The sun., 1916-11-12

light on the a
To the end Of his life o. Henry raj
shy and almost suspicious Of the
stranger who was not the casual
stranger, writes Mr.. Maurice. the ac-
uuaintance scraped in Il mood on q
bench in Madison Square, Sheridan
Square or at some corner OF that
th~oroughfare which parallels and
parodies Broadway" o.. Henry was
Of all men one of the most difficult
to approach. There was a little circle
of his intimatcs. consisting of such
men as Richard Duffy. Gilman Hall.
Robert II. Davis, II. 'Peyton Steger.
Robert Rudd whiting and n few more,
to whom he was accessible at any time
OF the night or day. But even these
men knew that 1t was out of the qucs-
ton to arrange formally a meeting be-
tween o. Henry and some one who
wanted to know him; knew that at
the first hint the quarry would take
fright and disappear.
80 the encounter had to have every
appearance of mere chance. Into
Porter's rooms in Irving place the
friend would drop. apparently for IA
word or two of business. With him
NDulu De u StIuIlS'I. i'i tip
had CHANGED to pick up on the way.
Nine tlmes II Of ten the friend would
not introduce the other two.
But after a few minutes talk and IN
response to a prcarrangcd signal the
stranger would remark that he had
stumbled upon a joint near the Bow
cry, or on upper Broadway. where
there was a cocktail mixer who had
tended bar In forty-scven cities of the
United states. Before he had finished
Porter had reached for his hat. The
friend was forgotten. and arm In arm
tho stranger and the story spinner
sailed forth into the night"
II was only after n long search that
Mr.. Maurice was able to identify the
original building which q. Henry
called Old Munich In his we'll known
I tale ''Thc Halbcrdicr OF the Little
Rheinschloss.' At last Gilman Hall
was appealed to-and Mr.. Hall
laughed.
"Do | know the real Old Munich?
Very we'll indeed. I dined there often
with Porter. You have been looking
too far to the north, to h south, To
the west. Don't you realize that o
ter rcver would have walked that Tar
/. he could have helped it? The only
time I ever persuaded him afoot as far
ar the Riverside Drive and seventy
second street he stopped and asked
with an injured air II we had not
rasscd Pcekskill. Here is number 50
Why not try just around the corner"
1t was at 81 Irving place that O.
Henry then was living. Mr.. Maurice
= Al. mn. ,a,u. aud ,1ANn at
hand did find bld Munich-some itty
feet to the south and Il short block 10
the cast. The original of "Old Man
NroCkmann,' the proprietor. is identi
he'd as Mr.. Muschenhcim Of the old
\rcna. in West Thirty first street. ana
-: the Hotel Aston. Since his time Old
Munich has been known both as
Scaoffel Hall and as Alla!rc's. Il
stands at the northwest corner oi
Third avenue and seventeenth street
Due of r. Iiopkinson smiths mos
d|cli.h,ful collections of tales Is "a Day
at IagIcrrc's. and Other stories al
which many scenes are IN what h'
characterized as that most delightful
of French inns situated not in the
city proper hut on the banks Of the
Rronx. Discovered early ~ his days 90
authorship. lInpkinson Smith rcvolc,
n itr quaint Old World atmosphere, :,
deep was his affection for the Inn an,
It's associations that at the very C,os'
Of his long life he went back to II fol
scenes In the last novel he wrote
"FeliN O'Day." which was publisheC
after lis creator had dice
While writing this novo,, Mr. Mau
: rice reminds his readers. lfopk'nsoi
smith. though still in he full vigol
and activity. was well az IN his eight
decade. and In describing the old I'M
at this later time he was drawing upoi
his memory Of former years. Th'
earlier pictures. embodied in "A IA!
At LaGuorre's.' were almost Away
( based on living impressions, mote,
iotted down Of an evening after JUNE
hours spent with special Crouies on thu
banks 80 the winding. narrow EronN
Theu-ahout lS90-from the window
5 ot the passing railway trains n coul'
so the tall trees trailing thei
: branches In the still stream hardy
| ,Iu2cl wards wide the white duck
pddd .nG together, and the queer punt
drawn upon IN" shelving banks or tie
p 10 snegy. patched up landing stairs
, ".Alighting from the train at VIII
| iamshriGGc.' Mr.. Maurice continues
p Crossing the water. passing a tapestr,
l factory. Il short walk ooh us To Ia
{ home of Hcnr. Lemaire. the original q
p Francois Laguerre. Like Laguerre i
ihc story. l.omaire WAS a maker Il
paSsc r%artouts. lie was living until
| few years ago, and had a shop some
where on sixth avenue.
$ "a quarter of a century since La
queries was unique in its mouldines