The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-10-07
THE SPURIOUS EXHIBITOR.

|
1t was at an ordinary small hshmon-
gers shop in the back street of a sub
urb that l found him. Some kippere6
herrings, the midribs of a nalibut. q
piece of ice and some parsley composed
the stock, and the odor was such as
one expects in such a place. He him
self stepped forward from little
glazed counting house as 1 entered. He
was d short, spare man, with a dried-uI
| appearance like the herringS and a
worried look about the eyes He was
dressed unobstrusively in a fishmonger's
~Yessir?" he said. "Kippers is cheap
Thank you" I said, stopping him. Il
am not wanting any fish today. My
purpose in coming is to interview you,
| if you have no objections.
Interview me? He looked almost
suspiciously vacant.
For Black and White" I said.
I'-You are, I believe, Mr. Tosh, by pro
fession a fishmonger, but you paint in
your spare moments, and you sent in a
picture to the Royal Academy
The little man gasepd.
How did you know" he said
ITS our business, l said ma gnif1cent-
| ly. .'Thes public likes to know these
matters So we find out. 1 may as well
tell you that, as a fishmonger. you're
much more likely to make hit with
anything you paint tnan You are as a
mere artist. Mere artists are too plentf-
full and they've been to art schools and
spent their lives in having opportuni-
ties of studying You, OF course, never
had any opportunities?
8 Not many said Mr.. Tosh- Il
you've always loved art, however,
interrupted. Exactly; and even as a
child you used to paint?''
Mr.. Tosh nodded.
DO you remember if your father
ever beat you for drawing upon the
whitewashed walls of his cottage? 1
inquired.
perhaps your mother did?' said
hopefully No? Well, it's pity we
can't work in any of these Details
MY uncle used to beat me- said
Mr.: Tosh with a sudden inspiration
What for?' I demanded.
Running away from school. He
brought me up.
quite So 1 said. you were an
orphan? 1t was your habit to steal
away from school into the woods and
watch the sunset, while you ought to
have been doing subtractions? 1t is
to this that you attribute your ability
to depict clouds and trees, and"
Figures are my subject" said Mr..
Tosh in rather a hurt way.
'It doesn't matter 1 said. You
gained your insight into the human
figure by watching the London crowds
in the London streets You longed
to be an artist, and every day the
yearning grew stronger But your
uncle a practical man-himself a fish
m onger-would not hear of it, He APP
prenticed you to his own business.
the study of still-life. The only draw
ings you were able to make were of
Holsters, and your inspirations were
drawn from
I had pused to see if Mr. Tosh were
asserting to my sketch of his early life
and struggles-which L wished to have
accurate.
''Haddocks,'' he said. completing
he wi IA
added slyIy. you're the man for me-
I wish I had your Imagination. 1 tell
you what, though. I'll give you a
at the price I want for it,
had never seen a man SO changed
in moment. The dull, vacant look
had vanished, and in its place was a
preternatural sharpness.
That's what I'll do he said, and
winked again.
what do you mean ?'' said indig-
nantly.
Don't you recognize me?" he re-
turned. "I thought you did. Il"
He dropped his head guiltily; but it
was too late. I had recognized him.
YOU'RE James Brown, the fire
Hero Waiting Cor Leander' for the
Academy last year; you're Morton
GriggS, the postman artist, who was
doomed the year before for his Cleo |
palTd you re REV. JOHN E-lIlS, the
East end clergyman, whose Massacre |
Of the Innocents' was a feature in |
1900, because it was painted during |
moments snatched while changing |
your Surplice in the veStry; you're
George Jennings. bo'sun of H. NJ. S.
Emerald, who welded an artists |
orushe during the long night watches |
on the China seas, and produced in !
80 The Tussle of the Triremes'; |
you're -" 1 pursued the indictment as
my memory served me. I had inter- |
-iewed some of these men myself, but |
not until now had I recognized that |
,ne and all were the same, and that |
none other than the little man in /
ront of me. You're a fraud" |
ended up.
'In a sense he said sadly, "I am
am in reality an artist, and nothing
Use"
''These various businesses"
Were assumed for the purpose of
elling my pictures. I found it was
he only way. If it is a fraud to pose
instead of as-what you have called
a mere artist the public has en-
it. 1t will buy a fishmong-
RS picture when it will buy no other.
have a wife and family. / ask you
lot to denounce me-"
II must said stern1y; and though
lie pleaded with me at great length, 1
ecessity. The public must be de-
ended at. all hazards.-R. E. Vernese,
n Black and White.
HUMOR OF THE DAY.
Mrs. Newliwed-My husband asked me
o stop here and order a case of beer for