New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-10-21

CooprRsrowS. " Y, Oct. 1910 lover of the
,,,t,I a VISIT to OtsegO Lake would be delight
1l even if 1t had no associations. Cooper bestowed
non IL in the Deerslayer" the name OF " the
cbmnerclass.' which well describes It's loneliness
Bnt 10 a Cooper enthuslast-and that term must
;rcIude all the readers of Cooper who nave
de,p sympathy with nature. and have ho'
had all their love of romance rubbed oil aga'us'
the realism of the day-it is doubly deiign'-
fui. The visitor probably cares compara'ilolS
rtNo for the purely personal associations
of the locality with Cooper himself. lie gus =.
y,st Coopers grave, to be sure but the sight OF IL
ho,div aronses interest. He knows Cooper simply
as a choeric, warm-hearted man, VINO u'ou sum" 's
.birtv wears AGO. after dong many kind acts ana
after benp involved in many disputes ana
with his neigbbors aud the rest OF manAlhu' Inc
,onrst goes uerhaps TO see the spot wheIe OooPoi
house stood.
Tho borse has been burned down and the place Is
,,ooIooted There are signs everywhere OF the
-. :; b,oh the novelist IS held by the
noonla of tho town. The hotels are called cooper
"a "E,pimoreD The little steamer that pies up
ord down the lake bears the name OF Na'ty
I"o Tbere is "a Misunderstanding Falls
ord everywhere the nomenclature Oh 'no
raoio, ;s derived from Coopers pages.
D., tho visitor is little doubtful i'll his own mlLd
hov far this is due to atfectionate remembrance
I'D how far TO speculative desire 10 utilize the asso-
o;atiops of the past for the benefit of the MOTEL
,oeners Of the present. There is impression that
the people of Cooperstown are not Cooper enthHsl-
osts Possibly they have grown tired of the subject.
This would not be strange. To be tired is human.
All this aside however the interest that the visitor
6nd himself seeking for is not interest personal
70 Cooper 1t ISL his creations, which thus become
Greater than their creator. The traveller who
comes here with any knowledge of COopeTs stories
finds himself asking, not where Cooper lived ana
died. nor what the local traditions OF him are nor
where may be relics or remains that VIII serve
n recall his personality; but where the scenes oil
his forest epics are laid where DeerSlayer, and
the Big Serpent Judith Hutter, Colonel Ettngham,
Hurry Harry and Ben Pump PLAYED their parts IN
those exciting dramas that are the delight Of every
how. and of many who are no longer boys. Cooper
has made the unreal real, and the real in his person
almost fades out of sight These men and women
are so full of life and strength that the Cooper en-
tbusiast as he gldes along the lake. almost expects
TO see the trees part the bank, and the figure of
Deerslayer or his friend the faithful Delaware.
show itself.
This feeling is greatly stimulated BY the rela-
tons of this beautiful sheet of water aud Its
surroundings to the Misunderstanding Tales
novel readers to seek to identify charac-
ters and scenes This it is not always easy
10 do. because the chemical processes of fiction
usually leave little trace OF the originals. Every
body remembers Thackeray's whimsical surprise
when one day a Captain Costiean, true to the HE
and Just as large, walked in upon him. lie had
honestly supposed the Captain TO be fictitious
mixture of heel-taps of incidents and characters
innumerable. The same is often true OF tae scenes
of fiction But COopers method, at least IN several
of the Misunderstanding stories, and notably IN the
"Deerslayer" was different. 1t was largely photo
graphic He seems to have taken delight III making
his creations real. even to himself, by repro
ducing exactly the scenes with which he was Ia
mIlaT and through which they were made to move.
Tins was done with such leIaness that the visitor
can trace TODAY on the shores OF the lake almost
every stirring incident in the "DeerSlayer" with the
added satisfaction that the scenes but little altered
now from what it was when Cooper wrote Local
pride and enterprise have marked many Of these
spots; and fortunately. the descriptions are so
faithful that they prove themselves. The story of
Deersiayer," which was published only little
more than forty years ago. is in tins way literally
mapped out There have certainly been lew IN
stances, if auv. of this kind in fiction
The central figure here is always Leatherstocking,
who seems sometimes to have gone out OF
fashion, but whom Thackeray-a good Judge,
surely calls one of the great priz"-men
of fiction, better perhaps than any OF
Scoti's men, and ranks with Uncle Toby SIR
Roger de Covrrey and Falstaf-heroic figures all
1t is to be hoped that Falstaf and Uncle Toby have
not gOue out Of fashion tOOS The visitor goes to see
the monument to LeatherstOcking-as it really IS.
though it is inscribed with Cooper's name-whch
stands in the beautiful cemetery of Lakewood aud
looks at il with as much interest, If not than
he finds in the plain slab that lies on Cooper grave
in the graveyard of the pretty little Episcopal
church. The monument is simple column, with
the figure of LeatherstOckng at the top III the act
of loading his gun, and with his faithful
hound at his side. he figure Is unite small,
and the general effect disappointing The
spot where il stands could not we'll be more beauti-
ful. The cemetery hill slopes gently 10 the
peaceful exquisite lake, and the scene. in the
soft September afternoon is one of sweet repose and
solemn beauty. The cemetery is on the eastern
shore of the lake. and it Is on the western shore
that most of the stirring scenes of the books werc
enacted.
At the southernSend is the outlet the tiny
thread that broadcns out in time into the
wide shadows OF the Susquehauna. Right here Is
one Of the most important landmarks IN " Deer
sayern which it is impossible not to look at with
some amusement. TINS is the rock. commonly
called the 0tsego Rock, at which the Big
Serpent was 10 meet Deerslayer, and when
was often used to mark the reDdez-
vous of the sayages One would naturally
expect 10 see a rock Of size, and the stirring Incl
dents which went on about il no doubt made 1t
seem very large indeed in the eyes Of Coopers boy
readers. There it is just at the edge OF the water
and hardly showing above it rounded surface IKE
turtles back. and about the size Of the specimens
that are exhibited in Fulton Market wrong side up
That the rock where the tribes Tesorted to make
their treaties and bury the haIchet And is thislhe
stream that Floating Tom Hutter went down III his
heavy scowi Why, 1t does well to float row-boat
Aud IS this the spot where the half-dozen " MIN
goes" dropped upon the deck from an over
hanging branch, in that thrilling chapter