Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1888-06-16
OUR NEW YORK LETTER.
AS TO DONN PiATT AND His
LIFE WORK.


LIFE WORK.
Judge. Soldier. Journalist and Author.
Freeing Slaves I'm Maryland-Chsrge
nar,,r.. 4, ,par,.-Est.b,,sb,nea n New
:" Ne"'PAp''
TspeciaI Correspondence
Nrw Yong June 1.-The wheel of fate
4, ;,s r.volut;ors ,n.Las soma ,na axnacted dis.
nos;tions of the neonle of the nen as well as
E, 80 ,,thay aa,,a rtn,snt Of human affairs
For ;nstance thers Is Col Mann Piatt Dur.
;,o, tha mast civ or saven vears he has bean
Ty;ro lie n lord in ,no,oriops ease at his
n,aon;tcent country nlace In the Mac-o-cheek
yalIev n xhers he has ..cattIe ON a tbou-
sond bi,s fine horses banasome Gardens
and no and ~ r,ral lows Now he has been
I,,rod fro,,, HE retreat and IN New York in
.,h,roa of RAlford,s Msgaz;na. whose first
,,rr,Ior i,,st out has b,ia aattering recen-
t;on n isspes from the rich and reputable
ho,,ss Of Ralford Clarks a, %
CoI pi,tt,s sh;l;tv IN paha biobIv in.er-
sst;ng reading o,,t Of anvtbinu 10 which he
a,,r,,;es hie non ,oes ,v,tbo,t onast;on Az
ne now nar.y;ne Intends 10 ba nol;ticai as
tn tho 0ripiOn nf its
sa;,or ana others ON nolit;caI narsonaees
s;.,,.t;ors ana svents n Il not oniv arousing
-,,..I ;,,,,,.as+ h,,, ins,,;r;,s, ,e,ror A., the
-. "a so,,,o % ~. ac.;,,e ec,,,r.s T., tha
.,d;rtv nool of nol;t;cs who fear that thew
NAV ia i,nnalea an the nunpent Piatt nen
-Inst what moved this war horse of iournal-
;sr, !, Give nm his beloved le;sprs and ones
r,ora ,eta the publ,c in hand nobody knovvs
Presumab,v n vas the love- of ernressipe-
hinself which writer's revsr entirely ,oae
ra,har than anv financial cons;derat;,,n since
ha has tha means 10 live ,ritbout nan drivinc
n he cbooses TO do so He has been known
70 saw that he considered the pen mipbtier
.hon tha su,ord hnt !, must hs q MO nen
Perhaps no literary ngure OF the presen.
time is more original, more gifted, more mis-
understood and misrepresented than Donn
Piatt. The public pever adores any one who
has told it the plain truth about itself, and
he has bad this felicity many and many
time.
Two years eyo, ~bea writing something
about him, said to him: Il will try and do
you justice" Snow, perhaps it isn't justice
want" he answered, in his usual humorous
drawL Then he went on to tell that. having
pers, or as he laughingly said, ITO put it
elegantly, more cusses than compliments"
any suggestion Of writing about him,
in other than a savage spirit, stirred in
him strange sensation. He assured me
that one hack would hold all the mourners
at his funeral, and as that described him
when dead, it would not take much to sat
isfy public curiosity in regard to him when
living
Aside from this drollery, he is probably
aware that he is exactly the kind OF person
in whom both friends and foes take an ex-
ceedingly warm interest, because he Is indi-
vidual and original-a man not at all after
the usual pattern. Besides, he has claims on
public interest other than those of a journal
ist and htterateur. de has conspi cuous
military record, and has held responsible
governmental commissions.
He frankly says that the first half OF his
life was an active pursuit OF excitement and
the pleasure found IN excitement. de dab
bled In literature, In a lazy kind OF way, and
read cart loads OF books. He studied law,
and shortly after his admission to the bar in
Cincinnati was appointed to vacancy ON
the bench. At this time he was SO young
that, being In washington, a friend who in
troduced him 10 Nathaniel Hawthorne as
Judge Pistt, added, I'VE have habit out
west, MI hawthorne, OF putting our young
men on the bench TO study law"
This, though intended as mere pleasantly,
embarrassed the youthfui Jsdge 10 degree
that excited the compassion OF the distin-
guiShed novelist. whose SuperSensitiye and