South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-06-05


or walking slowly past a high red
brick house on Firth as. looked az
the purple flowers tied by "a black
ribbon at tho door and said. Mrs
Russell Sage is dead"
Everyone who reads newspapers
published in the English. language
knows something OF the work she
has done. for although she was mis-
tress Of E2OOOO,0GO she did more
work i'm % hours than do YOU or J..
But few know the manner Of woman
il was who lay in quiet sleep in the
parlor OF her old fashioned home on
the avenue. She never referred 10
it as her drawing room. Her par
Tor it remained. That was typical
Of her.
I have seen her often and talked
with her more tina once. she al
ways looked the same. She recalled
what Charles Dickens said. that
most persons change good deal
but that there are some who live in
the same place. do the same things
and 10 an appearance change no
whit as the years pass Mrs. RUS
sell Sage seemed To me that kind
OF "a woman knew her for 20
years She was always slender.
spare. keen of eye. with.ash colored
hair scrupulously arranged. every
strand i'm place. and always dressed
ing odd but little-trimmed black
gowns and bonnets. The years
brushed her with "a feathers tip.
When she died it was as though
she followed the late Ebert Hub
/ bard's counsel as 10 the best way
of dying. GO 10 bed tired and for
get TO wake up Her death was as
peaceful as her life was useful.
She died at the age of 90. She
had lived nearly half that time be-
fore she married. Contrary TO the
usual prophecies concerning mar
riage between those Of the age at
which life is set and habits are fixed.
she and the fnancier widower.
whom she welded. were invariably
happy 1t is always so when there
is absolute oneness Of aim. The life
purpose Of Russell Sage and the lit
tie school teacher whom he mar
ried was to acquire great wealth
and to greatly spend il for the ben
eft of humankind.
They were verging upon 80 when
they removed from the upstate town
20 New York. They knew no rea
son. though their wealth had
crossed the million mark. To live
other than the way in which com
fort lay the way to which they had
long been accustomed and in which
they were content Paragraphers
hurled many jests at the pair for
their alleged meanness. Most of
them would better have been left
unsaid. Simplicity is one thing
Meaness is another. The Sages
simple but not mean. Their home
on Fifth av near Forty-ninth st
and facing the sun rise was hand
somer and more spacious than that
Of half dozen millonaires ht the
avenue that has been called mil
ionaires Row. 1t was directed by
a large staff Of servants. whose
pompousness was subdued by the
precepts and examples of their dem.
ocratic employers. A sense OF home
likeness flowed from the big square
rooms, an almost tangible greeting
20 the caller. Occasionally Mrs.
Sage herself opened the door. Why
not The war and its aftermath
may cleanse our eyes of the scales
that blinded us TO the merits of the
fine old couple.
The chairs were easy. if bit
faded in Mrs. Sage's home The
rugs and draperies were a soft. dull
brown with yellow threads in them.
There were as many footstools as
chairs I'm each room there was a
fireplace on which embers glowed
for three seasons of the year
Mr.. Sage vas too earnest To have
developed the sOftness of manner Of
some Of her more gracious hut less
conscientious neighbors. She was
direct Tut not harsh The little ex-
school m7'am had intellectual hon.
esty. Her vision was clear She
saw things "a they are. and she spoke
of them as they are.