The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 10, 1904, Page 17

- | Pages 17t020 * + THE CALL ’ Pages 17102 _—r—— SAN FRANCISCO, SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 1904 MME. DIEULAFOY, STUDENT, TRAVELER, NOVELIST AND ARTIST DRESSES IN MASCULINE ATTIRE BY PE Returning With Treasure Fruits of Archaeological Research, Ready Sanction Is Granted for Strange Style of Touring Garb. PARIS, April .—One enjoying the entree to exclusive salons or erudite circles in Paris s apt to meet at any time a couple before whom everybody glves way, and whose appearance will profoundly impress the mnewcomer. “Professor and Madame Dieulafoy,” the word is passed round. Surely, there must be some mistake? That tall, well-built, fine-looking man with the gray mustache and beard may . his frafl sed in an ir- faultiess And yet at and be his wife! & more searching look into the refined Bnd mensitive glance at the delica suffice to by clothes but the most s what Dieulafoy those auses Mme ken for a man by know her is that she wears s desty. She wears hes r nly because she cor nal ynvenie ng an ordea five 3 < had dressed as a seemed kbroker ymnected r i Mid-Ler s all varieties 80 long ained; men med vice ed be- h in tights, \ se ® no escape commission ense to be bought beforeh ith the mere question of man’s or woman's clo however, more leniency is shown, in exceptional cas d upon presen- tation of conclusive reasons therefor, a woman may habitually wear men's clothes or even a man woman'’s clothes, Rosa Bonheur received one these rare permits, because she could not, she said, go about freely sketching in the ficids when hampered by skirts. And Mme. Dieulafoy received another on account of her archaeological re- wearches, which she still continues in- termittently in other places. Yet there is a great difference between Rosa Bonheur and Jane Dieulafoy. Rosa Bonheur, in adopting man's dress, tried to ape his ways also, whereas Jane Dieulafoy is above all things proud of being a woman. SEARCH FOR ART TREASURES. The discovery of the Palace and Ne- cropolig of Artaxerxes at Susa, de- ecribed by her in her book, “Diary of the Researches at Susa,” was the crowning event of Jane Dieulafoy’s life, and brought her to world-wide f But she has successfully under- taken a number of other researches scarcely less interesting, among which was her investigation to find the ori- Y — | * the Oriental arts. had Mme p convinced her that Oriental art had not sprung from Dieula- own studies Arabia, as was generally supposed. She d ted fifteen years to solving this problem, exa ng every trace of Ori- ental art a architecture in Spain, Algeria, in Morocco, in Egypt, and thence farther East, tracing its cours step by step. Finally, on the site of lon, she found the origin which she had been seek and turning back llowed its path t had advanced ind the shores of the Mediterranean, ugh Lower then er d re Granada passing t M d Algeria of Gibraltar pressior this cours Mme. Di been ki been traced inve has the history foy’s ations have own world of science known how to account arts vhich has since oc- eulafoy’s attention Is of Moorish art in It has been considered that was exhausted, but Mme. nd that many of the most »ecimens of art were guarded the thedrals and were known to the chapters and to the royal amily alone. Having made many pow- rful friends during her long and pa- researches in Spain, and being a ember of the Spanish Academy, Mme. Dieulafoy recently obtained a permis- sion er before granted, to study and even to photograph these priceless treasures painting, sculpture and goldsmi work preserved in the ca- thedrals of Toledo, Cadiz, Seville and Granada. Mme. Dieulafoy is now en- ged in writing four books, one on h of the towns named. Accustomed as she is to hardship and privation when on her explorations, Mme. Dieulafoy leads a life almost as Spartan when at home. Her residence in the Rue Chardin is one of the finest and most luxuriously furnished in Paris; but most of her time is passed in a room on the fourth floor at the resr, far from the noise of the street, overlooking the gardens of the Tro- cadero. Books covering the walls from floor to ceiling; a few rugs, a chair or two; a large desk to the left and a smaller one to the right; that is all The large desk is Professor Dieulafoy's, the small one is his wife’'s. And here me. D nee Dieulafoy for perfec isly in the two sit writing for eight hours each day. HAPPY WITH HER BOOKS. ““We begin at 6 o’clock every morning, winter and summer, for I have found that no time is so favorable for writing as the early morning,” said Mme. Dieu- lafoy to me. “And we write without one moment’s rest until 11. On rising, my husband and I both take a cup of chocolate, and after that no one must interrupt us until we go down for our breakfast at 11. No letter, no message — | { | | 4o ° Phecac + xerxes saw it, full of majestic splen- dor.” This furnished the theme for Mme. Dieulafoy's most ~successful novel, “Parysatis,” dealing with Artaxerxes, his life and his lovgs. Recently drama- tized by the author in the form of a Greek play, ‘‘Parysatis” was performed in the classical setting of the Roman amphitheater at Bezlers, France, and — FRENCH WOMAN WHO or telegram, however urgent, is brought to us; our servants are e 1 ordered not to come near o\ What is per- haps more remarkable than the outside silence which surrounds us is the si- lence which we observe toward one another. Undisturbed thought is the one guarantee of good literary work; and although we are often writing in collaboraticn, we never exchange a word during these five hours. The ratching of his pen and of mine is