Charlevoix county herald., 1915-01-30
Popular Author of "Laddie,"-A
True Blue Story, "Freckles," "The
Harvester" etc.-Seen at
Home i'm LimberlOst Cabin.

| Few indeed are the popular au-
thors whose habits of life, methods
| of work, recreations, foibles, APP
pearances, and even manner of dress
are not known to any one who cares
| to read. But Gene Stratton-Porter
| is not one of these. Leading a life
so idyllic and so picturesque that
scores of newspapers, not to say
hundreds of individuals, have sought
| to interview her, the creator of
"Freckles," "Laddie," and "The Har-
vester," has for years steadfastly re-
fused to come into the limelight.
Every day requests are received
from newspapers, magazines, indi-
viduals, reading clubs, libraries, min
listers and just plain admiring read
ers for information upon this writ
er's personality, and their answer
| invariably has been the few meager
| facts available from official sources.
But at last an intimate picture of
Mrs. Stratton-P Porter, her home and
life has come to light in an article
in a recent issue of Chambers
Journal" an English magazine with
a limited circulation in the United
States. The article answers many
questions about the author and her
personality which have been asked
with even greater interest since the
issuance by Doubleday, Page & Co.
of new holiday edition of her pop
ular novel "Freckles," illustrated in
full colors by Thomas Fogarty.
The article in Chambers Jour
nal," entitled can American Bird.
Woman" follows:
animal life is being studied to-
day with so much enthusiasm, pa
thence, and accuracy, and described
with so much realism, that our
friends in fur or feather are brought
closer to us than ever before. Some
write and endow them with human
attributes, making it evident that
men and women find in the woods
the things they go there To seek.
Others going with a gun, on sport
| intent, report them wild and shy. To
the writer endowed with genius and
tenderness, the habits and life-his-
tory of the lower animals, when wo-
ven into narrative, have often the
| charm of a human romance. To
mention only a few authors who
have excelled in this department Of
literature, we have Seton-Thompson,
Jack London, c. G. d. Roberts, w.
II. Hudson and H. Fabre. An Amer
lean lady, Mrs. Gene Stratton-P or-
ter-known all over the United
States as the Bird Woman for her
admirable camera and pen work in
| the delineation of birds and moths
also takes high place. She has en-
dured more hardships in bird pho
Biography and secured better results
than any other woman ever did, and
has further developed her gifts and
opportunities in stories which have
had wide popular appeal, and have
| given pleasure to millions.
"All her life this Bird Woman has
believed that she would be more at
home in the woods than elsewhere,
and now she is trying it. On her lit
tie estate of fifteen acres Of wild
woods, with primeval trees upon it,
near Rome City, Indiana, she has
reared a bungalow house, called
Limberlost Cabin. The land runs
down to a lake shore; there is a
spring, and cleared hill for garden,
orchard and pasture. Here have
been laid off red, white, pink, blue,
lavender, ard yellow flower beds of
an acre each, in the deep woods run
ming down to the lake shore, where
wild flowers of each color named
have been planted, beginning at wa
ter growth at the lake and running
back so that each plant has its
proper location; vines and wooden
fences stand between the beds of
flowers. Limberlost Cabin is stu
ated in the middle of the yellow bed
il has eighteen big rooms and four
fireplaces, two of which Mrs. STRAIT
ton Porter practically built herself.
One is of what glacier formation
known as "pudden stone" the peb-
bles being red and blue; and in big
living room there is one Of field
boulders split to show many colors
and fiecked with quartz crystals that
sparkle like diamonds in the light