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out_of_towner at Aug 19, 2022 04:42 PM

Page 100

[First column] The Salisbury High School is much
interested in a debate on Woman Suf-
frage to be held by the literary socie-
ties on the 30th instant. There is much
discussion, too, over the prize which
the Just Government League of wi-
comico County offered to the ninth,
tenth and eleventh grades for the best
essay on Votes for Women. There is
some fine suffrage sentiment among
these ladies and gentlemen and there
are some "foemen worthy of their
steel."

In Memory of John C. Bentley

The following address in memory of
the late Mr. John C. Bentley, was
made by Mr. Charles F. Kirk at the
meeting of the Montgomery Farmers
Club at the Home of Washington B.
Chichester, near Olney, on January
17th:

"What lack the valleys and mountains
That once were green and gay?
What lack the bubbling fountains?
Only the sound of a voice,
Tender and sweet and low,
That made the Earth rejoice,
A year ago.

What lack the tender flowers?
A shadow is on the sun:
What lack the merry hours,
That I long that they were done?
Only two smiling eyes,
That told of joy and mirth;
They are shining in the skies,
I mourn on earth.

What lacks my heart, what makes it
so weary and full of pain,
That trembling hope forsakes it,
Never to come again?
Only another heart
Tender and all mine own,
In the still grave it lies;
I weep alone!"

These beautiful lines by Adelaide
Proctor never could be made more ap-
propriate than this meeting tonight
"a shadow," in every truth, is over
us. When we look around and see
only "the pictures on Memory's wall"
of those who have gone "never to
come again," a pall seems over every-
thing.

Walter H. Brooke, Joseph T. Moore,
Jr., Roger Brooke, Benjamin D Pal-
mer, Henry H. Miller, and now John
C. Bentley!

This Montgomery Farmers Club has
been much more to those of us who
have been members of it for more than
forty years than a mere school of
agriculture.

The social intercourse, the intimate
visiting at each others homes has
brightened our lives and drawn us in-
to closer friendship. And when we re-
flect that it is not too much to say that
those we have lost have contributed
even more than their share to the gen-
eral good, by their geniality, and wit
as well as by their wise counsels, the
burden or our loss is indeed heavy.

"The Autumn wind rushing rafts
the leaf that is searest.

But our flower was in flushing when
blighting was nearest."

Our beloved member, John C. Bent-
ley, to whose memory we dedicate this
meeting, was in the full maturity of his
manhood when the blow fell, it is not
worth while to recount to those who
knew him, the many qualities of heart
and mind that made us love him, to
those who may read these pages when
we too have gone, we trust and believe
to meet him, we inscribe this tribute to
his memory.

He was deeply interested in agricul-
ture and in this club, and in the dis-
cussion of all questions which came
before it. His habit of observation
and quick, clear deductions gave point
to what he said and claimed the ap-
preciative attention of those who heard
him. As a host, and a genial com-
panion everywhere, he has never been
surpassed.

His ready wit and bright speeches
will be quoted while our memory en-
dures. In his long, and most dis-
tressing illness he displayed a courage
and heroism that was sublime. In line
what more can be said of any man,
than that he did his duty on earth as
a man? That he lived like a man and
that he died like a man.

We may be well assured that wher-
ever Almighty God is His Wisdom
decreed that a man shall go; he is.

-

A bill has been introduced in the
legislature by Delegate Cummings
authorizing a bond issue of $30,000 for
school houses in Bethesda district
Delegate Water has offered a bill to
repeal the act incorporating the town
of Hyattstown. A bill providing state
aid for mothers, with dependent chil-
dren under 14, was introduced by Dele-
gate Snowden, by request

-

The Board of Directors of the Agri-
cultural Society have elected Mr. Lee
Offutt, president; Mr. Charles F.
Kirk, vice-president; Mr. John J. Hig-
gins, treasurer, and Mr. James T.
Bogley, secretary. It was decided to
hold the annual fair on August 25, 26,
27, 28.

-

[Second column] HESSELIUS "LAST SUPPER"
ADORNS ROCKVILLE HOME.