that breaks the stiliness. “From 11.till 1 p. m. we breakfast, read our letters and talk; then to work again until 3 or 4 o'clock. After that we do no more work, geing out to see our friends, driving or walking or read- ing at the Bibliotheque Nationale. Such is our life, regular and monoto- nous almost as that in a monastery, never varying by as much as a quar- ter of an hour. Perfect system is, in my opinion, the greatest necessity of work of any description.” In addition to her purely scientific works, Mme. Dieulafoy is a gifted lec- turer, always on classical themes, and has written a number of historical novels. Her long stay in Persia and Susiana has revived the past before her so that she seems to live in its at- mosphere, and her pen {s steeped in vivid coloring. “When I close my eyes and think of the Palace of Artaxerxes,” =he often says, “it appears before me, not as I saw it. in ruins, but as Arta- - - WEARS MAN’'S ATTIRE. * proved one of the most remarkable evocations attempted. From her dress it might be imagined that Mme. Dieulafoy has advanced ideas in feminism. Yet she clings to old-school notions that woman's chief superiority resides precisely in the al- leged inferiority of her home position. of the ancient times ever When the writers Paul and Victor Margueritte opened a campaign in favor of divorce by the consent of either party, which would make mar- riage scarcely even a fermality, Mme. Dieulafoy bravely took up the cudgels, not against woman's right, but, as she considered, for them. ‘““You claim that women are the slaves of marriage, and that they would profit by this new ar- rangement,” she said. “On the con- trary, women alone would lose by it. My duty in life is ascertaining and re- porting facts, and I have never sus- tained a thesis. But this one I take up now, and shall fight for with all my might—that is, that the home tie is too frail already; that there is too much undisciplined love in the world, and that mdrriage, the most sacred of all institutions, shall not be trans- formed into a farce.” And it was largely due to Mme. Dieulafoy's ener- getic opposition that the projected biil of the Margueritte brothers hag re- mained sidetracked at the Chamber of Deputies ever since ’1 KING YIELDS TO THE WISH OF ARCHBISHOP Queen Victoria's Favorite Place of Worship WIill Now Bz Restored. LONDON, April 9.—The apartment known as the “private chapel” at Buck- ingham Palace is undergoing a process of refurnishing and restoration which will adapt it again to purposes of wor- ship. And thercby hangs an interesting story which has not been told in print. King Edward is scrupulously observ- ant of all the outward forms of piety, but, of course, takes little interest in religious matters as compared with purely worldly affairs—horse racing, for instance. As every one knows, Queen Victoria was all the other way. Dur- ing her reign the so-called ‘“private chapel” in Buckingham Palace received careful attention and everything neces- sary was done to maintain it in a be- fitting state for religious exercises. On Sundays, when the Chapel Royal was not open, her late Majesty allowed the members of the household to use the private one. But since King Edward's acceasion the place has been allowed to relapse into what it-was originally—a music room. In consequence representations were quietly made to the Archbishop of Can- terbury. that servants of the royal household were often without a place of worship on Sundays. Wien next his Grace paid a visit to Buckingham Pal- ace he availed himself of a convenient opportunity to enter the chapel and ascertain for himself in what condition it was kept. He concluded that it had been sadly neglected and politely gave the King the benefit ¢f his opinion con- cerning it. That led to prompt action and the Office of Works has been for some time engaged in restoring the chapel. A new sanctuary is being add- ed and new stalls are in process of erection. When the work is completed the chapel will be in better condition than it ever was in the days when ..een Victorla made it the object of her pious care. And thus the Arch- bishop has asserted his supremacy in matters spiritual even in the Palace of the Kine. — “PROFESSORS” THRIVE WHO TEACH CARDS Five Dollars an Hour Prevail- ing Price for Instruction in Bridge. ———— LONDON, April 9.—There are two classes of London folk who are making a good thing out of the more than ever prevalent craze for gambling at bridge —the first of these being those who play the game expertly, and the sec- ond those who teach it. Quite a num- rber of “professors” of bridge have started busin in the fashionable part of town, and as they charge high fees— usually $5 an hour—and have now, at least, no lack of pupils, must be coin- ing money. One of these self-appointed instructors declared the other day that the fashionable game could not, be taught cheaply by one dependent upon his earnings. ‘“‘Bridge is a life study,” he explained, “and it would not be worth while for any one who possessed a real insight into the game to charge less than $5 an hour. It would pay him better to stroll down to the elub every night and take a hand at the usual stakes.” Probably, it will be some time before the price of sueh instruction comes down, for the game is now indulged in so generally in society and for such high stakes that not to be able to play reasonably well means that one will be plucked time’and again. The bridge ‘“professors” generally teach about four hours a day, nearly always coaching three pupils at a time. Most learners are reasonable enough, but scrfietimes a woman who has been bidden to a bridge party rushes off to a teacher at the last moment and ex- pects to be initiated into the inmost mysteries of the game in an hour or two—even though she may never have played it before. Of course, such folk generally come to grief, but I am told that a certain society woman left the rooms of a teacher after only one les- som, drove to a bridge party and won something over $400. —_——— Colonel Lynch’s Remarkable Book. LONDON, April 9.