Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-09-08
Romance of Millions and
HOWe'S Little Steel Shuttle

alton and presence. She was different
from all other women that Mr.. Clark had
seen. In addition to her exquisite charm'
she had fine intellectual head, with eyes
of transfxlng loneliness. and a manner
sincere, simple, enchanting.
To say that the man of books music
and poetry, under those English skies and
wide spreading trees. was In love but
family expresses 1t. In her haunting eyes
| he read the answer to his LIES desires.
When he proposed she said yes. All Eng
! land became heaven at that moment. In
her he found a Joy beyond music or
| cathedrals. 1t was a happy marriage.
The best of England and America was in
it-pure, ideal love of the fields and skies,
with a great fortune behind it to keep
Cupid warm in winter.
According to all accounts Mrs. Clark
was not only a lovely, amiable woman
but she had intellect, was extremely dig
nified and self-contained. With this she
was as modest as any country maiden,
with a temper so sweet as to make her
/ beloved by friends and strangers. She
f! was called a sensible gill She had an at
tractive figure, with wonderful hair dark
| blue eyes and an indescrfbable fascina-
4, ton that even the man of millions could
| not resist.
on bringing his bride to New York
| there was a change in the quiet atmos-
phere of the Clark household. Boxes
were bought at the opera. and there were
musicals and grand parties, and socia-
bility and entertainment became fea-
ture of daily life. In America it was
called a marriage Of a thousand-a singu-
| larly happy one-an four\ sons brought
| life and joy into the Clark family.
In the Land of the Pathfinder.
Much has been said of the Clark acres
, at Otsego Lake. 1t is a fact that Mr..
| Edward Clark's association with Coopers-
town played an important part in its lat
| ter day history. A friend Of his brother,
Edward lorraine, had a weakness for
Otsego Lake and pursuaded him to visit
| the region. The young man was even
more charmed than his friend, and IN
duced his father, Edward, 10 inspect the
region, which resulted in Mr. Clark buy
ing the Apple Hill estate on the Susque-
hanna, near its outlet from the lake
whence the noble river takes its rise.
A magnificent house was built by him
and named after Fernleigh Hail. which he
had seen and admired in England. This
house has been called one Of the finest
country mansions in America. Mr.. Clark,
| SRI: bought other property-Brown's Ho-
| tel which he tore down and on its site
erected the present Fenimore House, nam
ed in honor of Cooper, the novelist. Other
improvements followed. The old Fenimore
| Cooper homestead was bought and i'm
| proved. 1t was here that ''Deerslayer,"
1.-THE Pathfinder" The Last of the Mo-
| hicans" and other famous Indian ro-
mances by Cooper were written.
And 1t was to this ideal American home,
surrounded by the loveliest of American
scenery, that Alfred Corning Clark
| brought his English bride to spend the
summer months. She was even more fas-
cinated by the charm of the region and
has always made It her summer residence.
| Since the death of her husband she has
still further improved 1t, made parks,
erected monuments, established large
observatory, commanding the lake and the
( surrounding country for miles, and set
| apart a fund for keeping II in repair.
When she finds worthy men out of work
she puts them on living salary and gives
| them employment.
Although a woman fond of life and all
| its enjoyments, Mrs. Corning Clark is ex-
| ceedingly reticent and retiring in her dis
| position Many aof her benefactions,
amounting to hundreds of thousands of
dollars, have been bestowed with liberal
hand and never heard of outside of few
| intimate friends in charitable work.
When Alfred Corning Clark's father died
his fortune was estimated at from $780,
900 to SAC, 200, 600, but today, though Mr..
Bourne's sagacious management, it is said
to reach at least $4,000, 900.
| Musician His Protege.
Mrs Clarks four sons are all million
| aires anu dAuOhS the AAChSSL yOuA6 AiAOh IA
| the country.
AS an example of Mr.. Alfred Corning
| C1ark's generosity, especially where
| friendship and music were concerned, this
story is told: A teacher and tenor singer,
Mr.. Severini, who hard come from Europe
to find an opening in his profession. so
/ completely won Mr.. Clark's heart that the
millionaire became his lifelong friend and
j he not only gave him an income for life,
] but gave him two houses to live in free OF
rent, with servants and all appointments
thrown in. He was his frequent visitor
often spending whole evenings taking part
IN the music and singing. When Mr.. Sew
| erini died, about twelve years ago, IT is
| related that Mr.. Clark personally took his
| body to Europe and superintended its in
| terment in his native town, paying all ex-
/ penses, and was the sincerest mourner at
the grace.
| Indeed, II was said that the musicians
/ death was blow to Mr.. Clark from which
he never fully recovered. He thought so
| much of him that he named his eldest son,
/ Edward Severini after him.
| The alliance with the sewing machine
| company ten years before the civil war
was most fortunate for all concerned. Not
| only Mr. Singer and the Clarks made mil
| lions, but Mr.. Bourne, who left his humble
/ clerkship in the Mercantile Library
| doubled the income of the great enterprise
and has become a multi-millionaire him
| self