The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1909-12-16
ANSWER TAFT'S PLEA
TO PRESERVE MISSIONS
Concerted Movement to Save
Relics of Padres Becomes
National in Scope.

Los Angeles, Cal.=Preserve the mis-
sions! hi is the keynote of a move
ment which before the dawn of 1910
will be heard from h Pacific to the
Atlantic in the supreme effort to pre-
serve the crumbling ruins OF the old
Spanish missions in California. Wealth
and influence of CALIFORNIA; most
prominent citizens are being exerted
and their plans to make the movement
countrywide in it's scope W. touched
the responsive chord. President a
lent his influence to the preservation
plans in his speech at Riverside, Cal.,
when he said:
California is one of the few states
of the union which has a picturesque
past which the people of the state
should do all in their power to pre-
serve. J fully sympathize with the de-
sire of California people to preserve
these missions and the style OF archi-
lecture they created"
The movement to which the execu-
tive ave impetus has long been pop
ular, but up to the time Of the presi-
dents expression OF pleasure, it's ropu-
larity wa limited in a measure to. CAL
ifornia!
Protestants have joined hands with
the Catholics in furthering the move
toward preservation of these relics of
the pioneer Catholic fathers. A fund,
contributed by those interested directly
in the regions in which the missions are
situated, has been proposed and will
ingness to further the movement in
that manner has been forthcoming
from many sources. The Landmarks
club of Los Angeles. is active in the
work. "a heritage of loneliness. of
sentiment, of all that is beautiful in
! our natures" is the way one member OF
/ <1,o% orr - ., ~, hoe r1T1rr1I - tl,a
missions.
The stories of the missions are like
pages from medieval history. Yet to-
day they stand almost in a state of
decay, With the exception of the edifice
at Santa Barbara, which. han to the
public spirit, has been restored to all
it's beauty.
Three of the finest of the missions
San Juan Capistrano, San Antonio and
Sal Batista-are in need of immediate
attention. San Fernando mission in
the San Fernando valley is deserted
and rapidly going into ruins. Some eff
fort at preservation has been made at
San Gabriel, between Los Angeles and
San Diego. II today it is in fairly
good shape.
The example furnished by the lure Of
the old-world beauty is being used as
a strong argument in favor of preserve
ing the missions by the Landmarks
club. Appeals are being made to the
men Of business on the coast and to the
thousands OF fasteners who have es-
tablished winter homes in California.
Governor Gillett makes a stirring APP
peal:
california has no great battlefields
to honor. 40 statutes of great generals
to stir a martial spirit. but it has got
something better towards arousing en-
thusiasm, in the crumbling monuments
erected by the self-sacrificing fathers
in their efforts to bring men from
darkness INTO the light.
The desire of the people to preserve
the missions is something With which
I ana in full sympathy and l hope be-
fore l leave my Office to be able to APP
point a commission the duty of which
will be the study of these missions and
of the best way in which to keep them,
to preserve their beauty as an ethical
stimulus to the people of our state"
Bishop Johnson, the executive head
OF the protestant Episcopal church in
southern California, speaks of the work
OF the pioneer Catholic fathers as mon
uments of national architecture. He
says: nv
"Thes mission fathers built With
great courage, great devotion and great
olilgence and they created a style of
architecture which we should maint,in
rms can best be done by Keeping for
ourselves and those who come after
the original examples Of the beauty
they developed,
1T is phenomenal that the fathers
should have builded so wisely and SO
beautifully. 1t is due to their memory
ana our own interest to keep for the
country h they gave TO the nrov-
ince." y
Before Bishop johnson came to Calf
fornia he had interested himself in The
cause of the missions. So great was
ms desire to preserve them or. at least.
AID IN doing SO, that he became a mem.
per OF the Landmarks club years ago
II is largely the work Of the club that
mas Kept a few Of the missions in a
fair state of preservation. This orRanf-
zation is made up of 10 per cent Cath
ol1cs n 80 per cent Protestants.
President David Starr Jordan or
stan1ord university, for years has been
n OF the prime movers In the preser-
vatlon work: He expressed himself
subject. He said: '"e
one OF Caltfornia's most Important
assets Is found in the Spanish missions
each picturesque and real archttectnrai
merit. distinctive in CALIFORNIA; in
terest as the romantic Spanish names
OF cities. churches and Institutions
names associated with these missions
Ihey are the Oldest remnants Of the
early life in this country. and vaars
OF neglect have brought most Of them
TO a deplorable condition. Some are nj
setty o~OL!teIdteo. while others are now
rapidly falling into decay. So far the
only step taken to preserve these mis-
sions mas been the mere patriotic innu-
ence OF q few Of Californta's neonje
m by religious and historical socie.
ties. Three of the finest Of these mis-
sions-san Juan Capistrano. San An
tonic and San Batista-are in need of
imlnediate attention. A rich man could
desire no greater monument than the
restoration OF one of these missions
And the people of California can rear
no greater monument to themselves
than protecting these missions from
further decay" y
Radium as a Practicable Fore.
A pint bottle full of radioactive Gle
ments would supply enough power To
drive a Mauretania round the world
that is to say. If that power could he
evolved quickly enough. But no process