The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1921-04-07
Famed Naturalist
Buried on Banks
of Beloved Hudson

In a rustic house, the retreat of
John Burroughs for nearly half a
century, $50 representatives of the
thousands of nature lovers who ad-
mired his outdoor life and writings,
gathered at his funeral. The cere-
monies were short, of great SIMPLE
ity and reminiscent of the career
which the great naturalist pursued
among the hills and streams and
flowers and beside his rugged stone
hearth with volumes of Emerson.
Whittier and Wordsworth.
BY train and by automobile the
little groups arrived thruout the
forenoon at Riverby, the naturalist
home. situated among the pines and
NAPLES. where the Shawangunk
mountains meet the waters Of the
Hudson.
Scientists and manufacturers Of
wide prominence, mingled in sorrow
with boy scouts and ghborhood
children. Publishers and horticul-
turists bowed with religious men
from the Holy Cross monastry. The
mourners came from among the
rocks and rills Of New England, the
banks of the Potomac, the shores of
Lake Michigan, the SHOWS of Canada,
the great buildings of New York to
look for the last time on the
patriarchal countenance of the vener-
able naturalist.
Old Friends Present
Among them were Thomas A. Edi-
son, Henry Ford and Harvey S. Fire
stone, who for several years have
spent their vacations outdoors with
MIR. Burroughs. Next to Mr.. Edison
stood an aged and gray haired man
who had pedaled his bicycle from
Binghamton, more than 800 miles
away, to witness the. final ceremony.
This man was c. C. Branhall, an
acquaintance of the naturalist since
The sun was shining brilliantly
and the pines at Riverby murmured
sadly in the breezes from the Cat
skills when the funeral service be-
gan. From a. muffled photograph
came the soft violin strains of
Pinsuti's Remembrance" The
Lords prayer was said and then
slowly reader spoke some lines
written by Earl w. Williams, which
MIR. Burroughs felt characteristic of
his own life.
"The forest mods in fellowship"
they read, 1.-The winds, nv play
mates are; the waters lisp the sign
Of brotherhood, and in the thunders
voice, | hear tongue which is not
wholly strange. The stars are kindly
councillors to me; l claim a kinship
with the worm that crawls and with
the clay wherein the simple tale of
It's dim life is written"
Quotations Are Read
Quotations from Emerson and
and Walt Whitman,
companion Of his middle age, also
we're read. Then William Ormiston
Roy of Montreal, a friend of Mr..
read excerpts from Wait
ng," one of the first poems penned
by the naturalist and from ACCEPT
ng the Universe" his latest book.
Rev. F. D. Elmer, pastor of the
Collegiate Baptist church at Colgate
University, likewise an old friend, led
he prayers and made few remarks.
There are here to pay him tri-
'ute," he said, chose who have come
rom the woodland and the field, the
HOP and school, the church and Of
ices OF state, the mart and the
oceans shore. This man, O. Lord,
las taught us the beauty of your
'reations, of the rivers, the sky, the
ALLEY, the birds and beasts"
When he had finished the soft
lutte and violin notes of cradle song
we're heard. Then the mourners
lied by the bier for last look at Mr..
Burroughs. Some picked wild violets
rom the coffin to keep as remem-
france. There were many floral Of
erings, but they were wild flowers
gathered from the fields and hill
tides.
Children Pay Tribute
The children of fWest Park who
frequently visited Riverby to learn of
and vegetable life from the
ICED nature lover, trod slowly past
he dead, each leaving a bunch of
Wild flowers.
From all sections of the nation
etters came telling of the love for
he naturalist and his inspiration to
hose who find comfort and content
nent in the great outdoors.
Sunday, Mr.. Burroughs eighty
ourth birthday, his body was taken
" automobile into the Western Cat
kills and inferred at the place where
le was born, mead Roxbury. Many !
If those who attended his funeral
vent to "Woodchuck Lodge" his den
n the mountains for the BURIAL
Salt Lake Tribune.
---.H-
COMPLIMENTED CITY CLERK
when the city council was in ses
ion 1ocf IN H.