Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1888-01-27
THE HOOSIER POET.
How Riley Forced Himself Into Mo-
tice and Worked tho IndiRnians as
Blind Sign Painter.

tfce and worked tho IndiRufaus "a.
Blind Sign Painter.
The applause which followed the
appearance Of James Whitcomb Riley,
the Indiana poet. says an IDdianapol 4
correspondent in the Nea0 York
World. at the recent convention
of authors I'm New York has nat
urally attracted attention to him and
has lent add onal interest to his early
life and 10 career which. when at
tended by manV vicissitudes always
had Ike Riley himself. It's com O side
aud distinguished him from those with
whom he associated. Riley is native
OF Hancock county, this state. and is
now about 80 years of age. His early
education was limited. not because his
father was wanting either ia the means
or the desire to 2 We him classical edu-
cation. but because the son preferred a
pursu tlcss dry course rather than por-
ing over books and wading over through
the declensions and conjugations of
Greek and Latin nouns and verbs.
Bcfors his school days were completed
the young Riley abandoned his books
and took up the trade Of a sign pa inter-,
and soon began travelling from place
TO place. apparently contended of his
day S work brought him money enough
TO pay for tho nights lodging. Even
his signs partook of his comic nature,
and both the grotesque letters and the
pecul ar expressions were entirely or
gina. and served to attrack attention
10 him and his work.
Nature gave to r ley peculiar pair
OF eyes, and they often served him in
his summer tramps over the country
as painter. He would frequently
enter Il town as blind "a writer,
and solicit work while being "a dcd
from house TO house by boy. and
when h 5 ability 10 do the work was
questioned he asked a trial. Running
his hand over the surface aS # To take
the q mansions, the blind slgn WI ter
would hurriedls and apparently with
ont effort. write the sign. while the
people would gather around him and
express the greatest establishment at
the accuracy of the work. On one of
these summer tramps Riley fell in with
vender of patent medicine, and for
time the two Travelled together, Riley
amusing the crowd with his banjo and
comic songs and sayings as medicine
man extolled the virtues OF his Won
dcrful catho con and sold it 70 the
people. As sign painter, r ley be-
came perfectly familiar with The lang
guage of the street, the ignorant and
the unsophisticatcd. and thus laid the
foundation of his future and poetry.
Riley's first production appeared in
print between 1875 and 1876 bat they
attracted little atteut on because their
public cation was limited to the country
press, the author not being able 10
reach the public through the periodicals
of larger circulation and more cultured
readers. Believing that his writing
possessed merit, and were rejected by
the publishers Of periodicals simply
among writer's. Riley hi upon plan
to bring himself into public notice. and
TO prove that his productions were not
without merit, even if the writer was
without fame. With the consent Of the
editor Of the Kokomo Dispatch. he
published an excellent poem which
was an excellent i'm tation of Edgar \.
Poe's style, introducing it with the
statement that the poem had been
found written on the blank leaf of
book once belong ng to Poe. and found
By relative of the deceased poet who
moved to this state from the East many
years ago. The poem and the accom-
panying statement of its discovery
were reproduced by many papers. and
heated discussion was the result,
some insisting that the poem was un-
QUESTIONABLE tho work OF Poe. aud
others that, while striking similar, il
was wanting in some of the essentials
that distinguished Poe from all other
writer's. Finally one of Poe's publish
ers sent for the book in which the poem
was alleged to have been written, and
the truth came out.
Though Riley was severely or .ticiaed.
the encomiums which the poem rccev.
ed from those who really believed that
it was the production of Edgar a. Poe
convinced him that he II mself was
lacking more in name than in merit as
writer, and lie soon after secured
employ ment on the Journal Of this
city. at moderate salary, and, while
thus engaged, wrote the most Of his
dialect verse. w thin the last fcN
years he has contributed a number OF
pieces for Eastern periodicals. and has
published book of selections in
which, however. the piece in mitat on
of Poe's style does not appear.