Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-12-17
MEMPHIS LITERATURE.
A Son Of Genius and n Printer Writes a
Dime Novel.

/ Mansford got an advanced COPY, YES
| terday, of dime novel, which was writ.
ten by a Memphis printer. The little
| book contains about one hundred pages
| If matter, and embOdies a nice story
with a simple plot. The style is very
| different from the fiabby, inartistie plati-
| tudes that are commonly found in such
works. The author got the first copy OF
the book yesterday, and tue money
which is the authors share, one hun
dred dollars, in the profits of the little
enterprise. No wonder these publica-
tons succeed so well. The publisher
pays the author a fair price for his work,
while the publishers Of magazines do
not half nor quarter pay the writers that
work for them, but grab all the profits
and proceeds themselves. They look
upon writers as drudges, and hence none
but drudges will write for them. a
good article is hardly ever found in a
magazine now. They are principally
unmitigated trash and nauseating drivei.
The misery end unfair dealing of those
respectable" publishers have driven all
promising young writers away from
their leaden literature, and consequently
lriven all readers except a few of the
dull, respectfully heavy and stupid
sort, who cling to old forms and old
ghosts of good things. This is the great
cause Of the decline, the atrophy of the
magazine literature of the country. You
might look in vain through the pages of
Magazines like Hdrper's for five years
1t stretch, to find such description of
scenery as this Of John Emerald, in
COrtiuG, the ScOJtrge ofthe Rio Grdnde:
lone morning, as the chime-bells
sounded melodiously from the cathedral
spires in MatamOras, the four men
were riding rapidly,
with muffied spurs, across the Pal0 Alto
single file, led bv Taleta
The sand road was avoided, and a trail
almost impossible followed through the
dense chaparral skirting the saline val
ley Ofthe Rio Colorado. Soon they emery
ed upon a scene beautiful almost to sub |
Unity. The moon, before hid from view, |
shone with resplendaIit beauty upon a |
valley that seemed to CLEAN like burn |
shed steel. To the north and to the /
south, as far as the eye could reach, and |
At least one mile to the east, the barren /
ground sank in winding indentations, |
and filled with deposits of crystalized |
saline matter, was lit up as if by super
natural fires, and the peninsular point of
green, upon wi ich stands Buena Vista,
appeared as a dark specter invading
Here is the same scene an hour or two
alter:
The rosy tints of dawn had by this
ime mellowed the east, and soon the
un's rays shot athwart the little fortress
md silvered the tips of the trees on PaIo
\ ltO. What before under tho wild
light of the full moon, sparkled like a
ga with myriads Of brilliants upon It's
urface, resembled a vast taTn, bare of
III save the deposit of dark matter that
lad festered upon its surface. Every
where, except the verdure in
he west and east and the penin-
ula, where stood Buena Vista
anch, all seemed a dreary waste,
5 if great saline river, flowing toward
he Gulf, had become exhausted, de-
troying nearly all of vegetable life and
saving naught but an ocean of sand,
Gifted here and there with the broad
'inted prickly pear, the cactus and the
parish dagger"
These snatches fscene-painting show !
hat the author can do. We hope he {
Ill next try bis hand at lengthy tale, ]
escriptive of life and manners and |
Genes in our own Sunny South. Let l
i'm step at once from the dime to the {
twenty-five cents novel. Mansford will !
ave five hundred of the new books in a !
ay or two, but we think he will have q
, double his order, for the bows and G
iris have already sent in word to keep I
one Tor me" so numerously, that the
ackage will hardly 90 round.