and had bought boxes for desks and chairs. A41 extra large box served the schoolmaster for a throne, which, to his feeling about it, rivaled If not surpassed that upon which Satan sat.

That was the first actual out-or-door schoolhouse In California, the land that is destined to teach the world the wisdom, the rational sanity of the outdoor school. For What sense or reason is there in children's being imprisoned between fpur walls when, for a large part of the year, God's great out-bf-doors calls to them, where the air, laden with the balsams from the forests, and odoriferous with the sweet scents of the millions of flowers, and vivified by the actinic and healthful rays of the sun, beg them to absorb life, health, vigor and Joy in every pore? In this school the young teacher learned many things, how many he himself would scarce venture to 'enumerate. But one of his lessons he finds great fun occasionally in recalling. It might be termed a lesson in female psychology. One day after school had.

been duly opened at "Oak Tree College," he became aware- of a shadow obliterating the path of light made by the snnshlne through the doorway. Looking up he saw a woman of commanding presence, standing at the open door, holding her young son by the hand. Overcome by the presence of so impressive looking a visitor the teacher bashfully advanced and with as Enraptured wcrd as he could simulate he bade her enter. She did so and at once unfolded her errand: "Mr. Markham I have brought my Johnny to school.

He has never been to school before. Sometimes Johnny is inolined to be a bad boy." "In vain," say the poet, in telling the story, "I protested that it didn't seem possible. The mother insisted: 'Oh, but he Mr. Markham, and.thls Is what I wish to tell you. When you find him transgressing I want that you should whip the boy that sits next to Urn, This wtll scare Johnny so that he will be a good boy." Beginning his career as an educator and.

also as a learnerin the great school of men, women and' children, But he was not yet satisfied with1 the technical schooling he had received. He took a collegiate course, literary and classical, and for a time placed himself under the influence of that remarkable Inspirational poet, seer I chanced up6n the original palntln Itself ln San Francisco. "For an hour I stood before tMe painting, absorbing the majesty of Its despair, the tremendous Import ofits admonition. I stood there, the power ar.d terror of the thing growing uon my heart, pity and the sorrow of It eating into my soul. It came to me with a dim echo of my own life.

I was hushed by Its pitiless pathos and mournful grandeur. "I soon realized that Millet puts before us no chance toller, no mere man of the fields. No; this stunned and stolid' peasant is the type of Industrial oppression in all lands and ln all labors. He might be a man with a needle In a New York sweatshop, a man with a pick ln a West Virginia coal mine, a man with a hod In a London alley, a man with a spade on the banks of the Zuyder Zee. SYMBOIi.

"The Hoemafi Is the symbol of betrayed humanity the toller ground down through ages of oppression, through ages of social Injustice. He is the man pushed away from the land by those 'who fall to use the land; till at last he becomes a serf, with no mind In his muscle and no heart in his handiwork. He la the man pushed back and shrunken up by the special privileges cdhferred upon the Few. "In the Hoeman we see the slow, sure, awful degradation of man through endless, hopeless and Joyless labor. Did I say labpr? No drudgery! This man's battle with the world has been too brutal.

He Is not going upward in the step with the divine music of the world. The evolu tion of his life has been arrested, if not actually reversed. He is a hulk of humanity, degraded below the level of the roving savage, who has a step of dignity, a tongue of 'eloquence. The Hoeman Is not a remnant of pre historic times; he is not a relic of barbarism. He Is the savage of civiliza tion.

"But some day, In the rlso of the social passion, some day when men beglfl to think with their hearts, this Hoeman will nave come into his own; he will be given the social and ma terial resources necessary for living a complete life. In that New Time the state will become-the- organ of rraternny. -men win tne noeman evolve out of his brutehood, his Jaw will be remodeled, his brow1 will be lifted and his mind will' be lighted with a star." POF.M IS BORN. It was after Markham had seen the original painting that the full poem was born. Says ee: "It was near the dawn of the twentieth century; the fire of the Fraternal Ideal was alive within me.

One early morning I began writing the poem. I like to write in the for ln those 'early hours the fresh young forces of the world are storming over the spirit. "Soon the first two stanzas were written out from Ihe field notes made thirteen years before. I hoped to breathe into the poem the spirit- of brotherhood, the spirit of social humanity. As my- pen ran over the paper, I trembled.

