Iron County register., 1888-01-12
THE HooslER POET.
HOW James Whitcomb Riley Forced Him.
self Into Public Notice.

How James Whitcomb Riley Forced Him.
self Into Public Notice.
The applause which followed the ap-
pearance of James Whitcomb Riley,
the Indiana poet, at the recent con-
SEention of authors in New York has
naturally attracted attention to him
and has lent additional interest to his
early life and to q career which, while
attended by many vicissitudes. always
had, like Riley himself. its comic side
and distinguished him from those with
whom he associated. Riley is native
OF Hancock County, this State. and is
now about thirty-five years of age. His
early education was limited, not be-
cause his father was wanting either in
the means or the desire to give him a
classical education, but because the
son preferred a pursuit less dry than
poring over books and wading through
the declensions and oonjugatio ms of
Greek and Latin nouns and verbs. Be-
fore his school days were completed
young Riley abandoned his books
and took up the trade of sign paint
er. and soon began travelling from
place to place, apparently contented
If his day work brought him money
enough 10 pay for the nights lodging
Even his signs partook of his comic
nature. and both the grotesque letters
and the peculiar expressions were en-
tirely original, and served to attract
attention TO him and his work
Nature gave to Ri ley q peculiar
pair of eyes, and they often served
him in his summer tramps over the
country as a painter. 81 would fire.
quently enter a town as blind sign
writer and solicit work while being
guided from house to house by
boy, and when his ability to do the
work was question he demanded
trial Running his hand over the sur
face as if to take the dimensions, the
'-blind sign-writer' would hurriedly,
and apparently without effort. write
the sign while the people would
gather around him ana express the
greatest as;onishment at the accura-
cy of the work. On one of these
summer tramps Riley fell in with
Vender of patent medicine, and
for a time the two travelled tog ether,
Riley amusing the crowd with his
banjo and comic songs and sayings as
'the medicine man" extoled the Writ
ues of his wonderful atholicon and
sold it to the people. AS sing
painter, Riley became perfectly
familiar with the language of the
street, the ignorant and the unsophis-
ticated. and thus laid the foundation
of his future success as writer of
dialect prose and poetry.
Riley's first productions appeared in
print between 1875 and 1876, but they
attracted little atte ntion because their
publication was Ii mited to the country
press, the author not being able to
reach the public through the periodi-
Gals of larger circulation and more
cultured readers. Believing that his
writings possessed merit and were re-
jected by the publishers of periodicals
simply because the author vas without
name among writer's, Riley hit upon
plan to bring himself into public
notice and to prove that his produc-
tions were not with out merit, even if
the writer was without fame. With
the consent of the editor of the
Kokomo Dispatch. he published a short
poem which was an excellent imitation
of Edgar A. Poe's style, Introducing it
with the statement that the poem had
been found written on the blank leaf
Of a book once belonging to Poe, and
found by relative of he deceased
poet who moved to this State from the
East many years ago. The poem
and the accompanying statement
of the discovery were repro
duced by many papers and heated
discussi on was the result, some insist
ing that the poem was unquestionably
the work of Poe an d others that, while
strikingly simila r, 1t was wanting in
some of the es sentials that distin-
guished Poe from all other writer's.
Finally one of P oe's publishers sent
for the book in w hich the poem was
alleged to have be en- written, and the
truth came out
Though Riley was severely criticised.
the encomiums which the poem re-
ceived from tho Sc who really believed
that it was the production of Edgar A.
Poe, conv inced him that he himself
was lacking more in name than in
merit as writer, and he soon after
secured employment on the Journal.
of this city. at a moderate salary. and
while thus engaged wrote the most of
his dialect verse. Within the past few
years he has contributed q number
of pieces for Eastern periodical Is. and
has published book of selections. in
which, however. the piece in imitation
of Poe's style does not appear r--Indt-
Gndpolis Cor N Y Tribune.
BOARDlNG-HOUSE BEATS
Tricks Resorted to by Men and Women