—Colonel Arthur Lynch, who was condemned to death by a British court as a traitor for fighting on the side of the Boers, whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and who was liberated a year later, has just given proof of having a remarkable memory. ‘While in prison he composed a great number of sonnets and a histor- ical novel. But, as he was deprived of all writing materials, he was obliged to store his compositions in his mem- ory. He has just transferred it, poetry and fiction, word for word, to paper, and it will appear soon in printed form. RMISSION OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT ‘LAP DOGS NO LONGER IN STYLE Queen Alexandra Sets Dis- approval of the Fad. Her Majesty’s Example Becomes Law of Society, LONDON, April 9—Tt is no longer considered smart for society women to carry their toy dogs about with them either in their arms or in carriages. Queen Alexandra, in spite of the fact that she is a well-known lover of dogs, is responsible for the new departure. It was, until recently, a common thing for ladies to carry their pets with them on the occasion of invitations to lunch- eon and dinners. To fondie a pef while out driving was considered the right thing, and her Majesty herself alwa had one or two of her favorites with her when walking or driving in the neighborhood of the palaces. The re- cent royal gathering at Chatsworth, the Duke of Devonshire’s place in Derbyshire, brought together, however, such a number of lap dogs that her Majesty felt that the craze was becom- ing monotonous and she decided there and then to set an example that would kill it. She ordered onme of t royal footmen to take her own two ting pets back to London immediately and too the remainder of the ladies present took the tip. Drives out after that were longer graced by the presence of lap dog. The London clubs fo suit and now dogs are excluded them all. It is feared among fanciers and breeders that her Majesty’s action will seriously interfere with their occu- pation. One hundred thousand five hundred dollars is a tidy bill for househoid ex- penses during three years, and when one learns of $56,000 lent to friends, $25,000 speat in furniture, $12,000 on dress and toilet accessories and $475 for “flowers,” it seems no wonder that Lord Rosslyn’s tother, the Dowager Countess, who made these disburse- ments, is in the bankruptey court. Especially as this summary takes no account whatever of the $172,500 which the aristocratic widow lost on the stock exchange, or of the $145,000 of which South African speculation relieved her. When her ladyship’s amended state- ment of affairs was filed it showed a total indebtedness of $483,325, the Countess’ assets amounting to $90,000. Her ladyship is ill at present and her public examination has been postponed I learn privately from Brussels that Prince Albert of Belgium probably will g0 to the St. Louis Exhibition instead of the King, who, in the first place, finds it difficult to leave his kingdom at a moment of such general political perturbation, while in the second his vacht is not powerful enough to cross the Atlantic, and the publicity of a steamship would be most distasteful Prince Albert, who has already been to America, and who brought away the best possible impression, is delighted at the prospect of revisiting the coun- try. At the splendid fancy ball just given in Brussels at the Concert Nobie, where the dresses were limited to cotton or stuff, Mrs. Lawrence Townsend. wife of the American Minister. attracted general admiration in a most original washerwoman'’s dress. The American Countess of Craven's little son, Lord Uffington, bids fair to be in great demand for some time to come as page at ultra-smart weddings in London. The small Viscount, in whose veins flows the blood .of the Bradley-Martins, and whe is now 7, succeeds in this capacity young May- nard Greville, Lady Warwick's son, who has held more bridal trains than, perhaps, any boy in London society. Of late Maynard has grown too tall for this sort of thing, however, Rence Lord Uffington’s calling and election. The small Viscount will join in his first bridal procession at the wedding of the Hon. Ralph Hamilton, Baron Belhaven’s son, and Lady Grizel Coch- rane next week, and on this occasion will be resplendent in a pale greem satin waistcoat, with a satin courtier suit and plumed hat to match his cava- lier cape, which will be slung on by silver cord no S MAY CONNECT AND BLACK SEAS Bid of the Yankee Contractors Is Léwer That That of the Russians. BERLIN, April 9.—Notwithstand- ing the drain which the war with Japan is causing the Russian imperial finances the Czar has determined to carry out his gigantic project of con- necting the Baltic with the Black Sea. The rival syndicates competing for the contract, one Russian and the other American, have had their esti- mates carefully examined by the Min- istry of the Interior and the authori- ties are unanimously in favor of giv- ing the contract to the American syn- dicate, whose bid is $315.000,000, as against $500.000,000 as bid by the Russian syndicate. The Russian Gov- ernment will make it an absolute con- ' dition that warships can pass along the canal. and it must have & mini- mum deoth of thirty feet AMERIC! BALTIC