FEINBERG/WHITMAN MISCELLANY Whitman (Walt) Fellowship Miscellany Box 52 Folder 4The Boston Globe. (morning c Acc. 18,8803 Sept 3, 1894 WALT WHITMAN. His Boston Admirers Organize a Branch of the Fellowship. A number of the local admirers of Walt Whitman met yesterday at the Adams house and took the preliminary steps toward organizing a branch of the Walt Whitman Fellowship. Horace L. Traubel of Camden, N J, Dr Isaac Hull Platt of Lakewood, N J, and Joseph Fels of Philadelphia were present at the meeting. Mr Traubel was for many years private secretary of the "good gray poet," and is now the secretary and treasurer of the recently organized branch of the fellowship in New York. Dr Hull is one of its vice presidents and Mr Fels is a member of the executive council. The following officers were elected at yesterday's meeting for the Boston branch of the fellowship: Mrs L. N. Fairchild pres, Lawrence Maynard of East Weymouth sec and treas, L. N. Fairchild, Sylvester Baxter, Rev W. H. Johnson, Miss Charlotte Porter, Miss Helen A. Clarke, Edward Payson Jackson, Thos. H. Bartlett, Chas. E. Pratt and Laurens Maynard executive committee. The executive committee will take steps to effect a permanent organization. The meeting was characterized by much earnestness and the fellowship will undoubtedly make itself felt in the literary circles of the city before very long. The purpose of the fellowship is "to unite all persons interested in the life and work of Walt Whitman." It is expected that the local branch will be in permanent shape by Oct. 1. Philadelphia, MAR 7 1896 189 Received from Mr Horace L Traubel Forty cents---------------------------Dollars 100 Inv. 3/5 $40 / 100 Altemus & Co ALTEMUS & CO., PHILA.Horace L. Traubel Camden, New Jersey Membership Cards Phila Branch W.W.F.PHILADELPHIA BRANCH WALT WHITMAN FELLOWSHIP (INTERNATIONAL) I announce myself a member of the Philadelphia Branch of the Walt Whitman Fellowship. HORACE L. TRAUBEL, SECRETARY-TREASURER, CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY (OVER)REGULATIONS 1. The Philadelphia Branch of the Walt Whitman Fellowship: International endorses the Constitution of the International Fellowship. 2. Members of the Branch must be members of the International Fellowship. 3. The officers of the Branch shall be a President and a Secretary-Treasurer. 4. Meetings shall be held monthly, from October to May, inclusive. 5. It is suggested that each member contribute one dollar annually toward meeting current expenses. 6. The Chairman shall appoint special committees, of which the officers shall be ex-officio members. 7. All meetings shall be held in such public place as shall be designated by the officers. 8. These Regulations may be amended at any regular meeting by a majority vote, providing the amendments proposed shall have been submitted at a former meeting of the Branch. PHILADELPHIA BRANCH WALT WHITMAN FELLOWSHIP (INTERNATIONAL) Feb. 8th 1896 I announce myself a member of the Philadelphia Branch of the Walt Whitman Fellowship. Horace L Traubel Camden New Jersey (OVER) HORACE L. TRAUBEL, SECRETARY-TREASURER, CAMDEN, NEW JERSEYREGULATIONS 1. The Philadelphia Branch of the Walt Whitman Fellowship: International endorses the Constitution of the International Fellowship. 2. Members of the Branch must be members of the International Fellowship. 3. The officers of the Branch shall be a President and a Secretary-Treasurer. 4. Meetings shall be held monthly, from October to May, inclusive. 5. It is suggested that each member contribute one dollar annually toward meeting current expenses. 6. The Chairman shall appoint special committees, of which the officers shall be ex-officio members. 7. All meetings shall be held in such public place as shall be designated by the officers. 8. These Regulations may be amended at any regular meeting by a majority vote, providing the amendments proposed shall have been submitted at a former meeting of the Branch.PHILADELPHIA BRANCH WALT WHITMAN FELLOWSHIP (INTERNATIONAL) I announce myself a member of the Philadelphia Branch of the Walt Whitman Fellowship. HORACE L. TRAUBEL, SECRETARY-TREASURER, CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY (OVER) REGULATIONS 1. The Philadelphia Branch of the Walt Whitman Fellowship: International endorses the Constitution of the International Fellowship. 2. Members of the Branch must be members of the International Fellowship. 3. The officers of the Branch shall be a President and a Secretary-Treasurer. 4. Meetings shall be held monthly, from October to May, inclusive. 5. It is suggested that each member contribute one dollar annually toward meeting current expenses. 6. The Chairman shall appoint special committees, of which the officers shall be ex-officio members. 7. All meetings shall be held in such public place as shall be designated by the officers. 