The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1905-10-20
A HUGO TREASURE.
Romance of the Famous Writer'S Inn
prOvised lnkstand.

Romance of the Famous Writer'S Inn
provised lnkstand.
Many valuable relics that of late
years have found their way into the
houses Of the wealthy and adorn the
are not only interesting from their
rarity or association, but also in the
manner in which they come into the
hands of the dealer. The following
story told by a dealer may illustrate
this fact and tell how a priceless relic
came near to being thrown away:
Some years ago, when staying in the
lish channel, which for so many years
was the residence of Victor Hugo dur
ing his exile from France, 1 was 60
ing through one Of the old streets and
strayed into secondhand furniture
store on the chance Of finding some
thing that might be interesting. Among
several odd pieces 1 found the bottom
Of an old Chippendale dressing mirror,
minus the mirror, the center Of which
had been followed out to form an
inkstand.
The oddness Of the piece attracted
my attention and upon questioning the
dealer he Informed me that it was
part of a lot of rubbish that had been,
thrown out of Hauteville House, where
Victor Hugo had lived and which is
still preserved intact by his family
just as he left it upon his return to
France. This old house is full of costly
antique treasures with which the au
thor loved to surround himself, and the
visitor on application to the caretaker
is today shown over the place and sees
the table and bed used by him in his
old study at the top Of the house In
whiA he wrote so many Of his works
and watched the shores of his beloved
country, from which he thought him
self forever an exile.
This house and it's treasures being
so carefully guarded by the descend
ants Of Victor Hugo, l wondered how
a piece like the inkstand could have
been thrown away and hesitated to
believe that it really had come from
where the dealer said it did, the price
asked for it being but a few francs.
1 decided to think it over before pur-
around again. Upon inquiring for the
inkstand, the dealer said, with many
apologies, that was too late, and ex-
planned matters as best he could. Dur
ing the summer months the Hugo fam
lily pay a visit to the island few
To fh0i,. orriv
house is thoroughly cleaned, etc. A
new maid, seeing an old box, as she
thought, threw it away with the rub
bish, and it was sold by junk man
to the dealer. A few days after my
visit to him NJ, Georges and Mile.
author, strolled into the same store,
and,. looking around, espied the ink
stand. They Immediately inquired as
to how it came into his possession,
and after telling them the particulars
they Informed him that it was an i'm
provised inkstand that Victor Hugo
had used for many years.
s'The Lost ChOrd.''
Perhaps the most successful song of
modern times is "The Lost Chord"
whose sale in Great Britain has ex-
ceeded 25O,OOO copies. The story of its
composition, as told by Mr.. Willeby
in his Masters of English Music" IL
lustrates that in art, as in statesman
ship, success came to those
Who knew the seasons when to take
Occasion by the hand. ~
For nearly three weeks Arthur Sey-
mour Sullivan had watched by the bed
side of a dying brother. One night,
when the end was not far off and his
brother was sleeping, he CHANGED to
come across some verse of Adelaide
Procters which five years before he
had tried in vain to set to music.
In the silence of that night watch he
read them over again and almost in
stantly their musical expression was
conceived. A stray sheet Of music
paper was at hand and he began to
write. The music grew and he worked
on, delighted to be helped while away
the hours Of watching. AS he pro-
gressed he felt sure the music was
WIT b. =; Gought for and failed to
Inu on the occasion of his first attempt
to set the words. In a short time. it
was complete and not long after in the