The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-09-18
HIS WIFE WROTE NOVELS.
AND HE LENT HIS MIME TO Sc
CURE HER LITERARY LIBERTY.
European Ways That Are Strange to
Observation-Disclosures Stealing Extra
ordfnary-Unstamped Letters-Items

European Ways That Are Strange t.
Americans-Diamond Stealing Extra
ordinary-Unstamped Letters-Itemi
of Interest.
A very strange story was told me BY
the editor of a weekly paper published IN
New York not long ago concerning .
contributor. The editor said: "One Of
my most valuable contributors for the
last three or four years has been a gentle
man, whom the public know pretty wei
by this time. He writes over his own
nanle-a striking NAME. so regularly mas
the person written for my paper bnat
came to regard him as % member OF the
staff. 1t was only after two years OF ac'
abundance through the mails that he &C
tually put in an appearance at our once
The first time he came in l Dug ne
was a book agent or a bill collector until
he mentioned his name. :,
''Then, of course, l gave him o chalI
and all the other courtesies at my dis
posal. He only stayed a minute ortwo,
and seemed very nervous all the While ne
was sitting opposite to me. He Lacked
that splendid assurance that most writers
possess. His appearance belied his worki
which was vigorous and sparkling In
style, for a meeker, meaner sort OF a mar
never saw. =,
1.-THE next time he paid me a visit-he
was writing a novel for us and came with
an instalment of it-Ihappened to be read
ing the proof of the Chapters to be pub,
lished in the issue of the next
day. At once it occurred to me
to ask the author to explain q pas
sage which had puzzled the proofreaders
and me. So l handed the pfoofsheet 70
the author, and, pointing to the passage ID
question, asked him if that was exactly
what he had intended to say.
$40 my surprise" continued the editor,
s'the novelist grew very red in the race,
his hand, in which was the p~roofsheetr
trembled, and for a minute he said noth,
ing. / had no idea what embarrassed
him, but thought | had a very rare BIRD. a
modest author in my cage. 10 encourage
him / said:-I've no doubt it's my stu
pidity and no fault of yours that l can
not catch the meaning of that passage
stHe seemed to be going to speak once
or twice, but his lips only moved. Mean
while his face remained hushed ana otheT
eloquent signs of disturbance were NOT
wanting. His silence was making the
situation very painful, and suddenly be-
thinking myself that / might have
wounded a sensitive spirit, / began in g
clumsy way to apologize to him for call
ing his attention to the unfortunate para
graph, but he stopped me with a motion
of his hand, and in q low voice began
THE fact is, sir, Ihave deceived you-this
story is none of my writing. l never
wrote a line in my life-hayen't got the
ability. I outh-
"tDo you mean to say said | holly,
that I've been dealing with an imposto1
all these years?-a literary thief, a pre-
cious@
Not quite so bad as that, sir he re-
Piled more calmly, although Eve put my
name to a great many manuscripts which
YOU have been good enough to buy and
which | now own were not written by
me, vet [ believe you will not be so indig,
nant when you learn who Ii write them.
"tMay | have the pleasure of knowing
who the author tsp said l with all the
irony 1 could summon.
"fCertainly-my wife, he replied
quietly. 'Inever was in favor of the use
of my name, but she insisted that the re.
viewers and newspaper photographers had
sharpened their knives to keep down the
rising crop Of feminine writers and thai
she could write more boldly over my
name than over her own n with less
criticism of q so-called moral sort
''Well, to Gu a long story shor in the
last yolume-the facts were exactly as my
'impostor' stated them, and | very soon
after made the acquaintance OF the IAN
author. She still uses her husbands
name. but he is no longer SO meek and
nervous when he visits my den. A great
burden is off his mind.-Pittsbtrg De
cn0fch