8. These Regulations may be amended at any regular meeting by a majority vote, providing the amendments proposed shall have been submitted at a former meeting of the Branch.Philadelphia Branch Walt Whitman Fellowship Horace L. Traubel, Secretary-Treasurer, Camden, New Jersey Meeting Tuesday evening, March 31st, 1896, at 8.15, in Mercantile Library Hall, Tenth street below Market. William M. Salter will speak, presenting "Some Lessons from Walt Whitman." After the address there will be an informal discussion. You and your friends are invited to attend. All meetings of the Branch are opened freely to the public. HORACE L. TRAUBEL.Philadelphia Branch Walt Whitman Fellowship Horace L. Traubel, Secretary-Treasurer, Camden, New Jersey Meeting Tuesday evening, March 31st, 1896, at 8.15, in Mercantile Library Hall, Tenth street below Market. William M. Salter will speak, presenting "Some Lessons from Walt Whitman." After the address there will be an informal discussion. You and your friends are invited to attend. All meetings of the Branch are opened freely to the public. HORACE L. TRAUBEL.Walt Whitman Fellowship: International: Philadelphia Branch: Meeting, Mercantile Library Hall, Tenth below Market Streets, Saturday Evening, February Eighth, Eighteen Hundred Ninety-six. FRANCIS HOWARD WILLIAMS: Readings from "Calamus." WEDA COOK ADDICKS: Whitman Song. THOMAS B. HARNED: Readings from Whitman's Patriotic Poems. CHARLES G. GARRISON: Address. HORACE L. TRAUBEL: Reading of William Gay's Essay: "Walt Whitman: His Relation to Science and Philosophy." Informal Remarks or Discussion. WEDA COOK ADDICKS: Whitman Song. FRANCIS HOWARD WILLIAMS: Readings from "Calamus."HORACE L. TRAUBEL CAMDEN NEW JERSEYWalt Whitman Fellowship: International Horace L. Traubel, Secretary and Treasurer, Camden, New Jersey, U. S. A.Au St. Denis MENU Little neck claims Sliced tomatoes Radishes Italian salad Spring soup a la Royale Kennebec salmon, Orleans sauce Sliced cucumbers Bermuda potatoes Scalloped chicken with mushrooms New peas Tenderloin of beef a la Providence Asparagus tips String beans Imported French quail, currant jelly Salad Bavarois of strawberries Army and Navy ice cream Assorted cakes Compote of fruits Gorgonzola and Camembert cheese Coffee Walt Whitman Society May 31, 1898 DEMPSEY & CARROLL, N. Y.Tenth Annual Celebration of the Birthday of Walt Whitman. Evening Session and Dinner, Hotel Bellevue, Boston, May 31st, 1896. Camerado I give you my hand! I give you my love more precious than money, I give you myself before preaching or law; Will you give me yourself? Will you come travel with me? Shall we stick by each other as long as we live? Song of the Open Road. All this time and at all times wait the words of true poems. The words of true poems do not merely please, The true poets are not followers of beauty but the august masters of beauty; Song of the Answerer. We understand then do we not? What I promised without mentioning it, have you not accepted? What the study could not teach, what the preaching could not accomplish is accomplished is it not? Menu. Little Neck Clams on Half Shell. Soup. Puree of Green Peas, Olives. Consomme Macaroni, Radishes. Fish. Broiled Fresh Bluefish. Hollandaise Potatoes. Cucumbers. Roast. Roast Tenderloin of Beef au Jus. Roast Turkey. Roast Spring Lamb, Mint Sauce. Vegetables. Brown Mashed Potatoes. New Green Peas. Asparagus on Toast. Entree. Apricot Fritters, Fruit Sauce. Ices. Vanilla Ice Cream. Pineapple Sherbet. Dessert. Assorted Cake. Crackers and Cheese. Coffee.H.T. to G.B. G. B. [pays] paid our friend Law a handsome compliment and then made this rather gratuitous remark: "There are writers, like Whitman, for instance, who unfortunately preserve every line they ever wrote." What makes this criticism gratuitous is its ignorance. No one who knew anything of the many editions of Leaves of Grass could have made such an error, and anyone who had not read or did not know something of former issues of the volume would be exceeding his functions in passing [his] judgment at all on the point of omissions. No writer ever revised more than Whitman. and no book ever issued bears better internal evidence of deliberation and care. This for G. B. and for those readers who might dispose to accept his mistaken assertion. H. L. T. [*Camden Daily Post Sept 20 1893*][*Leaded*] Walt Whitman Music* *From a paper in Music, Chicago, upon "The Relation of Music & Poetry in the American Poets."Society for Ethical Culture PHILADELPHIA WILLIAM M. SALTER, LECTURER 1415 Walnut Street C. N. PEIRCE, PRESIDENT 1415 Walnut Street DANIEL LONGAKER, VICE-PRESIDENT 652 North Eighth Street HORACE L. TRAUBEL SECRETARY AND RECORDING TREASURER Camden, New Jersey JOSEPH FELS, TREASURER 2100 Tioga StreetMUSIC AND THE AMERICAN POETS. 