Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-05-26

what will you give?' | told him ] didn't
know anything about the condition. OF
the Reucw, but If he would put price
on it. would consider it.
"Give me 81, 600 and you can have 1t,
he said. :,
al will think about it, l answered:
THE price seems reasonable, and L Will
let you know in week or two.
"'A week or two exclaimed he. i
can't put it off You must tell me at
once.
Every well, ] said, i will go back
to New York and let you know the day
after tomorrow.
"'No, / can't wait, he persisted. ut
isn't of importance enough. You must
try it now or not at all.
"'Can you wait while i go across the
street and get check cashed ? l asked.
Gle laughed and SAID he could wait
for that. did it. The big RerieD was
mine. ! went back 10 New York won
dering what ] should do with my ele-
plant. II was a problem that worried
me. The periodical l found had Just
about 200 subscribers. The first news
paper notice Of my purchase alluded TO
me deriMvely as rafting around in the
chair Of James Russell Lowell.
THE FIRST HIT.
"I soon found that I had something
to DO besides writing book notices.
made up my mind to combine breezy
topics with well-knOwn writers. and tried
for months to catch the public eye.
And here bear in mind that the North
american does not rely on contribu-
tons, though it uses them. The articles
which have attracted most attention have
been directly invited and personally
solicited by me. The trenchsnt philippe
of Jerry Black on '1he Great Con
spiracy' (Hayess election) and the
discussion it excited made the
first decided hit. Black called his
article The Great Fraud, but |
fatty refused to print it under that title.
and David Dudley Field finally induced
him TO change it. John Shermans ar
ticle on Resumption also gave US a
boom, and the Observation-Disclosures con-
troversy brought us 1000 subscribers IN
a single month. / went to England to
get Gladstone to take hand. and / bad
a delightful reception at his country
home. III tell you about it some time. "
81 have often wondered" l said
chow you managed to pay these big
fellows for their services. Do they take
money like smaller fry?"
"Mcst of them tell me plumply how
much they want for their contributions
and that suits me exactly, for | then
know what is expected. Now and then
one refuses to stipulate, but says pay
whatever you wish to. That is emDar-
RAISING, for it leaves me no alternative to
sending plump check on conjecture.
Still, more seldom, one absolutely de-
clines to take anything this is doubly
embarrassing, but send him piano or
a painting or get even with him some
how some time. | shall get some pres
ents in Paris this summer
"You must have some lively chases
after copy" l suggested.
Yes. | have. Perhaps the livellest
was after Tom Scott. The Pennsylva-
mia railroad strike WAS in progress, and
he had promised me an article on
Strikes 1t was publication day, and
the article had not come. | started on
the cars TO hunt him up. He was not
III Philadelphia lie was not at home.
! followed him to Pittsburgh. The depot
was afre, and the blazing town was IN
the hands of mob. | found him in the
lobby Of the hotel with a crowd bowling
in front and around him. | went
up to linn and asked him for
that article. he laughed and said
he was otherwise temporarily engaged,
and he added with seriousness, RICE,
If you want to avoid being hurt, stay
right by me- / laughed back at the
absurdity of it, and told him his vicinity
seemed the unsafest place In the United
States. But | didn't lose sight OF him.
] came back East in the car with him
next day, went to his home with him,
haunted him till he wrote the article,
and then seized it and escaped to New
York not much too late. 1t made a hit. "
| inquired if the North Amcrican had
had many protests on account of lnger-
soils articles.
Ono" he said. "Now and then n
few regularly protest, and few stop
their subscriptions and then buy it.
But the people love fair play, and our
orthodox friends don't object to n dis
cussion if their side has full hearing. 3"
l asked who was going to edit the
NorH Ame,icaR in his absence.
81 am," he said. 81 shsil edit it
from ST. Petersburg by cable-the first
time that such thing was ever attempt
cd, l suppose. have made first rate
arrangements with cable company and
shall be in constant communication.
Cable me any time. Before leaving [
shall give you full particulars. / believe
that the Reriew cannot only be kept
up but can actually be improved by
having the editor 1000 miles from the
10000 small worries of the business Of
fee.