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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (June 14, 1908)
EHE OREGON SUNDAY , JOURNAL. PORTLAND. SUNDAY CORNING, JUNE I903v 3 I m my? fat. 0 ft II 1 r " w' u,-i ri .vuu'ii.i'AittirjW.ti'j ivy is'' 4 if. i V I 1 m Sir : ' . : . .' ' ?'x': ': I jWvSd Courtship. 3 Laura Jean Libbey Woo Coy Flowers and Brave June Showers- m T AURA JEAtf LIBBEY who is Mrs. I Fan Mater S. Stilwell outside her books writer of novels and plays, by the score, is to take the first real vacation-; this summer, that has been hers s'ince fame perch ed upon her active pen and fortune deposited its treasures at her feei. It vms after completing her eightieth play a little while ago -she had already written forty or more novels that Miss Lib bey Mrs. Stilwell threw down her pen in the library of her handsome. home in Brook lyn, N.Y.;and announced her purpose of tak ing a rest, of enjoying a vacation. Miss Libbey' 's claim to fame lies in the number and heart-throbbing character of her novels, rather than in the construction of plays: Although she is now the authoress of more plays than works of fiction, her novels have made her name known throughout the land; over them young women by hundreds of thousands have wept and laughed. After having turned out volume after volume with astonishing ease and rapidity, the widely known authoress will rest a vhile before devoting herself entirely to playwrit ing, which she announces as the serious voca tion of her future. . 'r ryjzi mi in I'UJU' mil IS HE now, when my brain la in the full fluah and vigor ot bloom which baa ripened Into generous fruit. There are many close behind eagerly pressing for ward to grasp fame' laurel branch. I would give them a chance, while hope, youth and ambition la theirs, that the world might be benefited by geniuses who may ra diate a brighter, more glorious light than any who have gone before. I have often wondered If those who read realise how dear to the author's heart are the characters they por tray; how they grieve with their sorrows and delight in their Joys; If they knew there are noble characters au thors shed tears over when the last word is written. In the future I shall write plays. I sometimes think there Is much more of my heart In the plays than In the novels; they will appeal to those whose lives are Incom plete and lonely, more perhaps than those whose lines have fallen. Into sunny paths, mingling sunshine and passing clouds, heart-throbs and tears. The dominant thing In each drama Is love. Why should it not be, since It Is love that rules the world, from the mightiest to the lowliest human heart? Only that emotion which is pure, Ood-glven, is digni fied by the noble name love. It Is the golden chalice around which the maiden's roseate dreams hover, and which holds the heart and the happiness of the wife who knows a love nobly re turnedthe rose-bloom which Jewels her existence. Can you wonder at the eager flame that Ignites a novelist's longing to see those dear characters upon the stage Hesh and blood realities making the dreamy TV fancies of which they were a vital part living portrayals a thousand-fold dearer than they were upon the printed page? The stage picture Is surely the sweetest realization that can thrill an author's being, and the approval of the public the crowning Joy. At the very outset of my career the drama was my beacon light ahead, my guiding star. Playa have always appealed to me more than novels. I never began a novel without sketching out beforehand a four-act play per feet as I could make it In every detail. The Inspiration of each and every, novel was the out growth of these drama-picture. I feel that It Is my future llfework to give my readers and the public the eighty plays which I have complete -during the years they have stimulated my efforts by their kind approval; without which I would have felt that life was unsatisfying, youth a delusion; 'thar middle age would be a struggle and old age a burden and a regret. I do not know how long this vacation of mine is to last, but while it does I am going; to have a merry play enjoy every moment In the happiest, jolliest way possible. like the schoolgirl at the end of the long term which has