Omaha daily bee., 1889-07-14

/ vi fnCmOTI anu Nue CnNr1CtGr1StlCS oil
| an old-time Washington street dealer in
| dry goods on very limited scale. Mr..
| Gilbert had a coat In which he intended
to enact a certain part,IiAwas q suitable
\ garment for this purpose, with the ex-
| ception, as n friend suggested, of the
buttons, which were a. cloth of the
same color. The friends suggestion,
with which Mr.. Gilbert agreed, was
that button OF a brighter hue should
be used, and OF different material.
The comedian then remembered that
some twenty years before he had seen
button of this kind in the shop OF
| Quincy Tufts, that quaint, old fashioned
| dealer who was never known to be "oI /"
Of any article which had ever been In
his stock. So Mr.. Gilbert went to Mr..
Tufts shop-and queer little place it
was. las every old-time Bostonian knows
and instead OF asking his friend, the
proprietor, for what he wanted. trusted
to his memory to locate 1t. Putting
his hand on an upper shelf in the band
box OF the shop, he took from under
pile of clothes a package which actually
contained the very buttons lie was in
| want of.
The English papers state that Mr..
| Gladstone, who will be eighty years old
| on the 29th of next December, is in
the enjoyment Of excellent health, and
is able to fell trees for exercise, with
much of his former vigor. This state
ment has been copied all over the
| United States, as IL it were something
| remarkable that a man who has reached
Mr.. Gladstone's age should be able to
indulge in any Pctive exercise. We
have in Washington many gentlemen,
says the Washington Press, who are
older than the great English states
| and who alart hpfh m mentally
and physically. Ex-Associate Justice
William Strong, of the supreme court,
is one of them. Judge Strong is in his
eighty-second year, but gives no indi-
cation that he is physically iniirm. He
is about five feet ten in height, and is
rather slight His hair is snow white,
his eye blue, and his face cleanly
shaven, with good healthy color in it.
He walks erect, and his step is as firm
and elastic as man many years
| younger. Judge Strong does not
initiate Mr.. Gladstone in the use OF
| the AK, but he is as equally good
| pedestrian, and to his love of walking
he attributes very largely his good
health and cheerful temperament.
Booth and Barrett taught little les
son of modesty the other night. They
appeared at the Broadway theater, New
York, and announced their desire to
! see "The Oolah." Manager Frauk San
| ger found that the private boxes were
all filed and that the floor was also
monopolized. In despair he looked at
the balcony-the plebeian balcony-and
informed Messrs. Booth and Barrett
that the only seats in the house at their
disposal were, he was sorry 70 saw, in
the balcony. ''The ;balconys good
enough for me-" said Booth, with
smile. The tragedians took the places
and stayed through the performance.
Later in the evening q tolerably we'll
known actor presented himself at the
Broadway, with his staress, and asked
for box. Mr.. Sanger offered balcony
seat. "No, Frank" was the reply. 81
am not so anxious to see your show as
all that. / don't mind staying through
The Oolah' in box, but I'll be hanged
If I'll make an exhibition of myself in
the gallery" er
| The French papers are telling how
the poet Pierre Jean de Beranger hap
pened to write his last song. Some
time after Beranger had bade active
lite and his muse good-by n cake baker
called upon hum at his villa in Passy.
The cake baker was about to be married
and he wished the poet to write little
| wedding song for him. Beranger re-
| fused fatty to do it. The cake baker
was terribly disappointed by this re-
fusal and shed four or five simple French
tears as he apologized for his presump-
tion in asking Beranger to write poetry
| about him. Four weeks later Duke N.
Travelled some ninety miles to impor-
tune the poet to write song for his
wedding, which was to take place
shortly. Beranger demurred. The
duke was persistent. Eventually Be-
ranger said: 81 will write a song on
two conditions; first, that YOU give the
poor Of Passy 600 francs, and Sec
ond, that you give our cake baker
600 francs more for a wedding present.
! hurt the poor fellows feelings re-
Gently by refusing to write song in
honor of his marriage" The duke re-
| piled that one of Beranger's songs was
dearer to him than 1920 francs, and
| promised to fulfill the poets conditions.
| Beranger's last song was sung at the
dukes wedding, and the cake baker of
Passy got 900 francs the next day.
The thousands of American readers
of Punch will regret to hear OF the Sc
rious illness of Mr.. Charles Keene, who
for over thirty-five years has enter
tanned the admirers of that journal by
his comic drawings. 1t is said that for
many years Mr.. Keene endeavored in
vain to make headway with the propri-
| etOrS oil Puncn, DuC was met at every
point by the opposition OF John Leech,
who was at that time the most powerful
member of the staff. Young Keene
persisted, however, establishing him
self in a garret for a studio, directly
opposite the Office of the paper. His
work made its way for itself, and he
lived to become one of the most famous
OF all the Punch artists. 1t is feared
that his work will not long be seen in
the columns of the journal. This en-
nifty of Leech's toward Keene was, in
deed, a very unusual thing. Gentle
hearted, kind to the last degree to
young artists, his steady opposition can
scarcely be explained, unless attributed
| to Jealousy, which seems hardly reason
able under the circumstances. One
other cause may be suggested, however:
| Leech's father was a man OF humble
origin, and kept a coffee house on Lud-
gate Hill, but his son was we'll edu-
Gated with Thackeray, at the, Charter
house. 1t is said, h6Yevere that one
time Keene good -naturedly pbked fun
| at the artist, which he. resente most
| bitterly for time. oeop
Governor Green, Of New Jersey, en-
gagged the services OF, d Juvenile boot
| black at Trenton the other day, and as