Mrs. John H. Gassaway, of this
town, has an old picture, "The Last
Supper," whose great value has late-
ly been known through an offer
of $30,000 for it by an art critic. Af-
ter purchasing the picture, her father,
the late O. Z. Muncaster, gave it to
her and told her to keep it, as at some
future time it would be worth a for-
tune. In a recent Washington city
dispatch to the New York Herald the
history of the picture is given as fol-
lows:

"Gustavus Hesselius' painting,"The
Last Supper," which was executed in
1721 for ST. Barnabas' church, in
Queen Anne's parish, now Prince
George's county, Md., has been dis-
covered after being lost for over 140
years.

"The painting is in a splendid state
of preservation and an offer of $30,000
has been made for it by a leading art
critic of Philadelphia, and refused.
The importance of the painting as the
first purely American work of art-
other than a portrait- and its roman-
tic history caused the owner to decline
the offer, as she prefers to have the
National Museum in Washington ac-
quire the painting.

"Because of the mystery connected
with the disappearance of the painting
from old St. Barnabas' Church when
the present structure was erected in
1773, the present owner has been seek-
ing for several years to trace its his-
tory, and has kept her identity con-
cealed. Her father purchased this
original work of art at a public sale
in Georgetown 75 years ago. On his
death he left it to the present owner.
Only recently has she learned its
great value, although she has prized
it for its beauty.

"In his treatment of the subject,
Hesselius has departed radically from
the work of Leonardo da Vinci. The
figure of Judas is in the foreground
leaning over the table toward the fig-
ure of Christ. Surrounding the table
are the other eleven disciples.

"For his work Hesselius was offer-
ed 25 pound currency by the vestry-
men of St. Barnabas'. The work was
completed and payment made in 1721.
In granting this commission for an
altar piece the vestrymen of St.
Barnabas' set a precedent as the first
patrons of art in America.

"Writing of the strange disappear-
ance of the painting in 1898. Charles
Henry Hart, of Philadelphia, said:

"'Unfortunely the old church edi-
fice in which the altar piece was plac-
ed made way for the present edifice in
1773, and thus the painting by Gusta-
vus Hesselius disappeared with the
old building. Perchance some day we
may know more of this New World
'Last Supper' than now seems possi-
ble. All honor to the vestry of St.
Barnabas' who ordered it and to the
painter who came to these far-off
wilds possessed of the skill and abili-
ty enough to paint a picture of such a
subject for such a purpose.'

"In maintaining that to Sweden be-
longed the honor of establishing the
fine arts in America, Mr. Hart quotes
a letter written by Adolph Ulrich
WortMuller, written January 8, 1801,
saying that his wife's mother was a
'daughter of Gustav Hesilius, of the
Swedish nation, a painter of portraits,
who arrived from Sweden at Philadel-
phia in 1710.'

"Gustavus Hesselius was born at
Folkarna Dalarne, Sweden, in 1682,
and was the senior of John Watson,
sometimes reputed to be the first Ameri-
can painter, by three years. He also
preceded John Smybert by two years.
In addition to painting he was an or-
gan builder, and was not above turn-
ing an honest penny at house and sign
painting.

"He died May 25, 1755, and was in-
terred in Philadelphia." - The Mont-
gomery County Sentinel.

-

For Collection of Special Taxes In
Subdivisions near District.

Attorney John A. Garrett, of Rock-
ville, has prepared a bill for intro-
duction in the legislature for collection
of special taxes in subdivisions ad-
jacent to the District of Columbia. The
bill will provide a tax, of not more
than 50 cents on the $100, against
property in any subdivision which
shows by a petition there is a demand
for such a tax. The taxes will be col-
lected by the county treasurer and
turned over to the citizens' associations
to be used for local improvements.
Among the towns affected by the bill
are Friendship Heights, Drummond,
Woodmont, Silver Spring, Forest
Glen, Woodside, and Linden.

-

The ladies of the M. E. Church South
will hold a meat and oyster supper in
P. E. Waters' hall, at Germantown, on
Thursday, February 5th, beginning at
4 P. M.

