The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-12-03
T-g.,ssa1F s. y IF: f@s.
NN"-s'" 49, se'> J &y
Mr.. WHISTLER AND HIS AUTOGRAPH.

With the exception of continental sketch
ing tours, more or less prolonged, Mr..
Whistler has made London his home for
many years. Here his brother DR.. Whistler
lives, a leading surgeon and with a wide
practice, and here are the friends and
haunts endeared to him by long association.
He has always resided in that part of Lon
don called Chelsea, a section of the city
lying southwest of Piccadily and along that
lower sweep of the Thames where the
Chelsea embankment beauties the river.
The street is short thoroughfare leading
down to the embankment and the river end
Of it is one of the most picturesque spots in
London. The houses, though varying in
size and tint and style, appear to have been
built with view to given result, blending
into a form aud color with a compactness
that is charming. Here is the famed white
house where Mr.. Whistler lived so long.
now tenanted by Harry Quilter. editor of
the UnirersdL RerieiO whom he ridicules
and riddles in public print on every pos,
slble occasion. He insists that he has buried
AIRY, as he chafingly styles him, at the
point of his pen, but that the corpse lacks
sufficient comprehension to appreciate its
deplorable position. The feud between the
two near neighbors is a laughable one in
that the artist steadfastly refuses to recog
nize the journalist as a living actually.
The Tower house. No. rs lite street, where
ing in the street. 1t contains four fats all
with studios attached. Mr.. Whistler's is
two flights up, being in the third from the
ground. 1t comprises spacious studio,
dining room and bed room and ante-cham-
Der, with kitchen and servants, rooms above.
The whole interior is flooded with wealth
of golden colors, two tints of pale yellow
which blend harmoniously together and
in injunction with the yellow hangings
create the effect of summer sunshine.
Against this background, blue and white
china, ferns and quaint old mahogany rest
so perfectly that at glance one feels what
marvellous master of color planned the
whole.
Mr.. Whistler can be of any age. At all
times he has the vlvacity and snap of twenty
five He is always on the qui vive, buoy
ant, alert and brimful of an eager energy.
No man living ever had a greater flow of
animal spirits. The very antithesis Of the
Dilletante he derdes who, "forced to seri-
business that emptiness may be hidden dare
not smile, he himself, Sin fulness of heart
and head is glad, and laughs and is happy
In his strength and is merry at the pomp-
Gus pretensions the solemn Stiffness that
surrounds him." Whatever life may have
held for him of disappointment the public
has not been invited to partake. Out
wardly he is ever the same, genial and
lrrepressible. 1t is hard to say how old he
is and it really doesn't matter. In the mar
rage register of the fashionable church of
st. Mary Abbott's, Kensington. his years
were indicated by the words, Full Age"
II any can translate them into plain num-
erals they will know how many summers
the great impressionist has seen. In height
he IS about s feet inches and sparingly
built. His face is long and ornamented
with moustache and imperial, that tend
10 conceal the share of the mouth. A square
chin and still squarer forehead are crowned
with mass of dark hair, touched with
gray, slightly curled, and with one white
lock carefully brushed back in an erect
position straight over the center. pair
OF shaggy eyebrows beetle over penetrating,
deep-set eyes of gray, that throw every
thlng else, even the straight, finely modelled
nose, into the background. One quick turn
OF them completes a sentence. Another flash
lays bare the heart of a joke without the
need Of words
Mr.. Whistler's laugh is as celebrated as
his white lock. The resonant Hail Hah
rings out like a bell, regardless Of place or
tlme In street dress he looks not unlike a
gentleman Of the old school. This impression
Is heightened by a very fat brimmed silk
hat uniformly worn low down on the fore
mead that the white lock may not be disar
ranged. His frock coat is Of a dark, quiet
pattern, buttoned close, with black over
coat OF similar irreproachable style He
wears nothing loud or pronounced and no
Jewelry Of any kind. In his apartments,
minus his hat and overcoat, the oldfash-
Toned effect referred TO is lessened, If it does
not entirely disappear. He then, so far as
costume goes, looks not unlike hundreds or
other well dressed gentlemen who live within
easy call Of the West End tailors. When
walking he swings in one Of his slender
nands long, thin wand that can be termed
cane only by courtesy.
:, AS Tor the personality Of the man, which
Is vastly more important than the mere
accident Of dress, nerve and grit are written
al over him. in the set lines of his deter
mined face, his springy elastic walk and the
precision OF his every movement. / should
say that his chief characteristics were
microscopic analysis, intense power OF
concentration, unbounded perseverance,,
magnetic qualities of a rare order and a
confidence and self-assertion limitless as the
horizon. Mr.. Whistler now prints all
ms etchings himself, having long ago
determined never to sell another plate nor
permit one to pass out Of his immediate
control
Mr.. Whistler is not rich man, the reverse
rather. How far this result may be due 10
lack OF proper management IL Is not
necessary TO inquire. The fact remains
mat he has never reaped large pecuniary
pront from his art. doubt whether he
ever received big price for a picture In