169 [And sank and rose again to burst in spray That wandered into silence far away. "Deeper and deeper shudders shook the air As the huge bass kept gathering heavily, Like thunder when it rouses in its lair And with its hoarse growl shakes the low hung sky, It grew up like a darkness everywhere, Filling the vast cathedral;—suddenly From the dense mass a boy's clear treble broke Like lightning, and the full toned choir awoke. "Fifty voices in one strand did twist Their varicolored tones, and left no want To the delighted soul, which sank abyssed In the warm music cloud, while far below The organ heaved its surges to and fro." The power of music to accomplish something is a note also struck by Lowell, as in his poem "The Forlorn:" "And one of his great charities Is music and it doth not scorn To close the lids upon the eyes Of the polluted and forlorn."] I have purposely left Walt Whitman out while considering the older group of American poets, for the reason that he forms a class by himself, no less evident in his relation to music than in every other particular. In his one essentially musical poem, "Proud Music of the Storm," the poet represents himself as hearing in a dream every imaginable manifestation of music. With wonderful power he piles up one after another with cumulative effect, not only all the sounds of nature, but such various forms of music as that of the old harpers with their harps at Welsh festivals, German Operas, Corybantian Dances, Chansons of France and innumerable others. And all make one vast harmony to his ears—symbol of the harmony of the universe. With his usual democracy, or one might almost say god-like attitude, nothing in the shape of music is left out. In this poem we seem to have for the first time the recognition of what might be termed distinct individualities in music. The abstraction music, like the abstraction mankind, is not conceived in Whitman's mind as an undifferentiated protoplasmic idea-stuff from which emerges from time to time a semi-individualized170 MUSIC AND THE AMERICAN POETS. individualized conception of music, still partaking of the indefiniteness of its native protoplasm. With the other poets, the primal music, or the One--and this is true of Emerson also-- manifests itself in various forms; in Whitman the highly individualized forms combine in manifestation of the one or final harmony. From the idea of harmony in unity he has advanced to the idea of harmony in complexity. "A new composite orchestra, binder of years and climes, tenfold renewer, As of the far-back days the poets tell the Paradiso, The straying thence, the separation long, but now the wandering done, The journey done, the journeyman come home, And man and art with Nature fused again." There is also in this poem an indication of the historical sense. Whitman, perhaps, did not really possess such a sense in regard to music, for he shows unmistakable signs of a predilection for Italian opera, but he certainly had a philosophical conception that such a sense was necessary for the full appreciation of all phases in the development of art. By a historical sense I do not mean merely the recognition that the arts have passed through various phases, but the artistic and sympathetic recognition of the beauty inherent in each phase, if not always in the actual result at least in aspiration toward a resultant beauty. Possibly Whitman is too prone to include in his ultimate universal harmony, every manifestation as in itself absolutely beautiful, just the opposite of Emerson who is too prone to regard only the absolutely beautiful as manifestations of his primal harmony. Each seems to lack a clear vision of the beauty that is latent in processes of becoming. To Whitman this wonderful world-music is an inspiration to pour forth new poems. To his soul he says: "Haply what thou hast heard, O soul, was not the sound of winds, Nor flutes, nor harps, nor the bugle-calls of camps, But to a new rhythmus fitted for thee, Poems bridging the way from Life to Death, Vaguely wafted in night air, uncaught, unwritten, Which let us go forth in the bold day and write." Nor is this only a poetical fancy, for Whitman declares MUSIC AND THE AMERICAN POETS. 171 himself to have been inspired frequently by music. In reply to some questions of Mrs. Fanny Raymond Ritter relative to his poetic form, he said that it would be strange if there were no music at the heart of his poems, for more of these were actually inspired by music than he, himself, could remember. Moods awakened by music in the streets, the theatre, and in private, had originated poems apparently far removed in feeling from the scenes and feelings of the moment. It is on record, also, that he had a way of singing in an undertone wherever he was, or whatever he was doing when alone. First thing in the morning he would he heard singing ballads, or perhaps martial tunes, meet him sauntering about out of doors and you would usually hear him humming a tune without words, or a formless recitative. These are interesting facts in their bearing upon the inner kinship of music and poetry. In view of Whitman's verse not coming within previously prescribed forms of verse, and therefore diverging even farther than other poetry from music in its rhythm, it would look as if the kinship of the two arts lay in some deeper principle than that of the rhythm of their external form. Since it has been discovered that in some brains vibrations of sound may, by some mysterious process, be transmuted [mitted] into those of light, so that when a sound