Smyrna times., 1891-06-03
THE SUPERSENSITTVE.
MEN WHO THINK THEY ARE CARlCA-
TURED BY AUTHOR AND ACTOR.

sothern's Experience with Count joan
nes-A Duel with Cannons Proposed.
People Who We're Unconsciously Of
Tended by WilIsie Collins.
One Of the most popular entertainers
the world has seen suffered greatly, ow-
ing to the persistence with which people
would see ikenesses to themselves in
the creations of his fancy. If he chose
the name Of Brown, Jones or Robinson
for one of his characters, some real cog
nomen wrote to him, complaining bitter
ly 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 So
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 existence
even. Each Of them firmly believed that
he was the original of acertain character.
sOTHERN AND JoANNEs.
SOthern again; what a curious expe-
rience was his! The actor, when play
ing in America as FtEaltamont in ''The
Crushed Tragedian," one morning was
called upon by an interviewer, who
told him that Count JOannes, once an
actor of the old school of which Sothern
made fun, had brought suit to stop the
| performance Of the piece on the ground
| that the comedians makeup mahgned
him and burlesqued his identity. Soth-
ern thought the affair was a 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 kilograms and postcards from
this time on forever. Do about it? Why,
l shall appear, of course"
Presently another reporter was an
nounced. Sothern again professed never
to have heard of the suit brought against
him.
Chow would you fight it if the count
should challenge you" asked the press
man.
Il should prefer the date to be the 1st
of April, and although 1 haven't very
fully considered the question, think
the weapons should be cannon. Yes, on
reflection, 1 am sure 1 should insist on
those cannon that discharge 40 shots a
minute He should sit upon Oneof those
engines and I 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 published
under startling headlines on the follow
ing morning. Count Joannes, however,
was terribly in earnest, though, Of
course, nothing came Of his suit except
capital advertisement, of which full
advantage was taken.
ANGERED BY wIIKIE COLLINS.
OF modern authors Willde Collins de-
cidedly had the most remarkable series
Of encounters with the class of people
who identify themselves with purely i'm
aginary personageS. "a bouFgeOise of
Paris" he himself has told us, reading
The Woman in White in 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 OF pistols to me, as the chal-
lenged person. Information on which
he could rely had assured him that I med
itated journey to Paris early in the en-
suing week A hostile meeting might,
in such circumstances, be easily ar
ranged" Arrived in Paris, Wilkie Col
Inns looked for-his honorable opponent in
vain.
Again Mr.. Collins invested charac-
ter who was so careful about the guam
tity of his food that he weighed it in
little scales at table. Shortly after the
publication Of the novel a gentleman
called upon the author.
'You have no right, sir, to caricature
me" exclaimed the caller to the aston
ished novelist; 81 weigh my food in lit
tie scales, sir. Here they are, sir.
always carry them about with me by
the advice of my physician; but is that
any reason why 1 should be held up to
ridicule, sir?"
And the gentleman refused 10 be paci-
fed, though Mr.. Collins protested that
he had never before heard OF such q
habit. On another occasion reader OF
'Ar1nadale" called upon him and ND
braided him for putting his house into
print. The description, it is said, was
exact, although the popular writer had
never seen the place. -Cassell's Saturday
Journal