The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1895-04-19
WILDE IN AMERICA.
THE Ex-APOSTLG OF ESTHETiClSM
AS HE APPEARED TO US.


Stories Of Eis Experiences While on His
Tour Caricatured by Du Maurier and
Satirized by Gilbert-Some Account of
His Plays.
Oscar Wilde first achieved notoriety
as prostrate apostle and then as the
leader of the then infantile aesthetic
craze. He carried his aesthetic peculiar
tiles so far that he became the subject
Cd Du Maurier caricaturing pencil and
Gilbert's satirizing fun That may have
been what he was trying for. Neither
the caricaturist nor the satirist dimin-
ished the ardor with which Wilde pur-
sued what was vaguely called estheti-
cism. The Bunthornes of Patience"
made mp in exact imitation of Wilde,
and he posed in the lobbies of the same
theaters and composed phrases which
outdid in lilylike lunguor the phrases
Gilbert had thought to be satires. One
of the songs OF Patience" which seems
to contain more or less pointed al
fusion to Wilde runs:
Then sentimental passion OF n vegetable
fashion
Should excite your ianguid spleen;
An attachment u In Plato, for n bashful young
potato,
Or not too French French bean,
Though the Philistinos may jostle, you will
rank apostle
In tho sentimental band,
If you walk down Piccadilly with poppy or q
lily
In your medieval hand
And every one will say
AS you walk your mystic way,
"H he's cohtent with a vegetable love that
would certainly not suit me,
Why, what most particularly pure young
man this pure young man must be.
The more limp Du Maurier drew his
caricature the limper was Oscar when
he confronted the next assemblage; tho
longer Du Maurier made his peoples
hair the longer Wilde staid away from
the barber's
Up to that time, 10 years ago, Wilde
had done little else to attract attention
to himself. He was known to be the son
of exceptionally clever parents and win
ner of the Nowdigate at Oxford, but be-
sides cleverly advertising himself and
writing few verses he had done no
clever original work and was not seri-
ously considered. His reputation as
lecturer, man of fashion, wit, poet, nov
elist, essayist,. playwright, has been
made in most particulars in the last half
dozen years, all since his lecturing tour
in this country.
He came here about 10 years ago,
frankly advertised as freak lecturing
OH "9stheticism. He wore knee
Iroochoc CT hOco Loco o,ffc a,I xuoc
otherwise variously freakish in his
Dress At Boston half hundred Har-
ward boys marched into his lecture hall
dressed as he was, each carrying q lily.
Wilde's noted imperturbability did not
desert him. He merely lisped, "How
tenderly droll" and went on with his
lecture.
In western city he was the guest of
club among whose members were
number of stout drinkers. They under
took to ''tank up the aesthetic, E" as they
expressed it. The process was long.
AS tho sun was breaking into the club
windows Wilde looked about over a
room strewn with falling braves and
said to the one man still able to COM
prehend speech:
"We've had oharmingly quiet lit
tie evening. Don't you feel like bit of
q run about town before BREAKFAST"
But those who met him under normal
conditions found Ny. Wilde a witty,
engaging talker, unusually well inform
ed on wide range of literary and art
subjects, and quite able to care for him.
self in any mental encounter The pub
lie at largo, not knowing this of him,
refused to accept him or his cult seri-
ously, and Wilde returned to England
richer only in experiences and q few
hundred ponds. He had apologists, not
of his class, for his "lilylike" ecoen-
tricities.
About three years ago his play,
Lady Windermere's Fam" was pro-
duced in London and later here, and
that at once made him one Of the most
talked about playwrights living. There