Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-03-23
THE TOPICAL TALKER,


full Work by Gerome-The Value of Five
Letters-AIt Patrons and Nnture-A
Loyal sewickleynn-A Yellow Dog and
Other Trifes.
TWO THINGS will strike the plain layman
who examines the Hazeltne collection of
pictures now on exhibition in the Gillespie
gallery. One thing is that the reputation of the
painter Gerome is splendidly upheld by his
picture of the tigress and cubs in the moonlit
desert. and the other is that the reputation of
the painter Corot must have been gained by
efforts far superior to the miserable little daub
which bears his name in this collection.
There is a most extraordinary quality in the
Gerome, to which have alluded;
an atmospheric effect which can be felt as a
breath of cool air from a shady valley an
August day. l mean the air of that dreary
dreamy expanse of sand comes out of the pic
ture-and if you are not partial to tigers at lib
erty and nearby you may be excused If that
couchant beauty makes you feel u little ner-
vous. The beauty of the pale sky, in which the
stars brilIiancy is diminished by the flood Of
moonlight-the moon Is beyond the pictures
verge-the empurpled distance, make such
peaceful scene that the tiger starts out from
the foreground as surprise terrible and blaz
ing with color. 1t is Blakes tiger:
Tiger, tiger burning bright
In the forests of the night"
How many thousands of dollars are wanted
for that Gerome don't know. It is worth al
most any sum.
RUT the other picture, the Corot-where are
its merits? The streaked canvas is worth
many dollars, no doubt because C-o-r-o-t is
written in the lower right hand corner. The
poplars in the landscape look as if they were
drawn from the stiff and slightly conventional
works of art that come securely wrapped in
brown paper with the pink pigs and red horses
of the toy farmyard.
Nothing is too bad to sell in the portfolio of
a famous painter.
N another corner of the gallery one may sun
oneself upon a Venetian quay, and watch
the soft winds stir the yellow sails of the boats
upon the canal. There is the sharp, high light
of Italy in this picture. painted by one Santoro
and gay, colorful scene it is.
One who looked at the picture when did
he was prospective purchaser. and it was &C
cidental of course that breathed the same air |
with him-had little time for Venice. Speak |
ing of the sky flecked with putfs of white |
cloud, he said: Hes spoiled his sky with |
white" and passed on. Nature, as well as Mr.. |
Sanford, has a way Of spelling her skies with |
white. But then nature is not catering to rich |
they are.
ON the morning that the papers announced |
that Chicago had won the Worlds Fair |
little girl at Sewickley breakfast table asked: |
Papa, who's going to have the falr?"
"Chicago, my DEAR" he replied.
'Oh, Pm sorry" responded the child. "Why |
didn't they have it in Sewickley where every |
body could see it?'
Who can say why?
TWO Italians boarded a Fifth avenue cable
car in East Liberty the other day. One of
them carried small dog. yellow in color and
general characteristics. When the conductor
came around he collected five cents from one |
Italian and ten cents from the oLher who car
ried the dog. The two sons of the Sunny
South engaged in a furious conversation in
their own tongue at once.
Then the one who carried the dog called the
conductor to him: What for ten centa-he
hve?"
Five cents for the dog" said the conductor.
"Why you not tella me before, and 1 droppa
the dog before got on?'' was the Italians re-
ply. He was not fond of the dog to the extent
Of nickel. 1t Is not nice to be yellow dog,
anyhow
ON Cincinnati Southern train coming North
the other day, P1ttSburger observed
singular incident.
In the same car with HIM was an old man, who
oy his speech and gestures showed himself to
be upon the borderland between crankineSs and
insanity. He explained to his fellow passen-
,ers that he had sold piece of land to the Gin
,innati Southern for an annual pass to be issued
% him each year till he died. The pass was
here, sure enough. and the conductor vouch-
afed the information that the old fellow spent
most Of his time riding up and down tie road.
The intervals between some of the meal
tations this railroad are long, and at one of
he way stations boy with a basket of sand
yiches boarded the cars. He did good busi-
less, and among the first to invest in a sand
wich was tine aged crank. He managed to eat
lalf of 1t at least be fore the boy asked for the
en- cents due.
"Ten cents r' repeated the old man. II pay
or nothing on this road, young man; look at
his ~ and he flashed out the pass. The sand
yich boy argued and expostulated, but all in
7aIn. The train moved out with the old man
almly munching the last morsel of bread and
lam and waving the pass at the car window
or the benefit of the discounted boy.
HEpRITRN .T0HNS |