The morning call., 1893-11-05

Bohemian aspect of originality, which set
it apart from the mirrUred diDing-roOms so
common In the cafes and restaurants of
the gay capital, in which the good manners
of not staring al people directly 10 the face
are possible by staring at them quite as
satisfactorily in the mirrors. This room
had four mirrors, two in the center and
one at each end. From the ceiling de-
pended two huge candelabra. which
afforded abundance of light when the gar
cons applied the tapers on grand occasions,
but were usually only prophetic of illumi-
nation, for the sake of economy and in the
interest of Bohemians, who very fire.
quently had Eot sou TO pay their reckon
ing
The considerable space between the
mirrors was bespread with pictures of
scores o. styles and themes, not in frames
or hung on the walls at all, In the ordinary
sense, but literally painted on the paneling
and as much fixture as tho wood itself.
What projection they had from the walls
was obtained by devices of the brush easily
contrived by the ingenious. who had
woven therein little sprightly compost
tions, fanciful, impisb. roguish, jocular,
satIrical and farcical, ana INDUCED in
practical Jokes of artistic point at which
the initiated knew how to laugh and carry
Jump further In pranklshness.
This was the gallery of the Bohemians
who had fiouDdered so much into debt for
the esthetic leavening of an inartistie
world that they were hopelessly bank
rupt; and In order that they might not
feel the degradation of eating the bread of
idleness the sagaci0us Pichou required
them. when their debts began TO look
| ominous to dash off an ebauche on the
wall by way Of compensation. This rule
| the brotherhood of the brush respected
with an enthusiasm which would have de-
! served recognition in the Salon were 1t not
traditional taste to frOwn upon origi-
nality. Nj. Pichou, at least, was under no
delusion as to the value of the collection.
! 1t could not be sold at auction or trans
ferred to private buyers. but it attracted
to the Bleu de Ciel steady stream of GUS
| toners who were able to pay in silver and
! gold if not in wit. Had Beniface had his
way some of the. pictures in the gallery
would have been softened bit in the
twang OF their humor, for he figured him.
self therein tri1e promin emily, with a
| puffy, red face, nose deeply glazed with
purple, a fiustered expression, an exagger-
ated stomach and little handy legs.
"Pichou's Dream" In which the good
man was doing in an armchair. with the
ghosts of all the animals he had slain.
| boiled, grilled and roasted, holding All in
! Quisition upon his guilty conscience, with
black cat as the avenging ringleader,
was a conception worthy of the Dutch
painters, who would only have added a
| long pipe and fiagon of beer somewhere,
and might have omitted the green frog
astraddle his nose and reflected in his
! spectacles. But Pichou f0rgave that sally
when. the same artist depicted him chas-
! ing an incorrigible parasite downstairs,
| quite recOgn liable as gOrmandiZer who
feasted well and painted nothing. The
artists had left good deal of biography
and autobiOgra ply In these pleas
and so the Bleu de Cie enjoyed a profit
able celebrity among those who could
afford to dine derived from those who
could not.
On the eventful night the Hon. Joshua
Schuyler Shew and his jocund Bohe emian
guests arrived in rare spirits, and the
patron of art and friend of genius was
duly introduced to Cesare Pichou and de-
lvered an grafton for his benefit on the
ackno wleGged superiority of the French in
the kitchen, with the single exception OF
not beating America in porterbouse steaks
smoking from The grill, all OF which the
little man comprehended as if spoken by a
/ Greek. The Hon. Joshua presided over
| the gastronomic feats of six guests. OF
seven including Louis Guerin's spaniel,
which was unfailingly attentive to any
ton of game and the ''cuisses de gren-
ouilies en- fricassee de pouet," which we'll
bred CANNES do not appreciate.
Such a feast the Bleu do Ciel had not
| known for months. No Bohemian had
got nearer to it than dream of the brush,
which is about as comforting to the
stomach as the odor of roast beef to the
hungry. There were ten courses and over
thirty dishes between the oysters and the
dessert. ana four choice wines. white and
red, including champagne in generous
bumpers. Three hours flew past ere the
pineapples were sliced, and by that time
the volubility Of the company on art,
friendship, patriotism and the necessity of
ideals in life was prodlgious and instruc-
tive to the amused host on the vagaries OF
his guests. He had Peter Dinnie for
spokesman, but withou his assistance the
| gesticuations were eloquent ana lofty.
They're all gleig with their tongues
when the bottle goes around" remarked
Peter. ''but ye mamma judge the artist by
his amusement. He's serious enough at
work, and very serious when it's over and
he Gamma get anything for it but snivvles
and sneers from leecbes of dealers, who
cheat ye'out of 200 per cent of the price
and tell We how to mend your ain pictures