I could write no more that rnornlng, and yet all day the possessed me, uttering "The next morning -I rose out of sleep, wrapt In a solemn Joy. Sud-drnly the lines of the third stanza stormed across my Nothing more was handed down to me that morning. Yet all the hours of the day the lines kept thundering on ln my soul. "Another day enme white still and, behold, I awoke with the next stanza ready to rush aut of the rifts of the mind. Now it was no longer pity 'and terror over the humanity that had been ruined.

No, It was an arraignment of the strong men who are the world's fate, an arraignment of the masters, lords and rulers forJ their traglo failure, their tragic greed in dealing with their brother of the furrow. "The next daybreak brought' the Muse's final word, her final mandate. She lifted the curtain of vision; she swept my soul on into the future. I saw hbw this Hoeman might play a wild part in the. drama of coming days.

I saw how this mountain of Ignorance might hurl ruin upon (he masters, lords and rulers, hurl ruin upon all the sceptered powers that had called him Into being. "So the poem took shape, rushing day by day out of the Iyrlo fire of. expatiate upon the pleasures and luxuries, the fine any guy times, these things would buy and how easy It was to gain all they wanted of them. All he wanted was a companion to help him carry things, to travel with him and to hold a gun when necessary. As they resumed their Journey he walked alongside of Markham, renewing his urglngs until they entered the city of Tehama.

Even then he ktpt with them, taking the sidewalk, while they occupied the road. They had not gone many blocks before they saw a group of citizens excitedly approaching them. It turned out to be a sheriff's posse. The lads were compelled to dismount; their pitiful rolls of bedding' and personal belongings were opened and searched, their pockets turned inside out, and they were questioned as to whence they came and where they were gotg, and editorial staff of. the San "Examiner," who hadj been com- -pensated for a deformed body by un- usual graces of mind and soul; Bailey Millard, the literary editor of the Ella M.

Sexton, the, poet and author, and others of like type were present, Markham again read his poem. Two of those who heard that night have spoken of the auieti generally silent, innocent-looking, modest, spiritual appearance of Mark- ham while several other poems were being read, and of the feeling that V. came over them as the ringing lines of "The Man With the Hoe" struck their consciousness that here was hisr tcry In the making. They unconsciously realized the power and Importance of the moment. They sat, hushed, silent, awed, the whole room tense with the fur-reaching Import of the words to which they had just listened.

The silence was broken by Bailey Millard asking that he be allowed to publish the poem In the Examiner. This, was done. Every one is tware of the sensation It created. -It startled the literary worJd, the business world, ths labor world. 'It, was translated into all languages.

Thousands of news- payers reprinted it in all parts of the plunet reprinted It, discussed It, con--demned It, glorified it. For a long year the conflict crackled over the poem. It was the theme of thousands of articles, Interviews, editorials, cartoons, sermons, debates, parodies, jocularities, flying paragraphs. Edwin Markham sprang Into Interna-- tional fame. REWARD FOR REPLY.

It is Interesting to note in this con-" -nection that one of the world-builders who had perhaps great an In- fluen'ce upon California's 4 development In the early days as other man Collls P. president of the Southern Pacjfo' Company, the great railway builder was one of those who Joined in the discussion. He read into the poem an attack upon labor itself and he pf-; fered a prize of $400 to the poet Who would write the best reply. To amazement of the literary world this prize was won by an Intimate friend' oi Markham's, a fellow-poet, one who had long lived on San Francisco bay John Vance Cheney, at one time for several years librarian of the city of the city of the Golden Gate. The story of this pnem and the poem-, itself are so Interesting that at another time I will give it, as related.

lo me a months ago by Mr. Cheney Before leaving this Hoe-poem fi Markham's may I be allowed to point out how wonderfully the prophecy is already beginning to be fulfilled. This Is the era and after years will record" It as such of. the great awakening and uprising of the downtrodden man. with the hoe.

The masters-, lords and rulers have already more than begun 11 to tremble. Some of them have tot- tered and fallen from their (Continued Next SanrJay)' what they had been doing and In tended to do. yp to this time the lads had been too startled and excited to notice the absence of their walking He, toq had seen the approaching band and had skipped out of sight The boys never saw him again. But when it transpired that the 'posse was looking for "BlMlrL, tnunders ln my B011, long poem EDWIN and leader, Thomas Lake Harris, whose deep humanltarianlsm profoundly appealed to him. It is doubtful whether thu world will ever know how much It owes, through Edwin Markham, to Thomas Lake Harris.

