The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-01-03
A CHAT WITH HI. III.
OF a Woman Who Needs No Clutches on the
Road of Literary Fame.

OF Woman Who Needs No Clutches ON the
Road of Literary Fame.
Los Angeles Letter In Pioneer Press.
Among the notabiiities who are passing the
winter here is Helen Hunt jackson, and she
lives but q stones throw away. more than once
have chatted with her she takes her daily
sun BATH She is patiently waiting for this genial
California sunshine to restore to its original
health her ankle bone which was shattered by
fall down the full length of staircase at her
home in Colorado Springs. II shall never feel
sure of myself again, Mrs jackson remarked, as
she laid aside her crutches and sank back into
chair; my only wonder is, since | have learned
we are so brittle, that we don't break all to
pieces"
H. H. is as little known to the general public
as 1T is possible for distinguished writer to be.
She is woman possibly in the ffties of medium
height and rather stout build, with pretty. wavy
gray hair framing countenance noticeable for
Its mobility of features-the gray eyes being
bright, keen and nervous, the complexion rather
vivid, while the nose is small and refined,
slightly dropping at the tip This last feature is
something OF joke among her friends, from its
known senstiveness to the faintest unpleasant
oGor and her consequent nervousness over all
things smellable. This nervousness, in fact, IS
not confined to odors alone, but extends to al
most every exercise of the senses. A thrummed
piano. creaklng door, an uneasy carriage,
chilly room, an observed dinner, will convert
day of comfort into one of utter misery One so
have no patience at all with any standard short
or the highest is necessarily a woman OF high
strung nerves, as both her manners and her con-
versation only too plainly indicate.
There was one subject touched upon by Mrs.
jackson which caused her eyes to brighten and
her cheeks to glow in a way that showed how
enthusiastic she can become what she con
sders true excellence. The subject was Edith
Thomas whose contributions TO the Atlantic
and the Century have attracted such wide at
tention.
when was in New York, at the Brevoort
House, some three years ago. she began, Il was
spoken to by friend about a poetical young
woman by the name of Edta Thomas and asked
to take an interest in her. Now / had been
bothered to death by these aspiring daughters of
rhyme. and l didn't want to see her, and | said
so. Imagine then, my disgust when, the next
morning, as was feeling particularly out OF
Sorts the day being the personifcation of damp
ness and gloom, the waiter brought me up Miss
Thomass card Miss Thomas came up--a tall,
lank, forlorn- looking young woman, with adrab-
bled waterproof clinging MOSTLY about her and
an unwieldy scrap book under her arm My
heart sank within She was very diffident,
but finally said that she lived in Geneva, O., and
had written for some time for the Geneva Her
aid and Cleveland Plaindealer but now sought
wider field. Oh, how writhe," continued Mrs.
jackson. casping and unclasping her hands and
frowning prodigously. when think of how /
| talked to that GIRL how told her it was better
to be at the head of the intellectual life of her
world, and patronzed and discouraged her to
the tuil extent of my powers"
The upshot of it all that Miss Thomas
went away, leaving the scrap-book behind her,
to stand for hours as horror which Mrs Jack
son must face. She eyed the book, she dreaded
it. she shrank from it as from hideous dream,
until at last her husband advised her to send it
back unread No. she was too conscientious for
that; So finally she savagely opened it, and the
first thing her eyes fell upon was sonnet en-
TITLED Frost" and the first lines of the sonnet
We're these:
How sharp tooth hath mined the seasons heart
How cold touch hath turned the woods to fire!
Great heavens!" she cried Mr.. Jackson
jumped up and inquired what was the matter
For reply his wife slowly repeated the lines
DO you hear that?' she asked They are
Shakspearian." Then she read on. gong
from one gem to another, and before sleepi ng
that night had read every line in the book, from
cover to cover. The next morning she teie-
graphed for Miss Thomas, and apologized heart.
lily for her conduct of the day before. Mrs.
jackson at once obtained for the young woman
the open sesame" to the magazines.
En- PEASANT she thinks Mr.. Howells is selling
himself to mammon-that his work degenerates
as rapidly as his income increases while w. Fl.
Bishop she considers a most slovenly workman,
whose admission into the leading magazines is
either a blunder or a joke.