brought delightful June at last Just think of it! No school, no tasks, no lessons r That will be too lovely tor anything! I have a dear little garden, and I am going to plant in it all the pretty flowers I love, and watch the buds coyly coquette with the ardent aunbeama, and burst at length into the aweet blushing flower adored by the bees. I shall make the acquaintance of my frlenda all over again, go automobiltng In any and all aorta of ' weather, laughing at the raln'a endeavora to keep me within doors, and reveling in-enjoyment under a July aky, though the thermometer points to nine-and-ninoty In the ahade. ' . Oh, auch a merry lark Is this first vacation to be alone, with no plana, no schedule, save to have all the pleasure that comes my way. I shall have plenty ot time to look In the store wtndowa and admire the beautiful, aoft. shimmering silks and gorgeous laces so inexpressibly dear to the Dramas from Laura Jean Libbey's Pen A Political Plot Aunt Tommy. Partd On Their Bridal Tour. M hen True Hemrta Meet. The Pretty Little Flirt. Look Before You Leap Love or Honor. Po You Love Me. Dear? When Tot sleet the Bight One. Wifn Love la True. Could felie Foriret or Forgive T Dulcie'a Devotion. In Sptta of AH. Finding Her Affinity. Gertrude Dennins'a Love Af fair. Rent Me a Lover Gay. bhe'm a Merry. Innocent Co quette. r,dr Promise, he Sad Love-Romance of Lola Pale. Quickly They Fell In Love Then v-h-n We Vret Airatn. Young and Ton Trunlng. KSk But Tn,Bt, T.lnda'i Pitiful Atonement Marriage It Must Be. J.nrre41a, the Belle of the Ball. Oiiuht tha World to Con demn Her? P)uing Her Parents or Los ing a Lover. ron Tell Mama. Lsiranited, But They gun Loved. Fancy Free. Yet Linked For Ciuie'n Moments ot Lovers.-' "' Hastily Wooed and as Jutck1y Parted. n-hen Hla Love Waned, nother Man's Treasure he Bad Love Story of a -" Pretty1-Village Belle. 'nly a Flirtation. ine Price of a Young Girl's Abandoned Brlda v Heart of Saucy Susylyn. A Young Glrl't Fatal Error. Don't Judge Her Too Harsh ly t Riches, or a Poor Young Man's Love. Pretty Dorothy's Honor. In an Unguarded Moment. Love Me. and I Am a King. The Waifa of Bag-Picker's Alley. In a Moment of Temptation. A Sudden Betrothal. When Love Takea Wing. The First Kiss. Ruled His Heart For a Day. Because His Love Proved False. Plnce the Hour They Met Tilly, the Slave of the Fam ily. Sweethearts Once. But Now We're Parted. Vain Violet, the Beauty. 1'nlted by Mistake. Waiting For Him Who Came Not. Xeda's Fickle Lover. Yesterday's Affection. But Not Today's. Xoe, the Pride of Morgan's Alley. If the Heart Is Truly Mated. Jolliest Little Maid in Town. Kiss and Make Up Again. Led by a Girlish Impulse. Just What Sealed Her Fata. Mischievous Madge Darling. Nobody Knew But Her En emies Guessed. Only Love's Cross for Her. A Poor Girl's Love. Perhaps Mother Knew Best. Quickly Mated. Then Re pentant Beautiful Christie, the Pride of My Heart. ' As the World Judged Her. Her First Temptation, lola'a Sin. Just a Girl With a Heart Evanell's Sad Secret. . All the Way You Look at It An Unhappy Love. The Wife or the Other Woman. , k -- I mwRl - rillSrii it. W . By Laura Jean Libbey ' I AM pleased to think that the readers of inylbooks would lik to know my plans for the first vacation t have had since t began writing. My graUtude for the Interest my readers take in me, aside from my writings, la aincere. - " , : : ;:r -. -.. ;i ' Though e have never met and clasped each other's bands,' we aeem to know and understand each othera l.rrt-thoughta as tried, true friends do. The years that-come and go, Instead of drifting ua rpart, seem to weld ua the more closely together. I feel that my readers have been more then the mera readers of an, hour they are my earnest well-wishers, loyal and true to me; worthy of the life which haa t n devoted to their pleasure. - . , . - At the outset let me state) that I have concluded to ( ise writing novels, ao that I begin my vacation with i o plots of forthcoming works to engage my attention. I think it is wisest and beat to cease novel writing' F SOME ONE should hang- out in London the ' sign, "Wanted, 250,000 Husbands," such a distress signal would rery nearly represent we actual conditions there. , In other words, London has a quarter of a ' """ion more women than men. All these, of course, i no? P0111 Cupid's ad Yances. Many are elderly, either widows or spinsters; a few, perhaps, i; ,ttcn M, "nffragist leaders, would reject matrimonial propositions from principle. ; It is safe to con clude, however, that these are few. . , Bttt tnick of ; a ; community a city where ' !eretr.t 25,0'000 mor ornen than men: Where : . enould the lone bachelors,, or widowers, of ' earth "7 P'omisino; field for the exercise of, txteir captivating wika t . vr , : .,)i,...T.,lV; fT5Srti oJt' that-femininity. tn England - t- I ;! 