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Show ,jw rr tew THE CITIZEN piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimitHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii; ONG THE NEW BOOKS By Mrs. Boston: Bailey Aldrich. injm uahton Mifflin Company. nomas or ; f lid' to! t Thomas Bailey Aldrich writes othe title page of her Crowding Meiories the pathetic line, All, all ariione, the old familiar faces, and indited nearly every one of whom she wes has passed away. But the book is by. no means despondent. On the. contrary it bubbles over with deli-c- a humor and with an intense ap- Mrs. Aldrich preciation of events. one of her day who was ie; knew every worth knowing. As a result we have ns. goinething that is not merely an but something more gript is auto-biograhp- y, ping. In 1867 Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich settled down in their new home in Boston and it was in the autumn of that year that Boston had the excitement of welcom- i ing Dickens on his second visit to America: was on .a blustering evening in November that Mr. Dickens arrived in Bos-to- n harbor. A few of his friends steamed down in the Custom House boat to welcome him. It was pitch dark before the Cuba ran alongside. Mr. Dickens cherry dice was heard welcoming Mr. Fields before there was time to distinguish him on, the steamer. He looked like a bundle of animated wraps, and was in most exuberant spirits; the news of the extraordinary sale of the tickets to his read- ings having been carried to him by the pilot twenty miles out. Mr. Fields, having heard that a crowd had assembled in East Boston and was waiting the arrival of the steamer, decided to take his guest In the tug of Long Wharf, where carriages were in waiting, and very shortly Mr. Dickens was well ensconsed in the Parker House, sitting down to dinner with a half dozen friends, quite prepared, he said, to give the first reading in America that night if desirable. - There had been great excitement over the sale of tickets for the read ings. There were strugyles to secure the best seats and a queue was formed twenty-fou- r hours before the sale be: gan: What memories unfold themselves to my vision of that night, December 2, 1SC7; the night of the first appearance of Mr. Dickens in the Tremont Temple! Again I am conscious of the expectant hush as Mr. Dickens appears, book in hand, white boutonniere in buttonhole. With quick, elastic steps he takes his place. The whole audience spring to their feet, while round after round of applause, cheer after cheer, shout after shout of welcome greet him. On the stage Is a simple device, designed by Mr. Dickens, looking like a reading desk, with a light so arranged as to illuminate the readers feet; behind it stands a long, dark, purplish screen. With a magicians touch the simple deck transforms itself, supple to the masters will at one time a kind of pulpit with brass rail, the witness box; next the enclosed seats wheer the Jurymen sit; then a numerous muster of gentlemen In wigs, the barristers seats; then it became the table for Mr. Justice Stareleigh, who put his little legs underneath it and his little d hat upon It; and when Mr. Justice Stareleigh had done this, all you could see of him was two queer 1ft tie eyes, one broad pink face, and somewhere about three-cornere- The Hanging of the Crane, for which poem Mr. Bonner paid him $3,000 for the. right to publish it In his paper. Thus the little visit, which Mr. Ixmgfel-loIn his kindness made, brought for him a dual reward money and fame, and a larger asset, the pleasure and matronly pride It gave Its young recipient. poem I w z iiiiiiiiiiiiiiMmiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiimimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiumiiimiiiiiiiiiiMiii CCOWDING MEMORIES. 13 half of a big and very comical looking The officer on the floor of the court called out Silence! in a commanding tone, and the great case of Bardwell and Pickwick . began, holding the listeners still and motionless until the foreman brought in the verdict of "Guilty, and fined the defendant seven hundred and fifty pounds. Then Sam Wallers father touched him on the shoulder and, with a O Sammy, mournful expression, said, Sammy, vy womt there a alleybi! With this the great audience shouted with laughter, and the wild applause began again with gathered volume, until even the walls of Tremont Temple itself seemed to echo and vibrate as a pendulum disturbed from rest and swing to and fro. wig. Dickens paid a visit to the Aldrich home, and the author tells us that if the Sultan of Zanzibar, the Czar of all Russia, the Grand Mogul of India, and all the crowned heads of Europe combined should have knocked at her door, it would not have thrown the entire household into such a frenzy and Mr. flutter as that simple card, . Charles Dickens: I well remember the quick beating of my heart as I descended the stairs to the boudoir, where I found Mr. Dickens seated In the easiest chair in the bay window. A rather short, slight figure, so he seemed to me then, without the manner that stamps the caste to Vere de Vere. He was dressed I think dressed is the right word in a very light, so light that I dont know how to describe it I can almost say soiled white color top coat. It was wide and short, and stood out like a skirt, the collar of a much darker shade of velvet. Ills waistcoat was velvet of. another shade of brown, with brilliant red Indentations; his watch cliain was buttoned Into the center button of his waistcoat, and then it divided itself. I found myself saying, IIow do you do, and wondering. If the watch was in one pocket, what was at the other end of the chain In the other pocket, and was tempted to ask him the time, In the hdpe that he might make a mistake and bring out the other thing. I dont remember what he wore on Ills feet, and I dont know the plaid of his trousers, but I rather think it was a black and while .check what the Englishman calls pepI dont remember any one per and salt. topic of conversation on that first visit, but I remember well the laughter and good cheer; the charming way In which the guest made these two young people feel thjt to him they really were persons of consequence and were so regarded by this prince of strangers who tarried within their gates. Another distinguished visitor at the Aldrich home was Longfellow, who asked permission to see the house, as Mr. Dickens told me of its charm: When the short hour of the house was over, lingering a moment in the dining Ah, room door Mr. Longfellow said: the be not will always Mr. Aldrich, it same round table for two. By and By It will extend