66 business. One can readily imagine how distasteful the work must have been to a youth with artistic aspirations. But for the time being Ben Austrian abandoned his art and managed his father's business with due care. He had a brother living in New York who knew how distasteful the work was to Ben, and sent him a book on success Pushing to the Front; or, Success Under Difficulties" with a letter in which he advised him to read the book, as it might put new life into him. The artist-laundryman read, with the result that his ambition was so stirred up that he felt he could no longer remain in the business. Concentrating all his efforts upon a painting which convinced his mother that he was bound to make a success of his art, she permitted him to sell out the laundry business. Having done this he turned the money over to her, and settled down to work as a professional artist. He first became known outside of Reading through a picture entitled "After the Race. It showed the head of a thoroughbred looking over his stall. Near by hung a currycomb, a jockey's cap, and a score card. It was bought by a large New York hotel, in the lobby of which it hangs. Possibly, however, Mr. Austrian has been most successful and has become most widely known through his pictures of chickens. Some one has said that any old hen would recognize Mr. Austrian's chicken pictures as real scenes from barnyard society. Most artists who are not landscapists paint from the human model, but Mr. Austrian has real live chickens for his. He has in his studio hens which he has trained to pose for him, and chicks which are attending, as promising pupils, this curious school for artists' models- probably the only school of its kind in the world. The hens are Dames Julia and Pauline and the Coal Black Lady. These hens he hatched in his studio from an incubator. After they came out of the eggs he kept them isolated. They never saw other chickens. They knew only him, and they grew to know him remarkably well. When I enter my studio," he said to me," they get up in their nest and cluck at me in the friendliest way; and they obey me as intelligently as human models. If I pose one of my hens she will 64 MR. AUSTRIAN AT WORK ON "EXPECTATIONS THAT PANNED OUT WELL." not move until I snap my fingers and chirp to her. They remain in any position I choose for them, and are very patient and never restless. Moreover, they don't talk while posing. I think most of my painting will be along this direction. It is the memories of my childhood vacations on the farm that inspire me. But I also am very fond of still life work." "A Day's Hunt" was, by the way, a remembrance of an impression received early in his life. "" EXPECTATIONS THAT PANNED OUT WELL 66 The The hen which he has named the Coal Black Lady posed for a picture of the same title. This painting represents a black hen whose eyes and attitude express the deepest concern for the welfare of the brood of tiny, downy chicks which surrounds her. picture was purchased by Mr. John Wanamaker for his private collection, a fact which gave Mr. Austrian considerable prestige. Dame Julia posed for Mr. Austrian's 'Motherhood," which shows an old hen and her brood in a nest, the old hen looking up defiantly, apparently at some passer-by. "The Intruder" is a pretty picture of a cunning chick which has come between a dear little long-haired, clumsy pup and its pan of mush. It is one of those pictures which holds your interest while it makes you smile with amusement. "The House Warming" represents pictorially the good old country custom of bringing the lately hatched chickens to the fireside to keep them warm. Some of them have gone to sleep in a slip per, several roost among the extinguished though still warm embers, while the majority are in a basket padded with a red shawl. "The Center Rush" shows eleven chicks running forward like a tiny "flying wedge. Mr. Austrian is about thirty years old. Though small of stature, he is rather striking looking, because of the fact that, while his face is smooth, almost boyish, his hair, worn rather long, is iron-gray. He has a Roman nose and bright gray eyes. He works rapidly when in the humor, but never attempts work when he is not. He does not believe in the methodical practise of art so many hours a day, day after day, at the easel. He spends a great deal of his time out of doors and is fond of riding, enjoying nothing more than a canter through the country in the sunlight and past the farmyards. About the only one of his pictures I know of in which the human figures is entitled "Music." It shows a piano on which rests a violin and a flute and some threadbare books and music. To the left of the picture is a background of gorgeous peacock feathers fading away to a tinted haziness, wherein appears dreamily suggested a woman's head. Mr. Austrian is now abroad for the first time in his life. He is not thinking of making a change in the class of subjects which he has been painting, but he wants to study them amid new surroundings. THE TUMBLER'S OFFERING. BY CAROLINE SHELDON. The tumbler paused upon the way, With gems, and breathing odors sweet Hail, Mary, among women blest, Mary, worthy of all praise!" Spake the tumbler, then: ""Twere best I should here an offering raise What shall I give? I have no store my wandering days. My coming, shower praises free W DISMAL SWAMP AND HOW TO GO THERE. BY HARRIET E. FREEMAN AND EMMA G. CUMMINGS. E, two enterprising New England women, visiting Virginia, determined to see Dismal Swamp before our return. We were led to do this because we knew that some years ago the Geographical Society of Washington thought it worth while to make this trip. Upon first inquiries regarding