The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 17, 1901, Page 12

12 ' THE SUNDAY CALL led again, It warmed DINING. Roorr. ' SIDEBROCARD. portals La Lole, la petite Lote, » and a two con- day people—La Lofe fl art of the little danseuss some- She had worked t w caught the eve of the great trags- For La Lole is as dear 2 c.e as 1t ght the eye of oli vine Sarah as is the fox ter- Li Hung Chang and many another eye thought f focused .for sterner hardt makes a pet of little mall pleces and inister it in frac- 0 combat the dis- the patients had for etable. He treated | to them In adai- | garlic the ordinary symptom- d that gar eutic agent | 1t an improvement took | s nd was especlally | were in their first | ually grew less ared, the cough sical signs be- | s ar. The a marked | improvement in appetite and general con- | dition. | , The pet asked a favor. Could it be de- ried? Assuredly no. She asked that she might be permitted to bring her San Fran- cisco friend, Mr. Taber, an artist of re- pute, to call upon the divine. He begged to be ushered into the divine presence, there to do reverence. It was permitted. More than that, the interview was gra- clous. It was warm. It was cordial. The divine punctuated it with smiles; she in- terlarded it with the flatteries of glance. Mr. Taber grew fearless in discussion. He led from art to politics, from politics Lo commerce, from commerce to art again. At every step she followed. Perhaps she “led. She can, you know, and one who con- verses never knows the difference. Whenever art, decoration, sculpture, painting were neared the approach grew warm. Again and yet again there was a veering toward the" longed-for subject and again and yet again it was easily dropped. At last— It popped out so suddenly that he did not know it was coming. But he had sald 1t. He walited gasping for the verdict. It, too, came so0 .easily after so little pause, that his suspense was over almost as soon as it had commenced. “T shall be charmed to have you, Mon- #leur Taber, make pictures of my home.” All as easy as pressing a, button. And et all other photographers, so the tale is told, have for long, both before and since, sued for the privilege in vain. i The most @elighttul days followed, in which Monsieur Taber visited the hotel particulier of Mme. Bernhardt and experi- mented with lights and high lights, and in the end came away with a set of treas- ured plates bearing views of the salon and the studio and the salle a manger. These glimpses of favorite corners in favorite rooms tell at one glance more of their owner than pages of type could ever do. * Bernhardt is artistic in more ways than the one which the public is privileged to see her in. She is, for one thing, a deco- rator. Look at the pictures if you doubt. There In the studio she has gathered her treasures, thosethat are the most per- sonally dear to her. They are the curios and works of art which she has brought home from her travels—the paintings and marbles and old carved furniture. More precious than all these are the works of Bernhardt's own hands. . For she is by inclination and experience a sculptress, and of no mean rank. The bust of her sister, the bust of M. de Gi- rardin, the figure of a friend—all are specimens of her own art. The studio is crowded with ornaments. It s in reality ‘a large room, much longer than wide, but it is so densely “littered,” a5 the irreverents have sald, that there is not much room lert for human ‘occupants. However, not much 1s needed, for the studlo is for the .intimes, not for the dear five hundred friends. It 1s where one may chat and grow closer to those Who are privileged to come close at all. RNNARDTS Bxerer By flasEr. cheer to the whole apartment. Along the walls range paintings, mostly portraits of the lady herself. Below these are or- naments on pedestals, cabinets of treas- ures. One of these is filled with bijous—th Jewels thaf have been given to Her in he: long and varied life. There are old Vene tian girdles, French fripperies, jewels in antique Itallan settings. Much as they are worth Intrinsically, they are worth far more for their memories. The chalr in the dining-roém is one 6f the priceless favorites which Mr. Taber succeeded in phofographing. It is a very severe plece of furniture, but Sarah pre- fers it, for all that, to any modern en- courager of laziness. Straight and high of back, uncompromising of seat, it stands always at her place at the table and she could not eat a home meal with any suc- cess without it. Nor would she ever need to; at home things go as the divine Sarah commands, and it was for her to travel to America before het wishes were treat- ed like anybody’s wishes. Her library is & good collection of books —not huge, but exclusive. Her library table is a big, spreading affair llke a man’s, and & busy man's at that. Upos it stands ever the skull which bears the Inscription, “Made by Victor Hugo.” It serves for a paper-weight, and one might think it would welgh heavily upon the spirits, or upon any but the marveloug Bernhardt's, At its end 1s & fireplace that gives good ONE SIDE OF THE STUDIO. Iyl Flowers appear everywhere. In season and out, the actress demands them, and florists have to turn themselves into wiz- ards to satisfy her. Chrysanthemums are among her favorites; she likes best the curly-petaled ones in dark coppery shades. A portralt—a large palinting—of Rachel BERNHARDTS, DOG. occuples one end of the wall, showing thag Bernhardt is too great an artist not tg admire others. Another treasured paint. ing is a portrait of Ernest Bernhardt, son of the actress, He ia shown as & little youngster with his favorite dog bdeside him, but another painting bears witness to the old age of this by showing his lite tle daughter. Madame would certainly never mentien the dogs as a part of her furnishings, yet Monsieur Taber, had the audaeity to phoe tograph them as If they were no more They are n make famous, but some so in their tastes that behind on this trip. Mr. Taber remembers that the famous lion cage was In the back yard along with the stables. He did not make the person: acquaintance of the while thers, and he feels t well. When the final request was made that the lady sit for her own portralt she granted the faver with alacrity, but could not find time to go to a studlo, So a picture was made in her own apartments, and as it was not a success it went the way of all her negatives which do not please her—to destruction. For ne pho- tographer dares preserve one which ! has ordered destroye But the pictures of her home met with her highest approbation, and that is how it comes that we e the good fortune to see the surro s that she loves best. madam - Americans in Knee Breeches, ONORABLE JOHN W. FOSTER, former Secretary of State and one of the most widely experienced of American diplomats, tells In the Saturday Evening Post Interesting and amusing Instances of American diplo- mats and court costumes. The ladies will | be interested in knowing that in diplo- macy extreme consideration is given to the kind of clothes which the representa- tives wear. In the course of his articls Mr. Foster says: “Some Ministers have made themselves ridiculous by securing an appointment in the State militia, and making use of that uniform. A story is told of one of our representatives at a European court whe appeared at the palace In the garb of & captain of a cavalry troop, & post be bad filled at home, which led the monarchical diplomats, attracted by his metal helmet, quizzically to ask if he belonged to & fire company in America! The Instructions of the Depar t of State now In ferce construe the law to allow such ‘& dee parture from a simple dress as will secure our diplomats welcome at court oere« instance, the members of the United States embassy. in London appear on state occasions in knee bresches, with metal buckles on their shoes. and In othes respects in ordinary evening dressy*