Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1888-12-08
HARRIET ssecHER STOWE.
T.,e Famous xuthor of ''Uncle Toms
cabin" Possessed of singular


The Fam ous Nuthor OF O"Oio ~
cabin" Possessed OF singular
Delusions.
Harriet BeeclIer Stoves health has
become alarmingly bad. and this &C.
cline is accompanied b. mental eccen-
tricitv. Always original and charac-
terisiie, she has now become so peeui'
iar that her relat yes deem it best to
keep her in retirement for a while
That she will recover from her physical
illness is not deemed likely. but an
immediate dem SO is not looked for.
and her physician says that her malad'
is not necessarily fatal The decrepi'
tude of old age has come upon her.
She is almost rs years old. Until few
years ago she retained her mental
power to a surpris ng degree. but lat
terly it has declined. and now shc is
little like her former self.
An overestimate OF her famous book,
Uncle Tom Cabin" has grown upon
her until it is q hallnc nation. Her
story was so great a success. and it
WAS so potent pol tically. that it would
have been affectatiOn in her to conceal
her pride in it. The constant and
quito extensive sale that tho book still
enjoys could not but convince her that
its hold upon tho regard of her coun-
tr, men was not much relaxed. Besides,
although she mover witnessed per-
Torrance of a dramatic version OF
'Unole TOMS Cabin" she was made
aware by the newspapers that she fire.
quently saw as she went about that the
characters of her creation still had
moving qualities with the people. 1t
is only Iatterly that her ideas on the
subject have become irrational.
At present she is undoubtedly poss-
essed by delusions. She thinks that
Uncle Toms Cabin" was as much
a divinely inspired work as the Bible
that she was merely a medium
through which God expressed his con-
domination of human slavery. There
is modesty and not Standardization in
The old lady's theory on that point.
She argues that. unaided. she would
have been quite incapable of writing
the story. In support of this asser-
ton she cites the fact that although
she turned out other books they made
nothing like the same success. Indeed.
she will often challenge visitor to re-
call even by name any other work
of hers than Uncle Toms Cabin. "
So strenuous did she at length become
in this matter that strangers and oven
acquaintance took umbrage ut it. and
at length the family strove to protect
her from all intrusions. Tourists who
went through Hartford were in the
habit of stopping over for the express
purpose of seeing Der. That had to be
stopped as early as last fall. and since
then she has been MI but inaccessible
except to her intimates.
Mrs. Stowe has estate enough to
support her comfortably. Had she
foreseen the enormous popularity OF
her book she might have been the
richest of American authors; but she
sold the copyright for a price that
yielded to her only very small per-
centage of the profits. Nor did she
have the forethought TO reserve the
right of dramatization, as is done now
with all novels. and therefore the pro
tracted use of her story on the stage
has never brought her cent. Two
years ago the project of biography
by Mrs. Stowe was conceived by Mark
Twa Il. who has made q great fortune
out of books sold through subscription
agencies. He believed that g vol.
ume of Mrs. Stoves recollect ons
would find an extensive sale. The en-
terpr Sc progressed so far as the con-
tract under which Mrs. Stowe began
to work, but her pen had lost its Gun.
ming. and the little she wrote proved
unsuitable for the purpose. A recent
modification OF the plan contemplated
the composition of the book by some
body else, under Mrs. Stoves superv-
sion. and TO be issued as authenticated
by her. But she has failed so rapidly
and completely that she can do nothing
whatever in the matter, and it was moi
in shape to proceed without a certain
amount of her attention. Therefore
the proposed book cannot be made. -
New Orleans Picayune.