The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-07-05
FEY A FRIEND"

FEY A FRIEND"
 William H. Wheeler lives in the city of Los Angeles, California, with Mrs. Wheeler, a native of Water. bury, Matilda Croft Wheeler. Mir Wheeler himself was born in New York state, but came to Waterbury in the Seventies as boy, learned the hand type setting business, anc for 8 number of years was one oi the leading coGnpositors on the Olc American, in its Chapin and Kim. ball hey-day in its Bank street building, directly opposite the pres. e11t Rowland Hughes store.
 Bill Wheeler was widely knowr around Waterbury in the Nineties among Iewspapermen of the day and even later, after the turn oi the century. At the time the ofact was removed to Grand street MT Wheeler was made state editor oi the American. He served in thk capacity for number of years, ol until he bought small newspaper in Vermont, and moved there. That was over 30 years ago. Since then Waterbury friends who always hele him in high regard, have followed him in his various capacities, and even now correspond with him ir the retired life he is living out ir i California. His pen is just as keer as 1t was in the old days, as one may judge by the reading of this article prepared by him in relation to The Last Supper Window" ir the Su-calIed Forest Lawn Memo rial Park" located in the vicinity oi that part of Los Angeles, where he makes his home. The unique de- scription, as written by MT. Wheel CT and forwarded to . Waterbury friend of long standing follows:
 Lying partly in the city of Glen. dale and partly in Los Angeles Is trail of 200 acres known by thC high-sounding title of Forest LawT Memorial Park, in other words s resting place for the dead. Perhaps the title Is justified in this case as, besides being a place for the dead 1t Is also . repository of art having in its collection the greatest number of large marble StAtuaYJ figures in this country. It has tive churches (smalD and another ill process of building. It has over 40t varieties of trees and shrubs, none of which ever sheds its leaves = that is to say, none ever is bare This is in accordance with the plan that nothing here should be sugges. tive of death or decay, but only oi Eternal Life.
 But the sublime creation of thii | collection of art treasures is not ir sculpture, but in stained glass | window, known as the Hast Sup per Window" one of the worlds masterpieces, something never be- fore attempted, and of which 1t f permissable to say will probably never be repeated.
 Leonardo DiVinet
 Let us go back a little.
 About the year 1462 there wal born in the village of vinci, ir Tuscany, not far from Florence Leonardo di Vinci, the illegitimate son of a Florentine notary and an | Italian peasant woman. His father i being a wealthy man, Leonardi wal given the best education that the | institutions of his days afforded and I might remark in passing that 1t possibly was a better educatior than he would be able to receive | today. Anyway, he became re- nowned as painter, sculptor, poet musician and engineer. In brief, ne is nne of the worlds immortalS. Ills best known paintings are the "Las' supper" and Mona Ltsa."
 DaVinci was unfortunate m cnooS- ing a, base for the last supper" the wall of the refectory of the coaven! of Santa Maria deile OraMe al Milan, The convent is situated >on low ground, and consequently As damp. The artist knew this. Dut probably had his reasons for choos- ine the rite. It transpired that the evidences of decay had set In before Hads death, and that 1t would be only d matter of time before his great work would became what 1t is today La mere dauh. When Napoleon Bonaparte in one of his earliest campaigns crushed Italy he carried off to France some of its most "a. nous works of art. He could not take the 'Last Supper" with him but when he became emperor he dac what he could to restore 1t. He sum- moned the best artists of Europe but . flower once faded can never a@aAn be brought to full bloom Every king of Italy since has inter. ested himself in the attempt ai restoration, but with no success. pr. Hubert Eeton
 The man who is responsible for the development of Forest Lawn from a village burying ground to an institution of its present rank as one of this worlds most notable cenae- teries Is Dr. Hubert Eaton, who have ing acquired a fortune In middle age gave up business to devote his | life to that work. He calls himself the Builder. On the occasion Of one of his visits to Italy he was being escorted through the Cathedral ot st. Francis at Aasid by an aged friar. Entranced by the windows of rose-coloTed slass which adcEn the structure, he remarked that is vlas little less than . tragedy that the production of such beautiful softne@ of color in stained glass should have become Q Lest art NO