The evening times., 1900-01-19
The N,.tcrious Mr.. Lang.

The N,stcrious Nr. Lang.
A mystery has been solved For the
past five or six years il has been a con-
tjuual source OF wonder to the reading
world thar any one man should DO so many
things as Nr Andrew Lang is supposed tC
have done First he became known as an
essayisJ and literary critic Then he wrote
poetry Then he blossomed out as writer
OF rainbow-hued fairy books for children
He was also a novelist i'm his spare mo-
menrs; and he wrote letters 10 dead au-
tbors and living ones. and pieces for the
English papers-and 10 write an article for
an English newspaper is serious and
solemn undertaking.
The myriad accomplishments of Mr.. Lang
led to the conviction which became gen
eral among literary men ON this side OF the
Atlantic that he was not d person. but a
syndicate Il seemed Impossible that any
one should do so many things unless he had
several brains and could run one typewrite5
with his hands another with his feet and
dictate 70 stcnocrapher or two at the
same time. But. after a while. pictures
OF Mr. Lang were published and inter
views with him appeared. and it was ex~
planned that the syndicate idea was so far
correct that many articles which were pub
lished over his name were written by an
other son OF Scotland named Andrew Lang
Who was an entirely separate and distinct
person from the essayist But the things
which Mr. Lang. the first and foremost of
the name. Acknowledged 10 be his were still
SO numerous as 10 excite the fncredulity OF
the multitude
1t was then reported that in addition
TO his literary labors. the author was an
ardent soil player and might be seen al
most any day scurrying over the links. fol-
lowed by his caddie and munching az in
teryals. Scotch sconos. This was a bone
OF contention thrown into the midst of the
critics and they seized il with vigor. Some
contended that the syndicate idea must,
after all. be the correct one: that. according
TO every thoroughbred Scotchman. the play
ing OF golf was religion not an accom-
plishment and that no man could under
stand golf thoroughly and know very much
else. They declared that if The true An
drew Lang played this game. his writing
must certainly be done at a literature fac
tory. But others expressed the opinion that
golf was like the Latin language, and that,
as everything else was easy to the Romans
because they had begun life by learning
their native tongue thoroughly, so the man
who knew the pet game of bonnie Scotland
from start TO finish must be able TO do al
most anything he chose.
But Mr. Lang himself has spoken now
We have il on good authority-and his re-
marks dc much to dispel the cloud OF mys-
tery which has gathered about this simple
and well-meaning gentleman. He says that
American tourists come to The town where
he lives and express an earnest desire to
see him. Then the local humorists. of
whom there are a great many, point out
somebody 10 the traveller and assure him
that that is Mr.. Lang. When these various
persons are described in the American pa
pers one naturally gets the idea that the
original OF such pen-portraits is a person
of numerous and extremely varied attain
ments 1t appears that among the people
who have been pointed out TO Americans as
Mr.. Lang are golf enthusiasts, who spend
on the links all Of their time except that
required for sleep and are attended by
caddie with bag full Of scones to be eaten
on the march. The supposed Mr. Lang has
been pictured as tall, short lean fat, dan
difed and slovenly, clean-shaven and
bearded. This Is all the work of the local
humorists. Mr.. Lang's home seems to be
8 sort OF Drumtochty or Thrums. The wit
OF these proceedings reminds one Of the
recondite and hsggis- Favored humor of