OCR Text |
Show r- ppN - in- H Duff- Gooof person will often show an apparent wide difference differ-ence in conformation, owing to the shape of the pen, the flow of the ink and the amount of pressure pres-sure used, a more careful serutiny will make it clear that the chief characteristics char-acteristics hold throughout. through-out. The ghost is true to its type. Who, then, will interpret inter-pret and reveal the true meaning of our ghost autographs? au-tographs? Here is a new ' m HE autograph sJviBVv, fiend has a 4rR .A far more :Jjp. Jj amusing fad o-3' ust now tnan the mere collecting col-lecting of ordinary or-dinary signatures of extraordinary ex-traordinary folk, and the newest thing in this hobby necessitates the possession of a "ghost-book" "ghost-book" to hold the signatures signa-tures which portray the l "ghosts" of the eminent ones. just finished a brilliant first season in America, said that she could see in her ghost the shades of the late empress dowager of china. That fancy may have occurred to her because when she made her ghost the news of the death of the Chinese empress had just been received. George Bernard Shaw hasnt time for ghosts or interviews or writer folk at all, he says, yet this most inconsistent of men generally gives his interview and sees the writer person, and here we have his ghost. Mr. Shaw generally makes it as uncomfortable as possible for the interviewer before allowing him to be admitted, but after that the genial blue-eyed Irishman is irresistible and one readily forgives him anything any-thing that has seemed Tude. The writer sent a note asking for an interview with Mr. Shaw in his chambers just off the Embankment in London Lon-don last summer and in response Mr. Shaw characteristically char-acteristically wrote: My Dear Miss : 1 will have ten minutes' rest to-morrow some time between 11 and 12:30. If you catch me during the ten minutes I will see you. If you stay longer I will throw you out of the window. GEORGE B. S. The writer went at a quarter to twelve and Mr. Shaw talked and talked and talked until field for investigation and amusement. With the advent of the ghost book we have a new twist to an old, old fad. Travelers in central Europe as early as the fourteenth century used to carry their "Book of Friends," an octavo volume vol-ume in which names and . sentiments were inscribed. in-scribed. On their return home they could show an interesting record of the famous personages they had met. These are the first autograph albums al-bums of which we hear, but the passion for col-. col-. lecting manuscripts and autographs is as old as These little books are becoming very popular both in London and in New York. They have an advantage over the ordinary autograph album, because the collecting of signatures has been so overdone that many of the "great ones" have had rubber facsimiles made of their very best autographs not the kind that appears on their checks and instead of taking time to respond whenever a stamped and addressed envelope is inclosed, all they do is to pass the letter, request and envelope over to their secretary or perhaps it never gets beyond the secretary at all and the autograph auto-graph is stamped on in such a manner that it serves the purpose well and saves Mr. Author, Mr. Actor or Mr. Singer a lot of time and trouble. But a request for a name in one's ghost book has a certain novelty about it and there is, too, considerable curiosity to see just what sort of a ghost one's name will make, so that nearly everyone will take the trouble to picture his ghost for you. In making the collection for a ghost book, partially reproduced here, many well-known men and women were asked for' ghosts. President and Mrs. Taft were Immenselv am.ispd at the idea and both took the keen- Lue uisiurj oi cuitureu society ana is not wjluuul romantic side. One of the Ptolemies once paid the starving starv-ing Athenians in wheat for the privilege of copying some treasured manuscripts of the immortal Greek dramatists. The wretch kept the originals and returned the copies. If it had been the ghost signatures of Euripides and Sophocles that the unscrupulous ruler was after he would not have found it easy to perpetrate so heartless a trick. MONEY THAT GOES ABROAD Europe is a lovely place; the grave of Shakespeare is a noble sight and it's worth money to see the hillsides that produce the wine that made the Rhine famous. But est interest in seeing how their ghosts would turn Out. The big statesman adjusted his glasses, folded fold-ed with the utmost precision the paper on which he was to inscribe his ghost, looked around for a stub pen, which, unfortunately, he could not find on his desk in the Hot Springs bungalow and then he-wrote he-wrote his name and hastily folded back the paper. "Cannot say that for such a big man as I am in the flesh my ghost cuts such a wide swath," he laughingly laugh-ingly remarked as he held the paper pa-per up for Mrs. Taft to view. "But anyhow, the smaller one's ghost the better perhaps," he added. "Mrs. Taft was more pleased with her ghost than she was with that of her husband. "You are more important just now, but my ghost is a far more artistic creature than yours and really more spirituelle," this year