40 . . .
ONE day about 60 years ao a young
printer called upon and Introduced
himself to an editor, a man some
what older than himself. The editor was
busy and not disposed to listen to what
ever business had brought the printer to
the office. v
After a while, however, the editor was
made to understand that the young man
wished to go to Europe, where he pur
posed spending: as long a time as pos
sible traveling on foot tramping, study
ing the countries he visited and .making
the close acquaintance of the people,
"Want to write articles of travel, etc?"
finally queried the editor In a queer
high voice, forced to make some kind
of answer. "So do all the other
Tools!"
Then he tried to make it clear that
he was too busy to give the matter any
further attention. But this time it was
the young printer who was slow to com
prehend. He didn't allow It to be beaten
into his head at all that his project
wasn't acceptable, and ho hunt: round.
till, out of sheer weariness perhaps, the j
euuor usicnea 10 nis plans. The result
was that the young printer had the
satisfaction of leaving the office assured
that he was to be allowed to travel on
foot In Europe and write for that particu
lar editor, instead of for some other
editor as had seemed likely when they
began to talk.
The editor who figured in this Incident
was Horace Greeley, then comparatively
a young man, in the early flush of his
success with the New York Tribune. The
young printer was Bayard Taylor. He
was not yet 21. The letters which he sent
to the Tribune as the result of his Euro
pean tramps were published under the
general caption. "Views Afoot." Later
they wore put between covers.
Few more entertaining books of travel
have ever been published. It sold exten
sively, it is selling still, though first Issued
in the MOs, and. while the name of Bayard
Taylor may not stand the test of Immor
tality. It Is more widely known today,
though he has been dead nearly 20 years,
than the nameof many a writer who re
ceives more money for his work in a week
than Taylor did when beginning to make
his way in six robnths.
Why Bayard Taylor Succeeded.
There is no editor of any success to
day who Is not bothered every day ot
his life by the sort of untrained, would
be writers Mr. Greeley characterized as
adjectival "fools" on the day Bayard
Taylor called to see him. He feared
Taylor was one of them, and, naturally
tried to discourage him. Greeley's ab
ruptness was to be regretted, perhaps,
as possibly likely to chili the ardor of
a genius, but his procedure In the mat
ter was perfectly sound.
He knew instinctively, or had learned
"by experience, that if the young man
was really capable of doing what he
proposed In the way it should be done,
he would not and could not be discour
aged. Greeley didn't stop to think all
that out with regard to the young printer
before him at that time, probably: he was
too busy; too engrossed in other things.
All he wanted Just then was to get rid
of a chap who was bothering him. But
when Taylor finally managed to roako
himself heard his plans showed sense of
the sort the editor doesn't always hear
from the would-be contributor; the sort
that the editor of Judgment always list
ens to with respect and often with en
thusiasm. Taylor had found out what the people
like to read about, he knew how to tell
it to them and he wanted to do it. He
could have told them things about their
own country which they would have read
as eagerly as letters of foreign travel,
and he knew It, but he "wanted to learn
about other countries and the inhabitants,
and so preferred to go across the ocean
for his material.
He had found out what, for lack of a
better term, is denominated "of human
interest," though the term has been so
overworked, so often applied to all sorts
of the so-called literature that real news
paper men call "slush," as to be some
what in disrepute as a descriptive term.
Unless j-ou are a specialist, capable of
writing technically on your chosen spe
cialty so informlngly that other specialists
in the same line will pay you for your
writing, you must find out what is of
real "human Interest" and learn to put
it on paper well, or abandon all-thought
of successful writing.
Travel Letters by the Ton.
There are many editors who have read
and re-read "Views Afoot" who are some
times almost sorry Taylor ever wrote the
letters. That Is because of the vast
army of imitators their success called
into being.
These imitators began to make their ap
pearance in editorial offices, and their
letters began to show up In the editorial
mall very soon after "Views Afoot" haVl
made a hit. Year after year, ever since,
they have Increased In number. I know
an editor who swears it to be his belief
that there are 8,000,000 people in this
country today, or one in every ten, who
cither have proposed to tramp somewhere
and write articles for his pager about
what they sec while walking, or are get
ting ready to do so.
