Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-07-04
A ROYAL Ar, HssocIation

In u advertising column will be found
the details of a scheme which is probably
the most princely of the kind ever pro
jected. 1t is one which involves the dis
tribrtion of prope ty worth nearly a mil
lion of dollars. J. is, in s~hort,oLe which in
cludes the disposal of Crosby s opera house,
Chicago, together with the rich contents
of its superb art-gallery, and also other
works of art, to an extent limited only by
the membership.
As will be seen by reference to the ad-
v~ertisement, it is proposed to form an art
association, the price of membership of
which will be five dollars. On the LIST day
Ofnext October, the opera house and three
hundred paintings will be distributed
ameng the members of the association.
The first prize will be the palatial opera
house, worth over half a million dollars.
The second, Bierstsdt's unrivaled paint
ing, "The 70 Semitic Valley valued at
$4,000. Next to this is a $4,000 paint
ing, and so on in a constantly decreasing
progression.
Nothing so grand as this project was
ever before conceived. There never was
one which involved so much property
and, again, there never was another n
in which the public could invest their
money with the same certainty that the
transaction would be conducted BY honor
able men. As will be seen, Mr.. Crosby
has submitted his plan to the best men in
Chicago, and they give it a cordial and
unhesltating Endorsement. There can be
nothing surer than the fact that the
operation is in honorable hands, and that
every dollar will be as properly accounted
for as if deposited in a bank.
This plan does not propose that a few
members of the association shall receive a
few gifts, and the great majority none.
Onthe contrary, every member gets a gift
which is very near the equivalent of the
money which he invests. Thus, a man
taking two memberships, costing $40, gets
an engraving Of Washington Irving and
his friends, which is precisely what one
would have to pay for the same picture
provided he bought it at q print store.
The enormous quantities of engravings
which will be purchased by the managers
of the association enables them to pur-
chase them at a price on whose margin
they will obtain the value of the other
to be distributed.
Of the magnifcence of the leading gifts
in the distribution, scarcely enough can
be said. The opera house is, without ex-
the finest building of the kind on
the continent. Its cost was over $780,
BOO, and its returns, to-day, in the shape
Of rents, are a princely income for any
man. The second gift, the "Yo Semitic
is now on exhibition at the art
in the opera building. 1t is an s
by II landscape, and is one of the most
thoroughly superb works of art in the
world. Its grandeur as a whole is only
equslled by the astonishing perfection of its
"details. One loses himself in contempla-
ing its amending distances, its mellow
,olorings, the depth, extent and magic
of its skies. 1t alone is a fortune;
md the chances of obtaining it are worth
EN- times what it will cost to possess them.
We take pleasure in assuring the public
hat the most thorough integrity pervades
portion of the management of this
ut distribution scheme. If roval in its
dimensions, It'll no less voluminous in the
possession of probity. It is an opportu-
of which no one who can afford it
hould hesitate to avail himself.