The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-06-08
The LITERARY HERMIT.
TIE MOUNTAIN home OF MRS
AMELIA z BARR

I
Turning Point OF Whose Life Was
an Accsdent-Two Great Novels
Coming
CCopsrisaZl
NEW YORK. June -.-Amsrican Htera-
turs Is bright with the names Of wousn
who have fought the battle of life and come
OF conqusrors Every one Is familiar vita
the strange. sad story Of Louisa Aleott, the
author Of Little Women the almost
monastic career Of the Perry sisters and the
struggle for recognition undergone By
tboss brilliant women, Mrs Terhune.
Jean Ingelow and Mrs. Margare. Sang
ster before fame and fortune knocked
st their doors. There is somsthing brave
mingling with the psthos Of their early ex-
I peusncs< And now. sincsre, thoughtful
I AMI msllOSed b. the years. they do not
represent q type whose consciences are
sla YES TO fame" but rather school Of au-
thorship that serves as a beacon 70 the
I younger generation OF feminine writer's and
that Is honored and treasured on both sides
/ Of the Atlantic.
The other day. in the parlors Of the Fifth
/ Avenue hotel, | met one Of the most re-
markable and prolific OF woman authors,
/ l. a QIOO1DlE
no woman in the United States to-day
whose writings command 50 wi ie a circle
of readers az home and abroad; yet, SO
much Of 8 hermit is she, that her person
ality is almost q mystery. Mrs. Barr is
probably over 50, yet she has all the
| sprighuinsss Of a woman of 80. Gray
eyes full Of soul and dancing with smiles
hair just beginning 70 silver q bit at the
| temples: woruanly woman, with a COM
| forling presence and a quiet dignity that
| impreSSes you at once-she displays in her
! conversation and gesture force of charac-
ter altogether unusual One feels instantly
that such q woman cannot talk common
places She wore dark travelling dress. aud
shawl Of hlmy, black lace was thrown over
her shoulders Size was in town only for a
day or two. for Mrs. Barr is cutie recluse
and seldom leaves her hermitage on the top
Of the Storm King mountain on the Had-
son There ID study perched like an eyre
among THE clouds the author Of Jan
Vedder's Wife" 1.-The Daughter OF Fife
The Bow of Orange Ribbon" and round
dozen other famous novels, lives with her
daughters, happy in her literary work and
her social surroundings and almost wor-
SHIPPED by the jewellers on the mountain
who are frequent visitors at the hermitage.
''rhe story Of my beginning a literary
career is strange one. she said. my hus-
band. a clergyman, died and left me with
a number OF years for the daily press and
for the weeklies 1t was a hard task with
me, as it is with every one, to push up in the
literary world during those years But l
kept on working faithfully, still hoping the
best, when one day an accident came that
seemed to dash all my hopes. | fell and in
| jured q limb so severely that was confined
70 my room for many weeks.
Now, this was the turning point Of my
life During that period OF enforced con-
finement, il occurred to me that [ could
write a story. Till then / had never
attempted such thing. But time hung on
my hands, and, besides, / needed the
money; so / set resolutely to work, wholly
unaided, and in few we ks the story of Jan
Vedder's Wife was sketched in outline.
Then came the work of writing it out
! and when that was done sent il to New
York publishing house. You may believe
| was anxious until heard from them; but
when the answer did come it was all 1 could
/ have wished. The story was accepted and
when brought out was an instant success.
1t has since appeared in Europe and is quite
popular there too, believe.
| All this happened seven years ago. You
see it is not very long time, yet since then
have written fourteen other novels, every
one Of which has been issued by this same
| house, and all of which. fortunately. have
| been successful
"Do you employ a secretaryF asked.
1T is necessary, l suppose, in order to get
through so much materialT
''No, DON'T said the lady smiling. l
am my own secretary, and what's more, l
write all my novels with the typewriter,
| too. Ny favorite hours for work are in the
morning. frequently get up before day
| light and, after drinking half a cup of
/ coffee and eating some fruit and bit of
bread. l set to work. A fruit diet, find, is
the best one to write upon. Meat aud
heavy meals make ones mind dull and de-
| ssroy the capacity for work. Then, after
my morning at the desk, devote the rest
\ of the day to relaxation indoors or out
After dinner and during the afternoon 1
write out on my typewriter what | COM
| posed during the morning. Write anything
at nightl No, neverw she added emphati-
cally. 81 share none of the confidence in
| gsshght as an aid to literary labor that
some others do. l take nap after dinner,
60 out or entertain at home in the afternoon
and evening, and l always an off to bed by
\ 9 o'clock"
"You have some trouble OCCASIONALLY
| with literary pirates, have you nota With
those publishers who evade the copyright
law?'
| YES; have lost heavily at times from
| that source; but it seems impossible to avoid
| it. Only the other day l cabled to England
| TO publisher who had stolen one Of my
latest books, and who had 10, 900 copies of
| the pirated edition ali ready for issue. sue
ceeded in stopping him from putting them
on the market This Is an isolated instance,
and assure you l am seldom as successful
in this respect. Another thing may men
ton. | have given all my work TO the same
publishers who produced my first book.
Many have tempted me with higher figures;
but have stuck TO the house that stood by
me when most needed it." And the mo-
bile face kindled with smile
Have you a story in hand at present.
1.-TWO of them" she replied. 81 have just
finished novel of 400 pages of my type
written copy-about 800 words to the page
with the title: ''She loved a Sailor 1t
deals with the times when the American
navy was one to be proud of. And am
going to Europe In a few days to gather
material for a novel on socialism. In
Scotland and England will
study the phases of what was
known as the Chartist movement l re-
member well, when it was at its hight. how
intensely earnest the people there were
about it. The socialism of to-day is an All
vanced phase of the same idea. Bellamy's
book had a deep interest for me, because
have long wished to write about this sub
ject. My other book will DO on a rather
different topic-Cavinism."
"a new Robert Elsmeref"
mo; not exactly. You see l come of a