"Whenever any one calls upon Tilm with
a proposition to do this his naturally
sweet temper begins at once to turn sour,
and, no matter how halroy the tempera
ture, the air suddenly becomes chilled In
his immediate; vicinity. He says .most of
them begin something like this:
"I have called, Mr. Editor, to proposel
something really new and novel for your
oaner. I want to go to Ireland (or Japan,
or some other country that has been
written to death) and tramp over the
roads (or wheel over them, as the case
may be), to see and study the people-
to get out OI tne oeaien iracn, u it were,
and wrlto letters, tor your paper,
Fnm&limaa. vhtn tfco asplrlnx carrs.
k i n mmn m i mn in b wii i 11 ra 1 1 mm v
'III ffl lliWlt i fiflHB I Ifi 1 1 Iffl Mil 1 1! Jl 1 1 R I ft 1 1 1 111 VttUMV mNXsss3Ssuni I 1 Nfi
I APhrsonau appeal '
1 1 f
spondent desires to be facetious, he says
he wishes to travel "on ShankY horses."
Then this -particular editor, though not
often gruff In the way he turns people
down. Is prone to cut the story short.
For he knows, as Greeley knew, by bit
ter experience, that to give the average
aspiring traveler permission to do as he
Wishes is to insure thp reception, later, of
a lot of the dullest, dreariest copy Imagin
able, utterly worthless for publication
purposes, and fit only for the waste bas
ket or for a foolLst would-be-contributor
to pay return postage on. Ho said, and he
knows, that you would be surprised by the
wide variety of people who .seek, without
ever having the slightest training for the
task, to imitate Taylor. Some of them
have no idea that they are trying to
Imitate him; there are those among them,
as my editor has learned by questioning
them, who have never heard of Taylor,
Incredible as this may seem. Invariably,
however, when he has questioned him
further, he has found that the aspirant
knew all about the work of some later
literary tramp, and was planning to work
along the same lines.
Not all the variations of the letters of
travel type need the money that might
be got from the sale of their writing.
Many of then; declare they wish to write
solely to fill up the time while on their
travels, and keep themselves from being
homesick, from dying of ennui.
A large percentage of them, however,
want to pay the expenses of the trip
by their writing. Some plan to make
their travel letters, like Taylor's, step
ping -stones to a literary career. Many
of them are women, some rich, some poor,
and, of course, the number of these, both
men and women, who want to Just write
plain trni'el articles, 'without doing any
tramping. an-l are content to travel by
steam. rept of us, is very large.
Once -at while they are so well
fiSa a Is this world's goods that
they one my to get the letters print
ed. Thcie
my editor divides into two i
classes plain idiots and grafters the lat
ter being writers who have an advertis
ing string to their writing, who mean to
give gratuitous mention to this or that
persons, project or commercial product and
depend for their pay upon the person or
thing advertised. They get the shortest
shrift of all, so far as this editor is con
cerned. He sends them invariably to the
business manager of his paper, knowing
full well that he will charge full advertis
ing rates for anything offered under such
conditions, and that the matter, when
.printed, will be so marked that the reader
will know it for advertising, as you may
have noticed, though there are some
papers whose editors and managers some
times forget the marking.
All told, this editor gets travel letters
of every sort except those that are fit
to print, "by the ton," he says, and of
a truth he does not speak with much
hyperbole when he says It. The trouble
with the travel letter writers is that they
wrlto much more commonplace stuff
about foreign lands than they would think
of writing about their own.- Thus, one of
them, in a letter I saw the other day
about the Coliseum at Rome devoted a. lot
space to its dimensions. Now these figures
may be found in the schoolbooks, just as
may the figures showing, the size of the
Capitol at Washington.
A good letter might be written about
either of these buildings a letter - that
any general editor would be glad to buy
and print, but it would have to have
something new In It to be of value.
"Would-Bo Newspaper Humorists.
There is nothing which the average ed-
itor welcomes more heartily than copy
that Is really humorous. He may not
need much of it, especially when other
things that must be printed are crowding
his pages, but he must have some of It
even if he has to steal it. Many editors
as you may have noticed, do this occa
sionally, t
The editor I have mentioned says that
the whole world must know how useful
true humor is. and, what is worse, to be
prepared to furnish the article. At all
events this editor gets alleged humor by
the load. It comes in bales and rolls and
boxes. Most of it from utterly untrained
pens. and. like the larger part of the
cont M ts of the humorous columns hi the
B.iajars, the hulk of It Is stolen and
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, OCTOBER 15, 1905.