1 U h "-ought tor the worlds - JB. " suuragrette ' cootests. worktngwom ens parades and all the Arguments et the. quarter million Inhabitants of tha English Adamlesi Eden. .- , - Strange It' Is why tha un trammeled manhood of England refuses to consort with the awaiting maiden hood. Yet, as long ago as 18i-l00 official statistics indicated, on the one aide, astonishing evidences of growth in wealth and other material directions, and, on the ether, a steady, decline in the marriage and birth rates. , . - For instance, the marriage rate of London, which In 1851 was 22.3 per 1000 persons, had declined In 18S to 18.7 per 1000. This doesn't look so startling in the .figures presented, but actually it la a source of deep concern to the statesmen of Britain. The proportion of marriages to population haa decreaaed much mora ir the last ten years. - - 8o. ten years ago, this same problem of the small proportion of marriages to the number of marriage able persons women, we will say became a subject . of atudy on the part of statesmen. At - that . time it ' was remarked:-. . "V- - , "It would be an Interesting inquiry which would discover the causes underlying the marked decllne.- ' The ordinary social lawi ia that marriages are closely related to the condition of national prosperity or ad versity. - '-- , - "Perhaps even the higher education of " women, giving tbem often' airs, if not exactly of superiority, at least, of independence, and the lesa domestic,, less t soft arul fascinating ways that coma with tha struggl for a living which may be discovered In women any and all of these can be Cited aa answerable for thla retrograde social feature of metropolitan life, accord- Ing to the point of view taken up." - Of tha thousands of women who support them selves In England, those who act as barmaids, per haps, have been most written about, . - As a rule, she is a charming conversationalist, ana ' her knowledge of current topics is by no means 11m-' ited to the bar. As f or her morals, they compare favorably with those of any other type- of English girl whether In store, factory or farm and there is nothing in -her environments or associations calcu lated to Injure her reputation. . , , . . . " . - On the contrary, the presence of a girl behind tha bar compels common politeness and decency" among its? patrons, and there are few offenders against the strict rule that propriety be always maintained. . - ' Scores of barmaids have- married into wealthy 1 families, for the barmaid often cornea of Intelligent . parents and knows how to conduct herself and her,: business ywith credit, to both, v , ir-; - ; . , - With the thousands of other, womu In London who support themselves and are eligible for selection as ' homemakers, - there remains scanty hope of such se- , lection. But this should not deter a wife hunter from starting fori London at tha first opportunity. heart feminine next to plays I adore ribbons, laces and bonbons. ' , After playtime la over I ahall turn to the dramaa with renewed sest and crowd all of the sunshine I have gathered Into them. For tha kindly sympathy and good nature of my readera I am deeply grateful each seems to me a dear companion to whom I can open rny heart And the companionship la sweet; for though the world held cruated jewels, and all that power, could give, without some sympathetic ones to breathe our hopes, aspirations, our valiant struggles and failures to. there Is always something sadly wanting and tha world grows cold, dark and desolate under any sky. There la a twinge in my heart at the thought of parting company from tha readers of my novels when I turn away from books; but I