Studies in Fog.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7722, 26 January 1905, Page 4

Studies in Fog.

WITH FIVE APOLOUiIES. J There are '"any kiivJs of log- J» 'the kind which «o have been b-> 11 ing lately the inspiration i» all o* d our si*-, ami the log conhncs itbUl d to a task o( depression and " p tioi. V great many eminent writers, 0 from M. Tains downwards, have sought to trace in our national clvar- g acteristies, in onr literature,, ouv art, t our politics, our temperament, the f effects of a climate generally dull and damp, and not seldom pro- i •foundly gloomy. 1 1 do not aspire to follow in such ) distinguished footsteps. Hut, if only 1 as an elementary exercise in philosophy, it is always worth while to con- J gider how many people would be aft fected bv our transferred misfortunes, i Into what motal of value would a t great mind transmute them 1 t ■ Literary fog is a very serious af- ji Station, which is not unknown to some of the most eminent writers, c It 'is in some cases communicated by . 1 the author to the reader ; and in 1 not a few b . v ,he reader to the auth- I or. 1 offer an innocent occupation to , my readers ; let them decide where, in their persual of the following ima- j ginary extracts, the fog hov- | ers. ■ Mr MHItEDITH S FO(i. Of Mr George Meredith it may be truly said that h# is never in a fog, although some of his readers profess to be. But could anything be simpler than this kind of thing : The two walked on, their sense ol direction aH astray, through a grey-green sea of fog. that nipped chests and pricked e art*—London s Pillar of Cloud. The invis- j ttble world around them was hoarse | shouts and cries, the 'bewildered gropings of the Human articu'.ate at last. A. sudden blaze of gas lamps- tokl them of fiery comfort - "to oe had within for an exchange of pence and tumblers. " Yqii have money ? " was the Philosopher's .question. " Could I be here ? " His companion dangled an empty purse. Their eyes fenced, parried, thrust dismay. To each the moment was comfort's knell, echoingly stridently over an empty stomach—nauro'fl filkile-body to give hack its soubd waves in a nauseous convulsion that, could we but hear it, would shrill the harmonic of Appetite's gross demand. The Philosopher paused tinder a raying lamp, efnd traced a lino in his note-book?. Intel I 'ect groping her way umfer a cloud of sentinientaldsm and Ixfndon choking under her own blanket have this in common: each t-rcathes upon the Mirror. Hie ewape for both would be a rainbow bridge from Vesivius to OSympus—or, say, Everest. A ITER BROWNING. The late Robert Browning, who saw so clearly into obscure things « that he was able to turn psychology into verso, a»d sometimes even into poetry, had at times his own special brand of literary fog. I hope he would have , fosigiv«n mo for this travesty:— " • 1 i . Spirals aflame in the park. Stumblings and rumblings and tumblings and sneezings—- ' First left, socond right, up the nl'ly. Can't miss it ! ' —a plague on the dark ! Do ; oil think I have eves I:k-r a seatchlfght 'rq "ce it? Hullo, there's i!ie church, quite Nea» after all ; but Where's Mary ? Ber hairf was in mine not a minute Ago. And now—have a ••are, he Is not sour guide, madam. A waxed? Here's the turning. The devil is in it If this -is my door. . . . Hcav'n be praised ! " Fog is a hard word to uso in connection with M. Maeterlinck. If he touched it at a'H, his wanrl would turn it to a kind of rosy mist ;. as thus: , If the log is not dispelled by man, its history will not end with its day of birth ami death. Into every n|\nd, into every cell and particle of the human life that it has enveloped, it wi l 'l assuredly have sown some seed, whether of revolt q»- del ression, that will awafce .oil- the fiery day f)f hurvest to fulfil a destiny swift and ruthless, inevitable and tremendous. • Every sad thought, every glooinv idea that it inspires, will take its unalterable and eternal course, .leaving a dark track across the .World of human life, -and marring, in its mysterious incorruptible purpose, the fair surface of the sul>limc and untrodden future. THE LADY GARDENER. Who hns not suffered from t"ha lady .writer on gardening, the lady wh< publishes in the spring-time a little precious volume in white vellum witt •three very lean daffodils standing up right on tho cover ? One peculiarity of such books is that they treat o! nnythiag but gardening. This is their manner : I looked out early this morning, and—what, do you think ?—my deal garden wa« smothered in a horric fog. I kaew my poor deal's in th( south border would be cryiag oul lor me, so I made BurchoU buncl up my hair anyhow, and, putting on a warm, pinky wrapper and i pair of niy own particular gaidening gloves (the kind Robinson sells at Is 7Jd, not the gritty ones ai Is 9d), ran out into the gardei with a can of warm water ant sponge. My doaty little mauv< crocuses were my first care. Do yoi know how a crocus looks when il wants it* face washed ? All bub bly and crinSly, with its littli Prepy yellow tongue all loose ant limp. I washed them one by one until they all began to thank uic in their own particular way—ant you know how dear a ctocub cai be. Then 'I went over to !00l at my Hebdomadarius Oppositifo lia—one that Victoria sent me, th< kind that looks as though it had i chinchilla stole roufld its neckand did what. I pould for the pool dear. I'm afraid (t wasn't much Tom says the fog will lift befon noon—just like Tom's cheery jgnor a nee, Burchell was very cros: while she was doing my hands " How can I keep you decent, m; lady," she said, "if you wil gi ferreting in the earth as soon a you're up ? " But that's just lik Buichril, too. EXPLOSIVE. Mr Bart Kennedy's method of dis pelling fog would doubtless be some thing like that promised by Sir Oli .ver Lodge, which is described as " i , series of explosions : This fog, Thj's if»g of London This bitter, unclean fog. This fo| that chokes and blinds a man am make* him feel not Hke a man When you walk in a fog you ar like a worm burrowing under th earth, Aftvr being in a mine are after being for a day in a foi men get a sun-hunger, and lon ( for the good strong light and th peal that makes them sweat. Bu in the fogs of London men can not bs themselves, and cannot liv their lives as nature meant then to bo lived. People who live in lb sun are good and kind and like t< sing and dance mid make love. Bu men who lived for long j n fog would become fiends. When 1 huv Ween for a day in, tho fog I wan wrtbing but a big drink of ivhis ky. London fogs. The Meteorological Office employs ; special literally style in describing . log. Here is an. example : Brig<ht sunshine. ,S. to S W air-. Wanner,