The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 29, 1897, Page 20

20 FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, 1897. AUGUST 2 LATE PICTURES FROM THE EASELS OF When Artist De Conti died a short time ago he left his family in destitute circumstances and without Friends and the Art Association temporarily relieved them, and lans to get up a collection of pictures to be disposed of for the family's benefit. All were willing to contribute, and from that day until lnstb Monday }ne nicu}res h§ve ——— All are now hanging on the walls at the Hopkins Institute, and it is the intention by lot and turn over the proceeds to De Conti's widow. Aside from the fact that the collection is for such a cbasitable purpose, it is most interesting in more Ail those who have contributed have sent in some of their best work. While they are not large pictures, they show the styles of the different artists equally as well as the regular works at the spring any hope of sustenance for the future. then the artists got together and formed p been steadily coming in. of tue Art Association to dispose of them ways than one. and fall exbibitions. Since the works have been in place all have attracted considerableattention and have | well repaid those The whole collection is harmonious and up to a certain high standard that somehow who went to see them. meems to set itself. The one picture of the collection that has come in for the most atiention both from artists gnd visitors is a small canvas by Fred Yates. This is the first landscape that M:. Yates has exhibited since his return to this City, and it is a surprise and a revelation. *“O d Cypress Tree’’ is all the title there is to the p{clure. But it does not need more of a title. Itexplains itself and tells its own story, and tells that story in the most forcible manner. In the first place this small canvas is painted in a style that has not been seen on the Pacific Coast before. It is of the most modern style both fa handling and scheme of color. Broad, vig- orous and graphic, only a glance is needed to tell just what the picture means, just as a glance ata sunsgt eky tells the beholder what it is. Butat the same time the more this picture is looked at the more there is E ion there is to this picture is a small ciump of cypress trees, gnarled and twisted by init. Allthe comp: i the wind. But how much M. Yates has got oat of them. The trees are realiy trees ana seem to be swing- ing to and fro. There is a sense of the atmosphere that hangs over the Monterey coast, and you can almost fancy the beating of the surf just over the cliff. You cannot see any signs of it, but somebow you know The colors used in this picture are of the strongest kind, and yet the result is soft and The colors are laid on broadly and !produce the Jeffect that ihat it is there. pleasing and of the most harmon us nature. some eminent painters have designated as *‘fullness,” William Keith also has turned up a sarp well, but has used pastel as a mediam. much dignity as it would have if it were painted in oil. s all that the artist intended that it should. and surely it depict distance and the delicate gray-greens in the gested, but suggested so strongly that it becomes reali 3 picture adds all that is needed to make it a veritable bit of nature such as can be seen any day in almost any ble that so much can bs done with pastels and the pity is that Mr, asc Thomas Hill sends a panel-shaped landscape of a style that is considerable of a departure for him. Of course the picture is characteristic of his style, but there is something abolit it that is a distinct |[departure part of the c: try. It is really remar Keith does not do more of his work in th CyPREAS TREES. FAED VATES e. foreground. inating medium. Of course he hasstuck to the subjeots that he loves so And besides he has painted a large picture and‘given it almost as The subject of this picture is “‘A Cloudy Afternoon,’’ There is the soft rolling sky and the hazy Like all of Mr. Keith’s work a great deal is sug- A pool of clear water in the foreground of this “IN THE YOSEMITE,”” BY THOMAS HILL. from his usual way rich. is a small picture it is equally A. Joullin has year ago. Capitan, looking up. through a gorge of rocks and bow!ders. . nse the rugged sides of the mountains The distance is soft and clear, . This one is a sketch m: of working. The title is “In the Yosemite,” A roaring waterfall tumbles down into sent one o hedid. Itis good in color and pleasing in composition. L. P. Latimer sends a good-: CALIFORNIA PAINTERS. and the scene depicted is at the base of E| tha immediate foreground and forces a way Just behind are several magn that form the walls ot tbe valley. 