Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-04-21

Paris Correspondence New York Tribune.
As there is no pretense of a continuous
thread holding these loose lines together, 1
make no apology for breaking it to insert
here an abbreviation of a pleasant anec-
dote about Rugo's literary habits. 1t is
told at greater length in the Petite Revue
by a neighbor Of his, as long ago as ls4s,
when both had chambers on the Place
Royale and occasionally met at one Bras
sier's, a barber and hairdresser of the
quarter.
Going in to be shaved one morning, 1
said: "Well Monsieur Brassier, how is
business to-day ?" Excellent, Sir, excel
lent: in fact almost more than 1 can at
tend to. Balls and parties every where.
Here, you see, is a list of thirty ladies,
whose heads are to be dressed between
now and evening" Dropping in at Bras,
sier's a few days after, l asked: "And
how did you get on with your thirty lady
customers the other day" Don't speak
of it couldn't attend to more than half of
them, and just lost a dozen o. so of good
customers, all along of Mr.. Victer Hugo"
"Buthow did Victor Hugo have anything
TO do with it," GWhy this was the way
of 1t, Sir: Five minutes after you left, in
he came and seated himself in this very
chair. Iput the napkin about his neck,
and was on the point of putting nv
brush to him, when suddenly waving of
my hand, he cried out Wait a minute
And with that, he took out his penc =and
began fumbling in all his pockets for
something he did not find. Then, all at
once, seeing a sheet of paper on the table
there, he took possession of it and fell to
writing. In spite of the hurry 1 was IN I
was willing to wait for him to finish but
he, without paying any more attention to
me than though 1 had been at the other
end of the town, kept scratching on, stop
ping now and then TO bite the end of his
pencil. Write away, said 1 to myself, but
if you can read it afterward you are a
lucky n 1t was q horrible scrawl, Sir,
you may believe me. And they pretend
ne is a good writer Then I said to him
respectfully, When you are ready, Sir
In a second says he, and on he goes with
his scribble, stopping for a minute to look
up at the ceiling, and then at it again
l meanwhile, you understand, with brush
and sosp-cup in hand, and ready to burst.
Finally, l ventured to say: Beg, pardon,
Sir, but lam extremely busy to-day
%. busy, are your says he, so am L and
with that he got up and vent out. You
have forgot your hat Sir said L. why,
to be sure, says he with a smile, and clap
ped it on, and went away without being
shaved.
"Now boys 1 called to my Journey
men, you have not a minute to lose; you
will go straight to the addresses 1 gave
you. The list here-but where is the list
What have you done with the listP' 1t
was on tbs table there a moment ago. said
one of the boys. Are you sUreP Per
Will you believe me, Sir, it was
the back of that list that M. Victor
Hugo had been writing and he carried
it of with him all covered with his quail
tracks, and that is the way he lost me my
customers.n
What the lovers of poetry and liberty
have gained by N. Brassier's loss the mar
rator of the anecdote is not able to tell US.
According to another Authority, Hugo's
present method of composition is scrupu-
lousy m~ethodical, and admits ~numberless
additions, prunings, and polish
of chapters, sentences and single words
outline draft and manuscript
ready for the printer. Balzac's processes
Of reworking a first proof with additions,
EXCLUSIONS, etc, to the extent of making
it worse for the printers than an original
manuscript are well known.