The times., 1901-06-23
HUNTINeToN's WEDDING FEE.
Four Thousand Dollars TO the Rev.
Henry Wnrd Rrechcr.

Four Thousand Dollars TO the Rev.
Henry Ward Beechcr.
Once, in 1884, Mr.. Henry Ward Beecher
requested me to postpone a lecture en-
gagement on account of an important
wedding which he had on hand. He de-
clined to tell me who was to be married.
and asked me to say nothing about 1t. In
fact. he said, he knew little about it him
self He invited me to his house that
evening, and / was sitting with Mrs
Beecher in the library when the door
bell rang, and the parties were escorted
to the parlor.
He called Mrs. Beecher to join the party.
but l was not invited. They must have
remained an hour, chatting, after the
ceremony. and then Mr.. Beecher, in his
cheerful delightful manner, escorted them
to the door and they drove off. Mr. and
Mrs. Beecher then returned to the library.
expressing great wonder. and, L think.
satisfaction. at the event. Then he told
me that he had just married Mr.. c. p.
Huntington to Mrs. A. D. Warsham. who
was quite prominent woman in New
Y ork. He believed she would make Mr..
Huntington an excellent wife. She was
just the woman for him.
Several weeks after this incident Mr..
and he was having what he called a
general house-cleaning' of his pockets
not an uncommon occurrence. His
pockets would often get loaded up with
letters and papers, and If he happened to
be sitting by an open car window he
would clear out his pockets, tear up old
letters and throw them away.
on this occasion ne happened to put
his hand in the watch pocket of his
pantaloons, and found there a little en-
velope which he opened. When he saw
it's contents he caIled me to sit beside
him, and remarked:
You remember the evening 1 mar
| ried Mr. C. P. Huntington. 1 was SO
much interested in the subject that for
got ne handed me a little envelope as
he went out of the door. put it in the
watch pocket of my pantaloons and never
thought of it again until just now. and
here it is-four one thousand dollar bills. e"
Now" he said, don't tell anyone
about ii. ard we will have a good time
and make a good deal of happiness with
this money. We will Just consider that
we found it,
A few days later he called and asked
me to go with him down town to look at
cargo of rugs which had just arrived.
! think we went TO a place somewhere on
Pearl Street, below Fulton, and We had
to go up two or three flights Of stairs
! The place was packed with rugs, and peo-
pie were handling them and marking
| them. Many we're brought out and showT
| to Mr. Beecher, who seemed to be quite
an expert In rugs as well as in all Other
lines of art. He picked out quite mum
| ber-some of them very valuable ones
| TrFt frc m h9Va them sent
to various friends of his in accordance
with a list which he had made out Therc
was one beautiful prayer rug which he
sent to a friend in Peekskill, member
! of his church, and 1 think he sent one tc
| each of his children and 10 his sons
wives. He also purchased quite num-
| Der for his own house. For one small
! prayer rug he paid $40. l asked him te
! let me pay for that one and keep Ii
myself. He said:
| mo: that's the finest rug here. pro-
pose to keep that one for myself" l saw
il sold for S95 at Mr.. Beecher's collection
sale. All of those rugs would bring higher
prices than Mr.. Beecher paid for them
| Later. we were at store in Philadelphia
where he purchased a beautiful coin silver
lamp, and paid S1OO for it, remarking
| Pond, this is some of the money that We
| found" He sent the lamp to his OWE
! home. and 1 afterward saw it sold in his
collection at the American Art Galleries
I think it sold for only sis. l tried to get
to the auetioneer to tell him that It was
| a coin silver lamp, and what Mr Beechei
had paid for it, but ii was too late.
| He bought a pair OF andirons In Gin
cinnatf and sent them to his little 1rleho
| Violet Beach, in PeekskilL Her mother
! had lately built a beautiful house ao-
| Joining Mr.. Beecher's farm. In his letter
| to Violet's mother he said; send a
| present to Violet, and If she doesn't lKt
| il let her put it IN the fireplace
! He purchased a great many unInouhteo
| gems soma of which he subsequently
| had mounted, and gave them 10 trIehuS
! Many were mounted IN very pretty s. IlLsS
| think he really did absorb the entire
! q GOA in making happiness among those
After Ate Mr.. Beecher's death. Mr.. c.. P
| Huntington was very kind to MIS-
| Beecher He always furnished her trans
| portatiou for transcontinental trips e
| yisit her son on Puget Sound. and 1t wa:
| nv privilege to call upon MIR. huntington
| with Mrs BeecherS 5 messages, as MI
| Paecher dead was Mr.. Beecher living u
me. and l took pleasure in going on thes'
errands. ~, 11.,4;,,,c,
| the incident of Mr.. Beechers discover!
| of the four 81 900 bills, and he replled:
| III should never have given them u
him 1t was all wrong | made a, a ms n
take. Money never u4u INN - o ~
Since that time ! have visited many o
Mr. Rcecher's old friends, and have seel
in their houses some of the rugs an'
lother presents purchased with that none.
tNsouvenirs that call up fond memories o
the dearest friendship one could posslDi.
! nossess | often wonder whether happi
hess made in that way is not more effec
tive than when money IS invested in som
| public library or other charitable instltu
| zion where il never seems to arouse an,
Jeen feeling of personal gratitude on IN
mart of the beneficiaries.-Major Pond i
| the literary Digest.