Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-04-20
DoRE AND MANHOOD.
How the Artist Sketehed a Gallow
Scene for the Hangman.


How the Artist Sketehed a Gallows
Scene for the Hangman.
1t is well known, says the Pail Nal
Budget that, great as was Dore's reputa-
ton in France, it was UNNECESSARILY
greater in England, where his smallest
works were eagerly sought after, and his
larger pictures were permanently eXhib-
tied. He was, therefore, naturally very
fond of England, and frequently visited
London for heightened periods, occupying
always the same rooms at the Langham
Hotel.
One morning in the year 1876 one of the
walters informed him that a stranger was
waiting to see him. He would not give
his name, but begged to assure the painter
that he would not regret granting the
desired interview. DOre thereupon
ordered his visitor to be shown
in, when a small gentleman with some
what disordered hair, a bristly mOustache,
greenish eyes, and a face wonderfully like
that of a cat, bowed himself into the room.
''ST," he began, Il am great admirer
of your talent, and | am very desir-
GUS of obtaining from you a drawing rep
Fesenting me in the act of performing my
official duties. / only ask for a few strokes
of your pencil, and L am willing to pay
you $50 for them" ''With great pleas
ure," replied the artist; "WhOm NAV /
have the pleasure of addressing?" The
other answered, with an air of conscious
pride: 81 am Mr.. MarwOOd, Her Males
ty's haneman." Dore's first movement
was one of scarcely concealed disgust;
but his curiosity to follow the matter fur
Their got the upper hand, and he assured
his strange visitor that he was at his dis
pOsal. ''In that case," replied Marwood,
4 mi,
to hang Henry Wainwright, the man who
cut woman in pieces at Whitechapel,
and whose condemnation you probably
read in the papers," A meeting was ar
ranged for the following morning, and
with hearty shake of the hands they sep
arated.
DOre was punctual to his appointment,
and when all was over returned wildly
impressed by the terrible spectacle he had
witnessed. He FASTENED to transfer the
scene to paper while the impression
was still fresh in his memory, and set to
work to sketch, with all his well-knOWn
nerve and power, the prison yard in the
pale light Of early morning, with the fatal
shed, within which was perceived the
cold and running moose awaiting its vic
tim. From a side door the grim procession
was seen approaching; at its head Mar
wood, drawn up to the fHll height of his
diminutive stature, his eyes lighted up by
an almost satanic glare, and carrying a
number of straps; behind him, warder
with the cap used to conceal the distorted
features of the unhappy man at the last
moment. Then, supported by the clergy
man, followed the condemned man, death
ly pale, with drawn and haggard features,
walking mechanically to his doom. In the
background were the high walls Of the
prison, throwing their dark shadows on
the ground. The entire scene, in fact,
was portrayed with vivid reality impos-
sible to describe. q
Marwood, on coming for his sketch next
day, was delighted beyond measure with
the artists work, and promptly drew out
from his pocket the stipulated price.
Dore, however, would not accept any
money from him, and begged Inn to for
ward the amount to the French hospital.
MarwOod kept the picture i'll his possess
sion for some years. But at length, at a
time when work was slack with him y,
he was induced to part with it for { IS.
''EEXecutiOn a Londres" was again
brought to the hammer at DrOuOt's auc-
ton mart, strange to say, on the very day
of Marwood's death, when it only fetched
G12. and passed into unknown hands.