Gallery. Some study-heads by Richmond are given, | "O, how cheating, O, how fleeting No wonder that a painter like Whistler rushed from sentimental twaddle, such as that we speak of, to an extreme equally inappropriate and affected. Other modern subjects are treated at length in these volumes of "L'Art"; but the old art is by no means neglected: witness the names of Giotto, Carpaccio, Defendente de Ferrari, Donatello, Van Ostade, etc.; but out-and-out Ruskinites must avoid the article on Carpaccio. Attention should be called to the scathing review, by Paul Leroi, of the recent posthumous exhibition in Paris of the works of Couture. With all his brilliancy, especially in studies, Couture had grave defects of manner, astonishing softness and sentimentality, and a lack of grasp in the making of a picture. That he should have been sought by so many Americans as a teacher is an evidence of the scarcity of real masters in our times. M. Leroy is, after all, hardly more severe than Millet is reported to have been (on what evidence we do not know) when led before "Les Romains de la Décadence," Couture's only famous painting: "Mais, où est le tableau?" said Millet. Mrs. Walford's "Troublesome Daughters."* IN reading the work of the so-called second and third class novelists of the day, one cannot help wondering at the amount of knowledge, cleverness, and social experience which incidentally it betrays. The knowledge, to be sure, is of a superficial kind, and the cleverness is apt to have an over-conscious air which occasionally spoils its effect; but the social experience is, in most cases, as varied and extensive as it appears to be, and redeems from insipidity many a book whose only merit is that it is entertaining. Mrs. Walford's "Troublesome Daughters" belongs to this order of ephemeral fiction, which portrays, with considerable vivacity and skill, the ambitions, prejudices, and matrimonial machinations of English fashionable society. The essential vul Troublesome Daughters. By L. B. Walford, author of "Mr. Smith," "Cousins," "Pauline," etc. New York: Henry Holt & Co. 1880. garity of this mad chase for imaginary boons and empty honors glares at one from every page in the book, and although the author, who is didactic only by implication, very properly refrains from all marginal comment, the dénouement which awards the matrimonial prize-Captain Evelyn-to the eccentric and unconventional Kate Newbattle, is made to serve in lieu of a more direct moral judgment. Whether Captain Evelyn is in himself sufficiently valuable to be a fitting reward for virtue, is a question which it would require a long fashionable experience to settle to general satisfaction. To us he appears to be a very ordinary person, healthy, good-natured, and full of animal spirits; but without a single conspicuous moral quality for which the author could challenge admiration. There may, however, be a very subtle intention in this apparently unsatisfactory arrangement. Girls of the heroic type, to which Kate belongs, are notoriously apt to be dazzled by mere physical perfection, as in fact all womankind are more or less inclined to regard it as the most adorable attribute of manhood. And when, as in Captain Evelyn's case, the splendid physique is coupled with high birth, irreproachable manners, and an easy disposition, one can hardly wonder if the tout ensemble (even though destitute of intellect. ual graces) proves absolutely irresistible. The best piece of characterization in "Troublesome Daughters is Lady Olivia, the mother of Evelyn and later the step-mother of the four Misses Newbattle. In vividness and distinctness of individuality she even approximates Mr. Smith, in the novel of that name with which Mrs. Walford made her début, and by which she conquered her transatlantic public. "Mr. Smith," as a first performance, was a very creditable and successful piece of work, but its successors ("Troublesome Daughters" included) have been encores, and as such have lacked the impulse and spontaneity which constituted the chief charms of the début. Nevertheless, in such studies of character as Lady Olivia, the author furnishes also her encores with an "excuse for being," and invests a loose and easily soluble entanglement of commonplace events with a certain fleeting interest. Mr. Newbattle's four daughters (of whom, from society's point of view, Kate undoubtedly was the most troublesome) are also quite effectively portrayed, and if their features were not so fatally familiar, we should probably take more pleasure in their acquaintance. But the sly and submissive Alice, who, after a brief revolt, diplomatically accepts the supremacy of her step-mother, must by this time have worn her fine draperies to shreds from the frequent handling of novelists; the insignificant Bertha and the arch and shallow Marjorie are very much in the same predicament, and as for the spirited and rebellious Kate, we venture to assert that, with slight modifications, she occupies her heroic elevation in more than half the novels written by women. But then, to be sure, there is very little that is positively new under the sun; and invention, which serves very well for plots and intrigues, is inadequate for the creation of new types, and is, moreover, a poor substitute for imag. ination. New Apartment-Houses. THE New York "city lot," when first planned, was believed to be the best thing that could be devised for compelling the intending house-builder to give himself plenty of light