The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-10-03
The NEN)EgAN DISCOVERY


Menpes Her FIRST epistle on the subject
startled my gastronomic nerves
Il have had the most wonderful ex-
perience, she wrote, in a burst of cous-
iniy confidence: "genous has barred its
heart and taught me tn secret of sue
cess. You have heard of Mortimer Men
pes, the Coming Man in the London art
world, tie portrait painter, the colorist.
the Oriental artist of the hour? He and
his surroundings are the fad of the day;
IN fact, he is unique. And he has told ME
how 1t is done. II is just a food ques-
uon. You must eat your own atmos-
phere."
Geraldine always had a queer way Of
putting things. This iast phrase wrinklcd
my brow till l read the crossing: HE
explains that suitable foods are as i'm
portant as suitable conditions, he won't
paint healthy people, for instance, on
vegetables" (Only Geraldine would sug-
gest such a thing) Now if he had
done me in sauerkraut" good heavensD
L should have come out hvid. AS 1t is
we'll, you have no idea how handsome
your coz looSs--and 1t is beef-rare beef
that did it. l suppose it's within you,
like the kingdom of heaven, and the
food has to help just like prayers and
gong 20 church-not that he said that
but he set me thinking And l am send
ing you Brillat SaYarin and Gouffe, and
theodore Child by mail. For if Merpes
mas really BECOME a London sensa ton
Just by knowing what to eat, why should
you not study food and become San
franciscan sensation? You have the
talent, you only lack the method Now
just sacrifice everything and try!'
Wen, [ positively did it. To be sure
every thing did not amount to much
Geraldine being the only one, so far, who
rated my artistic temperament at it's
full value. I threw up my tiny biEet as
iOHrfb bla IL a.
Hornet, abandoned the little studio on
Bush street where six of US dubbed to-
gether to hire models. gave my landlord
notice, and resolved to live on my small
capital BY the time it was exhausted
Geraldine and Menpes would have made
me famous
But as a first preliminary 1 must secure
an edible atmosphere in appropriate sur
roundlngs. Further instructions from
Geraldine taught me that my sitters diet
should be considered as much as my own:
mat an inspiring miieu was essential;
that color was everything and Sky
lighting" of no account at all. Now how
was to select? The sight of gorgeous
ly arrayed heather Chinee crossing Kear-
ney street suddenly decided my bent I
would study Chinatown and sacrifice my
| self on the altar of Chinese cookery! On
the plaza 1 found bright airy quarters;
CHINATOWN was at my door and my win
| around SteVenson's monument against a
| background of green. Geraldine was de-
| lighted. 1T is quite fine of you, dear
| boy, she wrote, ito risk all in the serv-
ice Of art. Now mind and eat intelligent
ly it will be the making of you
| The making proved an insipid process,
| despite all my enthusiasm. I wandered
| devoutly upstairs in an elaborate Dupont
! street establishment Ct was long before
| the plague scare. was heard of, where
amid Joss house surroundings, of aristo-
| cratic tables, 1 trif1ed with dishes which
| l dared not analyze. 1 meandered down
| stairs in humber Jackson street quarters,
| where 1 partook of messes that made me
shudder. Finally. abandoning the Chi
nese chefs, INDUCED in mangoes. per-
simmons and sugar cane, Chinese pre-
I serves and Chinese candies, Chinese rad
| ishes and Chinese turnips, and saffron
hued Chinese cheeses, till my very liver
rebelled. Still, it seemed the right thing
| to do when painting yellow men much
| given to ''greenery- gallery garb.
But I was dubious about results, and
| one day Wills, wandering down from
Hopkins, found me sitting disconsolately
before my last canvas. He glanced from
it to me and from me to it in grim 81
| lence.
SIS that ali you have to sayP' burst
| out at last.
mo" he replied, "but don't know
exactly how to put It,"
| Put 1t any way you Ike"
well, I fancy you suffering from
an attack of jaundice."
'Since when have you taken to dag
| nosis3' I retortsd. "Never felt better in
my life" Which was lie, and we both
| knew 1t.
MY dear fellow" he protested, "you
have had enough Chinatown. Give 1t up"
But I want color" insisted, stub
| bornly.
TRY Mexico"
It was an idea, Menpes had been to
! Mexico, and raved about It I could get
| the color without going so far. 1 shifted
| my domicile to a sunny corner of Broad
way next door to small Mexican restaur-
| ant, where a bull-fght In all Its stages
was illustrated by vivid oleographs, and
| culinary proceedings might be studied
amid a setting Of Mexican pottery. The
proprietor was a European Of many
| languages and admirable waiting capaci-
| ties; his handsome young wife, a pure
! Mexican, prepared me matchless enchil-
| adas, with a crimson flower set In her
| raven hair; the muscular, bare arms Of
| the black-robed torillamaker were to be
| seen grinding the paste up and down her
black crater. Dark-eyed young women
| in bright attire, demure elder women,
| draped In sable shawls and gliding about
like nuns men Of varied costume and
| complexion, came and went with foreign
greetings. Here was my right atrno-
sphere at lastl I burned my throat with
chilli con carne, gorditas. posole, and
salsa chilli or soothed 1t with the newt
able frijoles, and realized that I could
paint Tyrian purple on such diet Geral-
dine quite agreed with me.
Dear old fellow, you are Just
splendid ran her epistIe ''this must
prove an artistic tonic, and I expect great
things of you" Then in a P. s.: rs he
restaurant sonora so very handsome7
Paint her portrait for mel"
Geraldine was always fine and large In
her ideas, thanks perhaps to an extern
sive purse. I made hasty sketch of
the sonora, and did not make It too hand
for the color ideal eluded me. In vain l
painted Mexico under every aspect in
vain I haunted Our Lady of Guadalupe
and studied the devotional types before
the altar; in vain 1 rushed from Carme-
las lower-region daintles to my canvas;
no scheme Of color was evolved by my
brush; my very dreams were mono-chro-
mic, and my highest effort was but gra-
dalton of tint. At last I settled that gra-
dalton of tint was to make me famous
even told Geraldine So
At this stage Wills, of Hopkins, ones
more looked me up. He whistled, and
his whistle got on my nerves. Whats
the matter now" I queried
For answer he stared hard at the can
vas, then into my eyes Anything
wrong there?" I asked, touching his own
significantly
What the deuce! OF course not. Have