1 cnin 1
generally with extremely poor Judgment.
On the whole, he says, it is about the
most sorrowful -sort of reading matter
over put before the eyes of the suffering
manuFcript buyer.
If the alleged humorous matter that
is rejected Is much worse than some that
is printed, this editor's' view of its merits
is probably correct, and in this my read
ers are pretty sure to agree with me. Af
ter the letters of travel fiends and the
would-be humorous writers come those
desirous of writing fiction and general
article. They all run along parallel line
my editor says; not one of them has a
new idea in a year, and not one in a
"THE LOVE THAT GLORIFIES"
"M
ORNINV ma'am, mornln. Yes,
I'll step right In. Guess Til
atop and wipe my feet first, for
they're kind of muddy, and I'm afraid
I'll track up the. house. My wife Mary
says a man oughter think of those things
more'n he does, seeln' Js how he's so
pertlcklar about the manners of his dumb
creetera. But, land It's easy to forget.
"Doctor's be here In a minute? All
right, I'll Jest set down by the winder
and wait. Ah, here he is now. How do,
doctor, how cjp? I've come. Just as you
said I would, and if you've got the time
I'd like to talk over a few things. . An
hour, if I like? I'm reaf glad, for I kind
of want to get used to beln here a min
ute afpre I begin."
The doctor led the way Into the consult
ing" room and shut the door, at the same
time motioning the man Jnto one of the
leather-covered chairs that stood at the
r,Eht oi operating table. He seated
himself nervously upon the extreme edge
of the chair, turning as far as possible
from the surgical apparatus, and twirled
his faded hat in his restless fingers. His
anxious eyes followed the doctor's figure
as he stopped to low.er the sash and let
in the sweet June air, before seating him
self, and the sunshine fell with a pitying
touch on the man's gray hair and haggard
face. Laying one hand on the doctor's
knee. heTleaned forward and scanned his
face hungrily, as If compelling strength
and a clearer vision from the man before
him.
"We've talked It all over, Mary and I."
ho said with childlike simplicity. "There
wa'n't no use in keepln', it from her, and
I couldn't have f I'd tried; for there
hain't been a thing sence we was married
but that we've planned over together.
She ain't seemed to mind it much, cept
for thlnkin and worryin' about me; but,
then, women like my wife Mary don't
allers show what they feel. But I had to
come to you today.
"A woman's got her mother and her
folks to lean on In times like these, but a
man stands alone with his doctor and his
God. Yer sure that ether does the busi
ness? And she wonJt know anything
about It? An' yerve got the right kind of
tools to work with? God, but yer cuttin
my heart out to think of It. I've been
tryln' to sense It all the way over" here
from the farm, but all I could think ct
was the pinky look of the alders, and the
big, soft patches of shadow on the moun
tain sides; an.d it seemed as if 'twere
forty year ago when. Mary and I first be
gun to take notice of things together. I
j - there1
was a good hay crop on or whether porta.
toes were likely to turn out well. But
after I got to thlnkin! about Mary, some
how she didn't seem to belong to those
things, and the colors In the woods began
to perk up and tell me I'd better be
takln notice of them. And then when
we'd go to prayer meetln together after
we was,,keepln' company, she'd say: 'Oh,
Rael, jest look at that and that and that
flower.' till I had to get out of the team
and get it for her. And "before long I was
Hkln them, too, though I wouldn't have
said so; fur's I know. But j siemed .
part of her.
"I lived on the hill and .she lived down
below in the valley." Same old red house
J that we're Uvin'
In now. only 'twas
hundred would be able to 'dress a new i
idea UD In nervous; interesting English
If he were fortunate enough to corral one. J
Most of those who essay fiction choose ,
the oldest, most hackneyed Dlots and tell
them in the dullest, most backnayed man-
ner.
"Just as Good" as the Real Thing.