it was) Broadway, Bath Beach, Kokomo or Kalamazoo for a large number of worthy American citizens whose custom it has been to spend the sultry months across the water. It's the old story of Balaklava over again only worse. Some millions have blundered. Times are twisted up in a hard knot and we are just beginning to get the kinks out. Nobody No-body knows what is going to be the outcome of the new tariff law. The indications are good for a poor wheat crop. Panama hats and overcoats are selling side by side in the open market. In short, there is no time like the present for staying at home and attending at-tending to business. In these crucial circumstances 200,000 persons have consented to make the sacrifice. . At any rate, such are the present indications. d the secretary at all-and the auto- ui ..,, ox wtw society an on in such a manner that it serves I romantic side. One of the P tolemie. md saves Mr Author, Mr. Actor or .1 i inS Athenians in wheat for the pnv f time and trouble. Tf J treasured manuscripts of the immoi ,r a name in one's ghost book has a Md i The wretch kept the originals and ,ut it and there is, too, considerable s Jf " 1 bf btfe" . he gl,0st st what sort of a ghost one's name 1 , ? . Sophocles that the unscrupulous rule nearly everyone will take the trouble ; 'fyCj . not have touud rt easy t0 PerPetrate LnecOon.for a ghost book, partially ; MONEY THAT GOE aany well-known men and women 1 ; Europe is a lovely place; the grt asts. President and Mrs. Taft were :;&. ' " a noble sight and it's worth money at the idea and both took the keen- jp ' ie that produce the wine that made ti :ing how their '12'-' I this year it v, l but. The big V 1 - Wxf 1 t ' Beach, Kokomo his glasses, fold- J 5 fV? f 1 feCT'V large number st precision the 2 1 nV I V citizens whose c was to inscribe r K ' If v spend the sultr; round for a stub Xkff irA HV Wf I V- water' mately, he could M? Mj l A $ ' ' lVs the old st ;sk in the Hot . V $ again-only wo and then he- 1 ' fEf- Taft 'Wks.AF'r , have blundered, id hastily folded ill? T " ""S?"' I up in a hard k J Vs Vi ,, I , beginning to ge t for such a big ' ' ; , & body knows whi e flesh my ghost 5 ,,s -f, 'g '""T-V outcome of the iwath," he laugh- " S ' , 1 & indications are j he held the pa- ' W f 11 1 . -" crop. Panama ft to view. "But I - fc 1 . C S are selling side r one's ghost the ' " 3 .;:v..:'-V:, -.M-'A,. market, e added. : vgs: ' sj j ,. In short, ther s more pleased , ; , ' ' jircsc-nt for stat in she was with .: " - 1 ' 1 tending to busim 1. "You are more i, - s, ' ' " :; . J V:., ! cm iiiestanees 'H .'. but my ghost 'i '; f ' fciV V , j consented to ma tic creature than T '''x ? f" ' j 3m $l:'i a,l" rate, such ! nore spirituelle," ) , J cations. '' i h Co art r ess o WftawcK "A she laughed. It will be noticed no-ticed that a part of Mrs. Taft's ghost bears a remarkable re-markable resemblance resem-blance to a Masonic Ma-sonic emblem. Miss Mary Garden Gar-den practiced several sev-eral times on her ghost before she would allow the final one to appear ap-pear in the writer's writ-er's ghost book. "Ghosts, like everything ev-erything else, improve im-prove by practice, and I look upon my final ghost as a worthy effort," laughed Miss Garden. Gar-den. "In fact, I see the urn above from which my spook must have hopped out," she said, and sure This means something to the rest of the country. coun-try. Paying to see Europe is our annual an-nual blood-letting operation. Millions upon millions are taken out of our national circulation. circula-tion. We work hard during the winter, either at earning money or at getting it from those who have earrfed ft, then hustle across the water to fatten up the Swiss guides and the hotel keepers. That is, . about 1,200.000 of us do. The other 78,800,000 do their traveling in their sleep, so they can be back next morning in time enough, if one will look at the prima donna's ghost it will be found quite true. Miss 'Geraldine Parrar was enchanted with her ghost, which she said looked like a veritable butterfly. "How splendid to be so picturesque a ghost!" Miss Parrar commented. Miss Emma C. Thursby has one of the most remarkable ghosts of all. and for beauty and symmetry it is quite as pleasing as a wrought-iron wrought-iron work design or a Japanese brass caudle-stick. caudle-stick. "I prefer to think of it as something that was designed by the shades of some Japanese artist, which idea I absorbed when I visited some of the great temples in Japan," said Miss Thursby. Lady Warwick says she doesn't believe in ghosts at all, but she was very much impressed by the appearance of her titled name when her ghost became a reality. "I think I shall design a book plate out of it. That wouldn't be a bad idea, would it?" the countess added as she viewed the strong, bold writing that formed her signature. Lady Cosmo Duff-Gordon was enchanted with her ghost and ghost-collecting has become such a fad with her that she has purchased a dozen of the little volumes for her friends. "I put my ghost in each one and 1 suppose I must be a woman of a number of selves or else there are a number of warring ghosts in my ancestry, for each one of my signatures produced a ghost so totally different from the others that