is heard colors appear before the mind's eye, may it not be that in other brains such as Whitman's, some equally mysterious transmission of sound waves into waves of poetical thought takes place? Among the younger poets of America will be found many signs of a marked change of attitude toward music. Poetry, so long attended by music as her docile slave, seems for the first time to have recognized to the full her artistic personality, and even evinces a willingness to sit at the feet of her former servant and learn of her. On more than one occasion has poetry doffed her cap to music, and the result is that several tendencies bearing upon the relations between music and poetry are discernible. The most obvious is the use of musical subject matter as Helen A. Clarke.172 MUSIC AND THE AMERICAN POETS. a theme for poetizing, exquisite examples of which will be found in the poetry of Richard Watson Gilder. The readers of MUSIC will all remember his sensitive and beautiful lines on Paderewski's playing which appeared in this magazine. More subtile relations are suggested in Emma Lazarus's "Symphonic Studies after Schumann," in which the mood induced by the music is reproduced in the poem without any attempt at direct description. It is, in fact, analogous to a translation of the mood expressed in one art into terms of another art, colored of course by the interpretation of that mood by the poet. Here is the second "Symphonic Study," a truly masterful sonnet. "Look deeper yet: mark 'midst the wave-blurred mass In lines distinct, in colors clear defined, The typic groups and figures of mankind. Behold within the cool and liquid glass Bright child-folk sporting with smooth yellow shells, Astride of dolphins, leaping up to kiss Fair mother faces. From the vast abyss How joyously their thought-free laughter wells! Some slumber in grim caverns unafraid, Lulled by the overwhelming water's sound, And some make mouths at dragons, undismayed. Oh, dauntless innocence! The gulfs profound Reëcho strangely with their ringing glee, And with wise mermaids' plaintive melody." Another genius, Maurice Thompson, has sought to capture the rhythms of bird songs in his verse. But the most interesting, and probably most far reaching in its results, is the tendency which seeks to base poetical principles of form upon musical analogies. The idea is by no means a new one. From time to time in the history of the world it crops out, but upon each successive appearance, music and poetry have gone farther apart in their differentiating process, and the problem offers different elements. When Pindar, musician and poet, wedded poetry and music, he had a very simple task, because in Greece, music and poetry were so closely related in their structure. But when Campion, musician and poet, more than two thousand years later, lays it down as an axiom thatAbbreviations P=Philadelphia B=Boston N.Y=New York L=London. x 1 After all not to create only. B. 1871. x 2 Autobiographia - N.Y. 1892. 3 Canti Scelti - Milan, 1887. 4 Democratic vistas--L. 1888. 5- G[???] from W.W.--P. 1891. 6- Goodbye my fancy--P. 1891. 7 Leaves of Grass--Brooklyn, 1855. 8 " " " (Plays) L. 1887 9 November Boughs--P. 1888. 10 Rossetti's selection--L. 1886. 11 Webster selection--N.Y. 1892. 12 Specimen days & collect--P. 1882-3 13- Specimen days in America--L. 1887. 14 Bucke's life-- 3. (2) x 15 Burroughs--Notes on W.W.--N.Y. 1867. 16 Wm Clarke--W.W.--L. 1892. 17 Weber Wordsworth & W.W.--Dresden 1883 18- Havelock Ellis--The new spirit (essay on W.W.)--L 1890. 19 Carl Kurtz--W.W. (in german) N.Y. 1886. O 20 O'Connell--Good gray poet--N.Y. 1866. O 21 Robertson--W.W. poet & democrat Edinburgh, 1884 22 Sadakichi--Conversations with W.W. N.Y. 1885. 3 23 Sarrazini - La renaissance de la Poesie Anglaise. Paris, 1889. (Essay on W.W.) O 24 Stanford, C.V. Eligiac ode, the words from Pres. Lincoln's burial hymn, by W.W.; the music by C.V.S. - L. 1884 25 Symonde - W.W., a study - L. 1893. 26 Traubel - In re W.W. P. 1893. 27 Triggs-Brownings W. - L. 1893 And the collected works not yet catalogued. O Big autograph editionWrite to Triggs about Lydgate's book for Small __________________ Mrs E D Smith 1517 N. 16th Phila Send W.W.F. papers __________Walt Whitman Fellowship: International PRESIDENT: FRANCIS HOWARD WILLIAMS. VICE-PRESIDENTS: ROBERT G. INGERSOLL, THOMAS B. HARNED, JOHN BURROUGHS, ISAAC HULL PLATT, RICHARD MAURICE BUCKE, H. BAXTON FORMAN. COUNCIL: CHARLES G. GARRISON, MISS CHARLOTTE PORTER, HORACE L. TRAUBEL, HENRY L. BONSALL, JOHN H. JOHNSTON, WAYLAND HYATT SMITH, THOMAS EARLE WHITE, JOSEPH FELS, MRS. L. N. FAIRCHILD, OSCAR LOVELL TRIGGS. Horace L. Traubel, Secretary and Treasurer, Camden, New Jersey, U. S. A. Feb 25th 1897 Boston Library - Paper L. of G. - Seubly McKay W W Ar fact & perm. Burroughs - Traubel1896-7 Walt Whitman Fellowship: International PRESIDENT Francis Howard Williams VICE-PRESIDENTS Robert G. Ingersoll Thomas B. Harned John Burroughs H. Buxton Forman Richard Maurice Bucke Charlotte Porter DIRECTORS Charles G. Garrison Mary Dana Hicks Horace L. Traubel