OUR NEW YORK LETTER.

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 8965, 16 April 1890, Page 3

OUR NEW YORK LETTER.

Oa Wednesday last I dropped into the •American Art Galleries on Twenty-third street, to see ‘‘The Barlow Collection now on exhibition there, and I confess it was not without a fee iug of sadness. &. Jj, M. Barlow, who died last summer, was one of the moat eminent and suc- • cessful lawyers in Now York. It was his good fortune to keep always in the swim with tloll men and great corporations, so that his fees were large and his income generous. Mr Barlow would never have been a ■rich man, for his tastes were expensive, and his style of living broad and hos.pitable. In no man that I ever met were • appearances so deceptive. In person ho was ponderous and heavy, weighing -about three hundred pounds; the expression of his face was dull and stupid, • and tit times almost brutal. Not one person in a hundred thousand would have .guessed that beneath that uncompromising • and ungainly shell, was a gentle and kindly spirit, and taste moat exquisite and refined, with a knowledge of books and men not possessed by one in a million of .'his kind. Mot in the busy haunts of men where the fierce battle of life is ■constantly raging, Mr Barlow’s manners were not particularly attractive ; constant -conflict Lad made them hard and brusque; but once across the threshold of hi.s home, it was as a host that the man’s befer nature shone out, and those who had ihe pleasure of sharing his hospitality will not easily forget it. Ho was particularly fortunate in his domestic surroundings. His wife, though for many years an invalid, was a lady of the most rt fined taste in Literature and Art, and fully entered into all her husband’s plans for the adornment and enrichment of their beautiful homo. Ho loved money, and worked for it; but it was never his god ; it was always his servant, used for the gratification of tastes alike honourable to himself and his family. The Collection is a notable one in many respects, and the only sorrowful aspect of the affair is, that after a life spent in collecting it, it should be broken up and scattered to the four winds of Heaven. It never seemed to be Mr Barlow’s ambition to die a rich man and leave a large fortune for his heirs to light about ; he sought to enjoy what he made like a gentleman, and this ho did fully and thoroughly ; and he not only enjoyed it, but he made thousands of others better and happier, by the rich treasures with which ho surrounded hinnolf. The first floor of the American Art Galleries is occupied by the Library ; the second by the pictures, and the thirel by the rare brie a-brr.c, costly porcelains, fayeices and ceramics, m aiy of them of fabulous value. No common man could have brought such a collection together. The selection of such a library demands the most learned scholarship. Tlie catalogue of paintings gives evidence of an unsurpassed knowledge of ancient and modern art, while the collection of brica brae, porcelains, etc., displays a refinement of taste which stamps hurrah once as one of the ablest collectors that this country has seen for many years I wandered about among the tables containing the books. What priceless treasures were there ; what delight Mr Barlow took in conning their curious pages, and how proud he was to show them to his friends, knowing that many of his gems were not to be found, even in the great libraries of the world. There were no costly bindings—it was the inaide and not the outside that he cared fox’. And here they were, thousands of volumes, rich in every branch of human knowledge and in every language which has ever been printed. Manuscripts were there, discoloured and grimed with age, but precious as jewels and worth their weight in gold. Few of the paintings belong to the modern school of art. He loved the old Dutch masters ; and scattered about on every hand were rich specimens of that famous school, whose name is immortal in the world of art — Tisohbein, Eisen, Ostade, Teniers, Rubens,. Vandyke, Ruysdae!, and Wonvermana. There are a few noble examples of the French, Spanish, and Italian schools, while American art, though represented, found scant favour. Five pictures by Maclise and two by Moreland represent the Royal Academy. One solitary Diaz represents that wondrous ■ band which has given such a craze to modem art. No Millais, no Troyons, no Rueseaus, no Messoniers, no Rosa Bonheurs, were found in the collection, showing conclusively that he was one of the few collectors who never lost his head, but withstanding all allurements of the new school, clung steadfastly to his early love. In the upper gallery, against the very wall and on the identical spot where The Angelus hung a few weeks ago, is a case of ceramics worthy of especial attention. All around are wonderful creations of genius, many of them beautiful beyond the power of description. At what cost and care through long years of search and endeavour these gems were brought together! In a few days, under the merciless hammer of the auctioneer, they will be going, going, gone ! ! ! Mr Barlow was one of the sufferers by the forgeries of his trusted clerk, Bedell, who robbed the firm of Shipman, Cheate and Barlow of nearly a quarter of a million dollars. At heavy sacrifice Mr Barlow paid his share of the loss ; but I doubt .if the money it cost him gave him as much pain as he would have suffered had he lived to see the children of his love scattered among strangers. Considerable ill-feeling exists among our Jewish population because the Rabbi who has charge of the slaughtering of meat and fowls charges ten cents a head for tagging the animals, so as to let the faithful know that they are not unchan by having been slaughtered by Gentile hands. Many Jewish reprobates assert that a Gentile goose or a Gentile calf tastes just as good as an orthodox goose or an orthodox calf, that has had the benefit of the church’s blessing, and some of these wicked sinners have even gone so far as to buy pork chops of Christian butchers. Of ■course we know what will become .of all such ; but strange to cay, they fail to realise their danger, and refuse to pay for the Rabbi’s tags. They say that he realises between fifty and sixty thousand dollars a year, and they regard it as downright robbery. Of course all good orthodox Jews cheerfully pay for the tags, but I fear in this matter that the sinners outnumber the saints. Bank circles were considerably startled by the announcement on Thursday that the Sixth National Bank—a pet institution on ihe corner of Twenty-third street and Br oad way, had been looU d by itsPiesident of 600,000 dollars. Only a week ago it was regarded as cue of the most substantial banks in the city, its stock being

