Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-02-04
STRANGER THAN FICTION.


and 6 o'clock, n polite, scholarly
looking old gentleman, with whlte
mustache and imperial and slight
foreign accent. will open the door. In
reply to uuestions he win tell you thef
he is DIR, Simon Pollak. He rs the
oldest practicing physician in this city,
and probably In the state, but you'd
never guess 1t from his appearance or
his conversation.
If you impress Or. Pollock favorabiy
and there Is no great rush of clients he
viii drop into n reminiscent vein ana
tell you stories OF life In Tennessee aud
Louisiana iifty or sixty years ngo' ana
of st. Louis in was times. Some ARE
gray. some are gay, and all are inter-
esting.
DR.. Pollak is how he obtained q NE
like portrait of girl who had been
dead six months He declares tlat
there was no tenderer sentiment than
friendship involved, but through the
the narrative there Is a constant sus-
gestion of the "saddest WORDS OF tongue
or PEN"
The story has never been printed ne
fore. ut is fifty years ago" said the
doctor to a be-Democrnt reporter
yesterday. II was living on sycamore
creek, twenty-five miles from Nnsa,
vile, Tenn. with the family OF samuel
Watson prominent manufacturer
and n member of the legislature. !
was o young man then, not long In
this country. and I spoke English 30
faulty / desired to improve in that par
ticular before beginning the practlcc
of my profession In Nashville.
'Sycvamore creek was beaut-
full stream, clear ms crystal. as Ia most
of the water In the limestone regions
around Nashville. Samuel Watson hnd
had damned 1t and made pond AMI
waterfall with sufficient force to run
1t grist mill. n saw mill and cotton
factory He was Rhode Island man,
full of push and enterprise. and q Son
in-law of Governor Morton of Massn-
chusetts. the man who was elected by
one vote In 1910.
Ills brother, Matthew Watson, was
bank president In Nashville.
Matthew had a daughter. Mary Fran
ces Watson, the most charming crcn-
ture | ever saw. She was n brunette.
Just bursting into the full bloom of
young maidenhood. with eyes like deep
shaded waters and smile like the
breaking of dawn.
THAT summer five young ladies came
down from Nashville to spend their va
cation at Samuel Watson's house. May
Frances was among them. ] taught her
to ride black pony | had bought from
a stranded circus. and to row and sail
q boat on The pond above the waterfall.
The girls had great sport, riding, row
and dancing at night, May Frances
was the life of the company. High
spirited and active, she enjoyed all
out door sports. but nothing delighted
her so much AS n gallon on Apollo, the
black pony.
''It was time to be remembered for
its Joys MS well as the trngedy that
ended II. in August, n few days be-
fore the girls were to return home, there
was an accident on the pond. The boat
upset and the five girls were thrown
into the water. They We're all rescued.
and none experienced any evil effects
but May Frances. / have decided
since that she had the seeds Of malig-
nant malarial fever in her system, and
that the wetting she got developed the
disease. She was seized with chill
which was followed by high fever.
"She was taken to my room. which
was the most convenient for thc pur-
pose. and put to bed. There she lay
for eleven days. I watched her till the
end came. taking practically no rest.
/ am an old man and l have had my
share of sorrow, but no grief ever FELT
was kcener than that which wrung my
heart when saw the child woman
mother mourning over her We feared
Mrs. Watson would lose her reason, so
poignant was her sorrow. oh. IL
only had n likeness OF her. she would
say. Just something l could love as
her image.
sit was very sad. but the world does
not stop for human sorrow. May
Frances was buried in NashVllle. L
remained at Sycamore Creek till Sep
TENDER of that year. then the place
grew hateful to me. Everything about
il reminded me of the dend girl. re-
moved to Nashville. i called frequent,
w on Matthew Watson's FANNY, ana
Mrs. Watson talked to me of her daugh-
mitigation of her grief If she only hau
a likeness of her child.
"Photographs, and even daguerreo-
types, were unknown In those days
and miniatures were rare In tiiis ceuh-
try because Of the scarcity of good
artists.
George w. Dodge was the most
noted miniature painter of that day;
1t was he who painted the celebrated
miniatures of Henry Clay, Dahlel wen,
ster and Andrew Jackson. He lived
about the time Polk was elected trcsl-
dent He came 20 nashville shorlly AZ
ter | did and / met him.
IAN idea struck me. ! went to Dodge
and said: Gould you mnke a likeness
of a person you never saw
He laughed at me, ! explained more
fully. Mary Frances face was Just as
vivid in my mind as though ! Wore
looking at her. / could describe her
her features. ,..
Dodge became Interested 1T looks
impossihle.' said he, but ] would IKE
to try II. First. however, | must nave
a cast of her face
"'But she has been dead six months.
~ must have It, said he. 1T IL nee
essary for me to have the exact d.
mansions and proportions OF the os-
seous structure. Without that no deS-
cription would he OF any service. with
it may get likeness but 1t Is doubt
fun
"'You shall have It, l said. ! went to
Mathew Watson and unfoldcd my plan.
II was to obtain n likeness OF MARY
Frances and present 1t To her mother.
He agreed to aid me 10y giving his con-
sent to the body's being exhumed
"Dr. r. X. Martin, Mr., James u.
Yeatman-now OF st. Louis. and the
only person livinE.eNccpt myself, who
had any hand in the nnaif'-Artist
Dodge and ] went to the cemetery at
night. opened the grave md took ont
the, corpse that had hecn put there six
months before In q walnut coffin.
''Dodge took the plaster of paris
cast of the dead face and We reinterred
the remains,
Whenever l saw girl or woman
with n feature ike one OF Mary Fran
ces', | got acquainted with her and
took her to the artist. 3e would sketch
the features. In that way I got the
nose, the ears. the turn Of thc Jaw.
the chin. the growth OF the hair about
the temples, the curve OF the lips and
o., 7 lAVaf