Wayland Hyatt Smith John H. Johnston Mary Fels Isaac Hull Platt Oscar Lovell Triggs Helen A. Clarke Elizabeth Porter Gould Horace L. Traubel, Secretary and Treasurer Camden, New Jersey, U. S. A. Feb [8th] 16th 1897 sent to Small for the Boston Public Library Dreams o' Home--[Small] Law Selected Poems --Webster--presented by McKay Autobiographies--Webster presented by McKay Specimen Days & Collect--McKay [Mc]presented by McKay After all not to Create Only Roberts Bros presented McKay Good-Bye My Fancy--McKay Red cover presented by McKay Leaves of Grass 1892 Ed'n Green cover presented by McKay Complete Prose Work--1892 Ed'n Green cover presented McKay [over]The Flute Player & other Poems--F.H. Williams--Putnam-- Presented by Williams-- Walt Whitman as Deliverer-- --FH Williams-- Fellowship Paper--presented by Williams-- Camden's complement to D.W. contributed by Horace Traubel Poems--by H. S. Morris Contributed by Morris The Arena--Jan 1896 Cont'g Traubel's "A Few Latter Day Notes on "Walt" Whitman"--contributed by Traubel Lippincott's Mag Nov 1887 Cont'g "November Boughs: 'Your Lingering Sparse Leaves of Me"; 'Going Somewhere'; 'After the Supper & Talk'; 'Not Meagre Latent Boughs Alone'." Contributed by Traubel "An Oration on Walt Whitman" by Robert G Ingersoll--London. Progressive Pub Co 1890--Contributed by Traubel "Speciman Days in America"-- Walter Scott eEdn 1887--Contributed by Traubel "The Radical" May 1870--Cont'g pt publication of "A Woman's Estimate of Walt Whitman" Contributed by Traubel "Good-Bye & Hail Walt Whitman"-- Cont. by TraubelBranch More Knerr Smith M E Dalmas Lapis Palmer Clarke Abbey Smith W H Willams F H Dawson Conley Lloyd Wixsell Miley Maynard Smalls Mundain Walker E C HarnedPLEASE REMIT TO HORACE L. TRAUBEL, TREASURER CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY OCTOBER 1, 1894 Dr TO THE CONTEMPORARY CLUB OF PHILADELPHIA DUES, SEASON 1894-5, $8.00 Constitution.— Section II. The annual dues shall be eight dollars, payable on or before November 1st in each year. Initiation fee, five dollars. The privileges of a member more than one month in arrears shall be suspended, and one month after notification by the Treasurer, his or her name shall be referred to the Executive Committee, to be stricken from the list of members at its discretion. TreasurerDe Hart Cueditz Brishnakoff Bjerregaard Herne K Herne J Herne C Goodman Graham Whidden Harrison A J Dawson EM Dutton Ely Fleming Fox Morton Mrs J Abbott Carey Haile Roberts E H Nabar Gill Galina Chapman W E Beard Linden Dana Mrs F Hunter Strinsky Beranyis Behr Harlan Haber Brown W T Lee (Mrs Walter) Woods A [Har] Macfadden Wilshire Mackey Robt Magnum A Keating Draper Herron Lemon Patrick J Richard CliffordPLEASE REMIT TO HORACE L. TRAUBEL, TREASURER CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY OCTOBER 1, 1894 Dr TO THE CONTEMPORARY CLUB OF PHILADELPHIA DUES, SEASON 1894-5, $8.00 Constitution.--Section II. The annual dues shall be eight dollars, payable on or before November 1st in each year. Initiation fee, five dollars. The privileges of a member more than one month in arrears shall be suspended, and one month after notification by the Treasurer, his or her name shall be referred to the Executive Committee, to be stricken from the list of members at its discretion. Treasurer2. " Mrs 3. Platt 4. " Mrs 5. Maynard 6. Lerner 7. Abbott 8. Cook Weda 9. " Dot 10. Spannitz 11. Mrs M. Ecide. 12. Mrs Howe 13. Appleton Morgan 14. Elsa Barker 15. Frisbee 16. Traubel 17. " Ann 18. Patrick 19. Mrs Talmage[with cordial greeting from over the Sea J. Johnston] Sunnybrae, Lostock Lane, Bolton. WALT WHITMAN ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION. [From the Annandale Observer of 9th June, 1905.] The Whitman brotherhood in Bolton attained its majority on May 31st, and the following comrades assembled to do honour to the occasion:— J. W. Wallace (the Master), Dr. J. Johnston, Fred. Wild, Wentworth Dixon, Charles Sixsmith, Rev. Matthew Scott, J. Young, W. A. Ferguson, R. Curwin, and W. T. Hawkins. The meeting took place at the home of Mr Fred Wild, and the first event was that of photographing the group on the lawn. This ordeal over, the friends adjourned to the house, and the proceedings were opened by the host, who gave a racy and thoroughly characteristic address on his recent visit to America, upon which occasion he passed throug New Orleans, Mississippi, Ohio, Kentucky. He also visited Philadelphia, and spent some time with Horace Traubel and T. B. Hamed, Walt. Whitman's literary executors, and during his stay called upon Dr Platt, Philip Dalmas, and J. Fels, of that city. He also went to Camden to see Walt. Whitman's house, and to Harleigh to see his tomb. The address was full of information, and was relieved at times with flashes of humour, and the comrades punctuated it with laughter and approval. The Master (J. W. Wallace), with much feeling, proposed the toast of an absent comrade, and a letter and telegram from Comrade Will. Atkinson, Midhurst, were then read, and afterwards, at the request