The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-06-01
FANNY FERN"
CONVERSATION WITH A BROTHER OF
THE BRILLIANT WRITER.
A Woman with d Great Hesrt-"Fanny"
and the ExtOrtiOnate Landlord
Her Style a Blending of
HumOr and Pathos.


"And so you want to know something
about Fanny Fern from her brothers
lips" said Mr.. Richard Storrs Willis
speaking in that tone of cultured repOse
which is now almost a lost art. . can
tell you this. She was a woman with
great heart. When she was young she
went to school to Catherine Beecher, a
sister of Henry Ward Beecher Many
years after when Miss Beecher was quite
an old lady my sister met her and recalled
her school days. Yes, yes, said Miss
Beecher, i remember you perfectly. You
were the most troublesome scholar | had
and loved you the best.
Mr.. Willis said that Sarah made them
all lively at home with her pranks. and
alluded feelingly to her happy married
life with Mr.. Eldridge. his death and her
subsequent pecuniary losses which made
her pen necessity
at was in 1547 that she began to write,
said Mr.. Willis; "her husband had died
the preceding year. Like the rest of her
good friend in her pen, and as Fanny
Fern achieved both reputation and for
tune. Bonner treated her in a princely
manner. but she also increased the circu-
lation of The Ledger immensely Once
she wrote an article commenting the
manner in which A. T. Stewards
clerks waited upon customers with
lation. Mr.. Stewart was so pleased
that he sent man to The Ledger office to
get the address of Fanny Fern, but it was
denied to him as it was to all Others But
A T. Stewart was not man to be de-
MED. He discovered the writer and sent
her an elegant outfit which was indig-
nantly returned One day when she was
Mrs Parton she was in his store buying a
navy suit for child. Mr.. Stewart had a
habit of walking about the store and
watching sales unknown often to both
clerk and customer; he approached Fanny
Fern and asked Have you a child old
enough to wear navy suitY
The bright woman looked at him and
responded:
Go away, Mr.. Stewart, and mind
your own affairs.
This is my affair, he answered, and
had the suit sent to her address, and posi-
lively forbade any expense incurred, say
ing that be was already deeply in her
debt
"A characteristic story of my sister
Sarah, said Willis, twas the way she
treated grasping LANDLORD = at .ngchmond.
Va, when she and he husband. Mr..
Parton, were staying there for few days.
Fanny had the misfortune to break a
nick out of very ordinary toilet chamber
set and the landlord included the price of
the whole set in the bill When it was
was now hers. The landlord had not
taken that view Of it, but finally acknowl.
edged that it was, since she had paid for it ,
Then l can do what please with my
own, said the indignant and impulsiye
woman, and Selling a poker she went into
the room and broke every piece of the set
10 eternal smash. Her keen sense of JUS
tice was outraged by such contemplate
conduct
Her marriage to James Parton, the his
torian, was a singularly happy one. Mr..
Willis remarked, as suggestive of the
family heritage. that granddaughter of
Fanny Fern is one of the leading editorial
writers on The New York Ledger at the
present time, while the granddaughter of
another member of the family is spark
ling and popular writer on the Boston
journals.
1t may be of interest to refer briefly to
her style of writing 1t was blending
of humor and pathos told in piquant
sentences She ridiculed the foibles of
fashion and society. Like Dickens she
preached a gospel of humanity. Her
articles were terse and struck a popular
vein at once. A quarter column news
paper skid was captiOned "A model
widow. The gist of the whole thing
was in the opening sentence, Of sarcastic
brevity
Would not wear her veil up on any
account; thinks her complexion looks
fairer than ever in contrast with her
sables; sends back her new dress because
the fold of Grape on the skirt is not deep
enough steadfastly refuses to look in the
direction of a dress coat for-one week.
Little Allie, sketch full of the
pathos of motherless child's story, ends
with this transcript from her humanitarian
creed:
Never forget it, Betsey. said he;
harsh words amt for the mOtherless
May God forget me. if He ever hears one
from my lips.
Fanny Fern died at the comparatively
early age of 81. She lies buried in beauti-
full Mount Auburn, the lovely cemetery
which lies adjacent TO Boston. Over her
grave is a white marble cross erected to
her memory by Mr.. Bonner as a token of
his regard for her. 1t is wreathed with
fern leaves, carved from the solid marble.
1t is said of her that in the fourteen years
during which she wrote for The New
York Ledger, that she never once failed to
send in her manuscript promptly on time.
She was paid for one story at the rate OF
800 column.