The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1879-08-16

Your charge against Mr.. Barker, the arts
here said the magistrate, us assault and bat
terry believer
Yes, Sir"
And your name is"
Potts. | am the critic of the Weekly .Spy
| called at Mr.. Barker's studio upon his lnvi
ation to see his great picture, just finished, OF
George Washington cutting down the cherry
tree with his Ratchet Mr.. Barker was cX
pectlng to sell it to congress for fifty thousand
dollars. He asked me what thought of it
and after pointed out his mistake in making
the handle of the Ratchet twice as thick as the
iSse, and in turning the head of the Ratchet
around so that George was cutting the tree
down with the hammer end, | asked him why
he had foreshortcned Georges leg so as to
make it look as if his left foot was on the 9th
er side of the river"
Did Mr. Barker take it kindly" asked the
Justice
well, he looked little glum; that's all
And then when | asked him why he put c
guinea pig up IN the tree, and why he painted
the guinea pig with horns, he said that it was
not a guinea pig, but COW, and that it was
not IN the tree, but in the background. Then
said if had been painting George Washing
ton, should not have given him tic complex.
ion of a salmon brick; should not have Civ
en- him two thumbs on each hand, and should
have tried not to slue his right eye around SO
that he could see around the back of his head
TO his left ear. And Barker said oh, wouldn't
YOU" Sarcastic, your honor. And said, no,
wouldn't and | wouldn't have painted oak
leaves on a cherry tree and | wouldn't have
left the spectator IN doubt as to whether the
figure off in the woods was factory chimney
or steamboat, or George Washington's father
taking smoke"
:, Nv, ,,J II,
II don't know. Nobody Will ever know. So
Barker asked me what | thought he'd better
do. | told him thought his best chance was
10 abandon the Washington idea and fix the
thing somehow like the boy who stood on the
burning deck | told him he might paint the
grass red to represent the flames, and daub ov
or the tree so that it would look like the mast,
and pull Georges foot to this side of the river
sp's il would rest somewhere on the burning
Ack: and maybe he might reconstruct that
factory chimney, or whatever it was, and make
il the captain, while he could arrange the
guinea pig to do for the captains dog"
Did he agree?'
"He said the idea didn't strike him. SO then
| suggested that he might turn it into COlum-
bus discovering America. Let George stand
for Columbus, and the tree be turned into a
native and the hatchet made 10 answer for a
flag, while the mountain In the background
would answer for the rolling pillows of the
ocean. He said he'd be hanged if he should
So | mentioned that it might, perhaps, pass for
the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots Put
George in black for the headsman, bend over
the tree and put frock on it for Mary, let the
Ratchet stand and work in the guinea pig and
factory chimney as mourners. But Barker
said there would be somebody worse hurt than
Mary, Queen of Scots, if | kept on
Didn't like it hey"
II spoSe not. And said that while | did
not want to force my advice upon him, |
would say, if my opinion was asked, that the
best hope of that picture would be TO make it
representation of the deluge Build in an
ark around George, put shirt on him and call
him NOAH. crowd in other animals with the
guinea pig, let the factory chimney do for Mt
Ararat. and the tree for the stovepipe projec
ton from the roof of the ark. Just as | had
got the words out of my mouth, Barker knock
ed me clean through the picture. My head
tore out Washlngton's near leg, and my right
Got carried away four miles of the river. We
,ad it over and over on the floor for awhile and
.hally Barker whipped. l am gong to take
the law of him in the interests OF justice and
high art"
So Barker was bound over, and Mr.. Potts
went down To the office Of the Spy TO write up
his criticism.-Hdr -ideler.