The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1885-08-14
1885. WHOLE NO. $40.
MRS. PARTINGTON."
A VISIT TO p. 8. SHlLLABER At HIS
HOME IN CHELSEA
boston Cor New York Tribune !

Boston Cor. New York Tribune.l
Mr.. Shillaber is over 70, and IL not a giant
physically he Il a good man. weighing 300
pounds. But with all his mental machinery
in running order Shillaber Is . cripple. For
thirty years rheumatism has been on terms
Of intimacy with him, and In the autumn Of
"a he completely lost the use Of his lower
limbs Since that time he has not been out
side the apartments which serve as his
chamber and study. Locomotion, save In q
wheeled chair, Is impossible with him He
can neither stand nor walk, but while in
these respects he Is as helpless as q babe, his
general health is sound, his appetite gener-
Gus and his spirits are unclouded. Its hard
for q man of his activity, one who
has for half century been q
busy journalist, to be INJURED up be-
tween four walls and confined to q sort Of
gigantic perambuiator, but Shillaber never
complains He accepts the situation phil
osophically and he tempers his philosophy
with imperturbable good nature. cache
on" he says, apostrophixing his altogether
useless legs u can stand it II you can"
Some Of the funniest Of Mrs Partington's
sayings have been written when he was suf-
fering the most acute pain. He has q way
of laughing of disease. and for days to-
gether will hardly give 1t thought. The
Smind cure" which has assumed such pro-
portions in this vicinity that it is called the
latest @Boston craze" has been broached to
Shillaber, and even tried, but, while he be-
lieves in its general efficacy and points with
satisfaction to the marvellous recovery Of
certain old neighbors, his faith il not dom
inant enough to remove his own disability
Mr.. Shillaber bought the little house in
Chelsea, the sleepiest Of Boston's suburbs.
over thirty years ago. To it he brought his
wife, in it his children were born, and from
it some of them have been carried to
their long rest in the quiet churchyard.
Two years ago his wife died and his children
sndsayored to persuade him TO sell the plaos
and live with them. But the old house has
his allegiance. He loves every room in 1t.
It is full Of tender associations for him. In
IL he has written the lines that have made
his reputation as one Of the leading Ameri
can humorists, and there he has spent the
happiest days Of his life
His study is front room on the second
hoor 1t is as unpretent.ous as its occupant
and, indeed, it has the plain and homely as
pect Of Chelsea itself In a large wheeled
chair, in which he can propel him
self to any part Of the room,
Shillaber sits at his desk through the greater
part of the day. The desk itself is covered
with q truly journalistic litter Of papers
and mems. hooks ink bottles and %. pss. for
tha ,pastsr ~ tba dan ia q fond smnkar and
49, s;,;.. -. =, ths ,.oo,,, is .h.t
tne preVahins Haei " ."e iool ss - :uaS
OF the sootning weed. ABOVE the desk Is
little bookshelf, on which are bestowed
such volumes as Roget's Thesaurus Of Eng
lish Words, Polyglot Bible Noted Names
Of Fiction, and Webster's Unabridged. Old
fashioned enprayings and photographs cover
.ha r,aiIs ani ovsr mnnnmsnial na rlor
us. sne "an a ana IN az, - ~ '.;da.'aaI.a
young imp OF mischief, VINO Is roguishiy
pointing to the letters @IKE," newly carved
on o mahogany table, with q cumbrous
jackknife. This was sent to Shillaber in
4S or ~, soon after Mrs harrington and
her irrepressible son had become famous.
Shillaber only knows that the picture came
from WatervIlle, Me.
Mr.. Shillaber Is the pioneer Of American
newspaper wits. When no started the Mrs
Partington papers he had the field TO him.
self. Then the broad-ax and sledgs- ham,
in the west were things undreamed Of The
funny man" and the paragrapher had not
made their debut In the daily press. Shil-
labsr opened q career for these now indis-
pensabis adJuncts Of Journalism, and his
Partingtonian squib was greeted with laugh
ter throughout tine country and 1t createl a
ington was, in a sense, accidental. Shilla-
ber never premeditated any such result and
his first Partingtonianism was merely q
fieeting fancy. 1t came to the light some
where in 1S47 or 48
Of The Boston Post, and in that capacity on
the very first day. of his service, and In the
very first acopy" he wrote in the
Hub, he penned the words that made
him famous. He had long been delighted
with SYDNEY Smiths description of a
Ms. Partineton yainly mopping back the
Atlantic ocean, and on the day of his en-
trance upon reportorial duties he chronicled
In this fashion rise in breadstufYs, as ad-
yised in the European mail of that morn
ing: SMrs. Partineton saws that the price
of bread may have advanced, but that she
never paws more than SO conts for half a
dollars WORTH This was copied far and
wide In ALI the nevspapers of the country.
Shillaber had written It with no idea Of the
result and only as a bit of padding to fill
out his column. Its reception surprised and
pleased him, and thereafter he wrote
desultory sayings Of the kind upon the
topics Of the day, and presently he kept up
running fire Of them Mrs Partington
was quoted everywhere; the circulation of
Tho Post increased. Col Greene, the pro-
prietor, wrote up from the country. @Who
the i.d deuce &c is Is Mrs Psrtinstonr But But the the
some time.
But Shillabsr's reputation and labor never
brought him riches, Journalists then as
now worked harder and wers paid less than
msn in any other profession. And Mrs.
bs int % ss SouS ssssv; =. from a
was the only local man upon The Post AL
Boston he had to cover with his own eyes
and his own pen, and frequently he was
called to the composing-room to set up copy