The Oskaloosa herald., 1907-05-16
THE ROMANCE OF
A DEATH MASK
1T TAKES N. M. HUBBARD FROM
IOWA TO CHICAGO.
AND PARTS HIM FROM HIS WIFE
Cedar Rapids Man Causes Sensa.
ton BY the Alleged lnfatuation
For the Famous "saeaja-
wea" Sculptures.

day prints the following story:
II may have been the spirit of SAGA
jawea, the "bird woman" who guidet
Lewis and Clark across the mountain.
to the ocean; it may have been the
spell Of death mask; it may have
been the artistic temperament. What
ever 1t was, it brought Nathaniel M
Hubbard from his home in Cedar Rap
ids. Iowa, and made him haunt "bohe
mia" in Chicago; 1t closed the studio
of Alice Cooper, sculptress, in the Fine
Arts building; it left an unfinished fig
ure in the deserted studio, swathed ii
damp, clay colored rags; it separated
a husband from his wife; it gave ar
Iowa town and the studios in Chicago
a topic for gossip. Yet it may all
nave been only the jealousy of q
yearning wife. Aa
Family Broken Up.
These are the facts:
N. M. Hubbard Jr. of Cedar Rapids
son of the late N M. Hubbard, attor
ney for the Chicago and Northwestern
railroad in Iowa, has agreed to sepa
rate from his wife and has retired
from the law firm OF which he was a
member. He has come often to Chi
cago, and day after day has visited
the studio of Miss Cooper in the Fine
Arts building.
Miss Cooper,the creator of the sculp
tured figure of Sacajawea, the bird
woman" which stood under the great
gate to the Lewis and Clark exposition
looking out from Portland toward the
sea, has left her studio and gone from
bohemia" E.sF'. ..<
Out in Cedar Rapids, Ia, they whis
per of romance, and down in the
Fine Arts building on studio floor"the
artists tell of having seen Miss Cooper
and Hubbard together often.
Rumors of divorce suit to be be
gun By Mrs. Hubbard against her hus
band were answered in Cedar Rapids
last night by Attorney Wheeler, a
member of the law firm with which the
elder Hubbard and the younger Hub
bard were members in turn.
mo divorce proceedings have been
begun" declared Attorney Wheeler
'and no papers will be filed. Mr.. and
Mrs. Hubbard nave simply agreed to
separate. Mr.. Hubbard has retired
from the firm, and Mrs. Hubbard is
living with ner husDa1d's mother IN
the old Hubbard homestead
Begun Four Years Ago.
The romance-if it is a romance
began four years ago, following the
death of the elder Mr.. Hubbard. The
elder Hubbard was one of the big
men of Cedar RAPIDS. The son want.
ed to honor the father. He decided
to have death mask made and later
he would nave the face cast in bronze
a1d made part of a life size figure.
At this time Miss Alice Cooper's
name was being printed in all the mag,
azines. A rival to Pocahontas had
been discovered-S who led
the explorers over the mountains to
the Pacific. Miss Cooper had been Sc,
lected to make the colossal bronze OF
this Indian woman of romance.
Miss Cooper Makes Death Mask.
Mr. Hubbard read about Sacajawea
and the young sculptress who nodded
her features into clay. He sent for
the sculptress to make the death mask
of his father. The mask was made
and Miss Cooper came back to her
studio in Chicago to begin the work OF
modelling the figure.
Soon afterward Mr.. Hubbard came
to Chicago to see how the work was
progressing. He was here week and
then he went back to Uejar Rapids
1t was not long before he returned
to Chicago to transact some business
with banker. The work on the clay
likeness of the elder Hubbard went on
slowly. Hubbardrs visits to Chicago
were frequent.
He became known among the stu.
dos. OFF and on all winter he made
his appearance on Studio floor" He
displayed remarkable interest in the
clay figure. Last week, the artists
say, the work was completed All
that remained to be done was the cast.
ing into bronze.
Miss Cooper has gone" said an ar,
fist yesterday; ~ don't know where
The statue? think it is still in her
studio"