Besides _Winters in Algeria_, Mr. Bridgman has written several books in French, among them _Anarchy in Art_ and _The Idol and the Ideal_, the latter being a poem in blank verse, whose _dramatis personae_ are an artist and a young girl. Nor do painting and writing complete the list of the Alabamian’s talents. He is a devoted musician, finding rest and inspiration in the study of harmonic sound. He always carries with him a musical notebook, jotting down, wherever he may be, any melody or detail of orchestration that strikes him. He is now finishing a symphony, parts of which have been played in classical concerts at Vichy and at Monte Carlo. With such varied gifts it is not surprising that his pictures have a lyrical, musical quality, pulsating with the rhythmical movement of life. He has the supreme painter’s gift of conveying not only the effect of air and sunlight, but also the psychic atmosphere of a scene, the glamor, the romance of the Orient. Mr. Bridgman says, and his views are indicative of that noble discontent which incites artists to yet higher efforts, “The actual picture is never the perfect one. It is always the _next_ undertaking in which shall be realized the qualities so much sought after.” [Illustration: MEN OF AFFAIRS] Robert Joseph Fisher was born at Athens, Tennessee. His father, Richard M. Fisher, was of German descent, and moved to Tennessee from Virginia. His mother, Ann M. Gettys, is of Scotch-Irish descent, and was born at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, which town was founded by, and took its name from, her grandfather. Mr. Fisher received a collegiate education at the East Tennessee Wesleyan University, at Athens, and while at school stood at the head of his classes, showing a marked predilection for mathematics. On account of business reverses sustained by his father, he left school and began business life as a clerk in a store in his native town. Subsequently he became teller in the Cleveland National Bank, at Cleveland, in his native state. Upon the death of his father, in 1883, Mr. Fisher returned to Athens and organized the First National Bank of Athens, of which he was the cashier and principal executive officer for about thirteen years. During this period Mr. Fisher promoted, and was a leading spirit in, the organization of the principal industries of his home town, which resulted in doubling the population of the place in a few years. [Illustration: ROBERT JOSEPH FISHER]