The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-08


ation'-Esme Amaranth. Of course. be-
ing Oscar Willc-is so like wilde i'm
promptu- himself as 90 almost prove his
authorship OF the book Says Esme.
i wonder Harris does not start morn
Ing opera, from y 10 g. for instance. One
could drop in after breakfast at II. and
one might arrange 10 have luncheon par
ties between the acts"
But surely 10 would spoil one FOR the
rest OF the day said Lady Locke. zone
would be NJ for nothing afterward."
quite So" said Mr.. Amaranth. with eN-
trcme genucness. That would be the OBJ
ject Of tive performance. 70 UNFIT one for
the duties of the day. How beautiful
What a glorious sight Il would be to see
the great audience docking out into the
orange-coi0ref sunshine, each unit OF
which was thoroughly untitled for any
duties whatsoever. 10 makes one per
petually sorrowful in London to meet
with people doing their duties / find them
everywhere. 10 Is impossible TO escape
from them. 4 sense Of duty is like some
horrible disease. IL dcstroyes the tissues
OF the mind. as certain complaints destroy
the tissues of the body. The catechism
has great deal to answer for"
There can be no question OF Oscars
selhshness, however. in the matter OF
his getting out of personal encounter
with the nobleman, whose name is a
household word in every country and
cline where man is sufficiently elevated
above the savage to fight under the
rules of the Marquis of Queensberry.
The encounter would have added largely
TO the gayety Of nations. The marquis
Is ten or eleven inches shorter. ten years
older and nifty or one hundred pounds
lighter than Wilde. lie is marvellously
well preserved. however and will easily
pass for a man of from thirty-hve TO
forty. although Burke records the year
Of his birth as 1874
Quecnsberry has kept in training all
his life. He is a familiar sight during the
London season tramping through Hyde
Park early in the morning in knicker-
bockers, accompanied always by ia
Vorite fox terrier on a ten-mile walk
before breakfast In personal combat
with Wilde he might literally go about
that fat gentleman like the familiar COOP
er, in sporting parlance. round a barrel
and Oscar would be sorry about the cir
culation as long as he remembered It,
which would be a very long time indeed.
Queensberry is, in fact. n most bump
tiOus little man-one Of the kind of little
men who bully big fellows into a fight
and then thrash them, much to their sur
prise and modification. He is always ready
for a go at hsticuffs, either with "A ruff
fan al the ringside or a gentleman who
may have jOstled him In a crowd
one OF the stories told of his prowcss
relates to the favorite FOX terrier which
is his companion everywhere. Queensberry
was travelling to the Riviera. accompanied
by the dog, which. by virtue of tips along
the line, got as far as Marseilles I'M
challenged. There however. an upright
station-porter refused the Marquis bride
and dragged the dog from the railway
carriage. The porter was "A big fellow but
the little marquis went at him like a
game cock and soon had him stretched
on the platform
The porter's fellows went to his assist
ance, however. and Queensberry- was
marched Off to the police station He
was locked up over night. but when his
Identity was made known in the morning
he was released. with many apologies.
and Travelled on with his terrier to Nice
triumphantly.
Nor is oscar Wilde the only celebrity
whom Queensberry has threatened with
personal chastsement Two summers ago
he caused no less a parsonage than the
present prime minister of England consid-
cradle anxiety as to his personal safety
ana dignity. When Queensberry's eldest
son, Niscount Drumlanrig, was elevated
to a peerage of the United Kingdom over
his fathers head in 1893. the marquis put
the affront to himself down to the account
OF Lord Roseberry. who is a relative by
marriage of the marquis divorced wife.
As Roseberry, who was then secretary of
state for foreign affairs, refused to enter
into correspondence with Queensberry
with regard to the matter. the pugnacious
| little marquis started for Homburg. where
his enemy then was, with the avowed in
tention of attacking him in order to make
the injustice to himself public Roseberry
engaged a body guard, employed several
detectives to keep track of Queensberry's
movements. and finally appealed to the
Prince of Wales, who induced the angry
marquis to go back to London.
What are the three words written on
the marquis card and left at the Abe
marie Club, which so Mortified the porter
that he inclosed the card in an envelope
can only be imagined, as the cable com
panies refuse to transmit them, under
their rules regarding obscene matter.
The marquis says that two of the
words are posing as which, he de-
clares, makes them non-libellous legally
The anger OF Queensberry arises from
the intimacy Of his third son, Lord Al
fred Douglass, a youth of twenty-four.
with Wilde The marquis claims that
Wilde has alienated Lord Alfred from
his father The extent of the infatuation
of the youth may be gathered from the
fact that he appeared in court in Wllde's
company prepared to testify against his
father.
Lord Alfred IS an extremely fragile
effeminate young man. His father says
he has been trying to provoke Wilde into
taking legal action against him for two
years.
If Queensberrys charges against
Wilde prove true the discussion OF the
case in court will not detract anything
from the unsavory reputation already
possessed by Modern Babylon.