Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1882-11-18

IOI Iuo SolAe0y ouu oAS0AAShSO Va INV
product.
There are Oh Mr.. Dana's place more
than one hundred species of pines.
The needle bearing trees seem to be
his favorites. He has Japanese pines,
pines from the Caucasus. the Audes
aud the Hima;ayas, India aud Africa
pines. Besides these there are siugu-
lar exotics from all parts OF the world.
He is al expert in landscape garden-
ing, and pronounced by Prof. c. S.
Sargent, Of Harvard, one of the most
accomplished horticulturists i'll a mer-
lea. On this romantic isle OF Monte
Cristo the c~ommingliDg Of the old
trees that shaded the Indians and
Dutch with the foliage resulting from
modern selection aud cultivation
makes a beautiful display. Mr.. Dana
is also a chicken fancier and pigeon
cul,ivator. Among fowls the Brahma
ia his favorite, and newspaper read
ers have not forgotten what q ire
mendous number Of them were stolen
from his coops u night last year. l
forget whether it was 600 or 6.OOO Or
1000, 900, but 1 remember that it wa
enough L stock all the farms III the
state. His choice breeds of swine aud
sheep, neat cattle, and horses amply
repay a days inspection. His billiard
house, standing a little detached from
his main residence, is q museum OF
itself. The tables are of the best
quality. surrounded with antique
furniture. aud the walls are, hung with
medieval. and tiger skins
brought from Africa by Du Chaillu.
Mr.. Dana is All expert i'll billiards.
and has sometimes beaten the best
professionals.
The residence is old Dutch, built
more than a century ago. II has been
enlarged aud modernized in some
parts for comforts sake, aud enriched
with the spoils of many a transatlan-
tic journey. The taste and wealth
iavished on the parlor, dinipgroom
and halls in the way of paintings,
statuary. and other artistic decoration
have produced a unique effect. 1t is
pretty generally known that MIR.
Dana is All epicure-a gentleman who
makes dining an art-and there are
few more delicate or richer tables in
the vicinity of this city than that
spread before the master of Dosoris.
lie pays his cook Sc, 900 a year, l am
told, a sum exceeding that paid to
the great French cook, Trompette,
who drives through the ktreets Of
Paris in q coach as splendid a. that of
Louis XIV. l have heard Mr. Dana's
name coupled with those Of Sam
Ward and Sam Barlow, as one of the
most accomplished diners in town,
and certain it is that those who have
stretched their legs under his mahog-
any and partaken of the viands there
served know something Of what the
word Lucullus means. His wine cell
lar is q marvel, and coutajns some
vlntages that are eve sold, but are
made only for presents to royal or
noble personages.
When Provost Paradof died Mr..
Dana managed to get some Of his
choice wines from the customhouse.
His city mansion is equally attractive.
He bought two large houses on Forty
second street, near the Windsor hotel,
ami made them into one, which is
now equipped and decorated in h
magnificent manner. The parlor walls
are hung with tapestries, one of these
very old, representing a Spanish bat
tie of the fifteenth century. His COL
lection OF statuary, pictures, plaques,
Ii especially vases, is exceedingly
fine, the latter being perhaps, unsur-
passed in any private residence here.
He has u speciM fancy for old green
china, and he has vases OF this sort
for whicn ne paid 81 900, $4,000, aud
even $1,000 each. Throughout the
house are Indications of opulence aud
sentiment. Mr.. Daua's family con-
sis,s of his wife, his only sou Paul,
aud three daughters. OF the Litter,
one is married, one n widow, aud one
unmarried. Mrs. Dana is a woman
of scholarly tastes. de;icacy, aud fine
sensiblilies-of those qualities, in
short, which are compressed into the
word "cniture." Paul is probably
destined to be his father's successor.
Hs Is now 80, or 80, tall aud strong ;
he writes now and then something
for the paper. and while without his
fathers genius for journalism, he
possesses That strong .ense aud good
literary Judgment which sometimes
serves as Well as the more shining
qualities. He is from Harvard, of
course. l understand that twenty of
the Sun staff are Harvard graduates !
And he likes a wrestling aud boxing
match and a cock-fg bt. as his father
does. who Went and enjoyed the spec.
tacle of seeing Sullivan hammer Tug
Wilson. Mr.. Dana has a double ma.
lure, like all of US. Ga Que side no is
y bullet.headed business man, sharp
for dividends, hard, %pugnacious. ag-
gressive. blase, sarcastic, fond OF
holding an adversary's mug in chan.
Gerry. On the other he is studicus,
sentimental. teader, capable of emo
ton aud enthusiasm, quoting from
imperial Montague, Plato, Descartes,
and reciting to his friends, with all
the JUNCTION of youth, the best poems
Of Byron or Browning. His persist.
ent hunt on the track Of George
Washington Childs, A. NJ, and the
good Deacon Smith, indicates thai
there may be a sore spot in his near,
somewhere. Of course he is no,
really angry all these years at these
respectable and worthy gentlemen
whom he derlsively pursues. but tn.
fountain of bitterness seems iuex
haustible. There is q Mephistophelial
mockery that is worse than malice. .
Senator Warner Miller's woodruff,