0 hile the strong colors of the foreground are true t as good as many of Mc. Hill’s largest works. £ the sandhill pictures with which he mide su ade along the Aiameda marsh, and is really one of the best o sized water color in his usual style. that he knows how to render so well are highly pleasing. There is a g0O« water in the foreground. Harry Stuart Fonda sends a smal {ficent pine trees, and further back In color this picture is warm and o nature. While it ch a stir in the local art world 2 f those tuat The sott graens and the cool shadows d bit of painting in the pool of 1 canvas of ‘ths impressionist order. The colors ar2 highly brilliant, of sanlignt 1n the middl: distance is nature itsel’. eneral effect is good and a ray : . = !bé.g(‘:an:l ;ud!on ifi represented by a scene on tn2 Alameda mnrsdn, plunled in a style thas he has been | wi ing the last year or so. It is gooa in drawing and color. 5 % mc;u;lfu;;;:;i::i s::nll pi’c’lur(‘. A very small picture, and yet it is a large picture, so much is there in it. i’!i;lted in the broadest style and with the richest colors, it is a great deal in a little space. " W. A. Coulter, the well-known marine artist, sends & scens on the Stockton Channel that has some good work in it. The distance is remarkably well paint:d and vary oharacteristic of tha part of California Bt 1f'd;‘pll‘gtas.ge is reprasented by a scene in the garden of the Hotel Cluny in Paris, France. Itisa good bit i i ffect. i nd is well studied out and produces a D!Ba‘sll‘lg e =4 wor\l‘;i‘i;ifi: ]kll::a:,:k sends a landscapa in his best style. 1tis a scene laid at the edge of a forest and the pleasing in color. in every way. C. H. Harmen Among the wa some Chinese at wor old mission by C. A. Griffin. On the whole t giant trees ara well brought out. i G. Cadenasso sends an oil painting in a aly'le that It shows a vast stretch of valley just as the day is ending. Alice Chittenden sends a large flower stndy in he melancholy, but there is some good work in it. of San Joss se! ter-color pictures coatributed there is a k by G. Roge he collection is a most creditable one, hat he has lately taken up. ot There is some good work in the picture and it is r best style. Dixon. & woodland scene by Susan Loosely, , a landscape by J. R. McElroy and a Pen drawings are sent by Grace Partington and E. P. Partineton. He simply calls it “Sunset.” Iu1s a good piece of work and pleasing nds an oil study of a bit of ocean. This study is gray in tone and perhaps landscapa by H. Biatchley, a garden scene with a marina by E. W. Currier, an sketch from nature by Louise Schwam. There is also an eiching by J. W. and those who are fortunate enough to become the possessors of one or more of the pictures are to be congratulated. ROYALTY AND DE Fach Shows an Inclination to Have the Other on Committees to Preserve the Peace. Inasmuch as Javan is reported to havejing himself as a very Daniel come to | suggested the nomination of King Leo- | judgment, or else the king or emperor | pold to act as arbitratorin her controversy | with the United States on the subject of | Hawaii, it may be timely to point out the r-asons why this country should underno circumstances consert to the selection of | the Belgian ruler for the purpose, and at tte same time to call attention to the in- congruity of submitting disputes in which republics are concerned to the judgment of monarchs. It is merely necessary to glance over the list of the eighty odd in- ternational difficalties—I leave out those of minor importance—which have been | settlea by arvitration since 1816 in order to perceive how far more frequently the names of emperors and of kings are to be found figuring as judges in the case than | those of personages of less exalted rank, socially speaking. The late Czar, dullest and most prejudiced of bis line; the drunken and dissolute King of Holland; the late King Victor Emmanuel, whose financial irregularities are at the bottom of the present administrative corruption and saaly impaired credit of Italy; Em- peror Napoleon I1J, most unserupulous of monarchs and as inveterate a conspirator after his accession to the throne as in the days when he was still a mere politicat | refugee; the late Emperor William, who though a chivalrous gentleman and an ex: cellent soldier, understood nothing about | international law; Dom Pedro of Brazil and King Oscar of Sweden have time and again been called upon to act as umpire in internationaljcomplications. Incidentally it may be pointed out that | monarchial governments manifest a de- | cided preference for seleoting non-royal personages, and oftentimes republican statesmen and dignitaries as arbitrators. Thus England has in several instances in- voked the se s of the chief magistrates | of France and of Switzerland in such mat- | ters, while the President of the United States has ligewise bean called upon by | crowned rulers to determine the right and | the wrong of disputesin which they had become involved. And in this they show their good sense. For writing, not asan American, but as a foreigner, it is impossi- ble to deny that there is far greater chance of a just verdict being rendered by non- royal personages than by kings or em- perors, These laiter when a case is re- ferred to them either turn it over to some of their legal advisers and take no further | trouble about the matter, except to affix | their signature to the legal opinion drawn up for their approval by the lawyers or politicians whom they have em- ployed for the purpose, or else if they take the matter in hand themselves under the impression that their crown has invested them with an abstruse knowledge of the intricacies of interna- tional law without ever having studied the latter, they are apt to make the most | ridiculous mistakes, as for instance when King William of Holland, on being asked by the United States many years ago to determine the northeast boundary line, on the subject of whicl there was a differ- ence of opinion with Great Britain, de- clined to accept either the American or the English views, and rendered a decision in favor of a preposterous frontier line of his own devising, which was not only un- acceptable to both countries concerned, but absolutely impossible geographically as well as politically. Indeed itisdifficalt to say which is the most unsatisfactory of the two—the monarch who takes his um- pireship au serieux, and insists on regard- | tive officersof this Nation. who turns over the papers connected with the matter to some obscure and irre- sponsiple underling, of whose identity and qualifications the parties to the dis- pute are entirely ignorant. This question is all the more worthy of consideration, as the United States bids fair to become involved ere long in a con- troversy with Spain of the same character as the Alabama difficulty, and which like the latter will have to be submitted to ar- bitration. Through private advices re- ceived from Madrid, I learn that M. Calde- ron Carlisto, the legal adviser of the Spanish legation at Washington, while spending his holidays with his cousin at Zarang, was summoned to San Sebastian by the now murdered Premier Canovas, for the purpose of submittiag to the latter and discussing with him a very elaborate memorandum drawn up by M. Carlisto in accordance with the instructions of Minis- ter Dupuy de Lome, ana which is destined to constitute the basis of just the same sort of demand by Spain upon the United States as that which the latter made upon Great Britain in connection with thedam- age done by the Alabama and other Con- federate privateers ana filibusters dur- ing the trouble with the South. The point made by Spain is identi- cally the same as that put forward by this country in connection with the Alabama claims, namely: that if the laws apainst filibustering had been rigorously enforced incalculable injury to the state, as well as to pri- vate property, would have been avoided. The memorandum contains a long list of filibustering expeditions—of vessels laden with arms and ammunition for the in- surgents—first arrested by the United States authorities ‘and then released, of verdicts of local tribunals in the United States favoring the rebels and of instances where the good intentions of the United States Government itself have been en- tirely paralyzed and set at naught by the sympathy of its officials with the Cuban cause. Then, too, the memorandum gives an exposition of the opinions expressed by every Presidentof the United States from George Washington to Major Mc- Kinley concerning the duty of the United States Government in dealing with fili- busters and ic fulfilling the stipulations of international law, and likewise cites numerous cases bearing upon the subject, decided by the Supreme Court of this country, in order 10 show that the United States officials have been remiss in their duties and have been guilty of intentional neglect in the execution of the laws of the land as interpreted by the highest tribunais and the most eminent jurists and execu- It cannot be denied that the memorandum in question presents a very plausible and cleverly put case, and that, inasmuch as the Spaniards propose to base thereon their argument that this country is responsible for the undue prolongation of the insurrection, as well as for the immense amount of in- jury done to Spanish life and property in Cuba, they will have a claim for damages against the United BStates, at least as large as thelatter’s demand upon England in connection with the Alabama con- troversy, and calculated to more than offset any claim which the State Depart- ment at Washington may have to present at Madrid for damage dons to American life and property in the Antilles, MOCR It is possible, nay even probable, that the existence of this memorandum Dupuy de Lome and of Calderon Car- listo may be denied at the Spanish lega- tion at Wasbington. But for all that it is in the handsof the Duke of Tetuan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs at Madrid, who is only awaiting what is considered to be the most convenient and propitlous moment for presenting it to the United States. Aund it will be difficult for the lat- ter to decline Spain’s request for the sub- mission of the matter to international ar- bitration. The only thing that the Ameri- can Government should guard against in that