The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-06-14
FIRST IN ORDER IS A FIRM DECLARATION
FOR THE GOLD STANDARD.
Harmony, Urges the Veteran Soldier and Diplomat,
and Not the Use of Deceptive Phrases
Will Achieve Success for the
Party.

ST. LOUIS, Mo-, June 13.-Bright and
early this morning called upon General
Lew Wallace in his high and airy room on
the eighth floor of the Planters Hotel. A
gentle bass voice responded to my knock
and bade me enter, and the next moment
l stood in the presence of the author OF
"Ben-Hur," a romance destined to endure
as a tall and shining monument marking
the greatness of American literary genius.
The General is man of medium height
and symmetrical build, very plainly
dressed in a suit of dark blue. His hair,
of that dark olive tinge seen in moldy
straw, was brushed down over his fore
head in neglige bang. The strong eye
brows, formerly jet black, are now streaked
with gray, giving them the appearance OF
having been powdered. They arch above
pair of black eyes, not of the narrow,
piercing, Indian kind, in whose inky
depths may be seen the glow of hidden,
volcanic fires, but tender with the sad and
kindly dreaminess of the poet.
AS they look at you through the specta-
cles worn by the author and diplomat you
feel disappointed. Instead OF the light
ming fash and the burst of fame from the
mountain peaks of mighty soul you be-
hold the soft glow of the rose reflected in
the peaceful pool. The chin of the poeI is
concealed by a gray imperial, closely
cropped and topped with pair OF flowing
mustachios, also gray. These, with an
aquiline nose not too long for symmetry
nor yet too short for strength, impart a
military air. His appearance, however, is
itoru oil
Viewed at closer range the soldiers cloak
and chapeau fall off and the gown OF the
student stands revealed.
So with the bass voice. The ear that
listens to it expects to hear the thunderous
tones of command to charge, but instead
there issues from beneath those martial
mustachios voice soft and low and desti-
tute of that quality which makes the
echoes answer. So it is also with the
hands, the backs of them Drowned and
freckled by the sun, just like the soldier s,
who on ArIzona's scorching sands swings
his saber over his head, swishing it in a
circle of glittering light. But the fingers
are plump and tapering, the kind with
which poets and artists are born.
The most noticeable deviation from the
normal in the makeup of General Wallace
is his ears. They are very large and very
broad above the horizontal middle line,
and set modestly close to the head. OF the
chronological significance of large ear of
that kind, 1 am ignorant, but when it is
found on the head of man like General
Wallace, l should say that the ear was
built to minister to the cravings of the
mind at one of whose gates it stands, and
that its office was to receive, in their fullest
tones, the sweet songs of nature, inaudible
to the soul that sleeps in grossness, but
resonant as 10000 choirs to him whose lips
the muses. kissed before the eyes awakened
to the light of life.
The General held fragrant cigar be-
tween his fingers and puffed it with the
satisfaction of one who enjoys the pleasant
things of earth. This was in keeping with
the Bohemian character of his bang, and
with the silver stoppered wicker flask
which stood handily near on a small table
and which no doubt contained smelling
salts or perfumed water to counteract the