of Mr Atkinson, Mr Wallace read part of the Calamus poem commencing, "Whoever you are holding me now in hand." At the conclusion of the reading the Master proposed the toast of "The Memory of Walt. Whitman," and the loving cup was passed round, each comrade reverently drinking the toast. The loving cup bears the following inscription: "The College Loving Cup. Something for a token, from J. H. Johnston, New York, 21st July, 1894." A reading by F. Wild, commencing, "I saw in Louisiana a live-oak growing," was the next item, and interest was lent to this by the fact that the reader had brought home a piece of the peculiar moss that grows on the live-oak as a special gift for the Master. The toasts, "Absent Comrades" and "Our American Comrades" were in turn duly honoured, and J. W. Wallace gave another reading from Whitman. Comrade Atkinson of Midhurst sent a fine bouquet of roses, honeysuckle, and lilac, and Dr Johnston brought sprigs of lilac, the last-named bloom being immortalised by Walt. in his beautiful poem on the death of Abraham Lincoln. It is difficult to convey in words the joy which these annual gatherings give to those who have grouped themselves into a brotherhood to carry out in their lives the gospel of comradeship which Walt. Whitman spent his life in promulgating. Sentiment is an enduring fragrance, without which the most sacred associations seem tame and commonplace, and the sentiment of brotherhood grows stronger with the years, binding more closely the men who have truly exchanged the tokens of true camaraderie. For twenty-one years some of these men have met together, and although the composition of the group changes from time to time, the spirit of the Master remains, thrilling, renewing, exhilarating the hearts and lives of those who are true to his teaching. Long may it be so! WALT. COMRADES ONCE, COMRADES EVER! Whoever once hath clasped a Comrade's hand— Clasped it in comradeship with love sincere— Whoever hath once forged the golden links That bind in love true Comrades heart to heart, Hath laid the deep foundation, firm and sure, Of a vast empire that shall never end, For, Comrades once, Comrades ever! The thrones of mighty Pharaohs, where are they? Byzantium, Babylon, they too are gone. the splendours of a nation in its pride Are but as vapours in the summer air— But Comrades once, Comrades ever! The Pyramids may crumble into dust; The countless years earth's monarchs will dethrone, Leaving behind no record but a name; But comradeship outlives the last assault, And stands erect, uninjured 'mid the fray— For, Comrades once, Comrades ever! What! hath your Comrade done a hideous wrong? Sullied the pure spring of his noblest thought? Fall'n from the lofty height he erstwhile scaled? Take thou his hand, and clasp him to thy heart! Forgive him, pity him, bid him good cheer, And, setting foot upon Endeavour's steep, Climb upward to his niche among the stars! Comrades once, Comrades ever! W. T. HAWKINS.Meeting Feb. 8th 1896 Mercantile Lbry Hall Williams read from Scented Herbage of my Breast & The Base of all Metaphysics Weda Cook Addicks Tan-faced Prairie Boy Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking Thomas B. Harned: Harned prefaced his remark by comments on Ingersoll's funeral address in which he spoke of Whitman as the perfect American. Whitman was great [in]--he had a high concept of what America was-- the [country in a] America the acme of things accomplished in govt. & the [???] of things to be in govt. Some of you believe that no man has ever lived who can understand democracy as he did. Therefore, when we speak of the patriotic say of Whitman we cannot go2 to the books & find specific poems --America the firsthand advances get made along the line of civilization--[select] I share quote Drum Taps. From my standpoint W. is to be read alone. "Come up from the fields, father"-- "Dirge for Two Veterans." ["Memorial the of Abraham Lincoln"] "Hushed be the Camps To-Day". Judge Garrison Text children--3rd poem & 5th section--Children of Adam-- Traubel read E.'s essay-- [Frank Williams dissent--] Mrs Addicks--Out of the Cradle Reader--second time--Wm--City of Orgies--G.A SOULAS, Successor to REISSER'S, 24 TO 26 SO. 5TH STREET. C.H. Reisser, IMPORTER OF WINES, LIQUORS, &C. RESTAURANT, 22,24 AND 26 SOUTH FIFTH STREET, AND 506 MINOR STREET. G.A. SOULAS, Successor to REISSER'S 24 TO 26 SO. 5TH STREET. Philadelphia, Dec. 9th 1895 189__ Menu at $1 a head for 25- Oysters Consommé en Tasses Fried Smelts sauce tartare, Potatoes Lamb Chops sauce Tomatoe, & Peas Roast Pheasant, c. jelly celery salad, Ice cream CoffeePresent-- Thomas B Harned Francis Howard Williams Charles G. Garrison Horace L Traubel Francis MacIntire Wayland Hyatt Quick Mrs Lucy H MacIntire Anne Montgomerie Traubel Marshall E. Smith Mrs Louise Van Linden Thomas Morris Earle White Carl Edelheim Decatur Smith Guy Walram Mrs Fels Walter Coates JR Witcroft Wm T. Innes Jr Ed Innes Thomas Swann Conwell Baunton Richard Day ? Charlotte Lobby WHITMAN FELLOWSHIP. [*Phila Press Dec 10 1895*] The Philadelphia