The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-06-23
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
? STORY OF A HAUNTED WIND
WHERE THE BREAKER-LINED COAST STRETCHES AFFAIR"
Q BY EMMA FRANCES DAWSON.
oO-OoOoOOOOOOo O-O-oO-Oooooo-o-

"Windmills, their uncouth gesticula-
tons, their air gigantically human. as of a
creature half alive, put spirit OF romance
into the tamest landscape"
A square, strong tower at the corner of
Pierce and Union streets strikes the i'm
pressionist with awe however bright the
day may be.
1t is the passionate note across the scene,
as Peter describes the messenger of death
in the last of Loves Labor Lost" The
fateful note, ever heard through fantastic
music of Brahms and Dvorak, marked as
a blow implacable and merciless. A phrase
in what medieval grammarians called
Ionic minor tetrameter, said by Bishop
Adhelm to be fitted for drawings and bel
lowings, and its theme is Terror and PITY,
Pure Tragedy" All passers-by are not
aware of it because, as Mendes says, there
are people who are born mummies. The
grove of Monterey cypress which sur
rounds the deserted mill does not hint to
them,
Trees, and the menace of night
1 found it during solitary walk and
stopped long in delight at the crossroads,
recalling Stevenson's words:
"Some places speak distinctly. Certain
dank gardens cry aloud for murder; GER
tain old houses demand to be haunted
certain coasts are set apart for shipwrecks.
Other spots again seem to abide their des-
! tiny, suggestive and lmpenetrable, mich
| ing mallecho. But you need not
! tell me-that is not all; there is some
story, unrecorded or not yet complete,
which must express the meaning of that
inn more fully"
l said to my friend living near there, 81
always liked a tower. | will buy that cor
nd a1t {Io
Dutch-tiled fireplace and a driftwood
fire." The more l thought of living in the
mill the better liked the idea. What a
| place for my charming auxiliary Holland
| calendar with windmlls on every page! I
thought I might hire it and even had
| fancies about furnishing an Eolian harp of
course. My friends and could sit on the
floor, the Eolian harp would be an actual
necessity. The interior should be like a
| picture by De Hoog, red-tiled floors, blue
delftware plaques and vases with tulips
| growing in some), cool, soft tones of hang
| ings, burlap or denim. There should be
| hammered brass and copper, pottery OF
pale green or rich, red glaze, and a tall
| clock with tinkling chime. But there is
no imagination in the Dutch genre school.
| The stolid figures in Terburg's scenes never
would think of the mighty universe and its
| mysteries.
| No, windmills came from the Saracens,
| and more in keeping with the tremendous
| scenery would be an s'Arabian Nights ar
rangement of latticed arches and divans
| and musical instruments. This was a spot
| for the genii. With the stars and winds
and birds for companions, what might |
not expect in the line of '.precipated" writ
| ing and calls from Mahatmas? What sky
farings l could have. l would invite Miss
Rose o. Halloran and her telescope and set
forth for ruined cities in the Moon and
Observation-Disclosures shaped canals on Mars
Here | might again try to teach Twinkle,
twinkle, little star, to the other. the slangy
Australian member of the family, the wise
old cockatoo, who looks with fathery kind
ness upon my mere human failings, and
| thinks | do we'll for a creature without
feathers. / told him how beautiful his
| plumage of gold and snow world look
cleaning in and out of the cypress trees;
he said, '.Bet your hfer' and gave the
fierce Towser banks with which he notices
| noise in the night, thus assuring me that
| he would continue on guard. From that