St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-06-21
BY It. NJ. NEwsoN.

i
WILLIAM A, VAN sLYKE-PARKs.
ga thing of beauty is a joy forever, ana
The man who can produce this result ought
TO be perpetuated in bronze or marble III
Dne of our parks, so that all classes can
gaZe upon the placid features OF the Delle-
factor whose artistic genius has maze ma
lure blush in her efforts to compete
with the superior attachments ana nallul-
work of man. He who makes two DladeS
of grass grow where there was Out one, Is
deserving of the highest public commenda-
ton. and he who goes further than this and
makes roses bloom and flowers shed their
fragrance on the air, and Gods grand Sentl-
nels the trees. to spread their brawny arms
and shield the way fairer from the
MERGING rays of the nOen-day sun,
has accomplished feat grander
and more lasting than the hero on the pat
tie field, or the politician in the forum OF
the senate. Take away the grass, the
trees, the flowers, the birds, the sparkling
water, the quiet hooks and dells In the
household of nature, and mans heart pc
comes sered, and blackened, and dWarIeo'
and narrow. He lives, he struggles for
one end-money. His brain reyolves 10 one
point only-busineSS. He dies Tor no oIiler
purpose than-to economlZe. But give
him nature in all her elegant appointments;
give him the balmy air, the ripping
streams. the carol of the songsters, the IA
vine. the mountain. the forest, the diadem
af the prairie with its variegated c0lOrs,
the green, velvet lawn, and the thoughts OF
the Creator as they assume form III the
bursting petal of the rose, or the purity OF
the Gala lily, or the clinging affection OF
the creeping vine, and lie brOadens out INTO
the sublimeSt elements of manhood. ana
ripens for that ultimate end, the perfection
of better life.
s'Amid the storms they sang,
And the stars heard, and the sea,
And the sounding aises of the dim woods RAM
To the anthems of the free. rs-
Free from the corroding elements of life
free from the burning, insatiate desire
for gold-free from the corrupting lnt1u-
ences of society. Standing under the blue
canopy of God, with its all-elegant sur
roundingS, man expands in his soul-power,
he broadens in his mentality, his aspirs-
tons are higher, grander, purer; he is more
charitable, more genial, kinder, n0bler,
better. And so he who educates the people
to a proper appreciation OF nature, and
whose untiring efforts to this end have pro-
duced most salutary results, deserves to be
remembered, for he is part OF and lives III
the hearts of the masses A marble shaft,
pure and symmetrical, should stand where
it can be seen of all men, upon which
should be inscribed:
''wILLIAM A. VAN SLYKE-
the friend of nature and the friend OF the
people"
That which impresses me most earnestly
is the apparent reserve artistic power OF Mr..
7 Iii n
Mus, his overpOwering personality in his
arrangements of our parks, but his posi-
bilities are greater than his acts, and hence
the real strength of the man can only be
brought out in wider field OF
usefulness, and I trust that may
be found in the adornment
of our great park on the shores of Lake
Como.
One knowing Mr.. Van Slyke and his ca
reer of life, is surprised at his peculiar
talents. Tall, modest, unasSuming, kind
hearted. philanthrOpic, benevolent, he is
one of the most public-Spirited men in our
city, and every celebration is unfinished
without his hand. He is the originator OF
our electric light shafts, obtained at con-
siderable cost, and for which he is
still financially largely responsible:
he was the moving spirit in our beautiful
arches-he is, per Sc, the man above all
other men who has transformed our dirty,
gombre, dark, forbidding parks into gems
Of lovelness-is always collecting money
forcharitable objects; is never idle in acts
Of benevolence; and still, with all these
burdens upon his back he trudges on in the
daily routine of business life.
WHEN AND WHERE BORN, ETC.
Mr.. Van Slyke was born in the state of
New York III 1898; educated there; clerked
in dry goods and grocery store in Coopers-
town, n. Y; came to st. Paul in 1854 en-
tered the employ of William Cooley and
continued with him up to 1856, when he
commenced business for himself; was a
lieutenant in the old Pioneer guards: on the
breaking out of the war raised Company G
= of the Fifth Minnesota, and became its
lieutenant: served wo years; was dis
charged from the army III conse-
quence of sickness, and continued i'll
for year and half; then entered
the grain and commission business, his
store being in various parts of the city in
lower town, until he moved to Sibley
street, his present quarters, where he has
been for twelve years.
THAT OLD SIGN.
Mr.. Van Slyke has the same old sign on
his present store that he started business
with in 1856, or twenty-nine years ago. II
has survived fire and the hard usage Incl
dent to moving, but is still legible and is
emphatcally ian old settler"
THE OLD HOMESTEAD.
All good artists cling to the old things OF
the past. and Mr.. Van Slyke is no excep-
ton. He built the present house he lives
in, in 1857 and he has resided continuously
there for twenty-eight years. Of course the
trees, and the shrubbery, and the little un-
pretending nooks and the familiar points
of the dear old home, still evoke lively emo
ton. for it was here he took
his young bride: it was here
his children were born; it was
here where supreme Happiness was found,
away from the Earring elements of the
world: it was here where sorrow came: il
was here, when sick and weary of the bur
dens Of life, gentle hands and kindly voices
smoothed the weary brow and Gained the
aching heart; it was here, in this sequesteC
little spot called home, where the best par
of life found a lodging place. The heart is
less ambitious than it was over quarter
century ago; the brow shows more burrows
now: the eye is more pensive, and gray hairs
sprinkle locks once black The little
boy has grown to manhood and treads the
soil of foreign land. the little girl Il
womanhood: there are vacant chairs; me
mentoes of babyhood. God bless the deal
old home!
BURNED OUT!
In 1859 fire swept both sides of Third
street, and among the sufferers was Val
Slyke. Many goods not burned were stolen
so that when the rubbish was cleared away
Van had but little left, STILL with brave
heart he started i'll again. and can now ex
claim, Richards himself again."
OFFICES.
Mr.. Van Slyke has been alderman three
years: chairman of the committee on parks