Los Angeles herald., 1910-11-21
SON DECLINES TO
USE NAME TOLsTOI
Offspring of the Russian SaVant
Quits Authorship Because
of Fathers Greatness
fAssociated Press)

PITTsBuRG, Nov. 2O.-A recent in
terview, and possibly the last that
newspaper correspondent had Win
Count Leo Tolstoi, has been recounted
by NJ. Arpad Pasztor, distinguished
Hungarian author and Journalist, TO
the Associated Press here.
M. Pasztor is editor of Azest, an
evening paper of Budapest, and in
tour around the world is now in Pitts
burg for a brief study of conditions
among Hungarians.
only two months ago, in September,
NJ. Pasztor, proceeding by train from
Moscow, dropped off at Yasnaya Poll
ana. a little village about two miles
from the last railway station in the
province of Tula.
'It was a beautiful late summer day."
he said, with everything still green
and in blossom as l approached in
search of the Tolstoi house. l located
it, but / should have said it was not
Russian home, for I observed that sew
eral copies of the London Times lay
on the lawn.
II noticed that lady sat on the
veranda reading and l presumed that
she was the Countess Tolstoi. If so /
knew she was born German-the daugh-
ter of a German professor-and 1 ad-
dressed her in German. asking if 1
might see the great novelist.
" Have you introductions? she asked.
g." No, madame, but are not his
works introduction enough?
WOULD NOT DISTURB HUSBAND
"'But.' she demurred, If that were
the case our garden would be. crowded
all the while. / am sorry; my husband
is asleep now. From what country do
you come"
Hungary l replied.
- n,,r a Na rlnUipt- =
sky, is Hungarian, too. You may speak
with him. My husband is very old and
weak and does not like to speak with
visitors
AT this she ushered me into the
house, where l first met the novelists s
eldest son, who is perhaps 45 years
old Learning that l was an author,
he admitted he also wrote, but added
that he abandoned authorship because
it seemed impossible to use the Tolstoi
name, since his father had already
made it famous. He said he preferred
to take up art and sculpture, and that
he was studying with Rodin, the
famous Partisan sculptor.
m. Markoyietsky, the secretary, in
terrupted at this moment.
"I know you want to see Tolstoi,'
he said but he is asleep now, so let
us walk through the garden
is SHOWN GARDEN
HE took me through the forest of
oaks, which is the scene of the great
storm in Anna Karenina,' and then
through the great apple orchards.
where he presented me with a Tolstoi
apple and remarked: 'Tolstoi has the
finest and largest apple orchard in
Russia. His wife sells the product
"At 6 o'clock our walk was inter-
rupted by the dinner bell, at which
Markovietsky exclaimed: 'Tolstoi is
awake now. We must go back He
led me through the house, which is a
very simple and poor place. There
was no carpet on the floor; the walls
were white and without single pic
ture.
ION all sides were books, in every
room, and little furniture other than
plain chairs and tables. In glimpse
| had of Tolstoi's room L noted four
or five pencils hanging from strings
at the head of the bed, and 1 asked
what they might be for.
I'm the night said Markovietsky,
"Tolstoi often awakens with ideas, and
he always writes them down. He says
ideas are like mountains with tip,
and he means not to miss the summit
of them
"A daughter who was picking mush-
rooms in the garden came in with
a basketful of those delicacies just be-
fore dinner Tolstoi was a strict vege-
tartan.
LETTERS ARE PRESERVED
GfT ~, eorr1v noppof ocIr Won IN