The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-05-28
TOlsIoy AND HIS CELEBRITY.


Count Lyen Nikolaevitch Tostcy is the
best known OF living Russians, having al
ready attained that point OF fame where he
10 troubled by all sorts OF people with all
sorts OF missions from mere curiosity to an
empty pocket which requires instant relief.
II. A. sergeenko has recently written an ac-
count OF "How Count l.. N. rclstoy Lives
and Works" which has been translated Into
entertaining English by Isabel +. HapSood |
from tho original Russian. Most biographies
fall into a hero Worship of the men they talE
about until these latter grow TO Dimensions
something more than human but a sense OF
humor saves tho writer here from a lot OF
overnppreciailon. Though he evidently ad-
n,res Tolstoy to the top OF his bent, he IL
sian man enough to see how many things
happen almost daily to annoy the great man
and 10 record these with the others. Tolstoy,
for example, was passing through street IN
| St Petersburg upon a very cold day when
hts features were recognized by man VINO
Ind been fortifyiug himself with strong drink
against the aspcritles OF the weather THIS
person CHANGED to be devoted admirer oil
the novelist and phllanthropist, so he rushed
n, him as well as his liquor would permit
and suffered out;
count Toistoy. Count Tolstoy, l am your
protound admirer and-nnd -imitatorl'
| ~
Americans are not the least OF the great
mans nulsances They descend upon MIN IN
nocks sometimes not with any intonuoh OIL
being rude or OF prohung by what he ma!
say to them for the most part; but WIN
that finely regardless desire to iind out wha'
sort of looking creature Tolstoy may DC two
OF our oountrywomen met al his house once
and told him OF starting forth from America
some months before turning back to back ON
tour around the world in opposite directions
with the intention Of meeting In his pres
ence,
r 'You might have made better use of your
4 time" suggested the count, in his blandes'
manner,
t But tho American women Ind provided
u against Just such rebuke, Instead OF pro-
t Tossing penltence they exclaimed, each TO inc
other:
. "Thore told you he'd say something iik'
u thntw
II There came 10 the house OF the Tostoy
y once a woman who sang, She went to tn'
y piano and began. The boys in the famill
" Listened one minute-and oed They passo'
d into the adjoining room and started to expires
their dsapproval Of the voice they had hear'
" by starting some opposition noises OF thei
% own. TO them appeared the count thei
Is father. The boys admitted that they wer
n making the disturbance on purpose ana tina
re It was because they did not like the way tn
ia visitor was singing.
"Thls is protest, them Tolstoy inquired
. This was granted,
~ Then go to her like men and make you
sr protest" he said. Don't sneak on In
La
TO ~
- An admirer came one day to express his &C
~ puration and incidentally to get money enous
=, to take him to Kaluga, town hundred
80 two miles away from Moscow When lo
-, stoy told him he, too, was without money
,o pleaded earnestly. saying he had been "ali
40 Ing the Moscow streets for four months no
~ IN the vain endeavor to get that money i'
nj, the ticket
VIZ .In that four months said Tolstoy 'yo
' could have walked to KaluBa several TINT
u over and saved your cartare"
~
=. Dotoulede. the French poet, once onhea
ro ored to persuade Tostoy that the French d
-. of revenge In whipping the Germans and sc
IN ting Alsace and Lorraine back into fran
al was a ustifable one Tolstoy differed iro
II I'm so ibulCdll1. hhslHh ~ '"N '''N
~ senso agreement OF the people, not hre 81
ho the sword, when would settle such question
ala that the Fronchman informed him the FIJI
Russian peasant they met would talk mo
J., rftionally. So they started out TO leave II
, >, the peasant whoever he might chance to
a., They came upon a fellow named Prokohy' a.
,,o peroulode informed him that the RUSSIA
la and French were brethren, that nothing
70 Germany stood between them, and that
49, would be well for Russia and France
squeeze together and get all the German Il
ProkoHy heard all he had to say then repii'
may, master. let the French work ana
- tho Russian work. and when we have
wages let us buy the German drink
~. There Is vast amount Of Information
"'' politics which rests upon foundation i
substantial and less philosophical than that