Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1874-01-17
GADABOUT'S COLUMN.
TWritteH Tor Tie ErfHin1 SAIL

ID. Warner. Is a large and plentifally illustrated
subscription book, which I have read through
with interest and safety. Ii begins drily and
ylyidly, runs along into prose without much
plot, hits on good many characters OF the dsy,
and ends without being finished. II is very
good example OF the Gided Age in itself, being
imperfect, and making the most advantageous
trade upon two hasiy and far regulations. The
last page ofthe book is as impudent a. the diving
Joke of Artemus Ward. when he left a fortune
which nobody could find, 10 people stiIl in pur-
suit Of ii. Having carried a person called
Laura Far through nearly the whole book
''the authors" say: Perhaps some apology 10
the reader is necessary, in view OF cur failure
to find Laura's father. We supposed, from the
ease with which lost persons are found in
novels that il would not be difficult. Butt
was; indeed i was impossible; ana therefore the
portions OF the narrative containing the record
of TIE search have been stricken out" Thus
the reader is rewarded for following a character
through 5s3 pages.
II is apparent from this book that one or both
OF the authors lack continuity and the patience
TO elaborate and execute a story. They are I'M
equally yoked, and one man pulls out and goes
on TO Craze while the other haulS the whole
load, and, of course, goes sidewIse. II would
be inyldious, perhaps, TO say which of the twain
The Gilded Age is pitched in East Ten
nessee to begin with, where the head OF the
lineal characters gets in some way a vast tract
Vi IL MS lana ana the eNpecfa-
tons II arouses are the curse Of his posterity.
The family moves TO Missouri, where the civil
war breaks out. After the the land in
question is made the staple OF a great congress
siOEal job, and the action is transferred 10
Washington, which Mark Twain must have
seen in a vision with his boots on headforemost-
wise. He saws of the Capitol:
"Gossips will tell you that IL was 10 cost
So, Coo. 600, and that the government did come
within 81. 100000 of building it tor that sum"
There is no Joke in this and no truth either
W
added. has cost but sis, 900 ,OO0.
OF the city he she, or it, says at is wide
stretch of cheap little brick houses, with here
and there noble architectural pile, lifting
itself out of the mhdst-government buildings
these. IL the thaw Is still going on when you
come down and 60 about town you will wonder
at the short-sightedness of the city fathers when
you come 10 inspect the streets, in that they did
not dilute the mud little more and use them
for canals
This is all very well. as it used to be. He OF
they say or the White House: Beyond the
treasury Is a fine large white barn. with wide
unbandsome grounds about II. The President
lives there. 1t Is ugly enough outside, but tina;
Is nothing TO what il is inside. Dreariness
hmsiness, bad taste reduced TO mathematical
completeness, Is what the inside offers 10 the
eye.'
1t occurs to me, just here, that have read
all this before. Did Mark Twain pass over 10
Mr.. Warner his Washington correspondence
and other letters, aud have the same utilized in
a story by Warner
However, the authors introduce a Christian
statesman Into this book, made up of the min
gled regulations of Pomeroy, H and Colfas:
they are all ingeniously grated upon one stem
Senator Dilworthy. OfcOurse in the end Dil yor-
thy is exposed, Investigated and whitewashed,
and the great job fails. Meantime Laura the
only interesting woman in the book, takes up a
second time with the man who seduced and
Tilted her, and then follows him to New York
and Kills him. Then there is a great trial, mo-
deled upon the Stokes and Laura Fair trials
with some humorous writing. Laura is cleared
and takes to lecturlng on her crime, for which
hnof Iar md a..
in stupor and broken heartedness The tale
virtually ends here, although there is a weak
attempt to prolong other characters sufficiently
to dismiss them.
The most extraordinary part of this book is
Its sardonic, almost luIid estimate of life and
enjoy ent. IL is written in an unhappy spirit
ana upon the model, apparently, OF Martin
ChuzZlewit There are good parts in it, but no
real merriment. The essence of comedy is
wanting. The vivid parts are the best. Al
times the work is so careless as to suggest that
the authors despaired in their task and hated it
Tor its uncongeniality. As to real character IL
possesses none. There are some human mud
turtles in IT In the early chapters, a good many
bypocrites and confidence people; but in wo-
manhood, beauty, mental repose, dignity OF
manhood, and sincerity of aspiration, il is
wholly destitute. 1t ought to be called "The
Sufferers"
~ The following is sketch in this book of
Newspaper Row:
"They were always talking in the Row, ever
lastingly gossiPing, bantering and sarcasti-
cally pTsising things, and going on in a style
winch was curious comminging Of earnest
amazingly, though he was sometimes a little at
sea in it-and perhaps that didn't lessen the
relish of the conversation to the correspond
ents."
sRvENTy-roUR.
have drunk of the cup many times.
have slipped OF the Lees and the sweet;
l know the enjoyment OF power,
And the silence and pain of defeat.
Behind me the sun Of my day
My shadow propels more and more,
All the colors OF life fade to gray,
And the worst cannot flush seventy-fou
have lived down an obdurate age,
And commenced in another anew
And again the indelible page
mas been turned my career to pursue.
young generation before,
But the hounds reinspired TO the hunt,
Ran down the old stag Seventy Four.
But the work that is in me they know,
The patience and smile l maintain
That I'm tirelessiy mining below,
And shall come to the surface again:
though they say I've less faith than a Turk,
~, Their religion they well may implore,
TO bless them as well as my work
In the twilight beyond Seventy-four.
My position they twit as perverse,
And challenge my life TO reply,
But consistent in this have been
That never was heard to say die,
All all ye young gentry that smile,
Think this ere my creed ye deplore.
No turns make a very long mile,
And the longest may be Seventy -four.
CITY ARCHITECTURE
Amongst the most notable private mansions
to be finished during this and the coming sea
son are those of Anthony Pollock, General Bat
Ter, and Mr.. Sunderland, of California The
first and last are the designs OF John Frazer,
one OF the very best architects Washington ever
had. Mr.. Sunderland's house will stand upon
the bare portion OF the square occupied BY the
new residence Of the British Legation, and will |
be by far the most elegant and imposing private |
residence in Washington, constructed of brick
and dressed with stone, the main building about /
ninety feet square with picture gallery in the
rear and Q porto c0ctere on Massachusetts,
avenue circle. The style is French villa archi- /
lecture with Greekish decorations, and tower /
in the rear, mp which the main stairway will /
wind. This house will cost, probably, sl50.0o0.
Mr.. Pollock's house to stands on the south
East corner Of Farragut Square, il bright and 4
Individual elevation of pressed brick i'm black
mortar, with Q portico upheld by polished col
nmps Of Scotch granite and chaste but attrac-
live treatment OF roof and windows. stable
zill he iufePpOae0 between this hauso a..