The Lucknow Sentinel, 1933-05-25, Page 5•
•
RS.PAY
933,
We- expressed it this way to,Dr. and doctor's ; family knew that Austin:
Mrs Woods
_r' `.PWhat••you have-done-wi lrbe•an -�
spration, to tens: of":thousands, 'of
people; These• axe, troubled times: No
one can say what effect this-. story:
may have, in the •lives: of a' great
many people " • -.
"But we; shrink !from publicity,
saidb: Mrs, ',Woods.. "Sure the e has
een; enough ria the page about
• "There , his been; nothing,' we "said,
but the barest detail of.the fact that
l?1(you''had found a' boy, handpp
icaed by
: infantile "paralysis;`'homeless, wander-
; ins;. and -.,you• took him lute, ' your,
family Leis us tell it • simply, without
• enal►ellishment, just as .it 'happened
with. .all its •hernan interest,.''',':,
So. they told us, the, story :of' Jack'
Rivet.And when. Jack'Rivet, 12' years
of age, came in from public :school:
where he, is: catching upon his <aban-
oned; ;education, we: asked him'• if 'he
• •• would let : us take his picture.: •
the otherswill„come to," said
'.a
:jack.,
And,,.
•: is, ,that" how we, are able to
. reveal, part` of. the private story -of
' a: very ' beautiful' . home,
This' sis the.
• _ story of . a Harvard
•graduatewho' died! on the threshold
of life. .. ,
And it
is the', story ,of Wandering
•'
boy, crippled .by infantile'aralysis
P y ,.
wh ;`'was in a box: ear on a railway
siding:: in'• Western Ontario waiting
for Fate to haul ,him •' another' day's.
journeyon the meaningless,a d des-.
•
Y.n.
olate • attern' of his life, when voices
P
called ed his name, calling g,h
inn forth
to live
Austin P. Woods was`''the :Har• ar
`raduate', He .w vias t' e son sof .Db",Hili
Mrs...,, H'.,.B:,..Woods:--of 2AZ,.,_Pur an�
Ave.,,ADetroit -
et
Jack. Rivet as• they nameof
the
crippled youth who, on an August
•
orv' : n,.ds-.a.izY e' venin
.last ear,
i
n•-the little:
town of•LuFknotv,'Clad 'tagged'.and'
clothing, slid Ont ' of 'an'
"em tbcar into: the arms of care,'
pY, box
' health h and 'Affection.
Nineteen years ago, the . year the
,. great scourge of 'war `stalked .`across
the .world, • . 'another sc•our•ge ' crawled
out! :of those ' hiding :places • where;
• Stich "things dwell ;and :went°• out •into
the', world 'to destroy little •:children,
.It was on of the great epidemics of
infantile ,Paralysis, ,. In those • days;
little was :known aboi t' th'e dread`"'dis-'
ease.' It ravaged. the,east and ,it struck,
'Out in the west,', where in the little.
farming ',villages;.' far from Modern
hospitals .it.strucli °as •'inercilessly 'as
did in`. the sweltering, cities, ` '
Two little boys in ,western Canada
• were ,amdngst , those stricken. ' .Ont
.was •the son of -' Dr.' Woods, a" Young
physician:; practising in a farming
•community • beyond Prince Albert
'Austin Woods wa
§just
five •
Yea
rs 'old
and. when • 'the disease was :spent it
mit lef hint PerAanently handl
• c i ' le : arm or le
capped,; �'b'a r d
PP d, not . Y pP.. �,
• 'but doomed: te he 'for the. rema
in
der
hiS life.small 'anil'we
weak; with his
•
fait boy d fe ted,
fragile ' '• back 'injured, `ae
d
g , ,.
'yon might say,a
•the -Start of 'the
r ce
.
• h
e '.otherwas
•abab
Yboy
c
•" years;old, Jack
Rivet,
the
sevent
hJ
.1
�LL Aµi
•
o' an who'was
just m
archin
' sen a.m�.
,pf, .
