Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1895-09-13
HURLBERT'S CAREER
STRIKING INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF
A BRILLIANT MAN.

ties and Dissipated Talents-"The Ell
bows of the Mincio."
Concerning tho late william Henry
Hurlbert, the brilliant journalist and for
mer New York editor who recently died in
Italy, Hon. A. Oakley Hall says in the New
| York World:
Shortly before the civil war, when at
| The Times Office was introduced to him
by Henry J. Raymond, whose intimacy 1
had then begun to fully enjoy, and almost
Immediately after the foundation of the
Manhattan club as a Democratic foil to
the Union League club, Imet Mr.. Hurlbert
very frequently. On the introduction
was struck with his personality. Bulwer,
in his Pelham, had heroine who doubt
ed the cleverDess and capacity of handsome
men, but 1 soon found reason to doubt her
assertion in the company of young Hurl-
| bert. .,
He was a strikingly handsome cavalier
and as q bachelor fancy free'-high fore
head, brunettish, fascinating eyes, win
ming tones of voice, with musical innec-
tions; perfect taste in dress, erect, manly
and voluble without CAB or repetition of
ideas and full of sparkling topics and ref
erences and as skilled in reparteo as at
that era was New York s professional wit,
John Van Buren,.
"After the introduction and alone with
Mr.. Raymond he gave neal tho points of
| personal history that are now widely
| known Of Mr.. Hurlbert-how he was a
South Carolinian of excellent family how
he had been n prize student at Harvard,
and had graduated both at it's baccalaure-
ate and its twin adjuncts of divinity and
law sominarios, but had adopted what is
now known as the profession of journal
ism; how for time he had been an anna
teur diplOmatist as an attaChe of an Amer
lean legation on the continent, and there
acquired knowledge of several languages;
how his contributions to magazines and
reviews, both in pOcsy and prose- had al
ready attracted attention for style and
scholarship; how useful he was in an cleo
trio way to newspaper as an editorial
writer fertile in eXpedients, quick at schol-
arship, reminiscent of history, apt at illus
trations and au cOurant with the transpir-
ing of events abroad and at, homo and OK
tremely ready in rapid commcnt-indeed,
in the writing against time upon emer-
gencies of late news Raymond whose
foible and often detrimcnt was his i'm
pressionability and capricious enthusiasm,
showed the highest admiration of his new
recruit upon the staff.
Il was then district attorney and much
in society. There l found Hurlbcrt al
ready lion. 1 am now speaking of over
80 years ago. The Mrs Leo Hunters of
fashionable society were eager to capture
him. Ho was found to be volatile without
flippancy, insinuating with delightful
flavor of well tempered impudcnce, a
well guarded tlatterer, graceful dancer,
ready to play conversation battledoor
with even the bOresome or twaddling
shuttlecock, and when supper was over or
the cloth removed was like the Yorick
of POolc's Hamlet travesty-a right good,
jolly fellow who ever after was apt to keep
the table in u roar of laughter.
In the Belmont set, the DR.. Ward set
and the sets championed by Mrs. DR..
Parker, Mrs. Sam Barlow, Mrs. Haight,
Mrs. Parish, etc, he became an arbiter
elegantarium. Hurlbert was perhaps as
much n forcrunncr of Mr.. Ward McAllis-
ter as John the Baptist was of the Chris
tian church. | found that he was worthy
in a social sense of all the praise, and in
deed worship which Gothamic Mrs. Leo
Hunter awarded him.
at was while Hurlbert was editorial
writer on The Times, and substantially
taking RaymOnd's place while H. J. was
abroad, that the famous incident known
as the elbows of the Mincio' and the
sympathies of youth occu ed AS have
heard the version both from Raymond and
Hurlbert, the references are authentic.
Hurlbert was n double thinker like Du-
nd nd IL
celebrities. He was one who could ply two
pens on two subjects as a juggler can
keep two oranges on several plates. One
night he had to write one leader on bat
tie in the Austro-Italian war, in which
the historic battle of the Mincio had Just
occurred, and another leader referring to a
public educational subject. One set of
colnpositors was receiving his copy of the
former and another set his copy of the
latter subject, and Hurlbcrt was alternat-
ing his pen and papers between the two.
BY a coincidence of numbering pages, by
the similarity of handwriting and by the
blunder of printers devil some para
graphs of each copy got mixed and i'm
properly banked, SO that the phrase ell
bows of the Misunderstanding picturesque
ly the two arms of the river at certain
local point-became preiiXed to the phrase
at the end Of the upper printed line and
the syr HES of youth. This conjunc-
ton W.. intensely amusing-tho proof
readers perhaps looking rather upon the
etymology of their copy than upon its APP
plicability. Besides the hour was late, and
perhaps the managing editor was tired
and sleepy,
Bennett the elder and one or two other
lesser editorial writers then took up the
blunder. He was then chatting Raymond
and of course The Times as WELL and his
paragraphs on the matter were trenchant-
ly personal. OF course that Hurlbert was
the writer soon became known, and on
him the chaff fell as blindingly as the
real stuff falls from a bolter in a flour
mill. He took it in good part and with
reference to The Times being out Of joint
and that he was no cursed sprite to set
proofreaders Alright, he laughed. it off. But
inasmuch as he had been known on that
evening-as was often his practice and in
deed an often enforced necessity-to have
just exchanged knife, fork, spoon and
green glass for hook, in which brand of
wine he was one of the best experts in the