Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1873-08-01
"rhe Ola woman Met at MAIDEN.

tinrtOn sayings, thoukh1 theW s'v
tesoue. but oyerdone; aud although
roared with laughter at Sketchley' :
. Mrs. Brown at the Play" ! conceived
the old lady to be born of the brain OF
lacetious raconteur. wot meoi lady
in London about whom many violent
disloeations OF syllables are related, and
who is said to have boosted that she had
4 spinal staircase under her establish,
ment. bnt when met this lady J found
that she not only spoke excellent En-
glish. but was a shrewd woman Of bust
ness withal, and therefore concluded that
some of the mad wags Of the Junior Gar
rick" or "Savage" Clubs adopted this lady
ont of a quaint sort Of affection as a peg
10 hang their jokes upon. But recently
AT Baden Baden, | met an American
female (can't call her LADY,, who out
Malaproped the most Darlington OF Mr..
Browns. She was from out West,
and lived at Milwaukee when she was at
home. She had been left widow, her
husband having been a farmer, and was
now on her first tour on the continent.
She was literally phenomenon of igno-
rance and miscenceptlon, and II ever the
saving that little learning is dan
gerous thing" received exempliiicatlon,
Il did in this case. She sat next to me
al the table d hote at the hotel, and after
the fashion OF neighbors at continental
dinners we fell into conversation. der
appearance had attracted my attention.
She was large, yellow-faced woman,
with hair the color OF mahogany, and the
front of her ample gown literally dotted
all over with bold, shining, Palais-Royal-
looking jewelry. 1t seemed to start from
her chin and extend in a glitiering, un-
broken line down to her very toes. One
of the walters spoke of her to his brother
kellner as the old pig in armor. At
dinner she turned to me and 1 said;
You'll excuse me, but how do you
have your letters addressed"
"Oh, simply to the Hotel Royal
(where ! was staying
That's a good idea, pursued she.
81 didn't know the name OF no hotels
here, so a neighbor OF mine who had
once been in Europe told me it would be
a good plan to have all Of mine sent to
the post restaurant, and cant find no
such restaurant in town. ! took car
riage yesterday and looked for it every
where"
1t was simply duty to instruct her
that she should apply to the post
restante.
IF yon do not speak French" /
asked, how do you make yourself un-
derstood when you are sight-seeing2
Lord bless you, no French for me,
| understood none of those furrin
tongues, not |. English is as much as
can manage. / hire an interrupter
wherever go-ever since left Eng
land at least. Now, London is sinsi-
BILE place to visit, if it's only for that rea-
son they do speak English there, and
that's a comfort, if it is foggy."
found the old dame had just returned
home from Italy, and it was astounding
to hear her mix up places and things
and people. 1t required but a little en-
enlargement TO loosen her tongue.
did you like Milan 2" inquired.
TITS elegant2'
And the pictures, the art treasures Of
Sunny Italy, are they not delightful"
asked with an ahectatien OF enthusi-
asm.
They're splendid" said she, where
they're not too old. They showed me a
lot OF broken bits of things in Rome that
| couldn't make head nor tail ola body
here, a leg there, an arm somewhere
else; it looked to me mere rubbage, that
did, but the picters we're very nice. /
liked Raphael's marriage with the Vir-
gin, but ! don't think much of his Last
Supper, as they showed me at Milan.
How they can call that a masterpiece |
cant think, for I've seen public house
signs in Ameriky that had much richer
coloring into them than that. One Of
the Apostles only had Que leg, and I'm
sure that amt no good DRAWN, not that
1 know much of paintin dear knows.
Did you stop at Florencer | asked.
"0h, yes, and went to the Pity Palace,
and saw the picters there too A
did you see Venus by Titian2 There's
a work. | boldly asserted.
" Yes, there is work, and she ought
TO be ashamed OF herselfl"
Ashamed Of herself, who-Venus2
Why, you wouldn't have her dressed or
draped, would your You'd ruin the
classic beauty. Think of Art"
Think Of decency / say again she
ought to be ashamed Of herself; | don't
mean Venus, for spose it's the regular
thing FOR her 10 be undressed; but Ii
items ought to remember she's a lady,
and looked upon as SIGH in London.
I've heard her sing"
Heard her sing, whoT / asked in
amazement.
Why, Iitens; and how she could
waste her time paintin' one Of her own
sex laying oa on a sofa, like that, | cant
ihink. 11iien's Venus may be a great
work but for my part prefer her Nor
II IS evident that the coincidence Of
sound In the popular pronunciation Of
the Two names had utterly misled this
asionishea Old creature, and a. left the
table and gave her a parting glance, ]
vas reminded Of that other old dame of
that convenient locality known a ont
West, who once wrote 10 her son not 10
get into The pernicious habit Of visiting
bilious rooms and bowel ALLEYS AZ ricb
wicked places led 10 the uhaiaer al he
value OF death, which was quite a. ner-
Teried a state Of ideas as Mrs. Psrtington
when she returned from Naples. and
would insist on always talking Of
corruption Of Mount Nociferous."
Dogs Of coed social position Al Al.