Branch Holds an Interesting Meeting. The Philadelphia Branch of the Walt Whitman Fellowship, held its first meeting last night at 22 South Fifth Street. Francis Howard Williams presided. Thomas B. Harned spoke upon "Walt Whitman and the Attorney General of Massachusetts," and the causes of the desertion of Whitman by his Boston publishers in 1883. Mr. Harned, who is one of the executors of the Whitman estate, presented valuable biographical memoranda, heretofore inaccessible, and left among the private papers of Walt Whitman. Mr. Harned read the correspondence between James R. Osgood & Co., and Walt Whitman, showing that the prosecuting attorney notified the Osgood Company that he would sue them for publishing obscene literature, if they published Whitman's book, "Leaves of Grass." Horace L. Traubel read an unpublished letter written in 1882, by William Douglas O'Connor, who first called Whitman "the good gray poet." Speeches were made by Carl Edelheim, Thomas Earle White, Judge Charles G. Garrison, Thomas W. Swann, Wayland Smith, and Dr. Charlotte Abbey. Those present were Thomas B. Harned, Francis Howard Williams, Judge Charles G. Garrison, Horace Traubel, Frank H. MacIntire, Wayland Hyatt Smith, Mrs. Lucy H. MacIntire, Mrs. Anne M. Traubel, Marshall E. Smith, Mrs. Louisa Van Linden, Thomas Earle White, Carl Edelheim, Decatur Smith, Guy Walram, Miss May Fels, Walter Coates, J. R. Witcraft, William T. James, Jr., E. K. James, Thomas Swann, Mr. Bannon and Dr. Charlotte L. Abbey.to restore transfers." Director Thompson said yesterday when his attention was called to the statement in "The Press" of yesterday that a large number of cars have not taken out licenses: "We are looking into this matter, and will be ready to take action in a few days. If after investigation we find that the companies run during 1895 cars over and above 1360, the number reported, we will request the companies to pay over to the city the license fee for each car they used during the year 1895." Director Thompson declined to state just what course he would pursue until he heard what reply would be made to his requests. In this license matter G. E. Fox, who has watched the cars, writes that as the result of two days' observation he found that Car 1150 of the Twelfth and Sixteenth, had no license displayed; Car 1387, of the Chestnut and Walnut, displayed license 1394; 408, of the Tenth and Eleventh, had license for Car No. 6; Car 1354 and 1250, of the Ridge Avenue line, had licenses for cars 1365 and 702 respectively. Chairman Martindale would like to have sent to him all such information from persons who have noted the licenses on the street cars. An officer of a large trust company called on Mr. Martindale on Sunday and said he desired to know if it was really possible for the city to take possession of the lines. Mr. Martindale convinced him that it was, and as a result he said:-- "My company has a large line of the securities these companies pledged as collateral for borrowed money. I propose to keep a closer watch on them than ever before, and will demand more money when they appear shakey. I hold, myself, a large block of Philadelphia Traction stock and I will dispose of it to-morrow." ------------------------- Miss Patridge's Lecture. Miss Leila E. Patridge delivered the third lecture of a course on "The Human House and Its Inhabitants," at the Stratford, yesterday afternoon, the subject being, "The Face as the Interpreter of the Soul."FIVE TRAUBEL SONGS COMPOSED BY MILDRED BAIN AND SUNG BY EDWIN EVANS AT THE WHITMAN DINNER IN NEW YORK MAY THIRTY FIRST NINETEEN HUNDRED TWELVE a My comrade, do you know how important you are to me? That what the sun is—that you are to me and more? That what the food I eat is—that you are to me and more? That what the air I breathe is—that you are to me and more? That what my dreams and faith are—that you are to me and more? That what the blood in my veins is—that you are to me and more? That what all the space and time is—that you are to me and more? That what all life and death is—that you are to me and more? O my comrade, do you know? do you know? b After all the great of the earth had passed and passed again while everybody saw and hurrahed, Then came the greatest of the earth and passed and passed again unseen and unsaluted: Will you always be blind? Will you always be deaf and dumb? c I dont know what it is: I dont know where it leads me: I go on and on: Whether along the common road or into the wilderness, I follow: I go on and on: The days are as mysterious as the nights: and the years: they baffle me: I go on and on: Something persuades me: something I like the feel of: it is veiled but sure: I go on and on: I dont know what it is: I dont know where it leads me: I go on and on. d Somehow it seems to me you will take nothing away with you that does not belong to you: Somehow it seems to me you will leave nothing with me that does not belong to me: Even the tears, dear comrade—the goodbye tears: they belong to you and to me: And it is true that as you go I will go