The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 17, 1901, Page 13

THE SUNDAY CALL. 13 - % NDID RELIC OF OLD DAYS LONG THE CO THE GOVERNOR LATHAM MANSION. MANTELS THAT COST FABULOUS SUMS. PEAN WORKS OF JAT REQUIRED FOR- | TO PROCURE. WOODCARVING THE LIKE F WHICH HAS NOT BEEN UPLICATED IN CALIFOR- | A THESE WERE THE THE ARTISTIC GOV- | ERNCR LATHAM TUNTIL FICKLE WHEEL OF FORTUNE TURNED ST HIM. t relio 'Gov- sion It was the se on the coast for years, in f e browiiiae St of ke s e d the Horn kr for its beautiful shings, it was known as in the west, just as e is in the entire States. £ m Latham came to with Judge Heydenfeldt all kinds of trouble set upon ly and then in crowds, and g he knew he was handling casrying freight from here For this teaming he received caring for his horses one night 1s hands in his pockets and saun- tered downtown. A gathering attracted his atte Now it so happened that Colonel John B. Wel.er was scoring Con- gress for not admitting California into Y hinking Latham made a reply nt, so to the point and so thor- appropriate that he immediately attracted the ntion of the politicians. The next day he changed his position inc y his profession. Fortune again seemed to smile upon him and he possessed the wonderful lamp of Aladdin he could not have made money any faster he did. ll-health of his wife, Sophie Bird- he Governor to look where she could have ing care. About that e Joseph Woodworth built 2 handsome t a double lot on Folsom street, between Second and Third. The indi- viduality of the place particularly pleased s fastidious eye and he maue up d to purchase it if money would 4 dollars answered the purpose. was then made t and have the he wanted was troubled The only change that was to bu; ng 1 What ss for the tired, years he found him- fcn and commenced t his own sweet will. thought as to the price his brain. He hat was more, ng in 18 and MHe wanted a m and ing al- ave with him. om is said to d of two the At the e in t was to b the piece of carving on this mahogany and repre- ean figures their tagk over the tiern that fol- e and down the other. A figure blowing a horn and a spear”high in the air, an effective top for it h carving was done here in those nor, for a fact, in these either. The days carvers were brought over from England, the work was done slowly and well that is why those interested in wood work are told by authorities in that line to vislt and study the Latham home. But that mantel was not all by any means. The dlning 1001 has one of oak that looks every bit as solid and as stable, but not nearly as fanciful in design. The pll- lars are held up by two heads. The work is very heavy until the top is reached, ‘where two laughing cuplds hold 2 mono- gram “M. 8. L.” in place. The wood all over the room—and there 1s plenty of it—is of oak, and years have softened it and given it a beautiful tone, The celling In the banquet hall represents a group of cupids at play. Some are chasing each other, evidently enjoving a game of tag, while others are perfectly content to bill and coo. ced at aifferent advantageous posi- ns about the room are life-sized bronze statues holding aloft a water pitcher, from which spring three gas fixtures. The stand, figure and fixtures were ail brought from Europe, as was almost everything else in the house. The entrance to the mansion surprises and puzzles one. The yard. that once looked like green velvet, is now a sun-dried brown. Here and there stand pedestals, while at their feet are the fallen heroes that some ex- tra strong gust blew over. At one side stands Venus de Milo in all her white glory, with a clothesline about her beau- tiful throat. The various garments flip and flap and seem to mock her. As may be Imagined, the entire appearance of the place suggests neglect, but through all the grime and the accumulation of years the house and surroundings show what they have been. The wide steps and veranda are very fnviting, but the minute the door is open- ed and one sees the beautiful marble vases and the broken mirrors side by side a feeling of pity and disappointment comes. The vases are about seven fect high, that Is, stand and all. The lower part is neavy and made in the form of a pillar, and with very little attempt at decora- tion. The vase proper is slender at the bottom, but tapers gradually until the center is reached, and then it tapers again the other way. The flowers that ornament it are raised and after all this stretch of years not one delicate rose or leaf has been broken off. They stand at either side of the hall like two white sentinels. Just behind them is the large mirror that once reflected so many pretty faces and so many hand- some gowns. Now it is cracked into fifty