Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1892-12-31

in my mind to write you letter,
but
"How the subject there may gang,
Let time and chance determine,
1t may perhaps turn out sang,
Perhaps turn out sermon"
Since leaving Clarksville in mid
summer, / have been over goodly
portion OF the Old Dominion, taking
in Washington, Mount Vernon and
many other beautiful places, but /
think an account of my visit to
Amelia Rieves will be OF much in
terest to your readers especially as
the eyes OF the literary world have
once been turned upon her, by the
recent publication of barbara Der
ing" The late magazines and pa
pers are discussing this book, SO
criticism from me is out OF order.
Besides | have not read it. l did
read the story to which it is Sc
quel, "The Quick or the Dead" and
1t impressed me as "a bit of literature
to be handled only with the tongue,
but as l sat 10 the elegant drawing.
room OF Castle Hill, and looked at
its distinguished authors, the old
French proverb Honi soft q,ti mol q
pense came into my mind. Con-
trary to many criticisms, l found her
a most refined, lady-like and charm
ing woman, and saw nothing about
her suggestive of ''standing on her
head on top of haystack," i" and the
many masculine qualities with
which the press has endowed her.
She spoke, herself, of the various
pen portraits that had been drawn OF
her, saying how untrue to
nature they were; that they
were so many pet spooks,
with which she amused herself and
that she considered herself some
thing of philanthropist from the
fact that many poor, balf-starved
reporter had made a comfortable fee
by writing mean things of her. This
was not said in sarcasm either; those
who know her will say she
is the soul of charity. Her
face certtinly indicates this
grace, as well as many other
strong and admirable traits of heart
and mind. None of her pictures do
justice. While they show her ex-
quisitely moulded features, they lack
the expression of s0ulu, intelligence
and kindness that beam on you in her
presence but even these charms are
eclipsed by an indescribable some
thiug-that which noveli,ts call "the
spiritule." She is decidedly classi-
cal in appearance, and is a genius of
high order. She was writing Barba-
ra Dering at the time of my visit,
but said she gave only her leisure
moments 10 it, devoting most of her
time to art. She brought her mas
ter, La Sa, from Paris, and to use
her own words, "is working like Il
little dog" Another expression was:
81 am studying art like a man."
She meant by this that she was not
satisfied with the superficial daubing
that is the height of ambition TO the
average woman. But there is moth.
ing mediocre about Amelie Rieves.
/ asked TO see some of her pictures.
She answered.: II don't make pic
lures" | am trying to master the
fundamental principles of art. How
ever, she showed me some of her
studies. One was of her private
secretary. Now, girls, you hopeful
young artists of Clarksville, what
do yeu think of it? Amelie Rieves,
after studying art all her life, both
in America and abroad, does not
think herself competent to make a
picture. By the way, she told me
that our own dear Miss Eva Smith
was the only American teacher she
ever had. She spoke in very COM
plimentary terms of Miss Smiths
ability and thoroughness, both in
music and art.
One of Mrs. Chandler's greatest
charms is her perfect simplicity. AS
sat in the drawing room awaiting
her entrance l expected to see a
great, stately woman sweep in,
awing me with her mag
nificence and imposing manners.
l was agreeably surprised when a
petite little blonde appeared in a
simple walking suit, receiving me
in the unaffected, cordial way that
bespeaks really good breeding. Dur
ing our conversation she remarked
that she never saw any callers, that
she had grippe seventeen times and
that it made hole in one of her
lungs. A recent paper stated that
she was threatened with rheumatism
and had gone TO Warm Springs for
relief, which / sincerely trust she
may get. The rumor of an estrang-
ment between her and Mr.. Chandler
is no doubt false, as she mentioned
him in very affectionate way, say
Ing his pet name for her was Amy"
We received further hospitality at