Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1897-07-22

New York World, is built on a great
pink rock six miles east of Yale uni
versity. Long island sound washes
its doorstep. 1t is called the bungalow
and is the summer home of the passion
poet, Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
Outside it looks like any ordinary
seashore cottage. Inside it might be a
furnished barn. No wall paper, no lath
Or plaster, no kalsomine, no ceiling.
Just the rafters, beams and weather.
boards, naked and emitting the fra
GRANGE Of pine. One big living room
and two bedrooms-that is ALL No up
stairs, no downstairs, no kitchen and
no dining-room, for meals are cooked
and served in an adjacent co.uage.
There are no family skeletons, for
there are no closets. In stormy wealth
er and at bedtime you go indoors. 9th
erwise you remain ouudodrs. 1t is
camping OUT plus the comforts of
home
The morning after my arrival l was
awakened by a merry laugh and the
hurried patter of bare feet Going to
the open window l took in thirty miles
of Long island sound at glance. The
sun had only just emerged from the
water. 1t was chilly morning in
early May. My teeth chartered. Small
waves beat against the bungalow be-
low the window. The water smelled
cold, yet hundred feet out upon its
surface golden head was pushing to-
ride he -
of the water, then disappeared with a
splash. Then the golden head turned
inshore Presently a figure in a boys
bathing suit came running homeward
up the pink rock. 1t was the poet her
self. Thus she begins her day at the
bungalow. There has yet to come. a
morning too cold for Ella Wheeler Will
cox to step out of bed into the sound.
And she is the best swimmer therea-
bouts, men included.
Fifteen minutes later she came forth
rosy and ready for breakfast. If her
face was full of poetry only, it would
be beautiful. But it bears the signs of
character, shows will power and capa-
bilities of emotion Therefore it is a
face more interesting than beautiful.
Her personality is almost tangible. You
can feel that she is in the room. IN
consciously you turn towards her. That
is magnetism. At home she always
wears the art gowns for which she is
noted-goTns that make ease and grace
possible, such as the Greek women
wore before corsets were thought of.
While waiting she played with one
of her Angora cats. Cats are to Mrs.
Wilcox what horses or dogs are to
many men. To her cats she is, in fact,
somewhat of a slave. When they are
sick she waits upon them night and
day. When they are well she devotes
herself to keeping them from sickness
Next to turkeys, Angora cats are the
most fragile of pets.
Those who know Mrs. Wilcox only
through her poems cannot, of course,
know her as the sweet and modest do
nestle woman she really is. She is
devoted to her home, is especially
proud of the Bungalow, and to her her
husband is the only man in the world.
He is her idol, and what is more prac-
teal, he is at once the inspirer and
If Mrs. Wilcox had been blessed with |
children she would have been an ideal
mother, but her onl.; child died in in
fancy
Through her husband is a success
full business man, he is also a scholar
and a man who knows how to enjoy |
his hours of leisure. He has Travelled |
in many countries, especially in the |
east. He has lived in India. Hence |
the bungalow. Hence, also, the bunga- |
low is sort of museum. He has |
stocked it with trophies and treasures
Of his travels; with flags and bunting |
from many countries; with screens |
and wonderful lanterns from Japan |
ana China, with mattings from COrea; |
with curtains and drapery from Tur-
key and Arabia; with rugs from Per- |
STA; with curious weapons from Sibe- |
ria; with mugs from England and Hol- |
land; with bric-a-brac made by half |
the worlds nations. And the piazza |
he has flied with aeolian harps from |
Germany, hammocks from Mexico and |
wicker chairs from India.
of the bungalows two bedrooms, one |
is for the host and hostess, the other |
for guests And the guest-room is |
occupied Your invitation to |
the bungalow specifies the length of |
your visit. You are therefore at ease |
providing you have been able to deci- |
pher the poets handwriting. For !
Mrs. Wilcox out-Greeleys Horace Gree |
ley in the gentle art of illegible pen
manship.
Nevertheless, she gives you a hearty
welcome and is most hospitable, even
if you have to ask her to read her
own invitation to you in order that you
may know how long you are expected
to remain. And the day you leave
another guest arrives. Thus Mrs. Will
cox books her company weeks ahead,
like the manager of a theater. The
walls of the guest-room and Of the
dining cottage are covered with the
photographs Of visitors. A very i'll
teresting collection, and it includes a
great number of celebrities in art and
literature.
Mrs. Wilcox has learned what most
hostesses in small country houses
never 1earn-namely, the art of enter
tanning a guest by allowing the guest
to entertain himself A good piano,
the newest books and magazines,
rowboat, a naphtha launch, an ice-boX