Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-30

John James Audubon is to be worth
lily observed on May 4. In New
IL York the P. E. Church of the Inter-
cession has been appropriately Sc
lected as the place for holding the COM
memorative exercises, for this church Is
located in the neighborhood where the great
naturalist made his New York home
1t was about 1910. some ten years before
his death, that Audubon settled In part
Of Manhattan Island which was stu
country district, more remote from New
York both in time and retirement, than
many places now miles distant from the
city limits. Here the first Church of the
Intercession was built in 1877 In course
of time the parish outgrew its modest quar-
ters. and a new and imposing church edi-
flee was erected about thirty-fve years ago
at the corner of Broadway and 15Sth street.
Next months celebration in this place
will be commemorative of the liz. ana
career of a man whose name is Venerateu
by nature lovers and scientists the world
over. New York takes the lead IN oDserV-
ing the anniversary of his birth, although
somewhat neglectful of his memory In the
past.
Dignity and Importance will be given to
the exercises of May by the participation
of Judge Alton b. Parker, Richard Watson
Glider editor of the Century Magazine
Ernest Thompson-Seton, the weil-knoWn
biogra pher of animals; the Rt. Rev DaViu
Fl Greer coadiutor bishop of New I ok,
George Bird Grinnell, editor of Forest and
Stream; Rev. Milo Hudson Gates, rector OF
the church; Professor Frank M Chapman
president of the Audubon Societies ana pro.
lessor of ORTHODOXY at the Academy OF
Natural Sciences and George f. Parker,
formerly United States consul at BlrnllhS-
ham Invitations have been issued 10 repre-.
sentatives of the principal learned socletleS
in New York and its neighborhood, ana 10
in country at large. lnCluueu
among the guests will also be several oe-
scendants of Audubon. some OF Whom nave
continued to live in the neighporhoou OF MS
old home and on land once owned by MN.
The following article, written by MISS NJ.
F. Audubon, a granddaughter of the nat.
uralist gives US an interesting glimpse VI
the man, his work and his lie, Drawing
sharp contrast between the rural New
York of Audubon's day and the dlstrlct
which is now brought into the channel OF
metropolitan life. Improvement ana prog
ress by the subway and other means VI
communica ton:
Sixty-five years ago the upper part OF
Manhattan Island was still woodland as
wild almost as the southern savannahs, or
the unpeopled praries of the west
The Hudson and the Harlem rivers. with
the ebb and flow of their tides, washed the
coves and points as they had when only
red men inhabited their island. and few
were the dwellings north of Canal street
A villa or two, built by ease-loving and
wealthy citizens, might be seen at rare In
tervals on the heights above the rivers: the
Roger Morris or Jumel house crowned the
hilltop where 1t still stands but silence and
solitude regned everywhere else except
when a farm wagon or travelling carriage
rolled up or down the old kingsbridge road,
the only street or road OF any klno lead
ing to the city of New York.
Int
search of a retired home wandered Audi
bon the naturalist, one of the great men OF
the world.
He had spent his life In such travels
few men ever Accomplishment straytng
through marsh and brake in the southern
glades and bayous; now sailing the north
ern waters where the rocks OF Labrador
echo with the cries of sea birds: now
watching in pine forests or lake lands Tor
the feathered friends he loved so well; and
twice crossing the Atlantic with the pic
lures he had made OF these creatures OF
life and beauty. that he might give to the
world a work showing all the wonders of
American ORTHODOXY.
For several years he lived abroad. still
wandering, but now from court to court,
from castle to castle. from city to city. till
his task was accomplished, until his list OF
subscribers was complete. and he had pro-
duced and perfected the Birds of America
tIlIS TIME nc itlui iitu ~ AAAo pS
loved land to procure a number of draw
ings left for safe-keeping in his brother-in-
laws counting house IN New York.
tragedy nearly put end to his work.
Rats had devoured most of the toll of years,
and the pictures were but a few fragments
of dusty paper. What did he do in this
dark day of trial?
This is the entry In his diary. For one
morning | gave way to my grief and de-
ht,t in, he a | m
to the upper part of the island. where,
soothed by the calm and beauty of nature.
l became strengthened for the task before
me- and at daylight next morning l took
my pencil in hand. and commenced anew
the work which the rats had destroyed
1t seems to me that this was being very
great man indeed.
But as to this upper part of the island"
He probably never forgot that day of men,
orable wandering, and when at last pros
perity, honors and fame had come to him,
he selected a spot there, close to the river,
where everything he loved in nature could
be his There he built the home in which
he lived eleven years, and where he died in
1851
This estate was named by him and his
sons 'Minniesland," for love of the wife
and mother who had so believed in him,
and so nobly aided him in his days of strug-
gle and adversely. Minnie Scotch dimin-
utiye for mother.)
1t was about thirty-two acres. including
15Sth streets, and extending from the pres
ent Amsterdam avenue to the Hudson river.
How fondly he loved it and how he de-
lighted in the seclusion and quiet OF the
place is a pleasant memory of his old age.
Once more he resumed his wanderings,
on that last expedition when he climbed the
far off peaks of the Rocky mountains. car
rying the flag of the United States through
the Yellowstone valley and across wids
where it had never been unfurled. and
bringing back treasures OF the fora and
fauna of that vast region. He then, as
sisted by his sons and DR.. John Bachman
of Charleston. S. c.. brought out the Quad
rupeds of North America"
After his death other houses were built
on the Manhattan estate, portions of 1t
were sold, and the name was changed by
the new owners, who thought to honor him
by giving it the name of Audubon Park"
park it has been all these years. still
rural. still dignifed with magnificent forest
trees still suburban and sequestered until
now that Riverside drive has cut 1t in two.
and 156th and 18TH streets are being open
Cd to tho river Soon there will be but