The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-08-23
PHIL MAY WAS THE
MOST [OyABLE OF
ALE LONDON MEN
Queer Humors of the Dead Ar
= list Are Toldby a Globe Cor
respondent Who Knew Him
WeII--His GreatSuccess Came
Only After a Long Struggle.

Special Foreign Service.
LONDON, Aug. 22-Witha poor Phil
May dead, and Dan .Leno in permanent
through mental collapse, the Bowery
element of Londona lost the greatest
two Of its delineators. One became
famous by depicting the great unwash-
ed on paper, and the other by. depicting
them on the stage. Both were ganlins
themselves when they were boys and
had desperate experience with hunger
and hardship-and when at last money
came to them 1t came and went too
easily. They were pot. much given to
counting the change They were each
others only rivals in popular fame.
Their extraordinary faces were prob
ably better known to the man in the
street than any other faces in all Lon
don.
Phil Mays father, a mechanic, died
when the boy was nine, and Phil had
to go to work to support himself. He
got job as ttmekeeper in an iron
foundry at Leeds,aput was permitted
by his employers to resign when they
discovered that during his incumbency
not a man on their pay roll had ever
been late, according to Phips books.
He came to London soon after to visit
an aunt of his, and was somewhat has
THY put on the train to go back home.
London and walked back to town,
hanging around the theaters and pick
ing up a few pence by his sketches of
actors. Sometimes The slept under the
carts in Covent garden. for lack of
better place, and could get enough to
eat only by begging for broken crack
ers at the nearby ale houses.
His pen-and-ink sketches finally at
tracted attention-sand the rest every
bn5u lrpowc sSFJas nnvar had q sjaS9OO in
drawing in his life, and yet. when
somebody asked Whistler once what
the future Of British art was likely. to.
be, he answered epigramatically: Phil
May" Whistler realized that poor
Phil was the only man living who could
beat him in the art of crowding char
acter into single stroke Of the pen. 81
Once when Phil May was sitting
around at the Devonshire club, asked
him about those Wonderful lines of his
which looked so easy to draw.
s1"Yes."ehe said, they're easy enough.
Didn't used to be, though. Used to,
draw everything out-fuss over it-cut
out stuff-then cut out more stuff-then
put a thin paper over the thing and
copy off what little there was left that
was worth copying. But, I say, what
rot-this art cuff! Have cigar :;
One night there was little dinner
party, Will d OOA at IilC <aAiioilibAa
thereafter. The turns" bored Phil
and he amused himself by drawing
epictures on the shirt fronts of those
of us who were lucky enough to be Of
the party. know of one shirt that
has been carefully preserved from
wash and wear from that day to this.
Every cabman in London knew Phil,
and. had good reason for loving him,
it being his custom always to have a.
cab swaiting for him, wholly regardless
of the fight Of time, and to pay in
whatever gold came handiest from his
pockets. He was never heard toosay1
an Gnkind word about anybody. or "a
boastful word about himself: No one
ever saw him in a quarrelsome mood.
His nearest approach to bad temper,
so far as recorded, was on the occa-
SION of big banquet, when he amused
himself by making on her menu card a.
charming sketch Of the pretty girl next
to him. Of course she was proud when
he gave it to Her, and passed it along
up the table, thereby stirring the envy
Of woman opposite who had more
money than gd6d taste. She called
waiter, sent a se10 bank note around.
to Phil, and asked him to take a sketch
of her, too The artist took one good
look at the excellent DAME made an
appallingly truthful portrait Of her on
the back of thesbank note. and sent It
back politely withsfhis compliments.