Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-01-19
SAN FRANCISCO LETTER,
NOTES o. SOCIAL EVENTS AND sPECI-
MEMS OF ART.
v@k from the Chisel Of W. ". Story
Specimens by other Artists-Fhe
Walking Match-Etc.
SAN Francisco, January I6, 1854.

SAN Francisco, January l6, 1884.
heard the other day of new custom,
which, if not genuine one, was well i'm
provised. A lady who is having house
built visited the site of her new home that
is to be, and there saw lsborer literally
breaking ground. She spoke to him about
the house, and after he had answered her
questions, he said, Aud now you must
treat me-" She inquired why, when be
told her that the member of the family who
speaks first to the man who begins the
wock on the new home must treat that
laborer. Coffee will do" said the one
learned il hospitality, and to this mild
form of e treat the lady consented. Mrs.
Theodore Shillahsr has been in town since
before the holidays. She occupies the
same rambling old house which has been
the property of embers of her family since
1852. and which is reminiscent to SO many
people of pleasant times and kind hospi-
talities. aud which, since it passed into
Mrs. Shillabers hands, has been treasure
house of beautiful and costly things. Her
two
LATEST ACQUISITIONS
Are magnificent statue, Saul, by W.
W. Story, and an oil sketch of Moors
head by Fortuny. In a special room, hung
with red curtains, opening from an inner
parlor, the three beautiful statues stand {:
Rogers "Merope, the Lost Pleiad,
Story's 60 Dailah," and between, divided
from each by large carved ebony Indian
screens on either side, the imposing Saul. "
1t is the sitting figure of man OF about
30, to judge from the vigorous torso and
round limbs, while the cheeks and forehead
are furrow wed with lines of warfare and
thought The right hand holds q scepter
and the left clutches the long flowing bea-d
z1pon the breast. The head is dressed with
a sort of scarf, hanging back on the shout
ders and held upon the head by light
crown. A shawl, of winch the texture is
beautifully initiated, is throw n upon the
knees. and the rouudness of the limbs is
finely indicated under the covering. The
fixed expression of the face is one OF dark
melancholy rather than dementia. 1t is
Saul during his madness but there is no
frenzy about hint is great strength
clouded for the time. The block of mar
BILE from which the statue is cut is pure and
fine in grain, and the finish is very COM
plete, the soul pture of tie neck and arms
being continued so far within the folds of
the hesddress and sleeves, that the body
seems
SOMETHING CLOTHED UPON,
And not one with its vestments, as is the
case with so many statues by an inferior
hand. There are to be but four replicas
made from the original cast, which, of
course, enhances the value, deprecated in
the case of the "Merope" by the many
replicas Rogers has made of it, as indeed
he does of all his statues; in the case of
the "Nydia the duplicates amount to
nearly a hundred. To return for moment
to the "Saul; ;" connoisseurs say that in
strength and pose the statue compares
favorably as modern work with Michael
Angeles &" Moses" Under the gaslight
the figure is imposing to solemnity one
feels out of place and foolish with modern
dress and chattering speech. One is re-
minded of the effect on the awe-struck
barbarians during the first invasion Of
Rome, OF the bearded, silent Senators
seated in the Capitol. By gaslight, too,
the Fortuny sketch is seen at its best. 1t
is unvarnished, but the tints OF the turban
are as vivid as one imagines the pictures
by this much.tllked.ot artist would be.
The face is stoIid, yet not stupid as the
Arab faces often are. Mrs. Shillaber de-
signs having one of our local artists varnish
the picture for its better preservation and
effect. In the hall are several
,t-,pU-.- N r,p ags 4N-r, 1,r .,-r,
BY Mr.. Storys son, who inherits much OF
his father talent. a very beautiful fold
ing screen of two panels is attracting a
great deal of attention at one of the large
Japanese stores. 1t has the extrinsic in
terest OF having been desired by Lord
Rosebery, but not purchased because the
price was 81 800 and his Lordship would
give but 81 200. One may venture to say
that the Earl made mistake. The panels
are of cedar, about five feet by three.
They have been subjected TO the action of
running water, mingled with sand, so that
the softer parts OF the wood have been
smoothed away, while the grain of the
harder parts remains in slight relief. Upon
one OF the panels is lscquered the design of
a small gnarled cherry branch-every as
perity of the bark exactly reproduced in
high relief-and lighter twigs bearing a
prOfusion Of gold petaled cherry blossoms
a large hibiscus OF some pearly shell and
chrysanthemUm of the same material blend
with the design. On the other panel are
reeds in gold lacquer, an hibiscus OF ivory
the tssseiled pistll beautifully reproduced,
and in the corner bunch of grapes made
of disks of tortoise shell, beautifully
clouded. One who had seen the lacquer
applied said that it was the most laborious
work imaginable, put on drop by drop, the
lacquer itself being the sap of tree, to
which gold and other materials are added
applied with brush OF rat or rabbits hair,
and then rubbed down with a stone hardly
larger than a needles point. The tones of
color obtained in the finished leaves after
such a minute process are wonderful
There is a considerable amount OF enthus.
iasm over
TIE WALKING MATCH,
Iuasmuch as there are bulletins all over
the city, telling who Is ahead but there
was very small sprinkling of spectators
when l vent into the pavilion the other
night after the theater. There are rows Of
benches about three sides of the pavilion, 3
music stand II the middle OF the floor,
sawdust track about ten or eleven feet
wide, rallied off on the inner side, extends
around the hail. bounded in circumference
by the lowest tiers OF benches. At the
west end Of the building upright boards,
like cribbage boards On end, are in the care
of men who put in pegs TO mark the num-
Der Of laps made by each man. When
these amount to mile, nimble person
mounts a staging and places huge figures,
telling the number of miles made by each
man, opposite his name on a board. The
walkers were not very showily costumed,
nor was their walking very brisk and sim
envy. AIuldoons q" Unknown, who, by the
way, is perfectly well known to be a Chicago
walker named Dowley, or thereabouts,
wears red trunks and a white shirt; Harri-
man, a great long fellow with big stride,
who keeps swinging his arms as he goes,
wears red shirt and trunks with white
extensions and black buskins. Muldoon
himself, with his handsome figure encssed
in a rough frjezs Goa. thst his soul seems to