Manchester Democrat., 1921-03-30
JOHN BURROUGHS,
NATURALIST, DIES
Dean of Nature Writers Sue
cumbs While on Train at
KingsviIIe, 0.
HAD Been IN POOR HEALTH
Was Noted for His Close Friendship
With Roosevelt, Whom He Defended
in "Nature-Fakine" Controversies
-Watched Treasury Cash in
Civil War.

Civil War.
New York, March 3O.-John Bur-
roughs, famous naturalist, died at 2
q. m. on New York Central train at
Kingsville, o. He had been spending
the winter at Pasadena, Cal. He was
eighty-four years old and had been IN
poor health for some time.
Dean of Nature Writers.
John Burroughs was the venerable
dean of nature writer's in the United
States. Through score of books he
shared with countless readers his life
long intimacy with birds, bees, flow
ers and the whole out-of-doors. His
highly-developed powers Of Observa'
tion and the charm of his interpre'
tations were the marvel of his critics.
His flowing white beard, his kindly
mind, his habit of life, and his literary
style were rather reminiscent Of that
famous New England school Of essay
lists a generation or two before him.
His earliest writing, on "EXpression,
was at one time widely mistaken for
the work of Emerson, a close reader
of whom Burroughs had been from
youth. His later works on nature sug-
gested something of ThOrenu, but, the
critics said, Burroughs was the more
sociable writer.
He learned to love nature when he
drove cows at his birthplace farm,
RoXbury, among the Catskills, in New
York state, but anything like a liter
ary composition was bugbear to him
as youth. The story is told of how
when he was fourteen, in common
with the members of his class at
school, he was required to write l.
lines of original composition. He
copied something out Of a comic al
manac. His theft was detected
Again in desperation upon his second
trial he paid Jay Gould, his classmate
60 cents for a 12-line verse which ne
handed in as his own.
Once Watched Treasury Vaults.
Mr.. Burroughs was born in 1887. In
1868 he went to Washington with
something of an inclination to enlist
in the Union army, but he decided to
seek a/gOvernment office. 1t! is relat-
ed that with only a few of his poems
as credentials he walked into the
treasury department and asked for a
Job. 1t was agreed that his vernal
verses really smelled Of the woods
and smacked of sincerity. He would
be a safe man to watch the treasury
vaults. He agreed to take the place.
At a little desk, facing the huge iron
vault where he kept tab on those who
went to handle the $5O,OOO,OOO stored
there, he began writing Of the birds,
to relieve his inconsistencies. The re-
suit was his first book, "Wake-Robin."
Some years later, after work as a
treasury clerk and a national bank
examiner had netted him some saw
ings, he bought few acres at west
Park on the Hudson, where among the
loaded trellises Of vineyard he found
more pleasure than in the closets OF
greenbacks." There he renewed his
emotional intercourse with nature,
building real house overlooking the
little river-just above Poughkeepsie'
When rural civilization pressed a lit
tie close about him, he built his "slab'
sides" cabin a mile or two back In the
woods
His Philosophy Always Optimistic.
He did not go at his studies with
the set determination of herbalist'
but took life easily, and wrote breez'
ily, when the spirit moved him, Of the
secrets of nature. He never made
much of the. discovery Of new Species
and nothing of cataloguing them, but
delighted in finding for himself and
revealing to others the charms of close
contact with the birds, bees and now
ers. The essence Of his philosophy
was always bright, in agreement with
Browning, that "All's well with the
world"
The titles Of his books included
"Winter Sunshine" "Locusts and Wild
Honey" Fresh Fields" "Indoor Stud
les" Birds and Poets," "Signs and
Seasons" "The Light Of Day-Relig'
ious Discussions from the Standpoint
Of the Naturalist" Literary Values
and "Ways Of Nature He was a
friend of Walt Whitman and one OF
his books was an appreciation Of him.
Defended Roosevelt.
Mr.. Burroughs was also boon COM
paDion of Theodore Roosevelt in ma
ture studies. During Colonel Roose'
yelt's occasional clashes with mature
takers" and those who charged him
with brutal instincts in his hunting
trims. the venerable Burroughs always
came, to RoOsevelt's defense. with
John Muir. the naturalist of the west
Burroughs once toured the canyons
and collaborated with Muir in
"Study Of Our National Parks
"Riverby" and "Slabsides," Bur
roughs' retreats on the Hudson, be-
came shrines for his many admirers
and those who made pilgrimages there
were invariably received in the mos
iamocrotic fashion by the celebrated