•
60 .6 war,; :And Jack;Rivet: lay �a •year
'ou ' little bedbefore�,he gott of his
w ist-
to' learn 'to 'Walk his tiny' body t • i ;
ed; ills: ,bk rigid' and bowed, hie-
.armor-and-legs:frail arid-rackedby the
cruel disease.
o Detroit With
stin'Woods�caine t e t i.
e-
crenc
s-•-- tin' --that--s
anent Ever . h
ki'
s.""P . Y g
;• could do for_him;.his physician•'father
• '- had done. Surrounded bythe love' and:
'affection'' of a''very beautiful :home;
!he,' went to• war • in ;, childhood • and
youth against the",' marching'• armies
of the spirit; and -conquered:. At high:
.school h'e`graduated with. honors.' He
;shared_ in every activity save oport.,
He started' Ito Michigan University`
'and changed' to' Harvard. For three
•'years he lived . in residence at 'the'
oldest university in • America,, , and
With ;.a: hind kindly and shrewd,: • he,
played • the' game':of life despite a
body rendered weak and ,distorted •by
a
-savage: malady, :and was one'of the
'best liked men of his year. •
Austin Woods, •'Came back, to De
roit;; and, of all the roles rn • life he
, chose the' one' 'which challen£''ed . most
'Of`, all his • gallant'. spirit:.aitd . his ' in
willing' ; body, the ' newspaper' gable.
Ile°`,gothis' foot in the door of journ'.
alisn by, taking :a job in: the proof=
•reading department: of ;the Detroit
Free Pres. There' .he' 'Watched the
passage that led ;,to :the news •Irtooni,-
the reporters''• room. and two weeks
• to sit he was to la appointed tP,, that.
"ttle 'atTfld itte'dreti ri he flick
suddenly of complicatiOYi's fo11'owing
a severe cold.•
"What •`If • My' •Own " Boy --6": •
*1
•
Woods had not the stamina 1 to with-
stand. il; major attach of
-14'nri.thisgt
the death of this eager, witty r active
:yotth-7-4h.,gn�ot- over t_he_door'
sill of . life was a ' particularly hard
blow,, }Ie died in' February, 1932, fif=
teen months ago .•
• Last ,August; the Woods were ins
_t�,ucknow, - Opt.,: visiting Dr ; Woods';;
father... The • other Woods children,
Bob, aged 1.7, and little Peggy, only,;
six, Were in the vacation party,
Sunday•evening,. before, Labor Day,:'
dinner was just 'ready in the, ' Woods;
{home; • ilt themen were still
motoring somewhereabout• the const;
try,• visiting , old • friends .. Stip a
Sunday habit ":with 'people like--` Dr.
Woods. - , •
The.' wonien•'of the' house ;'vete ,in
the kitchen and dining roomj tutting
the finishing • touches:: to the' prepay-
ations,, and wondering why inen can
never --be on time for:'a meal There
came • a knock r at• the hack door. One
ofis er , answered' the.
the s s , .
Mrs. Woods,. paying no, attention;
ha"IP.'men'e: t"hear rho sister ;sa
Y ;
sorry,' dinnerisn't; .ready"'
.:i
•` She was holding the door alniost
]osed:
c •
i. ,
.&!H!`'Hhe is•ollar" s ' conti ued.
here , rea • d , ,., he, n.,._
"You oat :get sapper •.'at the hotel '
can. t �' ou2•
Now, .thi a • an "` hing to' haPpwas
'. o se.'
thingtorhappen• in ;the •Wogds h u
If someone- wanted dinner and the
rea ou` PAY' be • sur
din er, was ..,.e
n ..;dY,Y y
Place setat the
there•would' be a ce
P..
Matter
r
kiteheit::table: Yan` yrs •m...no •'... Y,
all" at
howStrange '. or low'1 . that caller s ge ,y..
the back door might be.
' - sister. 'shut the door.
The t
M'rs Woods,', slarprised, glanced. out:.
the,..side '• win.dow sof.'the kitchen._.._.A,
s'm' all • bent ., fi
gure, hewed' over,
Clad
in,. ragged and Clothing
,
dragged:. itself°'.under ;.the window,
1VIrs: 'Wood's" heart. 'stood , still''Ip.
had
all her
life she a
her heart, for,. ,,. ,.
watched: a• 'siralh figure, 'marching
resolutely. as this• one:m
oved, b
earin
g
bra el '• ':ioii den :never to be::removed
,
`gazing straight 'With sad; level eyes,
as this one gazed : , •
MrsWoods ; wheeled to: ,fare f her
sisters.'`'They had•. held
the door •so.
she • could pit.: They *feared •:the.
sight of this unhappy littleevagabond
would call up ,instantly; as it did 'for:
them; the memory of the boy, who had
died, a few months ;before. • •
There` was a.•:nionient of.,irresolu-
bion, as.: Mrs • Woods :and these, other
ladies faced ;an obvious, sudden„ as_
toinding :proposition;. :inevitab'e
the hearts of n'others::;
..:"What 'if my boy had ..:Been cast.
au ay. in the world ?" .: 'They ran
'to the back door. They reit" to; ° the
road:. But the • strange little' figure
had, vanished ; •
"Get ' the .car,':' • they • •cried. ,
,,h ' .
o:
`And t ey 'gotcar ai to g .
anil search: It a
was a stra ge thing.