Ninety-nine In a hundred of them pro
claim, when personally visiting the ed-
Itor, tnat tne wont onereu is moaeico on ,
Kipling's or Mrs. Humphrey "Ward's, or ; to turn up on an average once In three
Anthony Hope's, or whoever happens to J weeks. In the office of nearly every ed
bo uppermost in the book sales just then, itor looking for alleged "human Interest
spruced up then with new paint and
fixln's. Some folks would have thought
'twas terrible lonely up there, a near to
the woods and without a neighbor in
sight, buV Mary wa'nt that kind. She'd
look off down the valley at the knot of
lakes at the right and the river shlnln
like corn-silk, and the town that glistened
In the sun like white pebbles, and then
off at the blue mountains. She alters said
they were the words of God. atandln
there solemn and uncbangln. and watch
in' to sse If wc made the right use of the
world he'd put us In.
"One night I went down to swap a hoss
rake with Mary's father, and that's when
I first began to take notice. She was
settln In the doorway, plckln out yarn
for a cardboard motto;, so I set there,
too. for a while, till It begun lo be
dark enough to light up inside the house,
and then after that I kept goln'. 8he
looked Jest like a flower, Mary did one
of those pale little ones that you find In
some ferny spot in the woods, and she
mos generally had a ribbon on, or some
thln' that made me think of blossoms.
X bought her one one night, and she said
Thank you, Rael, Jest as ladylike. and
then I knew that I wanted to keep right
on buyln things for her, though I didn't
tell her so.
"We used to take walks together along
In the early evenln'. There was a brook
that crossed the road a piece do'wn from
her house, and we'd stand on that bridge
and watch the water rattle down over the
stones arid slip off through the fields, and
I used to -say, 'Now, Mary, what do you
want most?
"And she'd say 'Oh, a melodeon, Rael.
"And I'd say, jest as gruff-like. 'A hoss
rake's what I want.'
"That was the difference between us;
and. yet there wa'n't no one that under
stood Mary as well as I did.
"She'd read out of the weekly paper
sometimes, and I'd ret and whittle and
look at her, and then we'd discuss. We
was great on discussions that year, and I
used to carry her over to the- school
house to hear 'cm go It at lyceums. One
night they was dlscussln" whether Lincoln
or Washington was he greater man, and
I got tired ot It. for I'd heard that same
discussion before: so I got up and says:
That's been talked about long enough, I
think. There's wouldn't probably been
more'n half as much to them as there
was if it hadn't been for their women
folks behind them
"Then I sat down, and they began to
laugh and snigger, and the thought come
to me that they thought I was smnm' vp
to Marv. It struck me all of a heap, and
I looked over, and there she sat. lookin j "And she looked right up at me with
down into her lap. with the color stealln' ! her great eyes so bellevln. and says. I
up Into her face Jest like a white apple ' ain't goin to be ashamed of my hus
blossom with a little stain of pink in it t band. RaeL
I was terrible cut up. and when I put her j "And I says, 'Please God yer never
Into the sleigh and we started off home shall.' Then we Went In and shut- the
I couldn't sayj a word. We jangled alone I door.
the road; there wa'n't no one near us. j "Two years went by, and Mary was as
and It was all white and still, and Anally 1 happy as a lark. Keepln' the house fixed
we come to the top of the hill. Somehow i up and the posies growl n and runnin out
we could get a free breath up there, j to bring me1 a doughnut or a dab of
I looked off at the fields and the woods ! dough, and to be sure the bread was rlz
like dark patches below us In the rooonr i jest to my likln. Playin' on the me
light, and I felt pretty bad. Mary was j lodeon, and comin' out to set with me
talkln a little, but by and by she stopped; J under the big elm tree In the. corner of
and then I put my nana over hers, ana
I says. 'Was yer terrible ashamed of me,
Maryr
t "And she flashed right out, quick-like,
No, I wa'n't, Rael.
"It kind of surprised me. she was allers
V
and also that the Imitation Is at least
Just as good. If not better, han the work
of the model. It rarely seems to enter
their heads that the only way to write
acceptable fiction Is to study human na
ture, human passion, human actions, first
hand before writing a story.
The untrained writer who would write
"special articles" are like all the others."
They model their work on what has
gone before. They try to write about
something Just as somebody .'else has
written about it before them. They
rarely dream of trying to find something
new, or even of trying to treat an old
subject in a new way.