Page 100

The Salisbury High School is much
interested in a debate on Woman Suf-
frage to be held by the literary socie-
ties on the 30th instant. There is much
discussion, too, over the prize which
the Just Government League of wi-
comico County offered to the ninth,
tenth and eleventh grades for the best
essay on Votes for Women. There is
some fine suffrage sentiment among
these ladies and gentlemen and there
are some "foemen worthy of their
steel."

In Memory of John C. Bentley

The following address in memory of
the late Mr. John C. Bentley, was
made by Mr. Charles F. Kirk at the
meeting of the Montgomery Farmers
Club at the Home of Washington B.
Chichester, near Olney, on January
17th:

"What lack the valleys and mountains
That once were green and gay?
What lack the bubbling fountains?
Only the sound of a voice,
Tender and sweet and low,
That made the Earth rejoice,
A year ago.

What lack the tender flowers?
A shadow is on the sun:
What lack the merry hours,
That I long that they were done?
Only two smiling eyes,
That told of joy and mirth;
They are shining in the skies,
I mourn on earth.

What lacks my heart, what makes it
so weary and full of pain,
That trembling hope forsakes it,
Never to come again?
Only another heart
Tender and all mine own,
In the still grave it lies;
I weep alone!"

These beautiful lines by Adelaide
Proctor never could be made more ap-
propriate than this meeting tonight
"a shadow," in every truth, is over
us. When we look around and see
only "the pictures on Memory's wall"
of those who have gone "never to
come again," a pall seems over every-
thing.

Walter H. Brooke, Joseph T. Moore,
Jr., Roger Brooke, Benjamin D Pal-
mer, Henry H. Miller, and now John
C. Bentley!

This Montgomery Farmers Club has
been much more to those of us who
have been members of it for more than
forty years than a mere school of
agriculture.

The social intercourse, the intimate
visiting at each others homes has
brightened our lives and drawn us in-
to closer friendship. And when we re-
flect that it is not too much to say that
those we have lost have contributed
even more than their share to the gen-
eral good, by their geniality, and wit
as well as by their wise counsels, the
burden or our loss is indeed heavy.

"The Autumn wind rushing rafts
the leaf that is searest.

But our flower was in flushing when
blighting was nearest."

Our beloved member, John C. Bent-
ley, to whose memory we dedicate this
meeting, was in the full maturity of his
manhood when the blow fell, it is not
worth while to recount to those who
knew him, the many qualities of heart
and mind that made us love him, to
those who may read these pages when
we too have gone, we trust and believe
to meet him, we inscribe this tribute to
his memory.

He was deeply interested in agricul-
ture and in this club, and in the dis-
cussion of all questions which came
before it. His habit of observation
and quick, clear deductions gave point
to what he said and claimed the ap-
preciative attention of those who heard
him. As a host, and a genial com-
panion everywhere, he has never been
surpassed.

His ready wit and bright speeches
will be quoted while our memory en-
dures. In his long, and most dis-
tressing illness he displayed a courage
and heroism that was sublime. In line
what more can be said of any man,
than that he did his duty on earth as
a man? That he lived like a man and
that he died like a man.

We may be well assured that wher-
ever Almighty God is His Wisdom
decreed that a man shall go; he is.

-

A bill has been introduced in the
legislature by Delegate Cummings
authorizing a bond issue of $30,000 for
school houses in Bethesda district
Delegate Water has offered a bill to
repeal the act incorporating the town
of Hyattstown. A bill providing state
aid for mothers, with dependent chil-
dren under 14, was introduced by Dele-
gate Snowden, by request

-

The Board of Directors of the Agri-
cultural Society have elected Mr. Lee
Offutt, president; Mr. Charles F.
Kirk, vice-president; Mr. John J. Hig-
gins, treasurer, and Mr. James T.
Bogley, secretary. It was decided to
hold the annual fair on August 25, 26,
27, 28.

-

HESSELIUS "LAST SUPPER"
ADORNS ROCKVILLE HOME.