7. st a./.Word at :the door Just "a lim
u g
se: out • of the" window And' when
they ,rushed `,out to seek that little
man her had, disappeared as!' .11 : by
The doctor and his father came;
home.. Tri' ?cars,:: they; drove out the:
Kincardine 'road, • Out other roads.
They hunted along ,the railway tracks
'
Evening crept on. 'Mrs." Woods,s'
vaa,
des erate.. She had."a..ling,, :fee imper-
ative
ative and com 'elling,' that this youth
must rite be: let beat that burden she:
,knew ,so. much a, out, alaiie,''°friend-
o ` to door of all' the
less; fr m'• do r
world:
Then somebody" id that thelittle' to the, coast, spent" the : summer in.
`one -had.: been :seen with: Mr. MacKen- British �Coluntbia. I., cairie back tb_
•
;WAGE;, F:
Toronto
tar Weekly
* Y»
r �
, •Peggy .•
the doctor on ids:' visits;'
• ' Edmonton -and ot.oa the....' .• .•
who said 'lie. had, taken • the, b9Y- got ,, _. rel. ef. Two
into, ome years:..a o' 1 Went - to a o o
nt4 his h ,me for puppet." and 'had .., g , . d ct ,r • yvho
taken.h hrimt.Mofo Mch: uar.ch oBless
. you, Fuad,sent •to
los pca in.Rdrnonon
,
in -the hope that-somethin Ceuld
l
dcme •to' help m back. 'I •am, told, no'w
The ' all` • went , back down"to. the; - st y
Y ,
- i" it was too `•
' late to. do an ;t&i about
railway. tracks :.again. • ][•Ie will he in
Y ,..,ng
. Y, P , a the. -bone's had o 'e
a� box car for• the: ,night, s id :'Mr., ...: .. g n.
�a rigid. But I heard that 'I '
.MacKenzie:. H �' would• be
.`' '.
taken it
aoff
. :stoh:e I , tell e
-if II ,
They came to one, beiit.
stayed
oinn, tthhe
•
box.:. cars standing on .. a gsiding,. lone! : P •' •
road' a gain.' , ,•
still,;. ins the; summer night, • ,
'lack!"
called: 'Ir :�MaeRenz
Jack Rivet,' age was', lying
hAast'
atnrat.._iil ce
:• Hed,e fr'o
m.. .t: h.e..• P, a.' c_fi,_'c.
wandered ;:in
timnter 'through h • the: Okanagan Val-
tke+ box, ;car ,wish • a .candle, reading... h, g ., !;
' le.
an gold. iiia azine. • `'He' cairre to; ;the . Y• and' has bathed the'•next summer.
g.
'' in the:'Mata, edia rivet, door and � looked down it sill . these p . and: • has
d
com aced.
p,eoplet men ;'and ladies both, standing ,_. P the •'apples of
.._cs.
the
,Annap
q=
there the dusk with theirfaces Valled with thoseof ie Okana an:
turned..v to'Across The•
Doiniriio `n ,
,"Opine. al clown
wn.a
...minute,' r
we would- With "thebige ta
nil the best of
o __ ai v • _ 'e" _�:.:,th.,i.;.. ,
e .. k, .o y..u, . s, d the do tor, a n,.•-he�lnas caught -his : fr-ei„hts�out-•
That .an,i ht 'J ::RivetCiePt :into
ind',. tink
a with ,'white sheets. eets. across the wildd`
• an. lonely country•of`
As, NYS, ''Woods?s 'led down at him this: dominion.
noting' his'bewil'derrentlhis'stran a-' I earl ' got ill
ng .:. , � . n y killed', a couple.:, of
nese), stooped'" down and kissed tinges;" he •says.. "One' time: coming
• • tilt of Winnie II "tri t ` r b a
• "That >is 'the 'first ' trine any body.'° freight, I'. was. carrying .a ..
Y g y,..g.. Pack: My
,>
ha •.:: ki Sed : in • • _mother" die •.. , .
s md, ._
said Jack brusquely, "and' the first
tin: e --I've ; slept in'+'a , clean .bed."
