The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-02-10
POET OF THE SIERRAS.
Joaquin MlIIer's Funeral Pyre on His
Estate al Oakland.
A Two Ton Granite Bowlder viii Be His
tombstone" ITO the Unknown"

vaudeville lecture on the Klondike at
| Keith's in Boston this week, has at
tracted a great deal Of attention.
| When first he came into public notice,
| years ago, his almost senseless pecu-
liarities OF dress and manners had
| much To do with the discussion and
| comment he aroused; and there have
| always been many who believed that
there was In him just enough OF the
| charlatan TO lead him TO affect these
| idoisyncracies for the express purpose
of achieving notoriety and attracting
attention. However, that may have
been. he has at least been consistent in
his course, for he has never altogether
| departed from the striking features OF
| his individuality, though they have
| from time to time been modified to
| some extent, and Of late years he has
| brought his standard at least to some
| approach to that OF civilized society.
| From all that the Boston papers have
printed about him, IL is likely, however,
| that when he appears in Providence
his figure will be a strikingly conspicu-
| Gus one on the streets and at the Mar
| ragansett and that he will arouse no
little discussion and excite no little
True to his fixed policy of doing
| things TO startle those who live in the
ruts Of ordinary thought and progress,
| the poet has recently completed flu
| neral pyre at his estate near Oakland.
Cal, and not long after it's completion
| the body OF a woman was incinerated
| on It, though this latter fact is en-
| shrouded in much mystery and it is
with difficulty that he has been induc-
! ed 10 admit the fact at all.
The story that was gent East was
| that the body OF a beautiful woman
was brought mysteriously in the night
| and burned with secrecy on the great
| pile Of stones.
Yes" he said, deliberately, "the
| body of woman was burned on my
| funeral pyre. That much / am forced
TO admit. / cannot reveal her Identity
further than TO say that she was a
Partisan. 1t is her secret, not mine,
that i am guarding"
Mr.. Miller's funeral pyre, on the
heights back of Oakland, is a solidly-
| constructed piece of masonry, rectan-
gular, about 100 feet square and feet
in height.
This structure is OF go powders, ce-
mei.ted together, and in its top there
is a collins shaped depression, in which
IL is the poets intention 10 have his
body placed before cremation. He de-
sres that his ashes be scattered to the
winds after he is dead.
None of us care what happens then"
he says. Near the pyre, granite
bowlder. which weighs two tons, will
from the poets tombstone. No name
has been carved on ii. but in white let
ters has been painted the words, ITO
the Unknown"
This bowlder" says the poet. "has
been erected i'm memory of all men and
women. myself included. who have done
their humble best in life, and failed"
In explanation, he quoted these lines
from his own pen:
All honor To him who wins the prize.
The world has cried for a hundred
years:
But TO him who tries and fails and dies.
i give great glory and honor and
tears.
A large monument upon a hill ad-
joining his home has been erected in
honor of the poet Browning, while still
another has been reared TO the memory
of Fremont, the pioneer who half Il
century ago stood on the same spot
and named the Golden Gate. Not far
from his house, up on the HILL he has a
graveyard, where the poor people may
bury their dead upon this condition:
There must be no display of any kind
no carriages, no imposing hearse. 1T
would be bad enough" he says, for
live man TO ride in one. let alone a
dead person. Cremation is economical
sanitary and sensible"
The picturesque poet talks very inter-
estingly about the Klondike, viewing il
with the eyes of the veteran California
miner, who. he says, has not only much
to learn in the Klondike. but much TO
unlearn before he can be successful. He
comes into that country full of theories
and traditions that he must discard
for the system of mining that was en-
hxyf ha aria
ago.
For extensive mining operations. car
ried on by large amounts of capital, he
believes that there is no field whatever
unless it Is through the Introduction Of
a system Of electricity by which the ore
can be melted out OF the ground faster
than IL can by the system Of melting by
wood fires now in use. If this can be
done, the riches of the region will be
found to be almost limitless as II will
be possible To work without cessation.
Unless something of this kind is
brought in. he believes that the gold
will all have to be taken out in the
present slow fashion,; and even then the
wood is being so rapidly burned off that
there is scarcity of 1t around the dig
gings now.
The hardships Of the climate. he saws,
have not been exaggerated, and only
the strongest men can survive them.
out ne saw nplUlHB Ol Il shortage or
provisions. He was much struck by
the order of the camps as compared
with those of California in the old days.
The regulations are absolutely enforced
by the mounted police. and the men
who get through To the diggings as a
rule would make good citizens OF any
community. They all stick together
like brothers. and he says that there
could be no such thing as q mans
starving among them while there were
any provisions az all lie says that he
did not sec a single game Of cards
played there. although Il was true that
his party was I'm town very little.
Mr.. Miller is an imperalist although
he dislikes the word because IL is so
long. He says that he wants To sec
this country continually expanding as
Ne believes that the young man has a
right TO frontier, which breeds mon
such as cannot be found among more
highly civilized conditions.
II is easy 90 see that lecturing is irk-
some to him. but he SAYS that he T.
going through with IL. because he has
never undertaken anything that he has
not finished.