one would scarcely believe that they came from the same name and handwriting. But I am rather pleased with the idea, for what is more prosaic than lack of variety? I have made my fortune by original and diverse designs in the malting of frocks," said the titled dressmaker, "so why shouldn't my ghost signatures portray that characteristic?" When Mrs. Elinor Glyn, author of "Three Weeks." had made her ghost she thought that it bore some resemblance to a tiger and eagerly pointed out its claws. "The tiger is essentially one of my transmigrations, or shall I say manifestations?" mani-festations?" remarked Mrs. Glyn. "Hence my tiger ghost. Paul would be pleased with that, wouldn't he?" she added with a smile. Emmy Destlnn, the gifted Bohemian prima 6 a l'tl:e l?oval opera house, Beilin, who has nearly one o'clock and not a word was said about the window or the playwright's strong right arm! For a man of his brusque threats Mr. Shaw has a very mild and diminutive-looking ghost. Hallie Erminie Rives has a ghost that might be of Oriental origin, for it resembles an antique and elaborately carved vase of Chinese design more than anything else. "Perhaps it is meant for the urn that contains my shades," the novelist novel-ist laughingly remarked. . Of course one may just care to have the ghosts of one's friends and not particularly those of people celebrated in the art, literary or political politi-cal worlds, and then it will be a simple matter to fill up one's ghost book, for the making of ghosts will be found to be quite a novelty at a tea or other social affair, and taken along with one's hand luggage on an ocean voyage a ghost-book ghost-book will prove a source of endless amusement, amuse-ment, while it will make a lasting souvenir of the trip. The ghost book itself is a small affair that can be gotten in the pocket of an overcoat or can be cairied easily in a muff or big handbag, hand-bag, so that one can always take it along without with-out any trouble. When you ask for a ghost signature you prepare the page for the writing by folding it and the person whose ghost you are after writes directly on the line of the fold. A stub pen which holds a large amount of ink is best for this purpose, as the size and mystery of the ghost depend largely upon the ink. After the name is written the page is folded together again without blotting blot-ting and lo, the ghost appears. Try it and see! It is not necessary to have a book. One can have the signatures written on separate sheets of paper and collect them, but care must be taken to use soft paper that will absorb the ink readily. These separate sheets can then be pasted into a scrap-book, but the little ghost book itself will be found more convenient. At the top of a page in the ghost book is a small dotted line for the date and below appears another line for the writing of the name after the ghost is made, so that after all in a ghost book one gets a genuine autograph as well as the spook signature. While several ghost signatures of the same for work. The rich American going abroad counts only one on the passenger list, but he must be carefully considered in any estimate . He spreads out the chart upon his desk. An exceedingly anxious-to-please agent of the steamship steam-ship company is at his side. Here is something up near the bow that is just right so the steamship steam-ship man says. "Not for a minute," says the man who has the last say. It is too far up in front. The motion of the boat would put him out of business busi-ness the first day. What else? Oh, an exquisite suite amidships. It's great The Countess de Spitzbergen never takes anything any-thing else when she is going to or coming from America. Beautiful parlor, mahogany finish. Bedroom Bed-room in ivory. Bathroom in baby blue. Maid's quarters. And the rate for two adults and one servant is only $1,700. Will the gentleman take it? Indeed he will not. The Countess of Spitzbergen Spitzber-gen may travel in the hold if she likes, but no baby blue or mahogany can lure him to a point over the engines. Why. didn't he come over once in a suite thus located? Didn't the incessant coughing, wheezing, trembling and sneezing of the machinery nearly drive him wild? Not a 'vink of sleep from the time he went abroae until he get home. Friends thought he had been sick when he showed himself in the street. Oh. very well. Here's an equally beautiful suite far removed from the engines back toward the stern. Occupants of these apartments often call for the captain to ask what makes the boat go. be.cause they can hear no noise nor feel any vibration. Highly recommended by the best physicians phy-sicians to nervous patients. Price, the same. Did any one ever hear of such stupidity? Here our patient multi-millionaire has explained in rie tail that he cannot travel at the bow cf a ship because the motion is too great and the agent has shown him a suite near the stern. What's" the difference between the bow and the stern, any way? Isn't each end balanced in the middle where it will go up and down like the end of a walking-beam? Well, a steamship man who doesn't know any more than that can go bac! home. Mr. Multi-Millionaire will travel by on line that at least employs persons of inte!!;g-m " |