Jack Rivet's mother:.'died when he''
was` twelve. •His ,• father' came . back
from the':war to,his'home•on the otit
skirts of Edmonton, and::when ''the-,''
mother died, the' older„ brothers and
the father decided to back it:. Little:,
J,ac�k' was td be. the housewife.11 ;
was: small ;anyway, and •too weak and:
crippled. to •do -other work: It ,was a..•
war' veteran's :home Old ''soldiers
aren't' worried by,;bacliing:
Jack Rivet stood a . year• of it,.: and.
at the ageof 13, he just' up and left. •
• We need not dwell' on that end: of
o•the story.' In•'Dr.: Woods' home in De
troit,', 'we,, interVieWed Jack , on .his
return from :puflit: school, . where he
is'•trying• to'; overhaul his abandone&
education. `;He is.:'nineteen,. • butis
:..
moa�
re .than r to". work ti the"
Ford •
ato strain of:want •and exposure thrt
out.his 'teens, yet he camped in hobo
'un i.
es. '
rom •R.._
J g f- . , the ochres to the.Mari.
times,
n -,-1e
ne�. ,7 .
a d 1
--tire, n o
d r s d ..
a �t of
in e
g, without..
Youa.e nw1 :
a ays.- beg a• couple' o,
eggs from, a farmhouse "'' said • Jack
"And at ' any railroad wateitarik oi
roundhouse You Can ',borrow a s ovel.
Well,' what.`•more -could man want,.
.You clean•.the shovel •in the good
earth: 'Ten Yotr wash; ztith:..water .You..
purify it in the jungle' fire. And. with,
a..,
smear '
nnear' of ba con' or any`:.other., drill-,
ping, yo_u,
grease the',shovel,:and. fry
Your e'g
s on 10..' g
He` learned how; to cook in •empty
cans: How to •carry• his blanket in:
the smallest :'space:; `How to --come
wetly' into • a• jungle so %as• not to'
m a po
,i a or imp,-ession-onr-his-elder_.
li.
w o"were there;,before' him:, Ile. learn
-�
ed:'sharing,'the strange la* of com-
munism ,which., rules • the .:.vagabond;
world;. where the sin of sins is to;
"hold out" on-anything-ff.em- •food:
tobreco to 'clothing.' '
As: a ' matter,. of:, fact, that ,is 'the
•
public s h
tan etroit residence'' `of Dr; Woods'
entrance Ave.,, , ' o.
"I ran away," 'he "`stated, • . wh'en,l .:
wasbetween13 andi4 z.
stayed
'_around ,E;dmonton.Different people
a
gave me 'shelter. L worked;,fo.r time
With. a ''confectioner, vari'axe.ed • M. , y,
blanket, flashlight, a:'magazine and.
that sort, of .• thing.
They'speed edthe
freights 1p atcertain places where
theyknow'thehboes will be trying
who was;very'kind. to .me and let',me ;to •:board;' I caught the rail, but the
have m boardandlodgifor what pack was jerked from-• shoulde?
work. 1 'could: • do .,'for • him. Nobody and started dragging : and bumping
along•ties.`It was'a near 'thing
about me • When I was 'notther g.
bothered.
working any at an ' job, P i I Slept t in barns.' for a minute. If: I • had been ,pulled" off;''
J ,
Three__Winters' ago, I'slept fri barnsYwo td have
got tinder the
wheels
when it -was- foi.tYbelow-zero.—That'- t- i
for-•certa ."
ouc. s ` the
'to He wei h '� half -as' m h
year, was 'sixteen:. I` decided s a
on the road, and I took freight trains average man;;; his• strength; „Broken
thea e of two forever , was never
g
nurtured :and�de_veloposi,''but_vas pules
• Tn � hea of �a rnother ; 'the one
the rt Ir 'the' .
ee ' 't'•'is rte' ane who cuts
tvho� eut� d ea t
15 . ,
tencst, ', ss i'tt0 'the fact that. the
, •
_meri
c
an de ceat,xathe,,his father •
:
having been 'born. in: :Miniicsota • of •
French_ • incestrYr `
s eaks:,a•. 'lttl
.'k'reiuH. "}fZ found` that if Ile spo"ke• •
.French in;Quebec.; 'all: he;got. at bac (: •
doors was'.,a • volble' bawling out:
But .ii`; he used English, the l!'rench-'
•Canadian, housexives''were• •overwhel
med. •by`the combined handica of• in
P
fan ile aril ss •and' ,thee English t P y g h
langue
lan ua "
age.
What' -were your "in"s--when'•.• • o
"
Y . p:l --Yea
were:, in 'Lucknow.,when the Woods:
f 'Asia nil ou. ?" we asked.'•
.yOU..?"
h; I had no laris . said.. Ja k
Cir p
i in ,,:o ..
a m fu K rd e
r na
"r:.. was` he d c
b
�•o_cl,er'ich: t o' tr.Yande get, a -'476h ,,on .a
a.
', oa h ' r a i :,was
jUst Starting
t6.
moVe•'I••thou ht 'sit I c uld.get,:a•
'good' partner and' �et::to •some vas
P g..;• :