Mrs. John H. Gassaway, of this
town, has an old picture, "The Last
Supper," whose great value has late-
ly been known through an offer
of $30,000 for it by an art critic. Af-
ter purchasing the picture, her father,
the late O. Z. Muncaster, gave it to
her and told her to keep it, as at some
future time it would be worth a for-
tune. In a recent Washington city
dispatch to the New York Herald the
history of the picture is given as fol-
lows:

"Gustavus Hesselius' painting,"The
Last Supper," which was executed in
1721 for ST. Barnabas' church, in
Queen Anne's parish, now Prince
George's county, Md., has been dis-
covered after being lost for over 140
years.

"The painting is in a splendid state
of preservation and an offer of $30,000
has been made for it by a leading art
critic of Philadelphia, and refused.
The importance of the painting as the
first purely American work of art-
other than a portrait- and its roman-
tic history caused the owner to decline
the offer, as she prefers to have the
National Museum in Washington ac-
quire the painting.

"Because of the mystery connected
with the disappearance of the painting
from old St. Barnabas' Church when
the present structure was erected in
1773, the present owner has been seek-
ing for several years to trace its his-
tory, and has kept her identity con-
cealed. Her father purchased this
original work of art at a public sale
in Georgetown 75 years ago. On his
death he left it to the present owner.
Only recently has she learned its
great value, although she has prized
it for its beauty.

"In his treatment of the subject,
Hesselius has departed radically from
the work of Leonardo da Vinci. The
figure of Judas is in the foreground
leaning over the table toward the fig-
ure of Christ. Surrounding the table
are the other eleven disciples.

"For his work Hesselius was offer-
ed 25 pound currency by the vestry-
men of St. Barnabas'. The work was
completed and payment made in 1721.
In granting this commission for an
altar piece the vestrymen of St.
Barnabas' set a precedent as the first
patrons of art in America.

"Writing of the strange disappear-
ance of the painting in 1898. Charles
Henry Hart, of Philadelphia, said:

"'Unfortunely the old church edi-
fice in which the altar piece was plac-
ed made way for the present edifice in
1773, and thus the painting by Gusta-
vus Hesselius disappeared with the
old building. Perchance some day we
may know more of this New World
'Last Supper' than now seems possi-
ble. All honor to the vestry of St.
Barnabas' who ordered it and to the
painter who came to these far-off
wilds possessed of the skill and abili-
ty enough to paint a picture of such a
subject for such a purpose.'

"In maintaining that to Sweden be-
longed the honor of establishing the
fine arts in America, Mr. Hart quotes
a letter written by Adolph Ulrich
WortMuller, written January 8, 1801,
saying that his wife's mother was a
'daughter of Gustav Hesilius, of the
Swedish nation, a painter of portraits,
who arrived from Sweden at Philadel-
phia in 1710.'

"Gustavus Hesselius was born at
Folkarna Dalarne, Sweden, in 1682,
and was the senior of John Watson,
sometimes reputed to be the first Ameri-
can painter, by three years. He also
preceded John Smybert by two years.
In addition to painting he was an or-
gan builder, and was not above turn-
ing an honest penny at house and sign
painting.

"He died May 25, 1755, and was in-
terred in Philadelphia." - The Mont-
gomery County Sentinel.

-

For Collection of Special Taxes In
Subdivisions near District.

Attorney John A. Garrett, of Rock-
ville, has prepared a bill for intro-
duction in the legislature for collection
of special taxes in subdivisions ad-
jacent to the District of Columbia. The
bill will provide a tax, of not more
than 50 cents on the $100, against
property in any subdivision which
shows by a petition there is a demand
for such a tax. The taxes will be col-
lected by the county treasurer and
turned over to the citizens' associations
to be used for local improvements.
Among the towns affected by the bill
are Friendship Heights, Drummond,
Woodmont, Silver Spring, Forest
Glen, Woodside, and Linden.

-

The ladies of the M. E. Church South
will hold a meat and oyster supper in
P. E. Waters' hall, at Germantown, on
Thursday, February 5th, beginning at
4 P. M.