The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-06-03

! Thomas Paine was born in Thettord,
| Norfolk, England, on January %, 175T.
His father was a Quaker and a stay
maker, and Paine was brought up to the
| trade. He left home before his majority,
and went to London, but soon moved TO
| Sandwich, where he married the daugh-
ter of an excise man, and entered the
| excise service.
| Naturally a republican and radical, and
so persistent a critic Of England's gov
eminent and political customs, that he
seemed almost to hate his native land,
| Paine came to this country in I77i. and,
through letters from Franklin, at once
| found work for mis- pen. Within a year
he became editor of the Pennsylvania
Magazine, and contributed to other per-
| iodicals.
The literary work that gave him great
est prominence, and probably has had
more influence than all his other writings
| combined was Common Sense, a pam
phlet published early in 1776, advocating
| absolute independence Of England.
It has frequently been asserted that
Paine was the author of the Declaration
of Independence, but the evidence offered
is far from conclusive.
Visiting France during the revolution
airy period, he published under an as
sumed name, a pamphlet advocating the
abolition of royalty. In 1871 he published
in England his Rights Of Man." in re-
ply to Burke's Reflections on the French
Revolution" For this he was outlawed
by the court Of Kings Bench, in spite Of
an able defence by Lord Erskine. Es-
Gaping from England. he again went to
France. where he was received as a hero
and elected a member of the national
convention.
His republicanism however, was not
extreme enough to please the Jacobins
He was opposed to beheading the king,
urging that Louis should be banished to
America The Jacobins finally expelled
him from the convention on the ground
that he was foreigner, although he had
become a French citizen by naturaliza-
ton, and Robespierre had him thrown in
to the Luxembourg prison. where he
spent nearly a year in anticipation Of the
guillotine.
Release finally through the efforts Of
James Monroe, American minister to
France, Paine resumed his seat in the
convention.
In 1903 Paine died in New York, and
by his own request, was buried on his
farm at New Rochelle. a few years
later William Cobbett, an Enlish radical,
removed Paine's bones to England, with
the hope Of increasing enthusiasm for
the republican ideas of which Paine was
still the favorite exemplar in print But
the movement did not have the desired
mains found their final resting place in
France.
PATHS LIFE IN NEW YORK
Patti has recently written for an Eng
lish weekly publication "reminiscences Of
her own life, but has probably not en-
tered into details touching the years she
passed as a resident in the SUBURBS CT
New York. The house in which she then
lived is now within the city limits. l.
stands on the east side of Matilda street,
not far from the corner Of Becker ave
nue., in what was recently the village of
Wakefield, but is now part of the New
York Central Harlem division. From the
platform OF the station one may see
the house, a big, ugly, rectangular brick
structure, with a pyramidical roof. High
stands in the midst of a considerable
lawn, with fruit trees, shrubbery, and
flower beds. A recent owner, a German,
who spends only the summer at wake
field, had the house painted yellow and
added other transforming touches. 50 that
the place is very unlike the homestead
that the little Patti knew ar the age of
10 or thereabouts.
When the PATHS were singing in this
country, a good many more years ago
than the women Of the family would care
TO own. they built the big, ugly brick
house as a rural retreat in times Of idle
ness. The whole region roundabout was
then thoroughly rural in appearance, and.
in fact, it had then begun to be truly
suburban, for the city line lay miles
southwark. and there were many hundred
acres Of forest and farm land between
the Patti house and the paved streets Of
New York.
In spite of all the changes that have
taken place. however, there are stu at
least a score of persons at Wakefield
who remember the strange. foreign fam
lily that built and occupied the rectangI-
lar brick house. Some who were then
neighbors Of the family recall Patti as
little playmate who took them home
and formed them into a singing class.
Some recall the sharp temper of the ell
der PATHS. The widow Brown preserves
some of the Patti chairs and a little toy
theater that belonged 10 the little girl.
great kichen table that belonged o
the family IS still In use in the brick
horse A few OF the PATHS former ac-
quaintances insist that it was during her
residence at Wakefield that she made her
first appearance as public singer. Be
ing then about u years old, she went to
Becks hotel. q local resort Of the period,
and sang in public.
When some Of the PATHS were in this
country four or i've years ago they Wis
tied the house at Wakefield. but found
its surroundings scarce recognizable. The
Bronx valley which It overlooks. has
been almost denuded Of trees. The stu
wooded hillside across the Bronx they
found dotted with suburban cottages. II
had been almost uninhabted In the
Wakefield days of the PATHS. Even the
Ba-hgate woods still the finest piece OF
/ unspCiled forest within the city limits,
| had shrunk 10 two-thirts Of its former
area. The very name Of the region had
changed, for the PATHS had known the
village as Washingtonville a name that
gave place to that Of South Mount Yer
non, which IS stiil locally used. though
no longer officially recognized since tho
village has become part Of New York
city.
Bank i'm Wisconsin Dynanlited
New Lisbon. Wis, June 2-The bank OF
New Lisbon. owael by ". II. II. Cash.