The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-10-10
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC J. HAsKIN, DireCsoF.
washington. D. C.
ISLANDS AND THEN

Alexandria Bay, N. Y, Oct. 3.-Gi1-
bert k Chesterton, in his talk on the
ignorance of the educated might have
used the Thousand Islands as an apt il
lustration of his text: Ignorance is
not so much what people don't know
as it is their knowing so niAny things
that aren't So"
Thousand Islands are to most peo-
pie a group of approximately 1000
dots of land in the st. Lawrence river.
A native of this place who has lived
in or near the islands all her life says
that there are exactly 1000 islands
in the group" And her tone implied,
if you doubt it, count 'em yourself.
Yet the fact is that the Thousand
Islands number close to 1,5O0. The
early French explorers sailed thru the
maze of islands and dubbed them with
the name they stiH carry Thousand
Islands is a euphonious name, sugges-
| tive of romance, and the history of the
islands has run accordingly
The romance of the French days
was Indian tradition. The Iroquois
had a picturesque tale to account for
| the origin of this long stretch OF is
lands in the St. Lawrence.
The Great Spirit, they said, wanted
peace on earth. So he gave to the st.
| Lawrence region as sign an island
shaped like d peace pipe. This island,
/
| Clayton. Somewhere near there was
| the garden OF the Great Spirit. But
when his people ignored the peace pipe
! and brought war into the land, the
! Great Spirit in disappointment seized
! his garden up in a blanket to leave
i the place. The blanket tore, and the
garden, falling into the st. Lawrence
[ river, broke into a thousand islands
| that lay on the surface of the water.
| This origin, the story says, accounts
/ fn J1n Of ha fcIz
| The region, too, is claimed by some
students of Indian lore as theS scene
OF the Hiawatha story, as it actually
| occurred in Indian history. Hiawatha,
according to these authorities, was the
! Onondaga hero, Michabou, Great
| Hare, whose wisdom and prowess set
him forever in Indian affairs as the
great leader and example.
| Today, Indian souvenirs in the shops
are the only signs left to remind the
people who dart about the waters in
motorboats of the times when Indian
! canoes dotted the st. Lawrence.
A Modern Romance.
| The romance for today is supplied
| by modern stories. Just across from
Alexandria Bay, for instance, is Heart
| Island with its novel history.
| beautiful castle stands on this island,
a typical millionaire's residence. But
the windows are shattered. The doors
are boarded.
Eighteen years ago, they tell you, a
millionaire planned this castle for his
wife. There were eighty rooms and
fifty baths, and other details on the
same scale. An underground passage
| to the castle from the dock was con-
structed for freight. Even the power
| house down on the waters edge was
built like a cluster of towers. A mill
jlion dollars was put into the building,
and unlimited enthusiasm and affec-
ticn. Hearts were painted into the
decorations on the ceiling and cut in
the carvings of the stone.
! But before it was finished the mis-
tress of the castle died. The million
aire ordered work suspended at once.
Crates of furniture were left standing
unpacked in the rooms.
Later, visitors to the islands were
| permitted by the caretakers to see the
castle, but so many brought penknives
/ and carved their names on the beau
| tiful woodwork, or otherwise defaced
| the building, that it was finally closed
| entirely. Now it is rumored that the
| castle, which has never been lived i'll,
! is to end the first, eighteen year chap
ter Of its career. Plans are under way
to convert it into a summer hotel.
Heart Island, the typical deserted
castle of the fairy stories, is not the
| only desolate looking residence in the
| islands. Many of the beautiful homes
of the rich, each on its own island,
| or group of islands, are closed for the
season. 1t is late now, but some have
never been unboarded thruout the
summer.
There is no blasted love back of
these boarded doors. If there is a
romance there it is in the cold romance
| of the. dollar. The owners have other
| estates in Palm Beach, Newport, and
some metropolis. The island is kept
as rustic retreat. to be used now
and then, perhaps, when rest and quiet
may be wanted.
Nearly all of these are in perfect
condition. The flower beds and lawns
are as precisely kept as if the owner
| were there to enjoy them The at
Effectiveness of the estates is not
wasted, however, for many visitors to
| hotels and cottages at Alexandria Bay
and other colonies take long motor
boat rides among the islands, admir-
ing the show places.
The islands in their original state
are beautiful, some densely wooded,
some rocky with pine trees among the
rocks, others smooth and green. In
among these, on some millior1aire's
property, the fall flowers add a strik-
ing note of gay red, orange and purple.
Terraces are masses of bloom. Asters
; and goldenglow are skillfully set
among the rocks at the waters edge
so that they are mirrored in the river.
One of these millionaires has even his
own flower edged canal, built at great
expense, to form a winding waterway
between the islands of his estate.
Expensive Islands.
Not all of the homes, however, are
deserted. Not allSare owned by mill
tlionaires. either. There are cottages
, of all sizes down to a ridiculously
tiny green love nest which the story
goes was built for two but three are
there now
The islands are OF all sizes. Some
of the largest accommodate whole
lar size for summer homes are those
! that comfortably hold "a single house.
leaving enough land for a yard and
garden. Islands smaller than this are
not wasted, tho. Houses are built on
, dots of land~so microscopic that the
, front yard is under water To take a
walk, they have TO get in a boat at the
front door and go somewhere else.