The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-05-10
SOME NEW YORK NOTES
SCRAPS OF INFORMATION NOT FOUND
ON THE SURFACE.
INDECENT Writers and Trustfu1 LandIadies.
The Sembiance of Success-How IL
Creates Success-Ladies Going Out
at Night without Escorts.
ESPECIAL Correspondence

Especial Correspondence
NEW YORK, May 7, 1885 There is nothing
about which the majority OF men ana women
are so ignorant as the financial ability and
possibility of writer's. The habit of most
persons who know nothing of the writing fra
ternity beyond the extravagant stories Of the
sudden rise into fame and fortune of some of
them which float about in the newspapers, is
to either exaggerate their insignifcance or
their possible Importance.
They don't know that there are degrees of
ability among the pen and ink fraternity.
To most mediocre minds writer is a crea-
ture with any amount of enviable fortune
stored up for him in the future, no matter
whether he is collector Of Bowery news or
incipient Carlyle. They foolishly fancy
that he has only to sit down and write some
thing to enable him to jump at once from
perjury into plenty. This opinion they are
fond of disseminating. 1t sounds as though
they were posted on literary matters, and
they think they are. They have acquired
these extraordinary errors of judgment from
two sources: the boasts of the writing liars
of whom there is always rich abundance
and the newspaper stories of INDECENT writers
who made hits and fortunes at one and the
same time.
Trusting proprietors of boarding houses
have been swindled again and again by over
hopeful members of the writing fraternity,
and still they have not ceased to look for the
unfedged genius who is one day to become
rich and famous They trust the people of
the pen oftener than any other. and proba-
bly, weep that trust oftener than in other
cases. Still they believe in them.
To the uninitiated there is a fascination in
knowing writers; not that they find them so
very interesting, but they like to brag about
knowing them. 1t sounds intellectual, and
unintellectual people are very fond of touch
ing elbows with those they believe to be
brainy. Many a good-hearted landlady
toasts and coddles some worthless little
swindler who writes, or pretends to write
albeit on the lowest plane of letters She
knows nothing about the grades Of the pro-
fession-couldn't tell Shakespeare from the
humblest penny-a-liner-but she has heard
certain other landladies tell of experiences
with INDECENT but talented scribblers who
rose TO fame, and she always envied them
the distinction of having entertained literary
angels unawares. She tries her best TO do the
same thing, and likely enough loses money
and confidence in human nature by the
operation. Here in New York, where vio-
lent contrasts and sudden tits into fortune
are the rule rather than the exception, til ,
impoverished writer often fares sumptuously
on no other capital than the presumption
that he will do something extraordinary in
the future. Indeed, the poorer he is the bet
ter his chances are of getting trust from this
class of genius worshipers They fancy that
the deeper the poverty the greater the genius.
So firmly grounded are they i'm their
opinion that the respectable writer, who pays
his modest way, wears preSentable clothes
and does no Dragging, is likely to receive
very meager consideration at their hands.
They consider him patient plodder, with no
prospects beyond the commonplace-one
whose acquaintance will be no benefit to
them at all. because. in their opinion. Des
tiny has not marked him for her own. III
lutely pcnniless. No, they believe only in
the extremely poor. In the stories and plays
the geniuses are always disgracefully impov--
erished just before they become enviably
opulent. SO these misguided souls expect
success to be concealed in n perfectly empty
pocket and not mfrequently get swindled
for their faith,