The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1890-11-13
THIN-SKINNED PEOPLE.
Men Who Think Themselves Carl
catured by Authors and Actors.
Sothern's Romantic Experience with tho
Count Joannes-A Frenchman De-
mands Satisfaction from will!o
Collins--Other Curious Cases.


Collins--Other Curious Cases.
One of the most popular entertainers
the world has seen, says Cassell's Satur-
day journal, suffered greatly owing to
the persistence with which people would
see likenesses to themselves in the crea-
tions of his fancy. If he chose the name
of Brown, Jones or Robinson for one of
his characters, some real cognomen
wrote to him, complaining bitterly
against his 'satirizing a class" and
then pointed out certain of their dis
tinctive peculiarities which were, they
alleged. burlesqued.
On the other hand, If he invented, as
he thought, an uncommon name, some
body wanted to know how it was he Sc
lected him for ridicule. Why, asked
the indignant writer, did not the enter
tainer choose some common name, such
as Brown, Jones or Robinson, and not
that borne by him? 1t was useless to
point out to such people that the enter
tainer had never heard of their exist
ence even, each of them firmly believed
that he was the original of o certain
character.
Sothern again; what a curious exper-
fence was his The actor, when play
ing in America as Ftzaltamont in Tho
Crushed Tragedian," one morning was
called upon by an "interviewor," who
| told him that Count Joannes, once an
actor of the old school of which Sothcru
made fun, had brought suit to stop tho
| performance of the piece on the ground
that the comedian makeup naligned
him and burlesqued his identity. Soth-
ern thought the affair was joke, but
when the reporter assured him it was
serious, he said:
'If have to go down to that court to
show cause, by George! pity the man
that brings me. I won't let him rest
while his worried life clings to him. He
shall get telegrams and postcards
from this time on for ever Do about it?
Why, shall appear, of course"
Presently another reporter was an
nounccd. Sothern again profcsscd never
to have heard of the suit brought against
him.
GLOW would you fight it if tho Count
should challenge you?" asked the press
man.
81 should prefer the date to be the 1st
of April, and, although l haven't very
| 1ully cO1lSltltr'N IHt NluNSIIOilp CLlA14iN
the weapons should be cannon. Yes, on
reflection, | am suro | should insist
upon those cannon that discharge no
shots minute. lie should sit upon one
of those engines and l upon another,
and we should continue to discharge
them until there should be no remnant
Of either Count or Sothern."
All this, and much more, was pub
lished under startling headlines on the
following morning. Count Joannes,
however, was terribly in earnest, though,
of course, nothing came of his suit ex-
cept capital advertisement, Of which
full advantage was taken.
OF modern authors, Willlie Collins
decidedly had the most remarkable Sc
ries of encounters with the class Of peo-
pie who identify themselves with purely
imaginary personages "a bourgeois OF
Paris,' he himself has told us, reading
The Woman in White in a French
translation, wrote to say that he had
flung the book to the other end of the
room on discovering that Fosco was an
absolutely perfect likeness of himself
He naturally insisted on receiving salts
faction for this insult, leaving the
choice of swords or pistols to me, as the
challenged person. Information on.
which he could rely had assured aiaI
that neditated journey to Paris early,
in the ensuing week. A hostile meet.
ing might, in such circumstances, be
} easily arranged" Arrived in Paris,
Wilkie Collins looked for his honorable
opponent in vain.
Again Mr.. Collins invented o charac-.
ter who was SO careful about the guam
tity of his food that he weighed it in lit
tie scales at table. Shortly after the
publication of the novel gen sleman
called upon the author.
You have no right, sir, to cariaat ture
mel" exclaimed the caller to the asto. u
ished novelist. "Iweigh my food in lit
tie scales, sir. Here they are, sir. al
ways carry them about with me by the
advice of my physician, but is that any
reason why should be held up to ridi-
Guile, sir?'
And the gentleman refused to. be paci-
fed, though Mr.. Collins protested that
he had never before heard of such a
habit. On ano ther occasion reader of
"Armadale" called upon him and up
braided him for putting his house into
print. The description, it is said, was
exact, although the popular writer had
never seen the place.