New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-04-03
Lauds Wilson's Stand on
Tolls and Calls Clark
Speech Silly.
ENJOYS OUTING WITH
EDISON AND FORD
Naturalist Climbed Mountains
with Inventor and Auto
Maker in Georgia.

John Burroughs is seventy-seven years
old to-day, but he feels better and is doing
more work that when twenty years
younger He spoke about il yesterday on
his returs from wintering in Florida
He was sitting in the parlor at the home
of his friend. DR.. Clara Barrus, In Pei
ham, where he is staying on his way to
his home at West Park. With his white
beard and slight figure, he was the en-
bodment of gentleness as he told OF his
holiday in the South with Edison and
Henry Ford; but when he came 70 dis
cuss subject on which he felt strongly
there was plenty Of vigor.
The question that drew the most vehe-
mence from him was the canal tolls con
troversy.
Il am entirely with the President on
canal tolls" said Mr.. Burroughs He
has taken a splendid stand, and the
country ought TO uphold him, not cniy
on account of England. but because all
of the people Of this country built IL
and every one ought to pay for it's use.
We should avoid special privileges, and
| don't believe in giving the great ship
ping interests free use of il.
Champ Clark's speech was silly. Nei-
Their he nor Underwood will ever he
President OF the United States. Clarks
speech was sheer demagoguery. lie is
too deeply immersed In party politics
Wilson is a great literary man and a
great statesman"
In discussing his outing with Edison.
the subject was preached of Edison's
ability TO go without sleep. Mr.. Bur-
roushs began TO laugh quietly.
Il found Edison had as big a capacity
for sleep as any man ever met" he
said. 'He never missed a chance. He
said himself he could store I'D enough
sleep to last him two years-like a bee
storing up honey. He needs life in the
country, and he may come up and build
cabin on my home in the Catskills. Il
is my fathers farm, where l was born.
There is one field that has never known
the plough, and l want TO see the grass
grow there.
Edison is a great philosopher But
there was one question | asked him that
he couldn't answer, and that was where
n
get their potash and lime. They subsist
entirely on air. you know | have often
been puzzled by the question. IL may be
that the sea air contains minute uuanti-
ties of the same chemicals that are in
the ocean.
well, we flshed together and tramped
snd climbed. We went up Stone Noun
tain, near Atlanta, Ga. They say that's
the biggest piece OF granite in the world
II is thousand feet high, but we found
no difficulty in climbing it,
No great achievement, he said. in scien-
tific advance stood out during the last
year. although there had been steady
progress The great problem TO be solved.
he said, was the use of the latent atomic
energy in matter. Speaking of evolution,
he said that II was still mistaken, al
though many Germans were saying II
ought TO be discarded as a theory.
Before you CO." he said, II want you
to see DR.. Barrus's book about me. She
has been an intimate friend OF mine for
years, and has helped me in my literary
work. 1 wrote some autobiogra phical
matter for her book"
The book, which was published two
weeks ago. is "Our Friend, John Bur-
roughs," an intimate study OF his per-
sonality. One chapter, called Self
Analysis" is psychological study of Mr..
Burroughs by himself.
He said that he would spend his birth
day to-day without any special observ-
ance.