with you forever: And it is true that as I stay you will stay with me forever: For nothing belongs to you or to me or to today in gain or loss that does not belong to both of us in treasure forever: Somehow these things seem true to me as you go: somehow these things seem true to me as I stay: Somehow, somehow, somehow. e When we understand each other, all in all, When two friends understand each other after they have misunderstood, When nations understand each other in peace after they have misunderstood each other in war, When fathers, mothers, children, friends, people, understand, all understand all: Oh! that must be heaven—there is nothing beyond. Horace Traubelpaper this year 1- Officers 2. Report 3. Triggs 4. Convention amt. 5. Maynard 6. Smith 7. Program yet to print Partridge Harned Johnston Branch List Enough for that Can we not raise money to print one paper for each branch?Bae Rec'd 15.67 [+]152.50 ------ 168.17 [-]143.66 ------ Bal 24.51 ------ *159 practiced this year-some of this had to pay or faults year before ----------- 13 New Members 215 total No resignations no deaths 39 contributors 8 Refused 168 not heard from some of these found--When papers are late or not received San Francisco Branch- MartinHORACE L. TRAUBEL THE CONSERVATOR PHILADELPHIAMr Platt New YorkJ Wm Lloyd--member of Fellowship Wm Struthins? yes Wm B. Chisholm & new members Treas reports Secy's reports Bucke's proposition Miss Porter Reports [to] deferred to James Report of Tellers Moved & seconded Made unanimous Moved that-- bibliography-- Miss Porter's Monument appointable informal PresidentWALT WHITMAN FELLOWSHIP: INTERNATIONAL: 1898-1899 PRESIDENT Thomas B. Harned, Philadelphia VICE-PRESIDENTS Robert G. Ingersoll, New York John Burroughs, West Park, New York Francis Howard Williams, Philadelphia Richard Maurice Bucke, London, Ontario H. Buxton Forman, London, England Helena A. Clarke, Boston SECRETARY-TREASURER Horace L. Traubel, Camden, New Jersey DIRECTORS John H. Johnston, New York Wayland Hyatt Smith, Philadelphia Oscar Lovell Triggs, Chicago Isaac Hull Platt, New York Helena Born, Boston Mary B. Talmage, New York Gustav P. Wiksell, Boston James Walter Young, Clinton, Tennessee Lucius D. Morse, Atlanta TREASURER'S MEMORANDA WALT WHITMAN HORACE L. TRAUBEL FELLOWHIP: CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY INTERNATIONAL It would greatly facilitate the work of the Fellowship if members were disposed more promptly than in former years to respond to communications from the Council. With this preliminary the enclosed blank is submitted. The Fellowship has no resources other than those which are voluntarily pledged. This makes it more than ordinarily necessary that the Council should be promptly met in its canvass for funds. What is desired is simply this: That you answer at once; that if you do not feel disposed or feel unable to contribute anything, you should say so on the blank; that if you can and will contribute that you so declare and specify the amount; and finally that you specially note and fill in the open line fixing your own date of payment, having it to come anytime within the present fiscal year, which runs until May 31st next. I wish particularly to emphasize this last point--that it is not so important to have an immediate cash payment as it is to have the guarantee. The Council only wishes to know the extent of its resources. The Fellowship has no expenses beyond those attaching to the publication and mailing of its Papers and some other incidental postage outlays. The Papers may be issued more or less frequently as the membership more or less liberally provides for them. HORACE L. TRAUBEL.TREASURER'S MEMORANDA WALT WHITMAN FELLOWSHIP: INTERNATIONAL HORACE L. TRAUBEL Camden, New Jersey It would greatly facilitate the work of the Fellowship if members were disposed more promptly than in former years to respond to communications from the Council. With this preliminary the enclosed blank is submitted. The Fellowship has no resources other than those which are voluntarily pledged. This makes it more than ordinarily necessary that the Council should be promptly met in its canvass for funds. What is desired is simply this: That you answer at once; that if you do not feel disposed or feel unable to contribute anything, you should say so on the blank; that if you can and will contribute that you so declare and specify the amount; and finally that you specially note and fill in the open line fixing your own date of payment, having it to come anytime within the present fiscal year, which runs until May 31st next. I wish particularly to emphasize this last point-- that it is not so important to have an immediate cash payment as it is to have the guarantee. The Council only wishes to know the extent of its resources. The Fellowship has no expenses beyond those attaching to the publication and mailing of its Papers and some other incidental postage outlays. The Papers may be issued more or less frequently as the membership more or less liberally provides for them. Horace L Traubel