Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-07-25

years Old, and has written novel for ever,
year Of her life All of her work is taken 10y
Robert Bonner, OF The Ledger, and She ha
not Furnished page II manuscript to any
other publisher for years 1t is said thai
Bonner pays her $lO,unDa year for everything
that she writes, but ! have 10 bass for thi
statement eNcpt rumor. There Is no doub
but that she is well paid, and the cottaS,
which she owns here ON the Georgetown
Heights. though II lacks paint, i covered
with vines and II makes very pleasant home
Ii commands a view of the Potomac, Airing
ton and the Virginia hills, and a cool wind
from the south blows through il day and
night Mrs SOuthwOrth began her wrItLIg
at Washington. and her first story was pub
llShed III The National Era. She writes the
/ same character of stories to-day that she did
then. They are full of blood and thunder
and of love and longing She turns them out
aS though she were machine, and is not de-
pendent at all upon her moods. She grinds
out everything with her own hands, writing
b"ldly with large gold pen She reviSes her
proofs herself, and often works far into the
night She writes generally from Tuesday
until Thurs lay night and spends Friday and
Saturday in visiting, while Oh Monllay she
revises her proofs. She is a close reader Of
the newspapers, and, like Charles Readc. She
takes a great many of her stories FROM lh9
facts she finds in them
Another woman writer of Washington Is
Mrs. Admiral Dahlgren, who owns one OF the
best houses of the capital city. She lives Just
across from Gen. Bob Schenck, our former
minister to England, and little i'll front Of
the house Of Senator Conger, of Michigan
Il. a.
tain, her country home, near mere, giving Il
collection Of weird stories and legends of the
romantic region III which it is located Mrs
Dahlgren is the widow Of Admiral pahlgren
She is an Ohio girl and her father was,
think, "A member Of congress. She is posted
OH society matters, and is an authority on
Washington etiquette, about which She has
written a bonE
One Uf the queerest literary characters Of
Washington is joaquin Miller. who owns
log cabin on one of the hills above the city
Mr.. Miller CultvatcS the wild ecrtntriciticS OF
western life, and have thought ut times that
he affects a good many Of these for the ad-
vertiSemeut it gives him He goes about
Washington in a slouch hat, with his panta-
looms III his boots and his long red hair flow
ing down upon his bTaWny shoulders. As YOU
talk tn him n dreamy. far-uff look will come
into his eyes. and he viii make the most out
IandlSh statements, sIiCed with poetry. in re
gard 10 matters In the conversation. lie used
to gallop about Washington on horseback.
soaring the children, in the costume Of a west
ern cowboy. and a part Of his attire was q
pair Of pantalOOnS made Of the furred skin of
the AnEora goat. He had silver pommeI TO
his saddle as hig as a soap dish and his stir
rups wer' rs hig rs a half peel; measure Mil
Ter has received a good deal Of money from
his writing. but he spends n great deal, and |
doubt whether he owns much more than the
little pr0l-rty that he has here The interior Of
his cabin here is rs queer the outside The
walls are maGe of wood logs and chinked
with plaster, and Mr.. Miller keeps his papers
by tackImg them 10 the walls with Iins He
has "A couch under the window, and there is a
bed covered with skins behind IortiCre
made of rich oriental cloths Joaquin writes
on a pine table, which probably cost about
81, and the unpainted poplar chair he sits
upon could lie bought anywhere for fifty
cents. There is no cloth upon the table. and
a plain lnkstand and a steel pen are his only |
materials. He has no system in his writing,
and can only write when the humor s,.izes
him His penmanship is harder to read than .
the hieruglypmiCS Of the ol,cliskS, and he can
not write at all if there is any other person /
present than himself He once told me that
the presence of "A child constrained his hand. /.
and that he has found himself POSING before 1
every girl he talked To. Il must be alone " !
be said, to do good work. and cannot die /
tate satisfactorily" Joaquin Miller began
writing by sending letters to a weekly news .
paper in Oregon. The first pay he got for .
literary work was so for a magazine article .
to The Overland Monthly, and he considers .
his best work the novel he wrote, called Ono /
Fair Woman"
One queer thing about Miller is that he .
never allows telegram boys TO deliver mes
Sages to him at his cabin, snI he frightened
one nearly to death not long ago by threaten
me 10 shoot If he came inside the gate
Mr.. AinswOrth Spotford, the Librarian Of
congress, is "a book maker as well as a book
ender He Is dark faced man with q frame
made of wire and filled with activity Be
.ween 80 and 60 years of age he does more
work than any young man OF - in Wash!a.--
on, and he never wastes an idle moment he
Understands how to make other men woTs
or him, and he can dictate as smoothly as be
writes. He has a brusque way of talking
rom the start, and be allows no one from
Messenger 10 senator TO consume his valuable
ime foolishIy. He is always ready, however,
o give information, and that little dark head
f his seems 10 have packed away in its cells
he whole contents Of the congressional IL
rRry. Tell him what YOU want 10 know OF
subject He will put his finger upon an
lectlic bell, give word to one of his assist
nts, and in moment you have before YOU
be very material you want. Mr. SpoffOrd
WIS very pleasant home on Massachusetts
venue In the most fashionable part Of Wash
lgton. 1t is wide, red brick and is worth
should say at least Sl5,On. He rides TO this
very evening in the red Herdic He always
arries green bag with him out Of which he
Ills book as soon as he enters and reads ali
c way to and from the Capitol. Mr. Spot
rd's work shop, however, is III the COnGres-
nal libra y. His little alcOve behind the
Drarian's desk is always filled with books |
ID pap" :, arranged in the most systematic
der, aid Mr.. Spotford generally has an as {
,tant by his side whom he Is using as a
achine TO carry On the labor upon which his q
ind Is engaged. ,
Mr.. SpOfford and George Bancroft are I
eat friends and they take regular horse t
ck rides into the country together. Every :
Inday afternoon you may see them trotting 1
L Of Washington ut good round pace, and '
is hours before they return. a
Speaking of Bancroft, he is still worker, |
ID at 81 he grinds away as many hours v
lily as he did when he WAS secretary Of Il
{ navy under President Polk He sleeps in v