quoted at 440 dollars per share. By the adroitness of the bank examiner and the honesty of the cashier, the depositors were secured from loss; but the stock holders may not bo so fortunate ; the deficit, whatever it is, will have to be made good by them, and a few weeks will possibly record an addition to that of financial rascals at Sing Sing,_ of which Ferdinand Ward, Bank President Fish and Beddel the forger, are s«ch bright and shining examples. By a conference on Sunday the affairs were pitched up ; the thieves were kicked out, and the bank opened under the old management. Brooklyn politics are considerably disturbed, and as matters stand neither Democrats nor Republicans have much cause for rejoicing. For several years past it has been believed that a boodle ring existed in Brooklyn worse, if possible, than anything wo ever had in New York. If any one wanted a contractile had to bend the knee to the combine. If a confract was worth one hundred thousand dollars the contractor made it one hundred and twenty-five thousand, and the boodlers shared the extra plunder. Some time ago gas fixtures were to be put in the new Municipal Building, and one of the gobetweens went to a reputable manufacturer and asked him his price. The manufacturer gave him his figures, and then the boodler asked him to add twentyfive pei cent to the bill. This tne manufacturer refused to do ; so the order was carried to a house with an easier conscience, and the thieves got there all the same. Whan the new Asylum Buildings were put up at St. Johnsland, which was purchased by a system of robbery, the Board of Supervisors resolved to put up four buildings, all alike. The supervising architect di’ew up plans for one building, and charged for four, his charges for work, that took him less than a week, being over twelve thousand dollars. The President of the Board, a high-minded gentleman, vetoed the bill, but the combine passed it over his veto, and are supposed to have shared the plunder. Shortly after there was a largo contract to be given out, and a man named McCann was the lowest bidder. The Chairman of the Board, one O’Brien, approached McCann and asked him, “ How much there was in it for the b’yes. McCann said there wa-s nothing in it “ for the b’yes.” So McCann was thrown out and someone else got the job. Now the President of the Board says that this same O’Brien offered him twenty thousand dollars not to veto some bills. The case has found its way to the courts, and it looks as though Brooklyn might furnish some Supervisors to the State prison to keep company with the bcjocllo Aldermen from this side of the river. •

The Republicans, too, have had a lively shaking up. At the recent County Convention, when a chairman of the Obunty Republican Committee was to bo elected, there were two candidates, one named Woodruff and the other Baldwin. A fellow of unsavoury reputation named Daggett, at one time Sheriff of Kings County, undertook to manage Mr Baldwin’s election. He gave one Greenleaf Smith hia notes, endorsed by a person named Birketc, to the amount |of 3000 dollars, to deliver him votes from his ward, which, it appears, Mr Smith carried in his breeches pocket; In the meantime the rival faction had not been idle, and as soon as they ascertained the story of the notes they sent for Smith and offered him 2250 dollars cash for them, the consideration being that Smith should deliver the votes for Woodruff and not to Baldwin. Smith took the notes out of his pocket expecting the cash, when Woodruff snatched the notes out of his hand and ordered the rascal out of his house. This shameful prostitution of the franchise has aroused the honester portion of the entire community, and thcy_ are now debating the question whether it is not possible to start a new party for municipal purposes, which shall drive all ringsters, boodlers, and from public life. This state of affairs is due not to the inherent vice of either party, but to the criminal negligence of the better men of both parties, who have allowed these rascals to come to the front, grab all the offices, and plunder aU the city. “ Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” and for the present, if the two cities are going to be saved, all mere party affiliations must be sunk for the common good. We are still rejoicing in summer weather, and the grip still holds on. I am, yours truly, Broadbrim,