Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-01
OUR COLONIAL ART
Philadelphia a Great storehouse Of
It--Downtown Wards viii Benefit
More by Equal Suffrage Than
Other Sections otthe City
BY GEORGE NOx MCCAIN
s. BRADFORD is the oldest

| n
-. sional photographer In Philadelphia.
| mean in point Of years.
He is an artist rather than a photogra /.
pher. He has q score Of studios. They are
the homes of the wealthy and well do,
and the art galleries and private collections
OF Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore aud
Washington. .
He works when and how he plcases. His
only master is the sunlight and its beautl-
ful grndations Of light and shade.
1t would scarcely be fair to my friend.
Bradford, to set down tte number of tho
years OF his life, but it is enough to know
that he has far exceeded the span allotted
to man.
:, He Is the ideal craftsman, for he loves
mis- work. At a period in life when the
average professional man cultivates his
motifs chair in well stocked library, Mr..
bradford is constantly searching for the
rare and beautiful in art and nature ns
subjects for his lenses.
His specially is copying rare paintings.
precoionial and colonial documents ant!
records, and the exquisite objects of virtu
that grace so many of the fast disappear
ing Ole mansions of Philadelphia.
LIE HAS done considerable work for the
Pennsylvania Historical Society. Gov
ernor Pcnnypackcr selected him TO pboto
biography. ''' "u'o'
have photographed twelve OF Gilbert
stuart portraits Of Washington" he said.
Tor ne loves to dwell on this phase of his
effort. p'e Va MS
-, Ihere are very few PEOPLE aware that
th"re arc that many original Stuarts Cf
General washington in existence, and most
Oh them are In and around PHILADELPHIA. I
am constantly on the lookout for additional
ones. "N'i'''n"A
They are originals, too" he said in
reply to my question. "a few nerbaps
are replicas. That they were painte. from
lie IS evidenced by the fact that each one
develops. some different characteristic in
lace or dress of his famors subject.
Gilbert Stuart did not identify his work
by name. There is something, however. In
tne artists style and coloring more con.
elusive proof of its genuineness than the
addition of his n.r:e.
Just as a connoisseur can identify n
Titan by the wonderful red that has taken
MS name. Corot by that peculiar dash
OF color that he gave to all of his work
80 IS there something in Gilbert Stuart's
portraits that is ,infallib!e proof that Il was
his brush that touched the canvas.
"pI1ILADELrHIA is perfect store
house Of rare and wonderful relics Of
revolutionary days" Mr.. Bradford saws.
Even collectors who are supposed to BE-
familiar with the subject have no con.
ception of the wealth of this sort of mate
riai that is to be found in hundreds of homes
In and around this city" he continued.
In the more than n quarter of a century,
that / have given to this work I have had
opportunities denied to professional anti
quarians. and | have been astonished at th,
number of hcirooms in the possession #
the descendants of families that figured
largely in the early settlement of Pennsyl.
vania.
"Once in n grcnt while a few of them
come TO light in the sales. particularly Of
libraries and Pcnnsylvaniana. by Stan v.
lcnEcS. But even these are gotten to-
gcthcr only at rare intervals and with much
patience and search"
Mr. Bradford is of the opinion that this
city is pre- -cmi ncnty the American city,
and evidence of the fact is tho possrssjon
by their descendants. from generation TO
generation. of the Lares and Penates of its
original settlers.
EDWARD J.. d. ROACH, secretary Of
- m" Committee of Seventy, has known
politics for good many years.
His opinions. by virtue Of his experience
arc worth recording.
South Philadelphia political leaders will
benefit most by woman suffrage, is his OBJ.
scrvatinn.
1T will be- tho same old story in the case
OF the women of Philadelphia as it Is of the
men, said Mr.. Roach. 1.-THE women in
downtown nrd Other congcgtcd wards will
register and vote to n far creator extent
than in the so-ca'lcd residential wards.
West Philadelphia is an cxnmp,c. E1-
cept when there il some great issue agitat-
ing the city, the average citizen over there
lets his n"ighbor on the side street do the
voting. while he sticks closely to his com
Portable fircSidc on chilly election days.
1T is going to be true of their wives
and daughters, too. for it makes no differ.
cnce what claim the active spirits in tho
equal suffrage movement make as to tho
general desire of women to vote. the trrth
Is the vast majority of the sex in tbi,
city care very little about it.
''On the other hand. the mon who live
by politics, the job holders and the fcI
lows who have IN object to gain BY bring
active in any faction. will see to it thnt
the female members Of their families who
are eligible are registered and voted witt
regularity and precision.
There are reports from assessors of Crca
reluctance on the part of women of foreign
| birth to be registered or answer the question,
necessary to registration. 1t is only n TEN
| porary condition. Once they understand
| thoroughly they will be only too eager to gel
their names on the books,' asserted Mr.
| Roach
II make the confident prediction thai
| there will be great increase Of votin,
strength in the south and central parts o
the city with no ratio Of comparison. ac,
| cording to population, in the residential an,
outlying wards" he declared.
THE grandson of a former Governor o.
| J. PENNSYLVANIA committed suicide In Nov
| York the other day. Descendants of Doiti
clans Of prominence rarely do that sort y
| thing.
Henry Martyr Hoyt, n portrait pantc
and grandson of former Governor HCnr
Martyr Hoyt, was the unfortunate man
Whether it was disappointed ambition
fnancial worry, melanchola, or just plai
case of being tired of life, has not beeI
divulgcd.
In this case the old adagc that "agc
nothing, blood will tell" seems to be dis
proved.
The young man who went west by the ga
route bore an honorcc name. His grand
father was n governor, his father was a
| assistant attorney general of the Unite