The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-10-06
wlLx,E COLLINS. SECRET.

nun Drsnking.
Prom the San Francisco Examiner.
Almost With his dying breath WtIkte
Ell want . simple funeral and mo feash
eru, no Grape, mo- forms nor c~eremontes."
His Wishes were executed TO thu letter.
There is little tai say about the modest
manner i'm which the master ut 80 mary
plots was laid To rest, bus now that he In
gone all sorts of strange stories are cur
rent about his life and thc innermoss
secrets of the novelist who sought above
all things To shield himself and his home
from the case and omment OF his fellow
men, arc the topic OF the hour.
Edmund Yates set the ball rolling in .
signed article i'm his APPS the London
World, i'm which ne says:
at was during. the OF b
FIRST acquired the baleful habit Of taking
.edatiyes, which he continued more or less
throughout his life. Excited beyond meas,
ure by the constant nerve pressure created
by q necessity of having every thread OF
his story constantly within his grasp, suf-
sssi1E e r md syes sn nnJ d assnsr "a at s1 sSe saMs
time by the serious illness of his mother,
to whom he was devotedly attached.
ccy and no end of other eminent men I'm
the fraternity had done before him-he
sought and found relief in a~nodynes.
'aOn this subject I almost fear to write,
lest I should he suspected OF exagRcraton,
but from what he himself told me and
from from what ;ns, ! nsars 1;t iSI him. ir ! Believe W e ,nas
his after life wiikie Collins was in the
habit of taking daily and without apparent
serious effect more laudanum-not Bat
ley's nor any other m~ininnizinR solution,
but absolutely ~pure-than would have
whole company of soldiers. This amount
vas, OF course, arrived ut slowly and by
An actor who knew Collins intimately
remarked to the New York World corre-
spondent to-day at the funeral:
~ have seen Collins drink nve glasses
Of laudanum at one swallow without IL NJ
fecting him i'm The least. He suffered
some injury when . young man. which
rendered il necessary that he should take
opium to Kill she pa, nh, t ,n h T"", %it havs
H. ~"
Il will be some days before the will of
Sss & !. C @eiI Known ~s.l Ds s% %.sssp his lRnssi%.s::
friends that he provides literally i'm IL Tor
the three children whom he acknowledges
merous beautiful wreathes which .ur.
bundled the collin wa: from them. but
They never went near Wilkie Collins
In In' his I'll Wilkie Collins refers 70 these
children an his own, and leaves one-haif
OF his estate which, it r. said, will not OK
est. The mothe of the children was q
housemaid in the employ OF Wilkie Col
iins' mS c : and r Ens o very Se,f "s W s. /, hfr
Mrs. Graves, while h lives. and to the
ono ses mosher'. DEATH. This adopted
daughter, n child OF his has
been a great pet Of Collins, for years do
Olive Lo0an's Invaluable article In this
the first time wilkie Collins method OF
81 had been that morning to the British
Museum" writes Miss Logan. ''where i'm
Buiwcr Lytton ON the art Of writing hction,
i'm which he said that all that was neces-
eary was to start and then proceed, letting
themselves en- route. I wonder
he preserved hi5 sanity under such q
.There ia but one way to write a good
novel;" said Mr.. Collins.
'sThat way must be very familiar to
o1s: as vii SHH y oaI not s impar. e to %'n ms ~
elist. az am always glad 70 give hints 70
think out your plot in it's main Textures he
fore YOU put pen to per. iou must
know how yoa are going to continue and
your novel in parts, which I myself call
and which correspond to the ncts
% ., q c p,nS. as the TN. d nns tt 70 md yo,,r
fourth part, and number five il a satisfac-
tory ~unraveling of everything, as i'm the
nth act OF a play.
"Undoubtedly many incidents and char
acters will sugRes themselves as you are
writing. and these may. in some degree,
modify your original Intention, but in the
main ones the method should TIC what i
have said. tn know how you are going to
SThc secret of the study of human ma
ture is tn get out Of the beaten track in
ideas. The popular impression. 1 believe,
for ages has been that fat people are nec-
essarily good humored. Now, l never OBJ
served that fat people were any more good
hnnored or virt,ious than any other PEG
pie, and that is the reason why ] made
Count Fosco N fat man. A fat william was
an absolute novelty i'm fiction, though not
SO, / maintain, i'm fact
"You are so prolific n writer that II is
evident you must work very hard"
~ write all day long, absolutely. l work
like any other laborcr. Immediately after
breakfast / seat myself at my desk and
work without intermission until luncheon
time, and then again straight on till din
ner.
81 used to write at night, but ! was
compelled to give that up.
Elbow about those ghosts you have sum-
moned for use i'm your fiction ?"
ayes; accompanied by their friends they
clustered together just beyond the smoke
from my pipe and stared at me with CLASSY
eyes, and at times 1 was forced to jump up,
seize my hat, and go the club"