The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1882-08-26
DICKENS AnANUUGale.
An Interesting Talk with the Man
Who Used to Write for Charles
OiCkonD,

You were IN amenuensis ol
Charles Dickens, were you not ~
"Yes; ! did shorthand work fol-
Mr.. Dickens for eighteen months. j
did not take dictattons for any one OF
his novels-only his fugitive pieces.
He dictated to me most Of his articles
In "All the Year Round" He was
. very clever man to those under him.
He always trvattd me very well In
deed. Most people seem to think
Dickens was = ready writer. This
was by no means tn: case. He used
to come into his olIlce in st. Cathe-
rine street about eight o'clock in the
morning and I@gin debating. He
would walk W and down the 00er
several tines after debating . sen-
tencc or . paragraph. and ask me to
read It. would 10 90, and he would,
in nine cases out Of ten, order me to
strike out certain words and insert
others. He Was generally tired Out
at eleven o'clock and went down to
his club on the Strand. A very sim
gular thing was that he never die
tated the closing paragraphs Of his
story. He always finished II himself.
I used 70 look in the paper for It, aud
llnd that he had changed 1t very great
" from what he had dictated to me.
dickens had . very odd habit Of
combing his hair. lie would comb
it q hundred times In . day. He
seemed never to tire Of It. The first
thing he did ON coming into the office
vas to comb his hair. have seen
him dictate . sentence or two, and
then begin cOmbing. When he got
through he dictated another sentence.
He was very careful about his writ
ings. He wanted every sentence to
be ~ perfect as possible before letting
It 70 to press.
iDickens was an odd fellow regard
ing the company he sought. I have
known him, while I was employed
by him, to 20 down 10 the Seven Dials,
about the worst place In London, and
sleep and eat there. He roasted his
herring where the rest did and slept
with the poorest. He loved low so
ciety. He never seemed 90 happy ~
when seated In q poor coffee house,
with q crowd of the lower classes
talking around him. He never missed
\ word that WIS said, and was the
closet observer I ever &aw. Nothing
eocaped him. When / was working
for him he was at the 1enith Of his
fame. lust before his death and even
then he loved these careless, roliick-
ing rounds among the poor better
than q higl,-tonetl dinner"
"Was he % great q drinker as he
has the reputation Of being?"
II never saw him drunk myself. /
have seen him several times exhila-
rated. however. He only drank the
best OF wine, but he drank. that very
freely. Sherry was his especial favor.
ite, and he never. refas0d glass Of
flna oll sherry. He was.an 1nsAtia-
Ole cigarette smoker, ad6 1ntT dlc.
tating to me always had cigarette
in his mouth. He was very spruce
man. too. He brushed his coat fire.
oucntly. and changed his collars sev.
ernl times in q day. He was every
bit as humorous In his speech 10 In
his writings. When he was In a pc.
culiarly fine hunlor, he could keep
YOU laughing by the hour with his
witty talk. He was not one Of those
men who are above those they em-
ploy: he chatted as freely with me rs
with any meml'er Of the club on the
Strand. Dickens was undoubtedly
the best after-tliuner speaker in Eng
land. heard him ut Whitehall once,
the OCCASION leing the anniversary Of
the British Museum. There was an
enormous crowd. hardly standing
room and he kept them In ono con.
tiuual r,ar. lie was a fine actor, and
this, added to his wit, made him ire.
yistably funny. lie was a great cater;
not an cpicurc, but n gOrIland. He
ate, and ate, and ate, and cared little
for the quality, 40 there was enough
before him. ."-L0Mis, iilc Commercial.