Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-28
GOSSIP OF THE TOWN.

4
distances of this continent, although he has
had a toIerably comprehensive experience
| of travelling in America by this time. On
| Thursday evening before the lecture to
Sew1ckley audience in the Presbyterian
Church he remarked: ''My manager, Major
Pond, is not the sort OF man to suit the
lecturer who wants to do business on
leisurely plan. He keeps you moving. Last
| night I concluded . lecture at Washington,
d. C., at $50 O'Clock, and at 10 o'clock 1 was
board a train bound for this place, which I
could only reach in time by making that
train. 1 declare 1 admire Major Ponds con-
tempt for distance, but it still scares me
when 1 find that am booked to lecture on
consecutive days at points from 500 to 1000
miles apart. My next stopping place is in
this neighborhood, according to Major
Ponds fguring-Brooklyr! 1 remember on
my first tour through this country Major
Pond wrote me in Chicago-he knew L was
travelling with trunk and satchel-advising
me to leave my trunk in Chicago and travel
in my satchel. as 1 should be in the neigh-
bOrhood of that city for week or two.
Well, took his advice and left the trunk at
my hotel. The first place l went to was Min.
neapolis and from there 1 had % hours
ride in the cars back to Detroit. They were
both strictly in Chicago's neighborhood, OF
course, according to American IDEAS but the
big jumps rather staggered me. 1 lectured
in Buffalo the next night, and slid over from
there to Cincinnati-still in the neishbor-
hood OF Chicago-and so it kept on until L
got thorough understanding of 'neighbor-
hood in the American sense"
Max OReIPs Personality.
In his latest book, and incidentally in
his lectures, Max O'Rell humorously COM
plains that newspapers have devoted more
space to his personality, his attire, and even
the trivialities of accent, physiognomy and
habit than to his lectures. This is not al.o-
gether to be wondered at, and 1t is largely
the penalty of possessing y deeply interest
ing personality, as well as the very rare fac
ulty of exhibiting character in all sorts of
ways, among others his attire. He relates
in the work mentioned above, GA French
man in America" how, in a certain Western
city, a paper gave Il minute account of his
appearance. and went into reportorial rapt-
ures over his hat. q brown felt travelling hat
Of the soft and squeezable sort. Altogether
the article about himself and his hat in par
ticular exceeded by many lines the report Of
his lecture, and Max O'Rell fell in with the
editors idea of news and sent him, with
witty note, the beloved brown hat. which
came, by the way, from famous London
halter, and undoubtedly was very dear to
the lecturer
eral rule the most becoming thing man can
wear. it certainly has something of the level
ing effect, and it does not smack of the mans
individuality SO much as the clothes man
wears for work or travel. This is true in
Max O'Rells case, but still even in the swal-
low-tail the French critic has distingate air
that would attract attention in any assem-
blage. The newspaper writer's would not
NIL so much space with catalogues of
his facial features and his apparel if
they did not invite it, he may be
dresses with good taste, but anyone who
meets him upon the cars or the streets in
his travelling toggery would not be in doubt
for a moment about his nationality. So it
fhOuoh
English with unusual distinctness and cor
rect pronunciation, his. tongue still be-
wrayeth his birthplace. 1t is constantly re-
marked Dy those who hear him lecture that
he is easier to follow than many platform
speakers to whom English is their native
tongue, and this is due to his careful phas-
tinge which fingers in his English is posi-
lively charming, and lends a congenial flavor
to his words as a Frenchman discoursing OF
things American. That he is not an orator,
as we understand it, does not detract at all
from his charm as a lecturer, whose Strong
est point is wit, and whose most impressive
sentences are wonderfully compressed, yet
pointed observations OF character, personal
and national
Whisper From Chicago.
-Pittsburg's big bill poster, Jake B.
Murray, has a very keen eye for great
many things besides dead walls and fences.
He has just returned from flying trip to
Chicago, and he said yesterday: Lord!
how those Chicago people do hustle! You
ought to see how they are making things
hum at the Worlds Fair grounds. 1t seemed
to me when looked in there the other day
that they had the best part of the buildings
complete. 1 didn't expect to get an idea of
what they would look like, but they've
erected the principal buildings, most of
them are under roof, and hundreds of men
are working "A hours day. They don't let
little commonplace thing like night inter
fere with them in the Windy City. The big
Masonic building down town. 25 stories high,
is finished, and they're still building sky-
scrapers on all sides, and laying plans for
more as fast as they can. It's q treat to go
to Chicago, if it does make stout man
breathe faster and think double-turn."
Gold Buttons Were a Hoodoo.
-"When we moved into our old store on
Sixth street the man who fixed it up divided
the ceiling into squares and put gilt buttons
in all the corners" said a well-known tailor
yesterdry. zone day a couple of country
men came in, and, though doubted from the
first glance their inclination to buy at any
price, I felt in duty bound to show them
some goods, when one of them said he
wanted suit of clothes. After they had
looked at several pieces of cloth and ad-
mired them, one Of them asked me what a
suit would cost, and when told HINT was
a merchant-tailor price and he had ready
made means-he turned to his compan on
and pointing to my ceiling he said: Il guess
he wants us to pay for all those gold buttons
in one suit of Clothes and then they walked
out"