Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1884-11-19

other, and perhaps third. The first
deals with generaities; his birth, his
youth, his family, his debut in life,
whether in politics, science, literature,
or art; the share he took in this or that
affair; how he became celebrated; his
last illness and his DEATH"
"Certainly, 1 have seen it."
"The next day the anecdotical article
appears; the manias of the man-his
oddities, sayings and everything of that
kind"
Gust So"
swell, in the third, with an account
of the funeral comes in higher style q
panegyric or the reverse. One speaks
of the influence he has had in his day,
and the article finishes with few de-
tails Of his life only known before to
his most intimate friends. That's the
sort of thing, is it not?"
"Exactly."
SWELL, has it never struck you how
rapi lily these articles must have been
worked up and struck Off"
Il must say that I have always looked
upon them as q real tour de force"
"Ah, but you were only half right !;
there is great deal of tour, but little
force"
"Eow?"
well, these articles which strike you
as perfect specimens of French facility
are impromptus worked up at leisure,
like those of Marscarille; they are pre-
pared morths-years beforehand"
"Madame, I could not doubt anything
coming from a mouth SO charming as
yours, but may be permitted to ex-
press my SURPRISE"
Express all the surprise that pleases
you"
"How can it be that
"Wait; I prefer to give you an ex-
PLANTATION of the whole thing. I know
it all from beginning to end. As
have told you, my husband is necrol-
ogist, and this is how he sets about it.
It is, I must allow, somewhat compi-
Gated"
''That I can readily believe"
"When the tDictionaire Vapareau'
appeared my husband at once saw there
was mine of wealth in it. He took out
all the summaries of those who had
reached fifty years, pigeon-holed them,
and posted them up from day to day."
"But how ingeniousl"
"Each time he came across q fact, a
detail, pun even, relating to one of
these celebrities, it was added in it's
proper place; and directly any of them
fell i'll, my husband took care that his
accounts were posted up to the very
day.
"And it was by this that Monsieur
Guizot was SO complete, because he had
threatened several times to have done
with life, and that is why, as I told you,
his was such good DEATH"
"Of course. I see now. And which
are the bad deaths, will you tell me?"
"Why those who die without beat OF
drum or sound of trumpet. M. Beule,
now, went off without saying as much
as Look OUT SO he had to wait eight
days throug b not being posted up"
lis it indiscreet to ask for what paper
your husband works?"
"But for all of them"
GLOW can that be?"
"Without doubt all the neurological
articles are by my husband; he varies
them according to the opinion of the
paper. He wrote four Guizot articles
one for the Conservative paper, one for
the Radical, one for the Liberal, one for
the Liberal Conservative"
what happy ideal"
"Yes: and he wrote a fifth for the
Bonapartist papers"
as your husband the only one who
does this sort of work."
"Alasl no; he has several rivals, al
though none of them have the material
my husband has to work FROM"
"He must make good thing out of
it?"
"Ah, if there was no dead season then
"But there is always little current
flowing, isn't there?"
"The Academic Franchise and the In
stitut-yes; but they are far from being
all profit"
"Why?"
ooh, there are SO few of them cele-
brated." .....
"Of course. I had not thought OF
that"
ITO say nothing of there being 80
so many-quite unsympathetic, and
then there is so much i'll luck. Ba.
zaine, for example; he ought to have
broken his neck hundred times il
once; but no-come what may, Bazaine
always falls on his feet
MAY I venture to ask if this inter.
esting profession was your husbands
discovery"
well, not quite; the real discoverer
the inventor, as NJ. de Fay would say
was Jules Lecomte, the chronicler
When Rachel, with weak lung, was
sent by the doctors to Cannes, Lecomte
thought she would not return, and he
prepared his article. The sSouth o.
France" doing nothing for her, the great
tragedienne was sent to Egypt. julie.
Lecomte continued polishing up hi
memoir. At last she died, and Lecomte
who was one of the first to hear of hel
death, took his article to the Figaro
then but small paper. M. de Vile
messant caught it at once he never
wanted telling twice out came the till
and Leoomte received 500 francs
Jouvin said to Murger, My father.in-lav
is madr And Villemont, who was the1
getting but hundred francs month a
the Figaro, shrieked, Jules Lecomte
the ruffianl'
i "Well, the Figaro struck off 20,00(
copies. Nobody could believe in sucl
success. Ny husband, who was .
friend Of old Bregrand, the porter a
the Figaro Office, had the story from
him, and directly thought that some
thing was to be made ont Of it; SO hi
left the tin trade, which had offered hin
4 q very limited horizon, and commenced
at once his present profession, which il
now q really paying concern"