If they-only knew It this latter Is the
secret of most successful general wrlt-
ing. A great magazine editor said In a
signed article the other day that the
success of his periodical had been made
by taking up the old subjects and telling .
tne new tntngs aoout them. Most or tne
people who write "special articles" and
fall to sell them, not only take the old
topics, but tell the old things about them
and tell them in the old way.
For this reason every editor who re
ceives a good many miscellaneous manu
scripts can tell Just about when a manu
script on a given topic Is due. "The
opium Joint" a few years aso was bound
so quiet and kind of gentle; but I got my
breath again, and I says slowly. 'Would
yc be ashamed of me for a husband,
Maryr
"She never said a word, and I set there,
.my heart a-thumpln and the bells a-Jang-lln';
and then she jest slipped her hand
into mine, and I knew It was all right.
"We weren't married till June. I had to
get ready, and so did she. She allers had
Idees of propriety, did Mary. I was a-pa-pcrln
and a-flxin the old house up. and
she was a-sewln'. though I'd loved her
jest as well If she hadn't brought nothln'
with her. I was plannln' on havln a
hoss-rake. and then 'twouldn't be such
hard work, and I could have more time
to home; but one day as I was putterln'
around a man come along and he says,
'Want to buy a melodeon?
"And I says, I dunno; how much be
they?'
"And he says. Til set one right up, and
yer"ll wonder how yer ever got along
without it, and it sha'n't cost yer much,
either.'
"Well, I knew 'twa'n't no use to think
of the hoss-rake after that, so about a
week from that time I druv over to
Mary' and J says. 'I've somcthln' to show
yer, Mary-
"So she came alongside of me, slngin
a little song, and polntln'but every flower
and fern on the way, and I showed, her
into the house, and "then she saw that.
She Jest put her arms around it a. min
ute, and then run right to me. and hid
her face on my shoulder, and all she says
was. 'Oh, Rael. and I could feel her
a-cryin. She didn't never know about
the hoss-rake. Ain't been nothln' I could
'get that I ain't tried to give her.
"Well, June come and we had a real
pretty weddln. Plenty of flowers, and
the neighbors come and had a good time.
Had some hymn-tunes, too 'Blest Be the
Tie That Binds and 'Come Ye That Ixivo
the Lord. Mary liked things done In
style, though I didn't sense -nothln' but
her shlnln eyes and white dress. And
then when it was all over, and the folks
had gone. I hitched up and we drove home
through the twilight. The sky was all
pale, and the stars were a-comln' out.
J and the frogs down In the marshes were
singin', and we didn't say a word till wo
reached home our home. I stopped the
horse at the door our door: and when I
sec her settin' there so like a lily, so
trustful and white, a great lump come up
In my throat to think of her belongin'
to a lump of clay like me. And I held
her close as I lifted her down, and then
somethln' come over me, and I says,
'Honey, air yer sure yer ain't goln to be
i ashamed of yer husband?'
tne yara. ana singm.' ana srair.n" all day.
j But by and by she begun to 'get quieter.
and she'd look atme so wistful like, out
of her great eyes, an' then we'd set an
talk an' look toward the mountains that
stood before us like tke words of God,
stun, and for years "The Growth of
Electric Railroading" was due every five
weeks..
N6V when Dr. S. Weir Mitchell de
scribed, his experiences with a new nar
cotic the result was plcturesue, full of
power and read eagerly, but the ordinary
individual's attempt to "do something like
it Is sure to be flat. "The growth of
Electric Railroading" is a good topic,
when done by the pen of a specialist or a
trained general writer, but when it Is
simply a--rchash by an untrained writer,
as most articles thereon are, It is hope
less. "The most serious part 6f all this." says
my editor, '.'Is that In sending back un
available articles I know I'm' making en
emies among a lot of really good people
ever' day of my life, besides many more
who are not of any consequence and about
whom I don't care.
"You see, neither I nor. any other editor
can afford to take anything we don't
really bclleVC will Interest the reader. If
I fill up the publication V edit with un
interesting matter the circulation will fall
off and I will aurely lose my Job. I can't
buy to 'help' anybody, no matter how de
serving, how -desirable his place In life
may be socially or how sincere he may be
In writing what he has sent in, in order
to further some reform cause. I must
buy solely because the matter will Inter
est the readers of my paper and keep up
and add to Its sales.