Mr. Harris was an Englishman, who, for many years, was pastor of an orthodox church. He-ceivlng what he belieted to be an illumination from on high, he left the orthodox body In which he had been trained, and thereafter yielded himself to the Inspirational Influences which continually surrounded him. He wrote devotional, corrective and Uplifting poetry of the highest literary quality with a finish and grace that seem little less than marvelous. Poems of thousands of lines were written at a single sitting during which he seemed, like the apostle who said of his own condition: "Whether in the body I cannot tell; or whether out of the body I cannot tell; God knoweth." YIELDS TO GUIDANCE.

While still In the impressionable period of his young life Markham came under the Influence of this highly spiritual and powerful personality. For a time he yielded himself to Mr. Harris'- guidance with the perfect humility of the devout son and neophyte. It was Mr. Harris' passion for humanity added to Markham's natural impulses that have made him what he is the flaming sword of democracy.

While in no sense subservient to the thought of another, it is as truthful to say that Markham shows constantly the influence of Thomas Lake Harris as it is to say that he shows the influence of ShakeRpeara, Byron, Bryant and Tennyson. It was not long ater his graduation before Mr. Markham became a superintendent of schools and finally the principal of the Tompkins Observation school of the state university. It was during these years that he lived-in Oakland; and identified himself with all the forward and intellectual move' ments of the city, and at tho same time 'was quietly cultivating the power of poetio expression which waa soon to captivate the imagination of the world. In year 1897 he married Anna Catherine Murphy, one of the well known and prominent teachers of c'allprnla, herself a poet and writer of more than ordinary power, and whose -sweet and womanly Influence has added much to the joy, serenity and happiness of her poet-husband life.

They have One son, Virgil, a healthy, happy child of love and Joy, who is well described by his proud father as a "whirlwind on tvo legs," and Jo whom he has written one of the sweetest father songs ever penned. Listen not only to its swinging rhythm, but to the loving heart-throbs that II reveals: Child heart! Wild heart! What can I bring you, What can I sing you; You who have qome from a glory afar, Called into Time from a secret star? Mad thing! Glad thing! How will life tame you? How will God name you? All that I know is that you are to me Wind over water, star on the sea. Dear Near -Long is the Journey; Hard is the tourney; Would I could be by your sida when you fall-Would that my own heart could suffer It all. i It will be interesting, however, to refer to some of his experiences where marriage and fatherhood were far from his thoughts. One of Markham's early I have heard him relate with great gusto.

His mother once gav'g her consent that he should accompany another lad of about the' same age on a trip over the mountains to the north. They managed, somehow, to secure horses and started on their great adventure. One day while they were riding quietly along on a well-woded road a man suddenly appeared as if he had come out of the ground. Giving them a cheery "Good Day," he started to Walk along jwith them, his mighty stride enabling him to keep up with Mark-ham's horse without difficulty, He soon learned who and what the lads were, and, attracted doubtless by Markahm's sturdy and well-knit muscular frame, he suggested that he needed just such a youth to help him. At first his offers seemed attractive, but when he begged them wait a ftw moments and rushing into the bushes, came back with' a big flour-tack of watches, chains, charms, rings and even these unsophisticated country youths became suspicious.

He spread out these sparkling valuables and began to 5art," the highwayman, Mr. Markham says he had something more than a shrewd suspicion as to who their companion was. Hence, as he laughingly observes. he early had an opportunity to choose whether he would make his career as a highwayman or a poet. IS OAKLAND.

It was "while he was in Oakland that Markham came In touch with the Ruskin Club and the literary coterie that has long made the bay region famous In literary annals. He soon became known as a great student, a careful critic, with considerable ability as a poet But no one realized his power until his "Man With the Hoe" rang its' challenging' note over every land on earth. Markham thus tells of its inception: "While living in the High Sierras ln 1885, I was ln struggle with these Immense questions (involved In dire poverty and great riches), when, suddenly, I came upon a magazine print of Millet's painting, The Man With the Tt represented a bowed, labor-blasted in a French field. "The yeoman Js the lauded and cell-to-do farmer shed no tears for him. But here In the Millet picture was the Hoeman, the landless, the 31.