, 1884-08-22
MODERN LITERATURE.
s~elf-seeking Writers ana Advertising
Tricks
Dead Beats who Pose In Literary
Cause.-The Revolution or1sifer-
ature Coming from the
NewspaPers.


l"Gath' iii Boston Globe.
The dry goods trade has had its shock, like
many branches of business, and this time
Arnold d Constable furnish the item Of con
versation. They have the chief retail store
in this city, and it may be in this country.
Since the obscuration OF A. T. Stewart, Ar
nolds house has been the chief resort Of very
particular buyers, those who want a good ar
ticle and do not like to patronize the Noah's-
ark stores like Stems and Altman's. 1t
would appear that Arnold's troubles have
arisen from the prevailing passion for for
eign buyers and counsellors. Some time ago
n young man formerly connected with
the daily press came TO me 10 put
together some matter for him concerning
a new railroad. He Informed me that he was
to be one OF the associates in a new magazine
and, in n mysterious way, he intimated
that the magazine was owned by the chief
spirit, or one OF the chief spirits, in the house
OF Arnold, Constable g. Co. l paid no atten-
ton to this subject, but thought it queer that
a dry-goods merchant should be dRbbling in
a magazine. 1 put more reliance ON the
young man himself, who was a fellow-crafts-
man, and on that account chiefly prepared
the articles for him At the time they we're
70 be ready he appeared, and said he would
have to throw himself on my generosity, that
the railroad in question would not buy n
large edition of the magazine, and that there
fore he did not like 10 have this item appear
on his account.
1t had been a good while since any such
tricks as this was played on me, but reflect
ing that, perhaps, the young man had Il
hard tnsicmaster somewhere, l suggested to
him that magazines ought TO be run on their
own merits and not on railroad support. He
said that all the magazines took income in
that way. l let the matter pass, but, pick
ing up the newspaper this week, l find that
the party In question who backed
the magazine has made over his property to
Arnold & Constable. People may sometimes
think that literature and the press ought to
be in different hands from now, but it
seems to me that nothing could wear down
our serial literature and journalism
more than its connection on the one
and with wealth, and on the other with pre-
~tentious society. Tricks in literature are
always contemplate, because an honest liter
AZURE has less motive than any other pursuit
to solicit patronage of any kind. Therefore,
when you find literary men eating more din
ners than they produce books, appearing In
public places likely to advertise their wares,
and uniting the Snowman and the snob with
the upright literary artisan, you may Know
that such success involves a long ,e les of
imitators, and In a measure shuts out real
and indi ynant worth from its due rswards.
The recent publication of a book called
"rhe Bread Winners" Is severely commented
on here by the booksellers as a moderately
successful trick, entirely beneath a conscien-
tious business heard Mr.. Francis, a mem
Der Of the Union league, who deals In rare
books, saying to another person in his store
that he regarded the entire management Of
the book called @The Bread Winners Us un-
.---4I~ - d. ~..l1srlg.-k a~f,.-, aIUA- --.4.
'The Broad Winners " was industriously cir
culated, and even the telegraph-wires worked
to keep the excitement up. OF course,
many people bought the book upon
such advertising, as they would buy a patent
medicine they did not want. 1 made an
effort TO read this book, but failed to catch
hold well, and the opinion | a heard
about it from several people is that it begins
pretty well and soon peters out, and by the
time tho conclusion is reached nobody cares
who wrote it. l observe when l occasionally
go out to dine, for which 1 nave no time,
that there is n regular class Of professional
literary diners in this town, generally men
who have achieved next to nothing and
some Of whom are systematic back
biters and dead-beats imposing upon their
entertainers in the guise OF literary men. 1t
Is an entire mistake to suppose thai because
n AAAnAA &aA AR41' - ~ "a q 10Ra AAALb LIZ
therefore belongs to Tom, Dick and Harry,
to be served up at the table with the
partridge and the goose.
Opening my mail to-day l find u letter
from some party unknown to me in the west,
saying that he is at present engaged in col
lecting materials for an interesting book
on the methods OF authors. He thereupon in
a printed circular proceeds to ask me my
methods, If l prefer daytime or night; If l
drink anything, such as coffee. If 1 have
any particular habit, how many hours a day
I work. etc. Ny reply to this is that 1t IS
none of the mans business, and he Is an i'm
pertinent puppy. The operations of old
Rogers, the English poet, created as much
contempt among his independent contempo-
raries. He was a banker who, by means
OF his dinners and his bills Of exchange,
treated a literary set and had his poems
puffed. For a few years after he died this
kind Of fame had a little echo in the CYCLIC
pedias, but see that within the past twenty
years the mans poetry is rated very near his
methods. Any person familiar with the
course of events just now can see that out Of
the newspaper press is coming the revolution
OF literature. A man cannot create char
acters unless he has seen them, and there is
no place 10 see them like the open-air work
upon a newspaper. Norman can be an author
by serving a short apprenticeship on the
press After many years of varied occupa-
ton the strange aggregate of human nature
takes in the Observers mind, philosophy and
channel, and he Is able to sift from the
mighty mass tie materials which Illustrate
his times.
The editorial offices OF newspapers gener-
ally encourage a sameness Of view and mar
row ~predjudices, which finally take the place
OF the man who originally sat at the desk.
Half these fantastic freaks in our politics
emanate from men who remind me Of the
eyeless fish in the Mammoth cave, who,
having been shut up so many years In the
darkness, found no use for their eyes, and
hence became blind without knowing it.
Such is the mere editorial writer who never
wnnders into the larger world and receives
the sunlight as II makes Its thousand impress
sions. Taking his desk every day, hil eyes
20 out. and he only works his fins, There Is
an article written, but the light of the sun
never shown upon it There Is a more OF
less reasoning expression Of opinion, but the
ontgida world has altered