The morning call., 1894-10-29

of speech, and when he talked it was
almost like reading a book to hear him.
In answering questions particularly the
stream of his remarks flowed steadily on.
with here and there dramatic touch that
thrilled the listeners. Occasionally Gen
eral Wallace threw in humorous remark.
and the beneficent twinkle which then
beamed through his glasses showed that
there was a keen sense of humor behind
his quiet manner
His glasses are just the irifle that would
make it an even guess whether the general
was a soldier or a scholar by profession
Without them his heavy iron-gray mus
tGche and soldlsrly bearing would bespeak
the man who has seen much military SER
vice, but the glasses are of the type worn
by professors, and taken in conjunction
with General Wallace's neglIge style of
wearing his hair and his slow, thoughtful
manner ;hey might well leave a stranger
in doubt as to their wearer's real purSuitS
in life.
what it is. L should have been surprised
to find it other than it is, for the country
is the realization of all that bad pictured
it," Coming from the author of 'BeD Hur"
this statement was not particularly sur
priSing. for every one knows that General
Wallace wrote one of the most realistic
descriptions of the Holy Land that the
world has ever seen before be had ever
visited the country. AFTER ben Hur" was
published" he said yesterday, when ques-
TONED on the subject, 81 went to the Holy
Land to see if the local coloring OF the
book needed any correction. There was
nothing to change; indeed. / remember
having a curious experience on one occa-
sion.
81 had ridden through Bethany to Mount
Olivet and turned to walk back 10 Jerusa-
lem, taking the path that Christis supposed
to have taken. About half way back
stopped and looked round, remembering Q
that at this point / had planted, in Ben
Hur,' a large, white rock. What was my
amaZement to see the rock exactly as
had described it. After that / walked
down the valley of the Kedron, which is
a ravine made by floods, and reached the
well, when l got the keeper to go down
and bring me some of the tangled vines
that grow inside. Alter paying him
] looked toward the city. There was the
spot where had placed Ben aur's mother
and sister after Tney had left the city on
account of the leprosy, at the entrance tt
the tombs, and there, just as 10 my de-
scription, were the black mouths of the
tombs."
'Do you think there was anything o.
second-sight in the coinciderce?" wa:
asked.
"a mere accident" replied General w al
lace carelessly. "But it die make m,
think of :he Brahminical doctrine o.
ON pcODlc Ddfo
brances OF former state of being"
The author of "Ben Hur" then told how
he had slowly accumulated the knowledge
necessary for writing his great book By
making library of all the books he could
find on the customs, dress, manners and
topography of the Holy Land. 'If in
ben Hur' / had depended on tourist!
memory, l am satisfied should have made
more mistakes. The subject of that bool
has one peculiaTity-there are so many
people ln the world conversant with thu
subject that if ! had made mistakes
should have been exposed right and left.
Il am sorry that L have not kept thai
library" be said regretfully. 81 have lem
some OF the books and given away others.
so that il would be impossible to collect
them all together again. All the books
used for the Prince of India | have kept
though. and some day they will no doub
be considered an interesting collection"
1t took General Wallace five wears II
write ben Hur," the time, however. beinf
given less to composition than 10 examina.
tion and research. After reading sBsr
Hur' Garfield said he would send me a,
Minister to Constantinople to write an
other book. / had never visited that cit;
previously. The Prince of India? Yes
in that work ] depended more on persona
observation than in any of my othel