The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1922-11-09


n,sdhouse a DR.. blanchs In suburb o.
psrla y 1911 thsrs appeared . boes
about him written BY Francois TAssess
Who from 1883 till 1893 ND bssn ne
writer's valet Francois told suardsdy'
but with bitter hatred. Of the lady II ~
pearl gray dress. Maupassant had prom
issd 70 spend Christmas Eve Of 1891 VIII
bic mother At Nice. Ne did not 20 70
MIA but 70 the Isls ints-Mareusrits
with two ladies. ons Of them the mystsri'
ous lady In the pearl sray dress. Some
thing happened during that journey
somethinR weird and horrible--hus whes
Il vas no one seems TO know.
DERHAPS the events Of that journey
merely hasssned Maupassant's mental
and physical downfall. The coming o.
madness had already been foreshadowcd
by such tales as "Feu' and ia horia'
but within week after the return from
sainsc- Marguerite hc made two attempts
At suicide. Francois related that about
two o'clock one morning. when on board
the yacht Bcl-AmI. he was awakened ny
a noise His master stood before him.
his neck covered with blood. y haze
cut my throat. Francois" he said, III
is a clear case Of madness" Francois
called for help. and aided by one OF the
sailors Of tho wach. stanched tho bloed-
Ing as bcst hc could Till the arrival os
physician. while the doctor took
stitches in the wound the patient re-
mained perfectly calm and silent. Stretch
Ing out his hand 10 Francois and tho
sailor he asked their pardon for the trou-
bio he had caused them. That was one
Of the few remaining lucid moments. A
few nights later he woke Francois. war
Is declared he cried. I'VE must do
part!" He imagined that Germany and
France were lighting again.
THAT idea that the Germans were In
4 vading France became an obsession.
Again and again he cried. I'VE must
rush TO the defense OF the eastern from
tIor." lie turned his military papers
over to Francois for safekoeping. Tho
mental night that had closed in upon
him was to endure for eighteen months.
De Maupassant in the naison dc sontc
OF Dr. Blanche Is not pleasant spectacle.
The gre brain was about as useless as
a dish Of porrdge. There we're periods
Of gibbering and violence. He believed
himself to be pursued by invisible ene-
niles. Once he hurled a billiard ball at
the head OF another inmate OF the nsy-
lum. At times his madness took the form
Of belief in his own stupendous wealth
the foiie des grdndeurs is the French
xpression-wfen he would rush about
calling to an imaginary broker to buy
the French rentes, en- bloc II was in ono
OF the rare hours of lucidity that he
died, July 9, 1898. "EIe went out like a
lamp that has no more oil.' was one
description of his end.
m HE brightest period of the life Of
L Guy de Maupassant was the period Of
his productivity, the years from 1880 to
1890, during which he published six nov
els, sixteen volumes of short stories, three
volumes of travels besides many news
paper articles that have not been incIud-
cd in the various editions of his works.
He had been writing before 1880. but his
master. Flaubert, allowed him to publish
nothing until 'Boule do Stuff" appeared
in the "Soirees de Medan." From 1880 to
1890 Maupassant averaged rather more
than three books year, achieving that
result by the regularity Of his work. lie
wrote every morning from o'clock
until noon turning out at least six pages
a day, and expression came to him SO
easily that he rarely erased. Contrary
to general opinion, he made a prelimi-
nary draft of his story. One of bis friends
told that he never went to bea without
having made notes of all that had i'm
pressed him during the day.
NT AUPASSANT was exceedingly care
Iyl full in the matter of minute details.
For example, in the familiar La Maison
Teller" over which he worked for
months, there is scene introducing Eng
lish and French sailors. Being entirely
ignorant of English Maupassant went to
Tourgeneff in order to inform himself
exactly as to the words of Rule Britain
nia" Incidentally, the valet Francois
told of an English lord who was very
curious to see the actual house of La
Maison Teller" So in company with
the novelist he travelled to Fecamp, which
is the scene of the tale, and there Maupas-
SAINT pointed out o structure-and the Eng
lishman promptly recognized it by the
description in the story. As a matter of
fact, the "Maison Teller was situated
in reality at Rouen, but Maupassant had
reasons Of his own for transporting the
narrative from the Norman capital to the
seacoast town. During the years when
he was in the full swing Of popularity
Maupassant's earnings from his pen were
probably as large as those Of any French
novelist with the exception Of Zola. For
his novels he was Maid seriallv a franc