Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-03-19
Cham, the Late French Caricatu rist

CHAINS annual Salon Series was
hardly finished when he had to begin
to think of his almanacs. For many of
these he had to do little more than
make selection from the drawings of
the year. They consisted of seasonable
illustrations of every phase of Partisan
life. In the January page we have the
agony of New Years presents. The
very postnan brings you his gift-sn
almanac-whic h you are expected to
acknowledge with tip. Here, per-
haps, Cham may strike a new and un-
wonted note III his sketch of an old
man. PrudhOmme, it may be. in
his dotage-who asks for calendar
with Longer days." In another draw.
ing we see the ruilian at the court of
assizes, who thought he might save his
skin by wishing the judge"A happy New
Year" "And he gave you nothing in
return?" asks an expectant friend, who
is waiting to know his fate. Yes
five years." In another is the BOURGEOIS.
who, foreseeiDg host Of uninteresting
callers, prepares to receive them with a
loaded bomb-shell on his knee. =" Come
in come in ~ he cries, cheerily, in
answer to the first knock, IL am only
just unscrewing the top Of this thing
aud l am 30 awkward, you cannot
think" For the racing season we have
u thief complaining that the pockets in
the new-fashioned sporting coats are 80
uncommonly deep. A little later on we
are ut the seaside, wRere a bathing
man, following the. gaunt figure Of a
female in bathing dress, declares in
rhapsody of delight that he will dip her
for nothing, because of the memories
her slender shape awakens OF the
herring fishery OF his youth. In the
shooting season we nave the sportsman's
question to q mysterious stranger.
And 40 yon hunt, too = Yes, sir,
all the year round am bailiif." A
little later on We are at the Opera ball
with its throng Of debaqieuses and
fogies who are seeing life. The igno.
rance of these young women, who are
not exactly the hne flower OF Partisan
intelligence, sometimes leads to very
clumsy guesses as to the position Of
their accidental acquaintance. He is
always talking polucs," says one, "he
must be u deputy" Il think lie is
sculptor" says the other, from what
he said about the state 4uo." The
brand-new Opera House itself does not
escape without q touch or two at the
expense of the architect. Cham re-
quests you to take of your shoes and
stockings before mounting the mag
nlticent staircase and he thinks that
the fountain ut the bottom of it must
have been built to give the Hankeys
something to fish in while waiting for
the conclusion of the piece.
CHAINS work was very emphatically
part Of his life. His invention was
exercised as freely in society as in his
calling. He "exhibited for nothing"
to his friends, and he was one Of the
pieasantest dlnner-party men in Paris.
Nearly all his work has the character
Of the impromptu. He had the Amer
lean gift Of humorous exaggeration
he saw Jokes in large, like Mark Twain.
He was talking one day with GascoLn
who Dragged that his fathers ancieny
baronial dining hall was the wonder Of
the world. 1t was 80 high you could
hardly see the roof. my father had
dining.room," said Cham, /" which
was Just AZ remarkable the other way.
1t was SO low that the only fish we
could serve ut table was sole." 1T is
no use fighting duels with me-" he said
in allusion to his weight and long
reach, when make thrust in Paris,
the point of the sword goes into the
provinces" He has drawn his own
lanky figure in many of his books. In
the latest Of these sketches only the
head stands out distinctly all the rest
fades away in thin, nebulOus scratches,
which give good effect of indefinite
length. 1t was only natural that he
should deal out to himself the same
measure as to others. for he was a
chivalrous man, and he had the tender
est of hearts. He was not only kind to
animals, he was almost slave to them.
His pet dog ruled the studio, and but
for the Comtesse dc Noe. would have
ruled the house. CHAINS letter on
vivisection is humane cry of anguish
from first to last, and there are passages
in it worthy to form his epitaph.-
RICHARD WAITEINa. in Scribmer.