and air on two sides of his house. It was thought that if the lot was long and narrow he would have a garden in the rear of the house. This expectation was seldom realized, for the high value of the land and the foolish greed of the landlords soon resulted in the conventional folly known as the New York tenement-house. Of late there has been a disposition to cover nearly the entire lot with buildings, and the law has had to interfere and forbid the erection of deep houses with dark rooms in the middle. Many plans have been proposed for using all, or nearly all, the land in a lot, and, at the same time, to give every room a window on the open air. Some of the best of these plans have been already published in this department, and more are here given as valuable contributions to a most important matter. The first is intended for a large tenement, containing a number of flats suitable for the best class of residents and occupying the end of a block fronting on an avenue. The elevation and plan were designed by Pugin and Walter, architects of London, after a careful study of the necessities of our streets and lots. The ele vation shows a seven-story building, with basement and sub-cellar. There are three entrances on the avenue, those on the sides being intended for single flats on the first floor, while the center door is for all the flats above the first floor. The above drawing gives an excellent idea of the appearance of the proposed building. The common method of erecting such a group of flats under one roof is to place the flats perpendicular to the street, or exactly in the vicious manner in which the lots are laid out. In such cases, each group of flats has a single narrow stair-way with a door on the street, or, as in the case of more pretentious houses facing an avenue, with entrances on the two side streets, with a hall running the whole width of the block at the rear of all the flats. In arranging the proposed building, one entrance is provided for all the flats above the street, and the hall divides the building into two wings. Figure 2 represents a little more than half of the first floor above the street, the part not shown being a duplicate of that given. It will be seen that the building is quite shallow and that the flats are placed parallel to the avenue, with one end to the street and the other end to the center of the building. The plan clearly shows the position and size of each room, and needs little explanation. The entrance is by a private door opening on the hall near the elevator. The passage-way is lighted by a window at the end and gives access to all the rooms. Every room has windows on the avenue or garden, and the end rooms have windows on the street. The stair-way shown near the bath-rooms leads to a trunk-room over the bath-room, each of these rooms being half the height of the other rooms. The serv. ants' elevator is placed in the rear of the hall and opens by a private door on the kitchen. The rest of the flat may be easily understood from the plan. The garden in the rear is designed to be free to all the tenants, and, by having a gate on the street, all the waste of the house will be removed at this entrance through the garden. This house is designed for a club or association, somewhat like those described below. Figures 3 and 4 show the manner of laying out a new and costly apartment-house now being erected on West Fifty-ninth street, between Broadway and Seventh Avenue. Here an attempt is made to keep to the common form of city lot and to cover nearly all the space of two lots. The land is 15.25 meters (50 feet) by 30.50 meters (100 feet) and the building is the full width of the two lots on the street, and extends back about 18 meters. The rear is, as will be seen by the plan, somewhat narrower, and extends to within 5.5 meters of the rear line. This building has a sub-cellar and basement, with seven floors above the basement in the portion next to the street. The first, second, third, fourth, and fifth floors are each 4.27 meters (14 feet) high, and the sixth and seventh 2.74 meters (9 feet) high. The rear portion of the building has ten floors above the basement, each 2.74 meters (9 feet) high. This difference in the number of floors in the two parts of the house is designed to give some of the apartments more rooms, and to give light and air on three sides. The plans show the way in which the second, fourth, and sixth floors are laid out. The entrance is through a hall in the center, between the two flats on the first floor. The stairs and elevator are shown in the plan, with the private entrance to each of the two flats. Taking the white or unshaded part of the plan, it will be seen that there are a private hall, library, parlor, dining-room, butler's pantry, kitchen, and five chambers. The dimensions of each room are marked in feet and inches on the plan. The stairway marked " down," next the dining-room, leads is marked "E 2." The rest of the plan can be easily understood, and will repay careful examination. In addition to the planning and construction of these buildings, a few words may be said in regard to the novel manner in which the money needed for their erection was raised. These buildings, and a number of others about to be put up in New York city, are built upon a coöperative plan that deserves attention, wherever the regular building associations or coöperative banks are not in operation. A number of intending house-builders, of about the same social position