T get letters of Indignant protest
against ray Judgment occasionally
t from the writers of rejected manu
scripts. Let me read you one of these
from a chap In Michigan:
" 'Dear Sir Tr. try again! was the
burden of a reading- lesson in the little
old second reader, the first reader I used
In school, away back there In the dim
and vanishing past. But. say, son, do
you ever dye your spirit with royal
:Tyrian purple when disappointment and
defeat crowned your soul with sorrow?
" 'Does fair Hope show black, and
blue spots where she has been "up
. By Lilian True Bryant
and the old tree would wave Its arms
over us like It was blessln us. I was
husband and mother both, those ..days.
and I'd say. This is the way the Lord (
meant It, Mary, and It's all right.' The 1
new look of motherhood shone deeper and
deeper in her eyes, and then one day In
the Fall I said
" 'Honey, the doctor says as how he'd
like to come up here for a day or two, !f
'twould be convenient to have him 'round.
He wants to go gunnln with me up on'tbe
mountain, and -as there's plenty of good
food cooked up, and there's some one to
May with you, I told him right off to
come.'
"She hid her face on my shoulder and
said, 'Oh, Rael.' jest as she did over the
melodeon, and I never let on that I'd been
a-savin' toward 20 all the Summer, to
make him want to aome Jest at this time.
But somehow she mistrusted. You don't
need to tell a woman everything; they
know athout the tellin.
"We named -the baby Peace; we was
so glad to have her safely here. Seems
If Mary couldn't be happy enough those
days. 'Twas baby this and baby that all
the time Who was she goln io- look like,
and how her eyebrows was comln". and
how she was leamln to put, her thumb
Into her mouth; and there was so much
baby and so little me that I begun to feel
kind of left out. 'Twan't sensible, I know,
and I wouldn't have had Mary know it
for anything. Was too shamed of it
myself a great hulkln' thing like me
wantin to spoil Mary's happiness with
her baby. I thanked the Lord arterward
that I didn't say nothln. But you see
Mary herself had allers been my baby,
and now she didn't seemg to care nothln'
about It. But one night I was settln In
the doorway a-lookln off at the fields, and
she come of her own accord and says.
Rael. I want to come home.' And she
put her head down in the old way on
my shoulder, and then I knew she wa'n't
changed a ralte, and I thought what an
old fool J'd been; a mean, ungrateful
creeter. But Mary was unknowin' of
all this, and wa'n't I glad! She wouldn't
have thought much of me If she had.
a-feelln put out because I wasn't the only
one that was beln made of. The baby
stayed with us till May and I guess we
won't say nothln' more about that. There
come a day when I had to face that I
couldn't do nothln for Mary; that we
was Jest children In the hands of the
Lord, and I could only stand by and help
her bear It. I couldn't take It away
same's I had every other trouble. I
went to the minister and 1 says. The
buryln' ground Is five miles away, and "i
ain't goln' to have Mary a-feelln her
baby's, way oft there, and a-cryln' and
a-lookln' off there when the snows come.
I'm a-goln. If yertblnk the Lord's wlllin',
to have one of our own, right close to
the house under the old elm- That's
where we set and planned together afore
the baby come. And the minister says,
The earth Is the Lord's andthe fullness
thereof, and wherever yer place a human
beln with a prayer above it, that spot is
sacred.
"So wo laid the baby away under the,
clrn. Mary didn't know nothln' about It.
because she was in a high fever, and
didn't sense nothln'; but her folks was
scandalized to see me makin' a flower
garden out of th a. .baby's grave. But I
knew Mary better than they did; and
when I couldn't stand It to watch her any
looser I'd go out there and putter around.
against" the brass knuckles
tiny?
" 'Queer world. Isn't it? I warrant
now that life Isn't all radiance of
rainbows stewed in the syrup of suc
cess for you. even, in the City of -.
that hades hole of hustle for the dol
lar. 'In submitting "The Power of
"Wealth" to your trained commercial
Instinct, I merely remark that I hopo
the sharks of finance will leave you
enough for funeral rites.
" 'Sympathetically yours.
" 'P. S. Rejected "Blnckburn
at hand.
