Page:The New Yorker 0003, 1925-03-07.pdf/17

THE NEW YORKER HERE LIES AM writing a book of business, as might well be imagined, for the residents biographies — the lives of of Blatz seldom, if ever, cared to have their doors re- men and women whose moved. Mrs. Graham helped out the scanty family names have become house- income by making grand pianos and other fancy work hold words, but whose which she used to sell to the tourists who visited the lives and achievements hotel in the summer time. have faded from memory Dudley's early education was pretty much the same of man. The idea came to as that of the other boys who attended the little red me in this way: My little schoolhouse; a smattering of Coptic and Sanskrit, grandson came to me the boiler making, differential calculus, and the rudiments other night and said, "Grandpa, who was Riley?” of paper hanging and crochering. Twenty years at "Riley?" I replied. "Do you mean James Whit- the little red schoolhouse and Dudley's education combo" "I don't know," said little Horace. "My ended suddenly with the death of his father and teacher to-day said to me, 'You're living the life of mother from drink. This was all the education he Riley,' and I wondered who he was and what was so ever had. wonderful about his life." Thrown upon his own resources Dudley Graham Horace and I pulled down from the shelves of my turned to the only occupation he really knew-explor- library numerous encyclopedias and dictionaries of ing. He fitted out an expedition to discover the biography and consulted them under the letter Ŕ, sources of the Amazon River. which, it occurred to me, was the proper letter to look (Author's Note: The account of Graham's ex- under. There were many Rileys but not the Riley. plorations, his correspondence with the Smith Brothers It did not seem right to me that a man whose name of Poughkeepsie, his discovery of radium, and his sub- was proverbial should be thus unhonored and unsung. sequent trial for the murder of King Leopold of Bel- I decided to devote my life to research to right this gium are omitted here because of lack of space. They wrong. During my ten years of study and investiga. will be included, of course, in my book.) tion, I ran across many names, equally eminent, In 1885, Dudley Graham found himself penniless equally neglected. My forthcoming book is the and broken in health in Philadelphia. A letter that result, he wrote to his sister Carrie (the Dowager Duchess of The following excerpts are an abridged version of Portsmouth) at that time reveals his desperate frame my first two chapters. The illustrations are taken of mind, and throws an interesting light upon the in- from family albums, police records and old files of vention that has immortalized his name: Harper's Weekly. have five dollars until next Friday 1 would appreciate it. The overalls DUDLEY GRAHAM arrived in fine condition. Love to mamma and the boys. Your affection- (The man who invented the ate uncle, Dudley." Graham cracker) That was all. He waited three years for an answer but none came. GO into any big restaurant at Finally, in desperation, he called noontime and you will see upon his old boyhood chum, Na- scores of men eagerly consuming thaniel Hawthorne. Those who their mid-day meal of Graham wish to read about this now famous crackers and milk. How many of interview at first hand can find a those men ever pause to give a mo- vivid account of it in Hawthorne's ment's thought to their noble bene- Scarlet Letter, factor, the man who made their Dudley Graham "Nat," he said, "I'm broke. I've splendid health-giving repast possi- tried everything and failed. There ble? The answer is, in round numbers, none. Such is just one thing left for me to do." is the impermanency of fame, "And that" said Hawthorne. Yet in his day, Dudley Graham was not an incon- "I'm going to invent the Graham cracker!" spicuous figure. He was born October 6th, 1843, in "I thought he was mad," said Hawthorne after- the town of Blatz, Connecticut. The date is signifi- ward. "Many had thought about Graham crackers, cant, for exactly eighty-one years and eight days after- but no one believed them possible in those days." ward, the Oklahoma State Legislature passed a law Dudley's housekeeper telephoned frantically to abolishing the income tax. Hawthorne the following day: The Grahams were poor but respected residents of "Mr. Graham has locked himself in the kitchen, Blatz. Dudley's father, Leffingwell Graham, was and I can't get in,” she said in great agitation. the village door remover. That is, his job was to Hawthorne jumped into a bathrobe and ran around remove the doors from the houses of any of the the corner to the Graham mansion. With the assis- neighbors who so desired. It was not a flourishing tance of Mrs. McMurtrie, the housekeeper, and a bat- 1 Digitized by Google
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