The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-03-08


Los Angeles. Cal. March 4.-To The
Forum: Down on the bank of the
Arroyo seco. which means "dry run
as you may OF may not know, and as
I did not know until I was told So
Charles #. Lunlmis has built an old
time California house with his own
hands. With the aid Of a few Next
cans he e into the bed of the Ar
royo and brought up the boulders,
which range in size from 6 inches in
diameter to 2 and 3 feet, and
which r round and white with the
alkaline deposit Of the waters that
occasionally make the dry creek a
torrent in rainy seasons. These
stones he laid with mortar into the
walls Of his house. a story and a half
in height. built in a quadrangle, with
a round tower at one corner. That
tower is pierced with q narrow open
ing for a window. and above this
window is a niche in which hangs a
mission bell that is a couple Of hun
dred years old or nearly so. 1t hangs
in the wall by the same rawhide
thong that held it In the mission bel
fry, and the metal of the bell is en-
crusted with green from age and the
elements.
The walls of the house run on three
sides of Ell Alcalde Mayor, which as !
told you the other day is an immense
sycamore tree. that bursts from the
ground in half a dozen trunks, each a
couple of feet in diameter. This syc-
amore is a veritable giant. and it's
gnarled limbs have an immense
house. Eventually 1t is Lummis'
idea to have the sycamore completely
enclosed within the walls, and to have
a giant tree growing in his court, sur
rounded by these solid stone walls,
The age of this tree is easily more
than $50 years and through Lummis'
interposition 1t will be saved to the
present and the future for as long as
it shall live. On the side of the house
where the sycamore is there is a piaz-
"a built after the old California style
running about three sides Of a quad
rangle. And when you step into the
SA9 ySN \ III ~ olA1S5pAlCL0 " q
quarter or a half a century ago in this
southwestern country. The floors are
Of solid cement, tinted q brick color.
The beams above your head are hand
hewn out Of immense timbers. The
doors, stills, window frames, and other
wood work are hand hewn and fash
Toned, and there is not anywhere the
evidence of the modern planning mill,
the lathe, the modern stone mason or
the up to date decorator. It all re-
fleets Lummis' ingenuity and original
ity, and preserves the atmosphere of
the Californian frontier.
Old Time Relics.
About the walls there are innumer-
able relics of old times. There is the
finest collection of Indian arrow heads
I ever saw-set up in frames and in
GLIDING every size and style ever used
by these southwestern Indians. 1t is
a collection that would make Curator
Fish or DR.. Libby thrill with emotion
There is such an array of Indian pot
terry as I never saw. Beautiful pat
terms, pots and utensils Of all sizes
and shapes, rejecting the remarkable
artistry OF these original owners of the
southwest. There are rare Mexican
paintings, rare old books. and a hun
dred and one ornamentsz that have
been gathered by Lummis in his re.
markable career in the southwest and
in his explorations and researches
among the Indians. There is, coming
down to modern times, a portrait Of
Gen. Porfirio Diaz. former president
and dictator OF Mexico. autographed
and presented to Lummis by the gem
eral himself. There is an autographed
portrait OF Roosevelt. also personally
presented. Andrew Lang, the eminent
English critic and writer. sends his
portrait with an autographed letter OF
appreciation of Lummis' work. In
deed, there is a gallery of eminence
from all parts of the world, indicating
the high degree of appreciation they
have for Lummis and his work. Mad
anne Modjeska, the eminent Polish
tragedienne, left LuInmis her first
English prompt book and the book in
which she herself copied off her first
English production. 1t is written in
the finest and most beautiful script
and was the way in which Madame
Modjeski schooled herself in English
And when you look at it its precision
its n~eatness. its wonderful chirogro-
ply, you appreciate what q splendid
genius was hers, that let nothing
stand in the way of fulfllment.
And upstairs in Lummis den there
is a collection Of rare old books that
would delight a %bibliophile beyond ex-
preston. A book printed as far back
as 1858. with a type as clear as a bell
and every capital hand illuminated
the book including several hundred
pages, done on parchment and the
cover hand illuminated. Scores OF