the journey, we could learn nothing more than that a boat would be running by the first of May. When we reached Old Point and inquired of the hotel clerk our best method of reaching Dismal Swamp, he laughed and said he guessed we would find it dismal enough if we got there. He referred us, however, to the agent of the Old Dominion line, who might be found on the wharf near by. We interviewed this agent, who knew the boats were running, but for further information he advised us to telephone to Norfolk, to the agent of the Norfolk & Southern Railroad. In this way we learned that the boats were running through the Dismal Swamp canal from Norfolk to Elizabeth City, North Carolina, leaving Norfolk Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and returning Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. It really seemed now as if our long talked of trip were possible, and we made preparations to take the boat leaving Norfolk Thursday morning at half-past nine o'clock. In FORTRESS MONROE, SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA. order to do that, we had to take a boat from Old Point across to Norfolk at eight o'clock, according to the schedule posted in the hotel office. With our baggage at the pier we were all ready to get on the boat which came up at the appointed hour, when we were told that it did not go to Norfolk, and that there was no boat which went there at that hour. The boat going there would not leave until half-past eight, and by that we should just miss our connection with the Dismal Swamp boat. We rushed back to the hotel office to have this statement confirmed, and the clerk HAMPTON INSTITUTE, SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA. calmly said that the conspicuous schedule was of no use and that the running time of the boats had changed. Again we had to seek the Old Dominion agent, who was familiar with the region, and he advised us to cross on the next boat and take a train for Suffolk, a little town twenty miles away, where we could find a launch which would take us into Drummond lake and show us the best part of the swamp. We followed his directions, and eleven o'clock found us at Suffolk. We took a carriage at the station and drove to the office of Mr. S, to whom we had been directed, only to learn that the launch had not been running for three or four years, owing to the filling in of the stream which connects with Drummond lake. The only possible way of making the trip from that point was to go in canoes or dugouts, this slow process requiring ten hours for the round trip. We should be obliged to have two boats, sit four hours without a possibility of change, carry our lunch, go into a lonely region, and start at daylight in order to connect with a train to Norfolk on our return. This did not seem feasible for two women alone. The only other plan was to return to Norfolk, take the train to Elizabeth City and return the next day by boat, thus making the canal trip in the opposite direction from what we had first intended. But the train for Norfolk had just left, and no other went that day which would enable us to make our connection. The only thing left was to drive to RUINED VILLAGE OF JAMESTOWN, SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA. Norfolk, and by starting directly we could just get the train. We must plan for our lunch and eat it on the way, for it was then too early for a hotel dinner, and there was no restaurant without a bar in town. There was not a place where we could go to buy anything to eat, and we were indebted to Mr. S for getting us some sandwiches. He also procured for us a comfortable carriage and a pair of horses. We drove away, thanking him. for his kindness; while he, on his part, bade us tell the Old Dominion agent not to send down any more women without an escort to go into the Dismal Swamp from that point. Our drive took us through a flat country, partially cultivated. The vegetables raised on these farms are sent to the northern markets; just now spinach is being shipped in large quantities. The most interesting part of the drive to us was where we came to a small stream where there were many cypress trees stood in the water and on the borders of the stream. They were just coming into leaf, for although conifers they lose their leaves in winter, and are called bald or deciduous cypress. Another characteristic is the curious growth on the roots, called cypress knees. These are hollow projections, rising to the height of a foot or more at short intervals, giving, at a distance, the effect of low stumps. This feature cannot be constant, for we did not see it on the trees in this small stream. One theory is that these projections serve to furnish air to the roots, another is that they serve to anchor the tree in the wet, spongy soil. These trees are grown near Boston in cultivated grounds but do not there exhibit these peculiar features. The foliage is very delicate and fern-like, and its beauty makes the tree desirable for cultivation. Our observations lead us to conclude that there are two forms of growth, the fastigiate and one with a more spreading outline. We already knew the trees in cultivation and there they always showed the pyramidal form, as we noticed them again on our return, in Central Park. But the trees as seen in the Dismal Swamp had a broad summit and rounded outline." We arrived in Norfolk just in time to take the train for Elizabeth City, about forty-five miles distant. A coach at the station took PASSENGER BOAT IN THE DISMAL SWAMP CANAL. Taxodium distichum. The peculiarity of these trees is the enlarged trunk, sometimes hollow near the base where they slope out, looking like inverted vases. These |