The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-10-25

Oh Inc WnOlo Is OIo u uuO IuOSU interesting
persons, If not tho most charming, that he
ever met.
you are able to make a fortune honest
ly," said Superintendent Byrnes to Hun
cry Joe'' just before he delivered this no
torious man to the courts for trial on a
charge Of bunkoing an unsuspecting rural
politician who paid a visit to New York.
For" continued the superintendent, "any
mar who has the ability to fool Oscar Wilde
and to bunko him has ability not only to
make a living honestly, but to make a for
tune, and when you get out Of your present
strait / would advise you to turn your at
tention to something that is honest"
Mr.. Wilde says that the knowledge of
human nature, the art Of perfect approach
of men SO as to inspire confidence, the
capacity to play upon the weaknesses
of human nature SO as to make them serve
a dishonest purpose, which was displayed
by Hungry Joe' in that encounter which
Mr.. Wilde had with him, is a capacity
which a comparatively small number of
men possess, and now that Hungry Joe'
has been captured, has been placed behind
prison bars, Mr.. Wilde is anxious to see
him and have n talk with him.
Oscar Wilde comes here early in the win
ter with the purpose Of lecturing and Of
studying certain forms Of genteel vice, or
what he calls the higher art of criminality.
Whether he expects to make use of this as
part Of the material for a new play or
whether he has in mind a novel ~cosnopoli-
tan in its studies, such as he said when he
was last here he hoped at some time to
write, is not known.
Wilde is II much Weather man than he
was when, after skillful advertising Of him
self as an eccentric, he cam to the United
OA& 1@v.>~ IN "a II -,,- .Al.
him a reputation of being an effeminate
New York a week before the set which he
met discovered that he was only playing u
part; that he was as much amused at the
impressions which his dress, affectation
and speech caused as anybody else could be;
that he was IL very jolly man of the world,
whole souled, good natured, anxious to see
life, and When with congenial companions,
who were then most lively fellows, was
quite able to hold his own with them in the
gentle pleasures in which they engaged.
1t was only when he put On his velvet
knee breeches and black silk stockings,
stuck a lily into the buttonhole of his coat
and walked with languid air upon the lee
ture platform to deliver his lecture, which
was called "a too too address," that it was
revealed that all Of these things were only
a llIJlC dCUllS "hlCu Aul ScTVtu W duVGT-
.tise him we'll and to fill his purse.
1t was revealed here that he was a very
keen business man, and no person ever
anne from Europe, excepting perhaps
Dickens, to entertain Americans upon the
platform, who was more shrewdly adver-
tised or moro ably handled. He took back
to Europe quite a sum of money, and hav-
ing played his part as al aesthetic long
enough suddenly attracted attention anew
to him by going to the other extreme and
becoming q pronounced man Of tho world,
without Alterations, and with all the man
nerlsms of q keen and hard dealing bust
ness a w
1t was then understood that Oscar Wilde
had learned the art of self advertisement
which so well serves a person who desires
to enter certain literary fields. In London,
where his family is we'll known and where
their social standing is excellent, because
they belong to the aristocracy, Oscar
Wilde's brother, whom everybody calls
Willie, and who married Mrs. Frank Leslie
only to be divorced from her soon after,
was regarded as intellectually the more
brilliant Of the two. IF this brother had
the same keen business sense, the same
perseverance and the same steady purpose,
combined with the art of keeping himself
In the public eye which characterize Oscar
Wilde, he would probably nave been the
more successful of the two.
Oscar Wildc's purpose was to gain fame
for himself and u great fortune as we'll as
q playwright, and having written himself
up to the top rank Of those who make
plays he looked forward to the time when
in %pecuniary Independence he would be
able to write a series of novels modelled
somewhat upon the scheme ofs Balzac,
which was to present the human comedy
rs it appeared to him.
1t was a long struggle for Mr.. Wilde. but
at last with two plays he conquered and is
now esteemed the most brilliant If not tho
most profound and true to human nature
Of the English dramatists. His characters
are superficial, but his stories are dramatic,
and his dialogue is witty, although it is a
labored and supercilious wit.
Upon his visit to this country Mr.. Wilde
will be received by one or two of the New
York clubs, one-the Lotus-having enter
tanned him when he was here before, and
he will also receive some distinguished So
cial courtesies, for he has met some of
those who esteem themselves social leaders
OF this country in the best drawing rooms
In London. 4. j. EDWARDS.
This United States has 242 life saving sta.