pleces, and the faces and gowns that pass it these days belong not tillthe aris- tocracy, but to an entirely different class of people. But nothing can hide the woodwork that frames the glass. The same carv- ing surrounds it and the same precious wood is its mounting. The broad stalr ‘,‘“Mu i fi‘l\‘l‘%rb el s - railing and the post at the broaa stair carved of mahogany and extremely beau- tiful, The finest room in the house was the library. Even to this day it is called th o finest in the city with one exception, that being in the Colton mansion. Everything uscd In the construction of this magnifi- cent apartment, from the lattice work that supports the cushioned seats that fill the thres bay windows, to the' ex- quisitely carved mantel, was brought from Europe. The mantel, by the way, cost $1500,-quite enough these days to put up a summer hut. The chandeliers were a glitter of cut aund engraved crystal held in place by great golden chains. Latham liked Turk- ish rugs and he used them, too. The floor of his pet room was inlald with hard wood, but an i{mmense rugz covered the center of the 800-foot square room. The bookcases which surround the room are made of mahogany with inset trimmings of ebony. Even the great panes of glass are thick -French plate and have a wide engraved floral border on every one of them. All of these things were selected by the man who meant to enjoy them, and cerried one from here, another from there, until the art centers across the waters had sent their best and proudest away. Such an immense room needed furni- ture to correspond. Great divans, coy- ered with soft pillows, stretched out in- vitingly; deep rocking chairs near a table covered with all kinds of literature Frower Bowe wIiTH RABIAN Desian—~ tempted one to rest and take lire easy. Nor was the beautiful left out in the furnishings. A life-sized statue of “Cal- ifornia,” by Hiram Powers, and Rogers’ “Nydia” kept watch over the room and its precious belongings. For Latham spared neither time nor money on his books. He was a studious man and well acquainted with the poets. A library to him was one of his chief pleasures, and his collection of books was large and well selected. Next to the library he built a conser- vatory that was perfect from its daintily matched Italian tiles to the arrdy of beautiful flowers that always blos- somed? His idea was somewhat Roman. He wanted while enjoying himself thor- oughly to be able to glance up and see the statues glistening in the sun and to lose his sight in the foliage that sur- rounded the place. He was in every sense of the word artistic. The style of that day was to have everything stiff and very much alike. Halircloth furniture was all the rage, and A SAMPLE or Ths Brorize Statues, was there anything more hideous ever invented? That didn’t appeal to the Gov- ernor just because all the fashionables happened to have it in their drawing- rooms, and that was the principal rea- son why his beautiful home was fur- rished with European productions. He couldn’t buy anything at home that just struck his fancy. But when the house was complete In itself there was a certain something that was lacking and that was needed badly. It was a mistress. In February, 1870, he married one of the “Three beautiful Macks™—Mollle McMul- len, Jennie McNulty and Ella Maxwell— who were the. three acknowledged belles of the city. With her as a leader, the Lathams began a reign of fashionable gayety and lavish entertainments such as had never been dreamed of and such as have never been equaled since. There were balls, parties, receptions and dinners in rapid succession and it was no strange sight to see two and three blocks o carriages lined up about their home. To be invited to an affair was an nonor and all invitations issued from the Fol- som-street house were eagerly sought after and highly regarded. About that time the Governor startled the people of San Francisco by driving a spanking pair of well-matched thorough- breds. But instead of being a black or a bay, with well-matched tails and manes, théy were exactly different. One was black and the other pure white, but well matched nevertheless. Consternation was great. Even the small boy on the street stopped and gazed with his mouth open and then asked, “Who is it?’ Invariably the answer given was, “Governor Latham.”