Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1891-07-21
Aartsus WARDS WATERFALLS.

tts Fsasi sa us~esk.d Miss ssd ICED
% III. . Tree ssai.s.
The following letter % Artsmus Ward.
rrcrntly brought to light. shows the
-ourcc- u hi. characters. especially the
reference 10 his "two years of peripatetie
life In the west:
WATERFORD. Ne, June S. 1894.
MY Dr,R sm-Thcrs Il rally moth
Ing very remarkable in my history. ]
was born In thi. quiet little town about
tweniy-cight years ago Ny father died
when was ~ ycsrs old. AMI at the al,c of
~ entered printing ofioe NJ Lancas-
ter. ". III. Ny father was magistrate
anil a Lumber mcrchant-a clear headed
anil thoroughly honest man. ~ comT.s
ten, In hi- bu.inc-s ~ to h. consulted on
all kinds ~ law questions. and ~ honest
that h. invariably hal his hands full Of
bu-ins-ss involving large sums % money.
fear be- was little too honest. for he
iiei IDor after all
ran away frum the ofic. at iancas-
ter ani entered similar establishment
at Norway. this state. This establish
ment failc,l. ahd roAn-i through the
state. setting typ q short time In one
place all quietly running away a. an.
other. Running away appsrs to have
lc-n my chief weakness at thai time. j
finally landel In Boston. and wort"i At
my tra.le until Iva. declared n toiersiiy
guoi printer. then went wet and
south. AMI for two years lci p-rpatstic
kind q life. commcoo-i writing for
paper In Toledo. o.. about ten year
Ago. succ~.le,i ~ paragraphs, well
enough io achieve very gcoi local rep
utation. anil novel to Cleveland and
took charge % The Plain Dealer news
PAPER.
1 hero commenc~i the Artsmns
Ward Iapcrs. The selection u that
nom de plume wa- purely accidental. l
wrote ths trst wari sketch on purely
local .ubj-ct. not surprising ! should
ever write another. somehow the name
Ward entered my hss.i and ] usssi a.
1 Five years ago | moy-i to New York
AMI assumed thu editorial conduct IL
Vanity pair. SUGGESTING Charic- %. IL
Land. For the past four years ] hAv.
i.cturci almost constantly. and with .
succ.-ss that 1. perhaps unequsicd. con.
sidering what . startling Innovation j
have made On . long s~tablish~i insuta'
tion. Ny Writings and lsrturing have
given me comp-tency. ihayo . hi"rAi
Oti.r to ~ to England this fall ON lcct-
urins tour. AMI I may Aocspt l am
| writing now a hook 10 travels, giving
my experience among IN. Nounons. ]
live In New York city. although sp-nd
a portion % my summers here with my
mother. That Ia about al.
Ihave only drft~i with the current,
which has carried the gayiy on of il own
accord. A. am frank epoaSh - say
this, 1 hOye have night 10 say that
hay, AWAY. meant the CREATURES Of my
burlssques should stab Error and give
Right a friendly push. You ara at hbcr'
Nv ~ u. ths--s facts, although my letter
is necessarily written In great harry
for am very busy. ] am rcpulArfy
supcnsd % t.s frustrating" here, but u
"a a ghasily mockery. am working
very hard.
CnARIIss y. BRowSE (Artsmus Ward
Ther, has always bs.n . mystcry
about Art.mus Wards money. lie ~
turnci from his Utah and CalifallA
tour with $1,000. and paid but ti'm
for hi. farm, hs rccoivvd at least ti3,vo
more In the abort interval before hi'
death, yet his executors found barely
enough in England to pay the claims
against him there and ssall less In Amer
lea Yet his viii indicates that he 10
lsyci himself rich. IL hal somshow
slipp.si away without hs knowing u.