The Washington herald., 1922-07-22

Il had almost forgotten Dr.
Holmes. the dear little man." wrote
Mr.. Ernest w. Longfellow in his
Random Memories" He was like
a sparrow. always chirping SO. gaiiy.
] remember one memorable lunch
at Nahant. when were present the
doctor, Mr.. Sumner. Prof. Agassiz,
Md. Appleton. my father. and my
self. How gay the talk was. and
how brilliant. 1t would be hard
to find four more wonderful talk
ers than the first four. sat next
TO DR.. Holmes. and when he was
not firing of volleys Of firecrackers
in response to the sallies OF the
others he was plying me with ques-
tionr. think It was DR.. Holmes
who related that once in small
town he had struggled hard to get
laugh out of his audience. All
his funniest sallies fell fat. Much
dscoura ged, he finished the lecture
and was about 20 depart when one
of the selectmen came up and
thanked him warmly for the lecture
and remarked that Some of the
things you said were so funny II
was all we could do not to laugh"
1t is an old joke now. certainly.
But who shall say it was old then?
hA0fn RnmHflm1A.
and may we not, at least in charity
give DIR. Holmes the credit Tor
originating this one?
Fir Flower Tablets.
The dethroned Manchu Emperor
Hauan Tsung recently was present.
ed with a copy of Chinese poems,
Fir Flower Tablets" in which
Florence Ayscough and Amy Lowell
collaborated to translate into Eng
lish. The tutor of the imperial
youth especially requested that IL
be sent to him. and suggested the
proper manner of its presentation.
First. IL was bound in scarlet satin.
with four Chinese characters print
ed on the cover. These. translated,
read "Reverently submitted for the
inspection of the Emperor" 1t is
not etiquette for the Emperor to
thaAk anyone for anything, SC the
keen pleasure he received from the
volume could only be expressed
through his tutor. This tutor, by
the way, has recently upset the
whole palace by discovering that
His Majesty was near-sighted and
insisting that an oculist should
come to see his pupil. The oculist
came, and discovered that his eyes
were very bad, indeed, and at once
ordered glasses. This caused a
dreadful uproar among, the elder
ladies. consorts of the late Emperor.
who now rule the palace. The
Sun of Heaven does not wear
glasses. 1t cannot be-" The tutor
took a firm stand. and the Emperor
himself was determined to try the
experiment. so the glasses have been
ordered. and through them he now
can peruse Fir Flower Tablets
but the ladies are not at all sat
isfed.
To the Man I'm the street.
Capt. Carpenter has recently pub
lished a fascinating account of the
famous expedition in which he took
part, under the title THE Blocking
of Zeebrugge." 1t is interesting to
notice that he dedicates this vol
ume to The Man-in- -the-Street,"
md to see the explanation he gives
for such a dedication. 1t seems that
the man in the street" considered
the blocking of Zeebrugge a fine
stunt" and the word stunt" is
unmusical to the ear of those versed
in military affairs. For stunt" is
defined. says Capt. Carpenter. as a
volunteer act, spectacular, usually
unnecessary. sometimes involving
risk, and designed to attract atten-
ton" However" continues the au-
thor, the man-in-the-street meant
well. and. after all, could justifably
plead that his lack Of education on
naval matters was to blame. The
author has, therefore. addressed this
book to the man-in-the-street. and
has endeavored to put 'em wise.
as our cousins across the water are
in the habit of remarking."
Henrn and Holmes, Ltd.
Houghton. M:fiin Company are
planning to bring out in the near
future a complete sixteen volume
edition of Lafcadio Hearn's works.
The first edition will be limited to
$50 copies, each set being auto
graphed by Madame Hearn. There
will be l25 full-page illustrations.
many of them taken especially by
Burton Holmes. who is now en-
gagged in this work in Japan. In
speaking with a newspaperman Mr..
Holmes said this was one of the
most delightful assignments of his