The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1888-09-19


L good deal Of stir vas occasioned
in local literary cfrcies yesterday by
the rumor thar Colonel James Russell
Lowell, the eminent poet. had made
up his mind 10 retire from literature
and 10 embark In the saloon business
In Boston We have not been able to
trace the ruTnoF 70 q source; some say
that Colonel Lowell has written letter
to one Of his friends OF the Union
League Club. wherein be announces
bis intention of abandoning poetry
and engaging in the more practical
business OF vending straight and
mixed drinks. We had a talk with
one OF the members OF the Union
League Club last evening. and be told
u that while be had ros seen any such
letter from Colonel Lowell, he would
not be al all surprised to hear that
Lowell had gone ont OF the poetry
business.
II have never read very much OF
Loweii's works, said he. II hare his
Aristocrat at the Breakfast Table and
some OF his fugitive pieces OF poetry,
but have never taken very much in
teresf in his writings. | am. as you
know. busy man. with little time for
the improvement OF my mind. When
! get an hour or two for reading take
up oniy the best authors. Shakespeare
is my favOrite poet, Mrs Braddon my
favurite novelist and Bill Nye INV
favorite humorist | have the COM
piete works of these master minds
bound uniformly in free calf.
I'VE are all aware. continued this
gentleman, that Colonel Russell has
been losing ground pretty fast during
the last two years. His writings are
not in 80 great demand as they used
10 be. He hurt his reputation severely
when he came out To Chicago in the
winter of iSs7 and read an old lecture
on the subject OF Richard Cpur de
Lion. The subject was 5Y no means
likely to appeal 70 the enthusiasm of
our wealth, our trade, and our fashion
We expected that he would whoop us
up something new and lively, and our
disappointment was turned to indig-
nation when We learned that the ad-
dress he gave US on that occasion was
| simply a rehash of a lecture he once
read before class Of pedantie gillies
at Edinburgh university. That ex-
| perienee in Chicago hurt Lowell ire
| parahly. He has been going down hin
ever since.
But how does he happen to engage
in the saloon business -
The saloon business, said our
| friend. j. what Boston notable in
yariahiy comes TO sooner or later.
can't explain why Il u, but. Beyerthe-
less, 80 IL Is that when a Boston favor
lite wearies OF the profession he first
engaged in, he drifts thereirom surely
| into the liquor trade John J.. Sulii-
van Is, perhaps. the most conspicuous
illustration we could cite. After
achieving universal fame BY the dex-
ferify. power and torcefuIness OF his
talents, he was content to abandon the
sphere in which he had won imper-
ishahie glory and devote himself to the
humber pursuits OF Gambrinus and
OF Bacchus
There are some people who sheer
az the saloon business, continued our
friend, but they are generally igpor-
ant folks who don know what they re
talking about. You viii find that
many 81 our most prominent pFacti-
cal statesmen either have been or are
saloon-keepers. and Il venture To say
that there's not a page IN the elite di-
rectoFy Of Chicago that doesn't con-
tain the name OF \ man who at some
time or other tended bar for a living.
When an ex-president Of the United
States has been interested in the sa-
| loon business, i is time. / think. for
society 20 quit railing al the liquor
traffic. Now, ! fancy tina: II Col.
Lowell really buys out or starts a "a
loon in Boston he viii do q successful
business. lie j. an unusually intelli-
gent man, and being read deeply in
the works OF Anacreon. Horace.
Father Prout and other hacchantes,
he j. qualified 20 weave q pleasing
amount Of poetic expression and elias
sic flavor into whatever Iih&tion he
may be called uTon 20 compound and
to aisreri<e