Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1895-09-12
HURLBERT'S CAREER
sTmKINo INCIDENTS IN TIE LIVE or
A BRILLIANT MAN.
Osk~y Hall ON the Late william Henry
Huribert---A Lifs Of Wasted Opportuni-
ties and Dissipated Taients--"Ths El-
bows Of the Mincio."


Concerning the late William Henry
Huribort, the brilliant journalist and for
mer New York editor who recently died In
Italy, Hon. A. Oakley Hall says In tho Now
York World:
shortly before the civil war, when mt
The Times Office was introduced TO him
by Henry j. Raymond, whose intimacy /
had then begun to fully enjoy, and almost
Immediately after the foundation Of the
Manhattan club as Democratic foil to
the Union League club, / met Mr.. Hurlbert
very frequently. On tho introduction 1
was struck with his personality. Bulwer,
In his Pelham, had heroine who doubt
cd tho cloverness and capacity OF handsome
men, but / soon found reason To doubt her
hssertion In tho company OF young Hurl-
bert.
"Ie was q strikingly handsome cavalier
and as bachelor fancy free'-high fore
head, brunettish, fascinating eyes, win
ming tones OF voice, with musical infieo-
tions; perfect taste I'm dress, erect, manly
and voluble, without CAB or repetition Of
ideas and full Of sparkling topics and ref
srenoes 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 mo all tho points OF
personal history that arc now widely
known of Mr.. Hurlbert-how no was q
South Carolinian Of excellent family how
he had been prize student at Harvard,
and had graduated both at It's baooalaure-
ate and Its twin adjuncts Of divinity and
law seminaries, but had adopted what IL
now known as the profession Of Journal
lam; how for a time he had been an anna
teur diplomatist as an attaCiie OF an Amer
ican legation on the continent and there
acquired knowledge Of several languages;
how his contributions TO magazines and
reviews, both In poesy and prose, had al
feady attracted attention for style and
scholarship; how useful he was In an cleo
eric way to newspaper AZ an editorial
writer fertile in expedients. quick at schol-
arship, reminiscent OF history, apt ut illus
trations and au courant with the transpir-
ing of events abroad and at home and ex-
tremely ready in rapid comment-indeed,
An tho writing against time upon emer-
gencies of late news Raymond, whose
foible and often detriment was his Inn
pressionabllity and caprioious enthusiasm,
showed the highest admiration Of his new
recruit upon the stpf.
"I was then district attorney and much
in society. There I found Hurlbert al
ready lion. am now speaking Of over
30 years ago. Tho Mrs. Leo Hunters Of
fashionable society were eager to capture
him. He was found to be volatile without
Aippancy, inslnuating with delightful
flavor Of well tempered impudence, a
well guarded fatterer, a graceful dancer,
ready to play conversation battledoor
with even the borosome or~ twaddling
ehuttlecock, and when supper was over or
'the cloth removed was like the Yorick
OF Poole's Hamlet travesty-a right good,
jolly fellow who ever after was apt 10 keep
the table in a roar of laughter.
"In tho Belmont set, the DR.. Ward set
and the sots championed by Mrs. DR..
Parker Mrs. Sam Barlow, Mrs. Haight,
Mrs. Parish etc., he became an arbiter
elegantarium. Hurlbert was perhaps as
much a forerunner of Mr. Ward McAllis-
tor as John the Baptist was OF the Chris
tian church. I found that he was worthy
in social sense of all the praise, and in
deed worship, which Gothamic Mrs Leo
Hunter awarded him.
"It was while Hurlbcrt was editorial
writer on The Times, and substantially
taking Raymond's place while Fl. j. was
abroad, that the famous incident known
as the elbows Of the Mincio and the
sympathies Of youth occurred. AS / have
heard tho version both from Raymond and
Hurlbert, the references are authentic
Hurlbert was q double thinker like Du-
mas and G. p. X. James and many literary
celebrities. He was one who could ply two
pens on two subjects as q juggler can
keep two oranges on several plates One
night he had to write one leader on q bat
tie In tho Austro-Italian war, In which
the historic battle Of the Mincio had just
occurred, and another leader referring to a
public educational subject. Ono set of
,co,npositors was receiving his copy Of the
former and another sot his copy Of the
latter subject and Hurlbert was alternat-
ing his pen and papers between the two.
BY 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 tho phrase el-
bows Of the Mincio'-moaning picturesque
ty the two arms Of tho river at a certain
local point-became prefxed to the phrase
at the end Of the upper printed line, 'and
the symrathies Of youth. This conjunc-
ton was intensely amusing-the proof
readers perhaps looking rather upon the
etymology of their copy than upon it's ap-
perhaps the managing editor was tired
and sleepy.
Bennett the elder and one or two other
lessor editorial writer's then took up the
blundcr. He was then chatting Raymond,
and of course The Times as well, and his
paragraphs on tho matter were trenchant-
ly personal. OF course that Hurlbert was
the writer soon became known, and on
him the chaff fell as blindingly rs the
real stuff falls from n bolter in flour
mill He took it In good part and with
reference to Tho Times being out OF Joint
and that no was no cursed sprite TO set
proofreaders Alright, he laughed 1t of. But
inasmuch as he had been known on that
evening-as was often his practice and In
deed an often enforced neccssity-to have
just exchanged knife, fork, spoon and
green glass for hook, In which brand OF
wine he was ono Of tho best experts In the
nnvol DbaIta T. ol