" Well.. I did grin!
' 'Say, I'd like to see some of the
things you do print, and I'll have to
buy a copy of your paper,.sometlrae if
I can find one. Just to find' out.
'I have a burning curiosity to see
what you do aceept and who authors
It. I have an Impression that Cooper.
Dickens, Milton, iilvy and Moses pre
senting their manuscripts to you for
the first publisher would get turned
down- You reject Fact, Fiction. Ft:n'
What In the name of the Prophet do
you want?'
"I have received many letters charg
ing me with returning: manuscripts
unread, with belonging to an associa
tion of editors who have a blacklist
and of having the name of the writer
of each letter on the list, and man)
other editorial crimes against aspirins;
writers.
T have read manuscripts with pages
transposed, sheets sewn together and
occasionally missing- pngos. the trans
position, sewing- together and omis
sions having- been perpetrated in or
der to find out if I really have re . 1
the matter before returning- It..
"The trouble with most of the peop.f
whose manuscripts are returned f
them Is that they have never learned
to write, and so don't know how to d
it. But Inasmuch as there are
educated people now than ever be
fore, a larger percentage of fairl
well-written articles and stories ar-
returned than ever before. The truth is
that more fairly good 'stuff' Is offere.1
than could possibly be printed; be
sides, the writers forget that to be it
ceptable to any editor matter sent to
him must be written, in the spirit of
the paper or perlodclal which he is en
gaged In editing."
JAMES C. BRADSHAW
(Copyright, 1005.
sy McClurt Phillips
Co.)
One day she opened her eyes, and sh
! says. 'Where ve yer taken my babj.
Rael?' And I says. 'Jest where yer can
see her and mother her. honey, and look
out that she's all right.'
"She was slow In gettln well, and I
used to carry her out Into the sunshine
and sho'd . set under the old elm nn. I
look at the flowers. I'd built a scat
there, and there was some rose busrrs
and some little soft, pinky-white blossoms,
and the grass was trimmed and green
Sho'l set and look and look, and one day
she says. 'We will have some flowers th.i
will grow for a long time, and a fence
and by and by this will be our little hnmi
together.' Lord, but you don't s'pose it s
comin' now, do yer?
"Mary was allers fond of children, and
was allers -doin things for them, but
when the Spring days come she neer
seemod to care about any thin' 'cept stay
ln" with me. And she'd say It was be
cause she liked to see me plant the corn,
and see how many pertatoes went Into
each hill, but I know It was because sh3
didn't like to be left alone and now meb
be she's goln a'way from me.
"Thero's a good chance of her gettln
well? Yer think she will. If everything
goes right? Thank yer, doctor, thank
yer. Don't mind my cryin. but yer sea
I thought they wa'n't no hope, and I
couldn't have yer touchln Mary till yer
knew what wo'd been to each other.
Seemed as if it would help yer to bring
her out all right If yer knew that. And
yer'll come tomorrer, and by this time it'll
all be over, and the probability is that"
she'll get well. God. can 1 stand it to
wait?"
FOR REMOVING A WRINKLE
Big Price a Society Leader Paid to
Be Made Beautiful.
Just think of paying $1000 for having ona
wrinkle removed I That's what a well
known New York society leader has paid,
and without a doubt there are manj oTh
ers who would bo willing to nay Just
auch an exorbitant price If they haJ it
for the same purpose.
Authorities ajong these lines are de
manding large sums for beautifying wom
ens' faces. It is not an easy task and
means much suffering for the woman.
The injection of paraffin Is one of the
well-known remedies for this shortcom
ing. The process is painful, the paraf
fin being injected underneath the skin
by a hypodermic needle and allowed to
remain there, harden and become a part
of the membrane tissue, which It does
in time.
It is a good remedy. The wrinkle Is
sure to disappear, and there are more
women than one would surmise who are
undergoing such a treatment.
Some of the' society leaders who have
gone West for a rest, as they say, have
in reality secluded themselves for a time
with doctors of beauty and upon making
their reappearance In society are Indeed
creatures of beauty. Their complexions
are beautified, white and pink, without
a blemish, and they have regained their
good humor and look like young ma
trons just entering their second year of
married life, instead of contemplating the
celebration of their 25th-