Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-02-28

the poetical line, to write in a young lady 8
autograph album" responded the reporter,
with some natural difidence.
"Ah, yes, see. You can furnish the au-
tograph yourself, but you would rather l
would do the sentiment. Exactly. And
about how long would you like it? I can
make it an acrostic if you prefer. Acrostics
come a little higher, but they are just the
thing, you know, for albums"
The reporter decided on an acrostic, and
gave Mary as the name of the album owner.
Chow much will it be? Well, I'll turn
you off a four liner, while you wait, for fifty
cents"
These terms proving satisfactory, the visit
or took chair, while Mr.. Brains turned to
the table and at once set himself to work on
the acrostic.
"Shall I make it tender?" he asked.
"Tolerably so,'' replied the customer.
By actual timing, the poet occupied just
six minutes in the production of the acrostic.
Then be threw down his pen and submitted
tbs work to his visitor. The virtues of thu
supposititious Mary were thus embalmed:
TO MARY.
May all Thy days as spctless be
As was this page, ere marred by me
Rose-tinted by thy future CLEANS
Yet roster still the present seem.
"Do you find work enough in this line to
make living?" inquired the reporter, when
he had expressed his satisfaction with the
stanzs, and paid the half dollar therefor.
"WeIl, yes,' was the cheerful response,
81 manage to live along, after fashion.
The worst thing about it is that my income
is extremely uncertain. Sometimes l don't
get five dollars worth of orders in month.
And then, again, have turned out twenty
dollars worth of work in day. Averaging
the year round, I suppose earn eighteen OF
twenty dollars week. That, however, in
cludes an occasional lucky sale to the maya
zines and story papers. In order work
that is, jobs which are done under contract
Il make my rates, as rule, considerably
lower than 1 get for pieces sold for publica-
ton. I can afford to do this, because, you
know, the chances of having an article re-
jected by an editor are always larger than the
chance of having it accepted. Job work, on
the contrary, is sure pay, although small"
"But where do these orders come from? %
ooh, from all sorts of people. keep a
standing advertisement. like the one you cut
out, in three or four of the dramatic and
Sunday papers. These bring NE good
many orders from variety performers for
new songs and sketches. Occasionally, too,
some variety actor, who is ambitious to be-
como star, calls on me to write him play
adapted to his special line. You know that
is the way Emmett, Gus. Williams, Rich
mond, Harrigan and Hart, Den. Thompson
and number of others have come to the
front. Then there are the words of cheap
burlesques, for which there is a fall demand,
and which adapt to some we'll known airs.
Then, again, song writing affords a fair
field, and I have done good many pieces
for Tony Pastor and other popular singers.
But don't count the theatrical custom my
best, by any means. A sketch for variety
hall use takes two or three days, usually, to
put together, and if get 500 for it I am
lucky. A full fedged drama might return
bonanza comes when 1 strike bobbin."
"And what is bobbin?''
"Well, it is name of my own, which
have give TO certain class of my customers
I call them bobbins because the thread oil
their vanity is SO long that it will keep I'm.
winding indefinitely. And for me it Otter
turns out golden thread. Here, for exam
pie, is speech that have just fpished for 6
highly respectable old gentleman to deliver
at society dinner next week. He is one OF
the very best bobbins ever found. have
been writing speeches for him now, on and
off, five years. He ia rich, has retired from
business, and has developed great taste fol
after dinner oratory. don't believe he could
speak dozen words himself without COM
hitting some ridiculous blunder. But have
foated him along, until now he really enjoyz
the reputation of being always prepared with
a neat speech. I charge him good round
price, but he pays it cheeriully. Then have
another bobbin in the person of q young
man, who lives on Fifth avenue,
and who drives down here
frequently in his own coupe. He
is mild, inoffensive young chap, who, with
fortune of $3.50, 1000, wants to be considered
poet. He never strung together rhyme
in his life, and yet within the past two years
he has read, at various up town gatherings,
not less than half dozen occasional poems.
Of course they are supposed to be original,
and l assure you that some of them are ex-
tremely original. I charge him anywhere
from SIS to SIS, according to length. 1t is
one of the conditions of all work done in
this way that the person who buys anything
from me shall have the right to lay claim to
its authorship. Perhaps you will recall the
mental album, SO called, which made its ap-
pearance few years ago. There were q
number Of printed questions, the answers to
which we're supposed to indicate the tastes
and character of the person writing them.
Well, did thriving business with these
albums. Young clerks and bookkeepers and
school girls applied to me, usually,
by letter, to write the answers
for them. 1 charged 80 cents
for each character which thus delineated.
That vas cheap enough, certainly, even if
the characters were not very good. One day
very young man, with weak eyes, entered
my room in a state of towering rage. He
told me his name, and said that he had
mailed me half dollar, the week before,
for set of answers to the mental album
questions. 'Welf,' ssid I, didn't they turn
out satisfactorily Satisfactory he shouted
'They caused me to make an ass IF myself,
sir, and you, sir, are responsible Thought
nature was more directly responsible than l.,