Evening star., 1924-07-27
BOSTON EXULTS IN MUSEUM GIFT
FROM WOMAN WHO SHOCKED CITY
Mrs. Jack Cardner's
"Daring'' Deeds Notu
Seem Mild.
Palace Built in Bog That
Later Vas Fashion,
able Residence area.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

ASofo O-N, July Io.-MTS. JACK GdrQ
ner. once called the most picturesqu.
woman in America died July IT II
her italian palace on the Boston Fen!
with her treasures around her.
Her will, read a few days ago, left
her great collections of art and the
beautiful building that houses then
to the city. And now Boston is won.
derinS what life will be like without
Mrs. Jack Gardner to spice 1t. Fol
though age (she was $50 and Hines.
had long subdued her, yet so long a.
she lived she was to Boston the
Mrs. Jack" of it's memory-the Mrs
Jack" Of the mastery judgment In
art, Of the imperious temper and OF
the irrepressible audacities that made
her for many years the delight and
horror of that sedate and precedent
bound city.
1t was long. long ago that she FIRST
appeared In Boston. She was born
Isabella Stewart of New York. Her
father, David Stewart, is said to have
been worth a million. and was q
self-made man. She made her debu,
here. but among the many girls who
made their bows in the formal society
OF the sos she is not particularly re-
membered.
Daring Only TO Boston
Then she became the wife Of John
Lowell Gardner. son OF an old and
conservative Boston family. a director
of the Chicago. Burlington and
Quincy Railroad and reckoned as one
or the city's richest men. And Bos-
tons edura ton began forthwith.
1t should be said at once that most
Of the daring" and shocking" per-
IN n NJ,
nous would not have been daring
in any city but Boston. That city
was an invaluable background for
her social methods. Here iS a list,
published when she had become the
acknowledged leader of the city's
gayer and more independent society.
under the headline. The Odd Doings
Of an Interesting Woman" from
which 1t will be seen that it didn' t
take much to shock Boston:
cause other fashionable women wear
black.
She hired box to see Corbett
spar.
She started the fad among women
She raises her own violets in her
own con >ervatory. and is never with
out bunch of them.
Mopped Church Steps.
She mopped up the steps of a
fashionable church on her knees as
penance during Lent.
She was painted by zorn in a
most startling pose.
She is the Mrs. Ha rry ST. John of
the romancer. Count Zuboff, who
hanged himself last year in Jefferson
Market uriSon.
She was painted by Sargent in a
is never exhibited
She is the Mrs Leo Hunter of
America, and has patpnized every
foreign genius from Paderewski to
She has a palatial residence in
Beacon street, another in Brookline
and another at Beverly Farms. and
between times hires palace at
Venice or hotel floor in Rome.
She thinks nothing of lunchinC in
Beacon street, Boston. at 1870 pm.
and dropping in at the Metropolitan
Opera House, New York. at $50 pm.
the same day to hear the De Reszkes.
Drank Beer In Public.
She goes to the pop concerts in
Boston :Spn and ne drinks beer in public.
Crawford's To Leeward.'
Her latest surprise was to borrow
a lion from the Boston zoo and pa
rade with IL before the Boston
public
AS matter of fact. the most dar-
IIi6 lHiHS MIS-. LdFQHeT ever ola IN
Boston was the. first thing she did
when she opened her drawing rooms
to artists, musicians. writer's and
men of genius in all lines. Hitherto
in Back Bay society the only way to
get into a. drawing room had been
tons of Puritan ancestry. The Gard
Eer name and social standing were
such that Mrs. Jacks innovation con-
stituted a real assault on this chilly
rf iiitn ard nc. It's supporters rallied
her social leadership could no longer
be denied it was conceded only with
the modification that she was the
leader of the smart set" not of the
old Back Bay aristocracy.
Helped Many Students.
But the trouble was that Mrs. Jack
had a remarkable faculty. for at
tracing clever and distinguished
people. and her drawing room was so
interesting that even those who re-
nained outside In protest at "Bohe-
mtanism could not help looking
~istful.. To one or the other of her
every distinguished artist or social
celebrity of the period. besides a con-
slant stream Of talented unknowns
whom Mrs. Jack was assisting.
students on her pay roll at
1ominal jobs. doing clerical work.
cutting the grass and taking care Of
he grounds to help trem pay their
way through college.
Among the assorted lions" whom
Mrs. Gardner entertained during her
ong career were Paderewski, Henry
Paul Bourget Sir Charles wyndham,
he De Reszkes. Mohini Mohan Chat
.erji, one Of the founders Of the ESQ.,
eric movement. and Carl Lumholtz;
Howe Elliott, daughter Of Mrs. Julia
Ward Howe. was close friend.
=, So. too. was the novelist. F. Marion
Crawford. AS to the statement that
n his novel. "To Leeward." there is
,nly internal evidence. One sentence
certainly seems to describe Mrs. Jack
sretty well: Her extraordinary VII
.ality. when not reduced by reaction
seeking an outlet"
Russian Was Favorite.
Count Roman Ivanovitch Buhof
vas meteoric little Russian, who
vas one OF her favorites for q time
There seems to be nothing substan-
tal on which to base the suspicion
hat he had her especially in mind in
: with a great love for the artistic
md the unusual and plenty Of money
% crafty 1t, Mrs. Jacks entertain
nents became celebrated. She II said
20 have been the only woman who
'ver induced the De Reszkes to sing
It a social function. She once hired
20 dance for her friends.
She hired the Boston Symphony Or
,hestra to perform at her private
One evening she took over
Chinese theater-house. cast and
lll--and had a special performance.
One of her most famous entertain
nents. however. was rot given to her
friends. She engaged Pade-
'ewski. at a fee Of $1,000. to give a
concert, for which she distributed the
tickets to teachers. students and
music lovers who could not afford to
,ear him otherwise.
She was greedy for new expert
,nces, and IL they could be uncon-
30 much the better She
.s~Si.S ii,, iits, M - ~ ~