The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1914-08-07
FAMOUS SLOvENS
They Had a Fine Contempt For
Personal Appearance.
GENIUS IN UNCOUTH ATTIRE.
Turner. the Artist, Dressed Like an
Old Time Cab Drver-Dr. johnson
Was Grosssque, and "old Fitz" Out.
ragged Al the SartoriaI Conventions.

was OroSeSque, ana 'Olu rlN< oot-
ragged All the SartoriaI Conventions.
II Is surprising how outrageously
careless of their personal appearance
many famous men have been. Genius
may or may not he allied to madness
but ii has certainly very often been
linked with an utter disregard for
clothes and clearly habits
II is said of Turner, the great land
ecape painter, that his hands were the
smallest and dirtiest hands on record"
perhaps that is an exaggeration. but
be was certainly very slovenly in his
dress He wore a black swallowtail
dress coat, very much in need of
clothesbrush vigorously used and In
the warmest us well as In the coolest
Weather he wore round his throat a
sort of wrap or muller, which he
would unloose, letting the ends dangle
down in front and dip into the colors
of his palette. He always worked
either with his old hat on his head or
with this same large muller over his
head. His appearance was more like
that of an old time coachman than of
famous Royal Academician. for he
was short and stout with n red and
blOtchy face
- Or. Johnson's slovenlineSs has al
most passed into proverb. There are
many contemporary accounts of his
turning out of his house I'm Bolt court
with his wig back to front and his
stockings down. When Boswell visited
him ut Inner Temple lane he records:
His brown suit of clothes looked very
rusty: he had on n little. old shriveled.
unpowdered wig. which was too small
for his head: his shirt neck and the
knees of his breeches We're loose. his
black worsted stockings i'll drawn up.
and by way of slippers he had on
pair of unbuckled Shoes" When it is
added that this great man was con
stantly twitching, grunting. shaking
his head. putting his cheeks and blink
ing his eyes. II must he admitted that
bis appearance was not only uncOuth
but grotesque
Thomas Carlyle, coming Of peasant
race. never conformed to society garb.
He was always the inspired peasant
He would sometimes 70 out in his
old dressing gown, over which he but
toned big coat, gray with age. When
he was left alone in the house he de-
lighted In swiling his flagstones with
pals OF water. and many distin-
guished friend found him thus EN-
gagged with kind of smock on and
his bushy hair all tousled. He went
about oll th., u,,p,,n1,r t,nn,v thu, bi,,b
est nristOcracy in a frieze Jacket which
was part of an old dressing gown. All
the cabmen and bus drivers Chelsea
way knew him. One said. HE may
wear queer at. but what would yer
give for the 'eadpiece inside of III"
IL would not bs seemly to describe
TenpysoD AS slOvenly in any real
sense. He was singularly noble
looking man, but he did not care a jot
what he wore. His old SLOUGH hat had
seen unnumbered years and tapped
about at all angles. and the Inverness
cape which he invariably wore was
about as old rs his hat People who
met him without knowing his immense
distinction would have regarded him
Us TdtneT uudlnt cudracter, ana
tailor's cutter would not have assessed
him ut half dollar. all told.
This is a description of the daily ap-
pearance OF Edward Fitzgerald. the
immortal translator of The Rubaiyat
Of Omar Khayyam: "Straggling gray
hair and slovenly in dress. wearing an
ancient. battered. black banded. shiny
edged tall hat. round which he would
in wintry weather tie Il handkerchief
TO keep 1t in place: his clothes of
baggy blue cloth. as though he We're n
seafarer: his trousers short and his
shoes low. exhibiting length of white
or gray stockings With an unstarch
ed shirt front. high, crumped. standup
collar. II biz black silk tie in n careless
bow: in cold weather trailing green
aud black and gray plaid shawl, in hot
weather even walking barefoot with
lbs boots siung 10 Il stick" Surely
''Old Fitz," as Tennyson called Him.
took the cake for slovenlineSs Of all
the als!-PearsOn's Weekly.