™ It was in this house that Milton Thur- low Latham was born and lived his baby- hood. A few years later the Governor built his summer home in Menlo Park and it was called “Thurlow lodge” after his baby. To leave his only child a fortune second to none in California was his am- bition. His own life had been a towering success, but he wanted even more for his boy. It is a common trait of all fond parents. But the wheel of fortune stopped at the wrong place. Instead of coining money hend over fist he lost it and In just as rapid a fashion. Six millions in one clip went under in an unfortunate raillway scheme. One thi followed another and worse went to worse until in 1830 the Folsom-street mansion, that was so dear to its owners, had to be sacrificed. Sena- tor Sharon bought it and gave it to his daughter, Mrs. F. G. Newlands, as a present, but the broad and delightful hos- pitality was missing. The true master and mistress were gone. A few years later the tide of fashion turned and flowed into another part of town and no person who had means enough to keep up such an immense establishment wanted to live in that neighborhood. So the house that cost such a fortune, taste and almost extravagance was turned into a boarding-house. Even that didn't ray, for some of the rooms required 100 yards of carpet, and while there were twenty-four of them, they should have been about three times smaller, to sult & typical boarding-house keeper. An orphanage next moved in. The chil- dren played with the statues, slid down the ‘mahogany stairrails, threw spitballs at the laughing Cupids and used the ‘handsome mirrors as targets. Even that didn’t pay. Now a “Housekeeping Rooms to Let™ sign is tacked on the massive pillars that guard the front door, and if the sign and the black and white marble pavement quarrel no one is the wiser, but they cer- tainly do not losk very congenial. The people who hurry’and scurry up and down the diamond pathway now are the very ones who used to stop and stare with mouths wide open at such glory. Truly the ways of the world are pass- ing strange. what the Logcal world of Art Is DoinG. ALIFORNIA, with her ¢ varying moods, her muitifpld of woods, mountain and de: been unusually prolific in forth men and women to w approval of the great wo brought fame. Still young. bar of her creeping dress as it . a number away up in the t ritles in various lines who drew inspiration from bher sun-kissed soil. Famous for her beautiful women, Sybil Sanderson standing as a fair representa- tive, renowned for her contribution to the world of music and of drama, she can count inenumbers requiring two fig- ures the men and women whose efforts in the literary fleld have immortalized thelr signatures. Stevenson, Mark Twal Bret Harte and many others whose names are quite as famillar al began their first serious work here, and now it remains for the new century to lift the vell of comparative oblivion from the originality, talent and genius encome passed in our circle of art and artists, That the new century is doing its duty n this is apparent, for now and then we hear flattering things and once in a while the Paris Salon stamps approval on the work of the local brushes. The last te win popular faver and also an enviabie sobriquet in New York is Charles Rollo Peters, who has been called the “Bret Harte painter of the West.” We all know what that means—a name with ma jectives, a style original, coneise, dainty, and, withal, a subtleness appeals to the intelligence to weave I own supplement to the story al t a painter of stories. Perhaps t est story the brush of Peters is that of the haunted house—a painting which, recently caused so much comment in the Sorosis Club exhibition and is now scanned and discussed from the walls of the Bohemian Club gallery. The sub- ject, an old domicile, a forty-niner im appearance, sagging and reeking with age, stands on the slope of the mountain, where the road curves; the atmosphere I8 that of chilly middle night or early morn~ ing, and one can almost hear the winds sweep around ‘the weather-beaten time bers; a dim light appears tiniidly through a tiny paned window; perbaps with its assistance some npew horror is being em- acted behind that age-worn door. At any rate, a decidedly spooky spirit invades the canvas, It is a story cieverly haunted house bathed in mooalig Peters will probably have a n Monterey scenes for the elub, for been working very steadily this and autumn in his cozy little the old capital. J.