event is the selection of any crowned bead as umplre, since public sympathy on this side of the water has been avowedly and notoriously with tte Cubans, and Emperors and Kings cannot be expected to in any way countenance those who sympathize with people in a state of in- surrection against their monarch. In addition to these general objections to the employment of reigning sovereigns as arbitrators, particularly in disputes to Z U T which republics are parties, there are other veasons why King Leopold is the vory last person who should ever be chosen to act as umpire in any contro- versy in which Japan is concerned. Among the numerous commercial, indus- trial and financial enterprises in which Leopold is interested as principal stock- holder and moving spirit is the new Japa- nese-Belgian Trading Company, which is of sufficient importance to have inau- gurated within the last few months a fortnightly line of steamers of large ton- nage between Avtwerp and Yokohoma. Not only the company itself, tut likewise the steamship line, is heavily subven- tioned by the Mikado’s Government, which has likewise accorded to the con- cern special jacilities and favors in con- of INTHE ARBITRATION OF nection witk tariff rates and state con-| would thinkjof submitting to him for a tracts. With that keen eye for | decision any question of nonor or chiv- the main chance which distinguishes |airy. ,The aristocracy ot Belgium cannot Kmg Leopola it naturally follows | forgive or forget the manner 1n which he that he is prejudiced in favor of bis Jap- anese friends and anxious to show himse!f appreciative in every possible way of- their Leopold 15 one o Tfi;sh desl™ | &nfiimge;tgfieaged monarchs wchristendom” | LKA €NEYoUs D TR QIVES Away C n il NS> AN liberality toward the company in which he is so largely interested. Indeed, when the Mikado's mother died last spring he was the only monarch in Christendom who went out of his way to order a fort- night of court mourning ior the dead Em- press, Moreover, Leopold’s personal repu- tation and private character is such that no business houses would ever dream of invoking his services as an arbitrator, just as little as the Nobles Club of Brussels i9q AT it '3'?10:{6, 2 e [T wi dd Aipfibeo clldss for T treated the two Counts de Cunchy in the transaction, smacking of Naboth’s vine« yard by meuns of which he obtained their acres in order to round off the vpark of his beautiful coun- try seat of Ciergnon. Sharp practice is the mildest expression that can be used in describing the affair, and the law- suits which the two Counts instituted }-\galr‘qlzegf-gif‘;qce Sl s ptzes : and abuse that he must sometimes have asked himself whether the two or three million francs, to the extent of which he got the best of the plaintiffs, were after all worth all the obloquy which he in- curred. In his industrial, commercial and stock exchange dealings Leopold mani. fests a desire to be considered as astute and as smart, rather than as king'y, and although it cannot be denied that heis one of the most shrewd and long-headed against his Majesty had the effect of sub- jecting him to so much popular odium monarchs in Christendom, yet, curiously enough, he has been singularly unlucky in the majority of his ventures, differing in this respect from King George of Greece and King Oscar of Sweden, both of whom ascended their thrones as: poor men &nd are now enormously wealthy. Leopola’s constant ill luck and conse- quent financial necessities have frequently driven him into the arms ot financiers by no means of good standing, since the Rothschilds closed their doors against bim, and some of his associations have in consequence been of an exceedingly ex- traordinary character, notably his inti- macy with the late “Colonel” North, the so-called “Nitrate King,”” a man of the most appalling vulgarity, who was never- treless permitted by Leovold to pat him on the back, and to invite a very mixed party of his own city friends in London to stay for a week as the King’s guests at Ciergnon curing the shooting season, the colovel practically doing the henors and officiating as master of the entire estab- lishment with all its army of royal sery- ants and retainers. If the Belgian news- papers are to be believed Leopold is inter- ested in several of the gambling establish- ments at Ostend, Spa and eisewhere, and tis certain that he has gone out of his way to visit his displeasure upon those judicial and magisterial officials who have dis- tinguished themselves by their too strict enforcement of the laws at Ostend, and al- though married to an Austrian Arch- duchess, witk two of hisdaughters settled at Vienna, yet be isin the worst of odor in the metropolis of the dual empire, in consequence of the firm belief which pre- vails in court circles there to the effect | that he has squfindered in speculation, | notably in his Congo company, the whole of the immense fortnne of his only sister, the ex-Empress Charlotte of Mexico, of whose estate he is the trustee, and