itself, and about it will cluster Utile faces, royal guests, drumming on the table with their spoons. And then, as the years go by, one by one they will take flight to build nests of their own. The round table will again recede until it Is set for two and you and Mrs. Aldrich will be alone. This is the story of life, the iKithellc poem of the fireside. Make an idyl of It; I give the Idea to you. Mr. Aldrich did not use the motif, and Mr. Longfellow himself later wrote the Soon after the meeting with Dickens and Longfellow Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich made the acquaintance of Mark Twain. Mr. Aldrich had made some casual reference to a poem credited to Mark Twain as being an Imitation of anMark other poem by Bret Harte. Twain repudiated the poem and Mr. Aldrich made amends with the following result: Dear Mr. Aldrich: I hear a good deal about doing things on the spur of the moment I Invariably regret things 1 do on the spur of the moment. That disclaimer of mine was a case In point. I am ashamed every time I think of my bursting out before an unconcerned pubabout lic with that bombastic pow-woall and that burning publishers letters sort of imbecility, and about my not being an imitator, etc. Who would find out that I am a natural fool if I kept always cool and never let nature come to the surface? Nobody. The last letter in the series was from When Mr. Aldrich, ending in this wise: you come to Boston, if you do not make your presence manifest to me. Ill put an item in Every Saturday to the effect that although you are generally known as Mark Twain, your favorite norn de plume Is Barry Gray. I flatter myself that will bring you. w lie was always in financial difficulties through his spendthrift habits.. Mrs. Aldrich says: On a subsequent visit of Mr I Harte s to Boston, I well remember, late on a stormy December night as we were covering with ashes the too bright blaze of the cheerful logs of the living room fire, the Startling sound of the front doorbell, followed by the buoyant, confident tone of Bret llarte at the foot of the stairs, 'calling: Are you home, Aldrich? I have come to And then :the memake a night of it lodious voice as he ascended the stairs two at a time chanting, Polly, put the kettle on, Polly put the kettle on,' and we'll all have tea. lie had been to a dinner and reception given in his honor, and coming gayly Into the room he asked for the loan of our spare room for the night, saying that the hotel room was dreary, and that he was In a mood to be happy and gay. We joyfully loaned him the rijo'm and the lights the pajamas and the brushes and in return he loaned us through all the small hours, until the coming of the dawn, the aroma of his hosts choicest cigars. The next morning, still arrayed in his evening clothes s. he went unembarrassed and airly holle-ward- It may be that our Jiouse was for a him palladium that night; for a few evenings afterwards with untroubled charm he spoke to a great audience in Tremont Temple, while a sheriff sat behind a screen and wailed. Hurried calls were sent to his publisher, who was dining out and difficult to find, so that the lecture had to be lengthened until the rescuer came, and the cue was given that the last word could now be sarely spokeye had disappeared en; the and the chair behind the screen was. vaall-seei- ng cant. I Twain home with him to dinner on one occasion, but inexplicably neglected to inform Mrs. Aldrich as to the identity Mr. Aldrich brought of the visitor, who aroused her sentment by his eccentric manner: re- When the hands of the clock pointed to the usual dinner hour, no maid appeared with the announcement that dinner was served, nor was there any answering notice or fellow sympathy to the eye that looked to the mistress of the feast, and then hack to the clock, whose hands slowly moved to quarter past half past quarter of and then the strange guest arose and said he thought he would go. The adieus were made and accepted, by one with icy formality, which the other member of the fraternity tried to make atonement for by an exuberant cordiality as be escorted his guest to the door. On his return to the library with unwonted sternness he asked why the of an hour late, dinner was and why the guest had not been asked to stay; his answer was hysterical tears, and in his bewilderment ho heard: How could you have brought a man in that condition to your home, to sit at your table, and to meet your wife? Why, lie was so intoxicated he could not stand straight; he stammered In his speech with these words the tangled knot was cut. Quickly the answer came: Why, not know who he was? dear, did you What you thought wine was but his mannerisms and idiosyncrasies, characteristics of himself, and born with Mark Twain. There was silence for a moment, and then louder grew the hysterical subs, mufMark fling and choking the voice: Twain! Twain! Was that Mark Oh, go after him, 'go after him; bring him back and tell him, tell him O, what can you But it was not until years tell him! afterwards that he was told. three-quarte- rs When Bret Harte went east it was natural that he should drift into the society of Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich. He was in receipt of a liberal income, but i There was a visit to Hartford to see Mark Mark Twain and much exchange of hospitalities. Mrs. Aldrich says truly that never again can there be such talk as scintillated about the table at which sat Howells, Clemens, Aldrich, and Warner: M The next morning as wo were dressing and talking of the pleasant plans of the day, there was a loud and rather authoritative knock at the bedroom door, and Mr. Clemens voice was heard, saying, Aid-ric- h, come out, I want to speak to you. The other occupant of the room wrapped her kimono round her more closely, and crept to the door, for evidently something or about were overheard to liappen. The words most disquieting. Twains voice had its usual calmness and slowness of speech, but was lacking in the kindly, mellow quality of Its accustomed tone, as he said: In Heavens name, Aldrich, what are jou doing? Are you emulating the kangaroos, In your shoes, or trying with of serious Import was happening, hob-nai- ls Tel. Wm. 5510 Open All Nlfflil UNDERTAKERS AND EMBALM ERS S. D. EVANS Modern Establishment New Building 48 State St. Salt Lake City :VllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllliaillMIIIIIIIIIIIIIMINIMIM- i J. R. Sebree - II. W. Lane und Industrial Stocks und Ronda Mining I . a SEBREE & LANE Liberty Rondn llouglit s 14 Wasatch 4010 Exchange St., Suit Luke City 'TiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiik'' S ? i 5 |