The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-06-30

more about electricity than some profess
siOnal experts learn in a lifetime.
At seventy Commodore Gerry is much
richer than most folk suppose. He has
seen nine-tenths Of the growth Of New
York city, since he was born away
down Broadway on the site of the pres
eHt Standard Oil Building. at No. Is
close by Bowling Green and the Bat
terry. His mother was a Goelet and his
wife a Livingstone. descended from r.
r. Livingston. himself one Of the sign
ers. The Gerrys have two sons and two
daughters. The latter was still single;
the sons are great coaching men and
cross-Country riders.
Best Furnished House.
The Gerry house on Fifth avenue is the
best furnished In New York. say experts.
but its glories have never been described
In print 1t contains the finest private
law library. Of 3oO'0 volumes. in Ameri-
ca. Gerry's yacht the Electra, cost near
ly a million: q 0utclassed all others in
America when new and is still one of the
finest afoat. One Of the commodores
greatest weaknesses is the fine cooking in
his kitchen and the rarity Of the foods
served on his table. He was a delegate
to one State constitutional convention,
and might have been a big politician in
his days when being very rich didn't pre-
vent success in politics, but he has new
er cared to use his political ability on be-
half Of anything but his beloved society.
Everything considered, he's a pretty
good citizen. although il is true that he
makes Newport-where. like most Of his
class. he has a summer hOme-his legal
residence, and doesn't pay personal taxes
in New York. where most of his great
wealth in real estate lies.
Dashing Gertrude Atherton.
More interesting than any mere man de- |
scended from a signer is Gertrude Frank
lin Horn Anterior. TO give the full name
of this dashing Calif0rnia-bOrn authoress.
It may be stretching the point little, |
perhaps, 10 include her in the list. since
she is descended from a brother of the |
famous Benjamin, and not from the sign !
er himself but she has made enough stir |
in the world since her husbands death |
in the eighties to excuse her being let |
in.
Her grandfather was Stephen Franklin, |
who established the first newspaper in |
San Francisco. Her mother. Gertrude |
Franklin married Thomas L. Horn. or /
Ulhorn. He was a bookkeeper who did /
not amount TO enough to fix the worlds /
eye upon him and the daughter was |
brought up by the grandfather In his /
library, filed, she says. with such clas- !
sizes as the Spectator" Dickens. and |
Scott, Plato and Pope, she reveled as a /
girl. Her schooldays were spent in st. /
Mary's Hall. Benicia, Cal, and Sayre /
Institute. Lexington. KY, and while still /
in her teens she married George Atherton.
Was Pretty Girl.
According to the records she must have
been a mighty pretty girl. Rhapsodical /
chronicles Of her charms as a bride in
cluded great masses Of pallid gold hair,
the bluest Of blue eyes, a perfect COM
plexion. and hands and arms that sculp-
tors might rave over" Her husband was
of a rich and exclusive family. which |
dated its exclusiveness back to the be-
ginning Of its wealth acquired after its
founders had located on the coast in con-
Of John Marshalrs famous dis
covery of gold As a bride Mrs. Ather-
ton was taken to live at AIenlO PARK. =
San Francisco suburb, which she pic
Cor Historically describes as
ultra conventional tame sitting; where
dating from 1s4g, draws it's
narrow skirts about its heels nor dusts
them on anything so mean as a San Fran
cisco street"
There she lived until her husbands
death He was a typical young San Fran |.
cisco Midas Of the period. He was "a
great amateur whip" and saw life IN
many phases, but he objected to his