who, if popular rumor isto be believed, is com- pletely cured from her dementia, and merely kept under restraint because her brother isunable to give a proper account of her property. In conclusion, two little incidents, trivial in themselves and yet character- istic, may be given here as indicating the nature of the man whom Japan wishes to nawe as arbitrator in her controversy with | the United States. Itiscusiomary at the | various courts on yonder side of the At- lantic for each foreign diplomat to re- ceive from the sovereign a parting gift on presenting his letters of recall, which mostly takes the form of a jewcled cigar- case or snuffbox. Four years ago a for- eign diplomat, while attending a farewell banquet at the palace, received from King Leopold a superb gold cigar-case, studded with costly jewels, as a memoir of his so- journ at the court of Belgium. On the day following a note arrived from the aid- de-camp in waiting, begging that the case miglt be returned for some inscription to be added to the interior. Of course the diplomat consented. Aiter waiting not merely for several days but actunally for several weeks in order to get it back, and writing repeatedly to the palace, he was finaliy forced to leave Brussels without it, and he has never seen it to thisd Re- cently, however, he met his successor, who in his turn had just left Brussels. The latter was full ot enthusiasm about the King-. “Leopold,” he exclaimed, “is a capital chap, presented me with a splendid gold cigar-case, heavily encrusted with mag- nificent gems, when I took my leave of | DISPUTES But When It Comes to Old King Leopold, That Is'a Different Matter Altogether him. I would like to have showed it to you, only they asked to have it back for a bit to make an alteration of some sort.’” The smile that developed on the features of the other diplomat became both broad and eventually loud, and further investi- gation brought to light the fact that yet other diplomats had been treated in the same manner, that is to say presumably the identical gold cigar-case had done duty for them all. On another occasion Leopold was about to present an English gentleman with a gold cigarette case as recognition for some services rendered. The man; however, was so profuse in tbe expression of his gratitude at the honor conferred by the King in receiving him that Leopold came to the conclusion that the cigarette-case would be superfluous. He accordingly did not present it, but actually retained it in- closed in the third and fourth digits of his right hand, while he extended the first and second of his fingers in an effu- sive farewell to the wortny Briton. The King made no secret afterward of what he had done, declaring that it would have been 100 stupid to waste 8o pretty a pieca of jewelry on a man alreally so weil satis- fied. EX-ATTACHE. Roman Remains at Chester. Within the last few days archwologists and others have been much interested in certain Roman remains which have been brought to light in the ancient city of Chester. During the process of excava- tions incidental to therebuilding of a shop in Northgate (or Shoemaker's) Row, near the center of #he city, the workmer came upon the base of a large Koman column in situ. The fact that this relic occupies the exact spot in which it was placed by Roman workmen sixteen centuries ago adds largely to the interest which the discovery has excited. It is of native red sandstone and rests upon the natural rock, some two feet below the level of the present streets, and almost ia a line with the west side of Northgate street, which some archwmologists have contended follows the line of one of the ancient Roman vie. The block is 4 feet 6 inches square, with a base moiding 15 inches thick worked upon it, and isin a good state of preservation. The diameter of the ‘column is shown to have been 2 feet 104 inches, or 3 Roman feet, of 11.6 English inches to the foot. A day or two alter the base was discovered a column, if not the identical column belonging 1o this base certainly one of the series, was partially unearthed. It islying in a hori- zontal position a few feot from the base, with a modern party wall built across it A few Roman coins, also in a good state. of preservation, have been found upon the site. Speculation is, of course, rife as to what the buiiding was of which these interesting relics formed part. Thoe columns which stood upon thisand similar bases must have been equal to eight, if not nine, diameters, or twenty- four or twenty-seven feet, in height, and there must have been atleast two, but more probably four or even six, of them, if, as appears likely, they formed the front of 2 Roman basilica or temple, and the butlding generally must have been of very imposing proportions. At presentit i3 impossible to say whether these cole umns formed the east or west front of such an edifice, tut that question, the nn. swer (o which involves other interesting voints, will duly enzage the attention of those best able to judge.—London Times.