The Arizona copper camp., 1920-04-03
KENTUCKY HAS
CHAMPION IN
FATHERHOOD

| Kentucky bears the distinction of
having the champion father joining in
the Father and Son Week" celebra-
tion which is being observed through
out the length and breadth of the
country. He is "Uncle" John Schell,
131 years old, living on Greasy Creek,
Leslie county, thirty miles from Haz-
ard
The prize parent took his first train
and automobile rides last fall, when
he attended the Bluegrass and Ken
lucky state fairs. He also went up in
an airplane at the state fair grounds
While attending the fairs at Lexing-
ton and Louisville, where che was
quite an attraction" "Uncle John"
collected enough money to pay off a
mortgage on his small mountain farm
One of his proofs of his age is re-
ceipt for taxes he paid on the farm in
18O9
Too Old for Civil War
| The aged man waited for 1913 years
before any honor was paid to the
father or son. Mothers day had been
observed, but until three years ago,
when the Father and Son Week"
was inaugurated, no attention was
given the dad or lad" except on Sat
urday night, when the pay envelope
was turned over to the mother.
John Schell came into the world In
1888. He was born in Tennessee. He
remembers clearly the country's anxi-
ETY. over George Washington's attack
of quinsy, and the death of "The
Father of His Country"
When the civil war broke out in
1861, Uncle John tried to enlist, but
he was rejected. He was then 73
years old.
Uncle John is still mighty spry, do
ing the chores about his simple noun
tain cabin. He is also teaching his
son, Albert, how to shoot. When that
is accomplished, the young idea will
be turned out finished product by
father, for Mr.. Schell can neither read
nor write. He is feet 5 inches tall,
weighs 1O3 pounds, stands very erect,
and never wears shoes.
After he had passed the century
mark, he married a second time, for
his first wife had died and he felt that
| 0nttino OH nj
age ought to have a helpmeet. AL
bert, the boy, was born of this union
five years ago, astonishing everybody
but the neighbors in Greasy Creek
who knew Albert's father.
| Father for Century
The case of Mr.. Schell may well be
studied during father and son week.
He has been a father for more than
100 years and he's still working at it.
| Fathers who cherish. a secret and
unexpected hope of emdlating the no.
BILE example of John Schell are urged
to contemplate the facts and to profit
thereby.
Up to a year ago Uncle John had
never seen a movie. He had never
| heard a jazz band He mad never
read serial stories in the magazines.
He had never read anything. He had
no voluminous correspondence to an
noy him. He had never written any
thing. "A
Other men spend their leisure fuss
ing with the car, on the golf links, fox
trotting, drawing to inside straights,
cellar brewing, playing bridge, col
lecting stamps, writing articles for
newspapers and in similar profitless
avocations that contribute not at all
to their efficiency as fathers.
Uncle John has never done any of
these things. His simple tasks dis
charged, he meditates, and he medi-I
tates solely on fatherhood. His mind
is troubled by no other problem. He
doesn't even fish in summer.
His cerebral equipment is hardly toI
be described as a mental complex.
1t is mental simplex. He has a one
track mind that produces. Though
wars rage still, he works with a will
at this peaceful trade of his. He isl
100 per cent efficient.
Picture him sitting at dusk on the
porch of his cabin, gazing with
rheumy eyes on the mountain mists
piling up in the twilight, his bare feet
resting comfortably on two cool dor
hicks that Albert has brought him.
Let us pause this week to honor
him, strong outstanding man at 131 !
the greatest father of his country.