The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-04-30


10 our vastly superior knowledge Of the
art OF living. A daily tub, attention to
Diet, moderation and variety In exercise
and Temperance At the table together with
present day luxury, help men and women
to preserve their beauty and activity.
Intimately as the artist knew Thaokeray.
Charles Dickens was nearer his own age
and more his companion and friend. Mr..
Stone II was who made the original illus
trations for several OF the great novels,
among them Our Mutual Friend con-
corning which he tells amusing stories.
As Is we'll known the novel was issued
IN weekly numbers, and always With an
illustrated wrapper or cover. II once
CHANGED that after artist and author had
met in consultation regarding the next
instalment Dickens - a last word charged
Stone TO make the cover design picture
the death Of Eugene WrSyburn, declaring
his intention Of killing his hero next day.
Luckily these instructions fell on deaf
ears, for after cudge,ing his brain to try to
remember what was wanted Mr.. Stone
In despair cooked up q negative sort Of
drawing and thereby saved the day. OF
course, Eugene lived 70 marry the heroic
Lizzie Hexam, and on that occasion
bad memory served its possessor q very
good turn.
Mr. Stone also had a hand In the making
Of the immortal Mr.. Venus. One night
over a frugal dinner Of chops and pots-
toes Dickens confessed TO an urgent need
for an eccentric character engaged in
some unique business.
As it happened, Mr.. Stone that very day
had fallen in with an odd sort Of specimen.
a dealer In bones, who agreed 10 articulate
a skeleton OF rnanikin the artist needed.
SO weird were the surroundings and the
bone merchant himself such a queer jack
that Mr. Stone took Dickens to the shop
next morning, and, very soon after, the
whimperinR. lovesick Mr.. Venus came into
being.
Another time during one Of their long
tramps about the country the two friends
stumbled upon the scene Of Pip's meeting
with the convict, that mastery description Of
natures desolation and human despair in
the opening pages Of Great Expectations.
There was the ohurchyard full Of nettles,
the frost blaokened marsh, through which
flowed a cold sluggish river, the lowering
sky. all waiting the masters hand against
which to set a fearsome tale. No special
comment was made upon Il at the time,
but the dreary picture had bitten deep,
and soon a new book was begun with every
dstail Of those forbidding surroundings
sketohed in.
Mr.. Stone talks with almost passionate
tenderness Of his friend, saying again and
again Dickens was The good est man I
ever knew Then he adds:
L could tell you hundred stories Of the
loving kindness and Astounding benevo-
lence that so endeared him 70 US all. Every
day Of his life, almost every hour Of the day,
he was helping 10 bear his brothers bur-
dens, and was never too busy or too tired
10 lend a helping hand
Mr.. Stone also loves to dwell upon the
curious childlike quality OF mind that re-
manned with Dickens 10 the day Of his death
and whenever possible made him insist
round game. Hoodman-blind, stage
coach and hunt the slipper never seemed
to lose their Best for that phenomenal
worker, who always found rest and re-
fre5hment in a romp with old or young.
then fSS sn 20 T tSs snds
out OF life as Dickens did. He lived twice
as wildly as other people, experiencing
not only the joys and BoTTows OF the real
existence, but entering With intensity OF
feeling into the lives OF his make-believe
folk
There were moments In writing Of SmiNe,
Little Nell, and Paul Dombey when the
woes Of his fiction children became over
towering and the authors bead went down
on the table while he wep bot tears over
these creatures Of his Imagination. But
II he suffered over their Ills he a. heartily
enjoyed their humor, and no one has laughed
longer over the oomicalities Of Mr.. BONN,
"Tugg's at RamsRate' and Unole PImble-
ohook, than their creator, Charles Dickens.
The store Of anecdotes Mr.. Stone has TO
tell Of the great Vlctorians Is practically
endless. he knew them all, Carlyle, and
Browning, Darwin and Huxley, men Of
art and men Of science, and one Of the most
charming characteristics Of his delightful
"Reminiscences u that never q harsh word
OF sneer OF criticism creeps In. They are Of
the past, and that the reargtArd must
gone before, is an article Of belief with this
Victorian painter.