Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1877-02-10
II. WHIT T0RE.
Publisher and preprietor.
Who T. tue Hands0Rsest man ia
AaneIAeag

Who Is tue Handson,est man ia
New York Sun
This question is Just now agitat.
ing the cities of Boston, st. Louis
and Brooklyn. A st. Louis paper
published the statement that Il Mr..
Forbes, of Boston, is the hand
soonest man in the world. THIS
was claiming a good deal for Bos-
ton, and we were not surprised ut
getting a challenge from Brooklyn
offering to lay down one thousand
dollars that a handsomer man than
Mr.. Forbes could be produced in
that city. The question seems to
be referred to us for settlement,
and though the momentous count
going on at Washington occupies a
large share Of our thoughts, we
accept the position of umpire and
proceed to pick out the handsomest
man in America-not in the world; ;
that would be carrying the thing
too far.
There are many handsome. men
in the country, and among them
tho Boston men have long been con,
spicuous. 1t used to be said of
Boston that the men were better
looking than the women, and there
was some truth in the remark;
though that there are beautiful wo-
men in that city, no one who has
ever gone much about Boston can
deny. Still, in its rather harsh
climate the men seem to thrive bet
ter than their sisters. They grow
stalwart and are ruddy Of complex
ion, while the women, too often,
are pale, fat-chested, and rather
awkward. We are not surprised,
therefore, that the st. Louis jour-
nal should have gone to Boston for
the handsomest man in the county.
At least one of the handsomest
men might be found there.
In New York. however, we get
the pick of the land in all things
men and women included. The
finest specimens Of young Boston
ians, chatting under the confinement
of that provincial city, long for the
wider scope Of the metropolis and
il thoy can get an opening here we
find them eagerly rushing to New
York. Therefore if Boston breeds
handsome men, New York draws
them bither, and puts them in with
the gess Of its collection of the
rarest and best of the whole c9up-
try, not to say the whale woildk
it would be hard to say who is
the hapdsOmcst man in New York.
George, the Count Joannes, repre-
sentS type OF chisalpous peslec-
ton quite unapproachcd in ita way;
but, on the other hand, we have Jay
Goulds young editor, who recalls
the troubadouf, OF rather one of
those romantic beings we eco in
pink doublet and flesh -colored
tights in the opera boufe. For a
dashing spirit of Western enter
prise and untrammelled ideas,
strong and fresh from the Russian
and Turkish baths, like all anomted
Greek wrestler ready Tor the 0lym-
plan games, we mnst look to George
Francis Train. If we seek for the
beauty of the poet, the r0mancist,
and the moralist, We find it in Tup-
per Holland, the most unexceptiOn-
able of all oaP writer's. If we de-
sire the gravity Of the salesman,
the keen penetration Of Il modern
| Maobiayelli, and the strategy Of The
soldier, we have only to ask General
Frank Spinola, with his wonderful
shirt collar, to step forward. II wa
demand religious athlete, always
ready for the encounter with the
gave questions of life, whether he
/ knows aRything about them or not,
we have only to cross the liver and
produce Brother TOlmage, the pull
pit Boanerges,
But in what consists manly beau-
ty? Is it a mere thing Of flesh and
blood, and winning address? Or
docs the mind enter into it? Can
there be real manly beauty without
the illumination Of a gifted soul!
These questions occur to us while
we cast our eye over the country tC
find the handsomest man. They
bring up the figure Of the greaI