earnestly hope to retain a little niche in their affections, and that they will not quite forget me in the years to come, remembering me at my best f From tha mere standpoint of the number of her readera. Laura Jean Libbey la perhaps tha most popu lar writer for women of tha generation. Since the appearance of her first novel, ''Miss Middleton'a Lover," about twenty yeara ago, her romances, one coming apeedily upon the heela. almost of another, have had a remarkable sale. FORTUNE FROM HER PEN She haa made a fortune from her pen; through the alchemy of her particular genius she has literally turned ink into gold. Four years after beginning her literary career aha was paid, it is said. $10,000 a year for editorial work upon a woman's magazine. She also received $7,300 a year for' writing serial ato'rles under contract, while the Income from her pub lahed novels waa estimated at from $18,000 to $20,000 a year. At that time it waa said that her home in Brook lyn, costing $20,000, waa bought with the proceeds ot one book. Mlsa Libbey haa been a tireless worker from the time tha success of hei- first book launched her upon a literary career. She devoted herself aa completely to the care of an invalid mother aa to her writing, ao that tha demanda upon her time precluded any thought of vacation, even though rlchea were pouring into tier puree. 4 Although during all tha yeara of successful author ship aha felt tied to her work and her filial duties. Miss Libbey has been fond of entertaining and social enjoyments. Scarcely s; week has passed for yeara without a dinner or theater party or reception given by her. r She is accounted a delightful hostess, and always proves the Ufa of her big receptions, at which aa many aa 600 people have been entertained. Horses occupy a big place in her heart for years her beautiful team, Almont St. Claire and Robin Adair, were well known on the Brooklyn driveways. ,9f a" th forty or so novels she has written. Miss &,bbey oknowledgres that the first, "Parted on their Bridal Tour; or, Miss Mlddleton's Lover," remains her orite, just as "If the Heart Is Truly Mated' la her favorite play. Among the early worka of fretlon that placed her upon the highway to fame and fortune , were: "Lovers Once, but Strangers Now," "That Pretty Toung Girl," "Olive's Courtship," "He Loved, but Waa Lured Away," "A Forbidden Marriage," "Little Leafy, the Cloakmakera Beautiful Daughter," and others of almilar heart throbs. . WROTE WHEN IN SCHOOL "1 waa a mere girl, a little eprite,- when' I began to avrite," she said recently. "1 was then in school. 1 wrote nice little compositions every Friday afternoon for teacher. My teacher liked them very much, and I . had her encouragement to woik on and on and on. and now well, here I am." Miss Libbey now Mrs. 8 til welt remember Is now a little more than 4 years old. Her own romance came late In life. She waa 36,when she married. In all her newspaper Interviews ana has confessed to be ing happy, and in answer to the question if marriage had changed her work she one said: "In a way, yea I think it has become more gentle. There la an Instinct awakened in a woman when aha assumes the dutlea of a wife that ahe haa not before known. It changea her whore existence. She general- fy becomes gentler.,. She sees, too, trie affairs of tha world from another point of view her husband's. As ahe talka with him she absorbs some of his lAaa, usually tha softer of them. This makes her mora charitable. You see, I have fed the sentiments of other women for so long a time that that work haa become a part of myaelf. But sometimes, you know, the purveyor becomes hungry and so well." - Among the' maxims penned by tha famous author ess are these: . . - . - "Every woman needs a love story to read." V p "Most women read love stories to excess." ' "Men love women who advance as they grow older,, tut who still remain womanly.". "Do not ba over-romantic, or your husband will tlra -of you." .- ----- - v '"Do not: at any time be too Independent. Thla Is' one of the many things that wrecks homes." . "Of course, this world is saturated with love. Wars lt-'not, how do you think we would live?" "A diary la the best and most appropriate place for your sentimental confessions. " ,