and means, form a society and erect an apartment-house for their own use. They elect from among their number a president, secretary, treasurer, and building committee. There may be (say) eight families in the club, and it is their aim to build an apartment-house having (say) nine distinct flats. Each member gives a bond to all the others for the sum of (say) one thousand dollars. This makes the capital of the club, and, in the name of the club, the building committee buys a lot and puts up an apartment-house costing (say) eight thousand dollars. The land is bought and the building put up in the name of only one trustee, and is held by him till the building is sufficiently advanced to enable him to put on a mortgage. This mortgage is placed on the land and building to cover the difference between the actual cash paid in and the cost. When finished, the building is the property of the eight members of the club, each one having an undivided eighth share of the whole. The trustee then gives to each member a lease for ninety-nine years, at a nominal rent of one dollar a year, for the apartments The downward a few feet to the rear part of the building, all the rooms here being on a different level. short stair-way in the butler's room leads to a second room, just above it, that may be used for a store-closet or coal-room, these two rooms being half the height of the front rooms. The shaded part of the plan and the shaded plan of the rear go together, the rear portions of the two flats being one over the other. The rear rooms are not so high as those in front, and hence the name given to these flats, duplex or doubled flats. By comparing the plans, it will be seen that they contain the same number of rooms and are just alike, except that in the rear the rooms are changed to opposite sides, and in one flat the stairs lead up, and in the other down. The intervening flats are all on the same level, and the house is simply divided through the center into two sets of apartments. All the flats have a balcony on the rear, and private doors opening on the servants' elevator. The coalbins are placed next this elevator, so that they may be filled directly from the elevator. These bins are marked "C" in the plan, while the servants' elevator he is to occupy. In selecting a flat, the members hold an auction to bid for choice of flats, the premiums paid for the choice being equally divided among them all. By this arrangement, those who must take the least desirable flats are compensated in money. The leases having been given and recorded, the trustee transfers the fee of the land to the eight members as holders in common. The object of this arrangement is this: The leases being for only a nominal sum, the fee loses all money value, and cannot be attached or sold. The leases, on the other hand, may be sold subject to restrictions, which could not be done with the fee. In this manner it is possible to transfer the leases under control of the club, while the property, as a whole, remains undisturbed. The ninth flat is let on a short term to any tenant that may be accepted by a vote of all the club. The running expenses of the house, heating and lighting of halls, janitor, repairs of hall and roof, water, interest on mortgage, etc., are offset by this rent, either wholly or in part. If it is not enough, the expense is divided between all the members. In some cases it is found that the rent of the extra flat is more than sufficient to pay the working expenses, and the surplus is used to extinguish the mortgage. This system of housebuilding was devised by Mr. P. G. Hubert, of this city, and is already in successful operation. Epigrams from the French. A KISS BY POST. You send a kiss by letter, Fresh gathered from the tree. ON A SWEETHEART'S MIrror. LOOK on this mirror; you will see The one of all most loved by me: Oh, would that I therein might view The one of all most loved by you! A FRIEND. BRIC-A-BRAC. SAID Tom: "My friend, your salary's too scant, But, come what may, I'll not see you in want." He lost his place,-wrote Tom from need to free him; Tom kept his word: in want he ne'er would see him. Confession. It was a charming day, my dear, An August day some years agoFrom me you ran away, my dear, Down through the shaded walk, you know. I saw your fluttering drapery White through the sun-flecked trees like snow; I followed to the grapery, And there I found you all aglow. And when I kissed your cheek, my dear, And, puss, you are so mortal slow; I wish you could be changed Into a catamount, with tastes quite violent and deranged. I'd like an earthquake, that I would—oh, puss, I'll tell you what, Some planets have two suns and different colors, too, at that; Now there would be variety: two mornings every day, One green or brown, for instance, and the other crimson, say. What splendid lights, what curious shades, what transformation scenes; What queer surprises, puss-just think, what lovely pinks and greens How funny Gus would look! He is so poky and so flat. But such complexions! After all, I shouldn't fancy that. Now do be still. I've changed my mind. My privilege, I believe Oh, horrible! What's this? A daddy-long-legs on my sleeve ! Oh, Gus, come quick! I'm deadly faint! Do take the thing away! Yes, yes, I'll promise anything I'll marry you to-day! Through the Snow. THE cutter stopped before the gate,Out sprang her highness lightly; Half coy, half cool, this cruel Kate, And altogether sightly. In mock distress exclaimed she: "Oh! |