“W. ciawson, the portrait back from Del Monte and is hard in his studio. This year Mr. who is always lucky in_securing ful subjects to inspire his artisiic is more to be envied thun ever, for even that statuesque b Ha feldt, whose p of last year’s ciub_exhibition, v a rival In Miss Ruth Kirkpa Salt Lake belle who has journeyed coast for the winter months. Not only has Miss Kirkpatriek a com- plexion of pure transparent olive, t will spur any artist on to his highes forts, but she has an easy pose characteristic tit of the ehin w admirable. Mr. Clawson, contra: usual habit, is painting the cost riot of color, a royal purple gowu, over which is worn an elaborate embroidered kimono of red, trimmed with a caj nd ;mrfler of the soft-toned fur of th ox. The effect with her dark beauty is en- chanting. The work, which will be complete this coming club exhibition, is give the-artist a long stride toward £ There is also in the same studic © a state of completion the life s trait of the littie daughter of e Hugh Tevis; another of a yo Monte matron, who poses in a zow wonderful purple, ang this, whic s for the club, will be entitled “A X phony in Vielet.” William Keith 1 busy than ever this winter. His s is lterally filled with canvases, bea California scenes. One of the most from his hand is an early dawn “‘Morning Star.” A pool of water foreground reflects hazily the reeds £ ing its edge. An atmosphere of repose there; all nature is asleep, even the t id, this den oy star over the tops of the trees in the dis- tance shines dimly through a transparent cloud. Beautiful in composition is this canvas, a veritable poem of nature. Mr. Keith says that of all the canvases he has finished this year the “Morning Star” is his_favorite, for it appeals to the highest thought of man. Students in black and white would do well to take a few ideas from an original etching of the famous Zorin, a little rarity which is om exhibition in Vickery's gallery on FPost street. Therp are also several Waistlers In the same gallery which are well worth study. A few clean strokes of a peneil, if deliv=- ered in the right way, teil the story with far more strength than the labored ef- forts of hours. A Zorin or a Whistler in its very simplicity is restful. ‘Tom Hill has several recent Yosemites on exhibition there. Many of the artists who have come back to the city for winter are delving through Chinatown, for the field for art is almost limitless. Almost any day in the alleys in front of the joss houses, at each turn and angle, sits an artist, stu- dent or sometimes a teacher with a class of two or three, all painting Chinatown, some in detail, others leaving more to t! imagination; some in soft tones, others painting in a high key, for, strange as it may seem, three artists ail at work on one subject will each see a distinctly dif- ferent color. An old wall, for instance, will by one be painted gray, by another a purple tint, and perhaps a third may et it blue. By this means pature has aPpuy provided against monotony in our galleries. The California Camera Club announces that in conjunction with the San Fran- cisco Art Association the second San Francisco photographic salon will be held in the galleries of the Mark Hopkins In- stitute of Art, beginning January 9 and continuing for two weeks. The object of this salon 1is to exhibit.that class of pho- tographic work which shall best exempli- ty artistic feeling and execution, without regard to particular schools or fads. A special invitation to exhibit is extended to Eastern and foreign photographers. The ssibilities of photography have so roadened and developed'.in the last few years, and there is such an open fleld to exerci: individual taste and judgmenc, that this exhibition is sure to be full of artistic merit and pictorial interest. A little incident of an ambitious art student is going the rounds. A zealous member of the life class was strolling along Kearny street, his mind filled with lights, shadows, harmony. breadth, and his subeonscious dreams of Paris and fame, when just ahead of him he espied the very person whom he fancled the fates had sent for a model to inspire him and send his name into the nge beyond. An old, old man, very erect but gray. and a face upon which nature had painted vividly the struggles, the pleasures and pain of many years. = He noticed also, this student of art and human nature as well, that a peculiar gleam shot from his steel gray eyes and the shagsy white brows shook deflantiy at fate and the universe. “Poor but proud,” and “ye gods, what a model!™ he mused a8 he tapped the shoulder upe which hung a very much worn coat. * good man, do you want to earn an hon dollar? A gleam of humor broke over the wrin- kled visage, and he answered quickiy: *“Yes, my boy; show me the way."” ‘A hurried explanation followed about wanting a model—easy work. good pay,. etc. Then into the palm of young ambi- tion, who fancied he had struck a prize in poverty’s grab bag. was thrust a card bearing the name of the president of one of the largest insurance companies on the =t ast. m’x‘he old gentleman quoted a popular axiom which advises one not to judge by appearances, patted the youth on the back and disappeared down the street. leaving the embryo artist in a trance, from whica his friends upon learning his story have wakene m. b 4 HARRIET QUIMBY.