Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1891-12-11
WOLCOTT BALESTIER.
SUDDEN DEATH OF THE BRIL-
LIANT YOUNG WRITER.



printed in the local columns Of The Phu.-
nix a sketch of Mr.. Baestier's life in CON
nection with the brilliant serial story
"The Naulahka," which began in the
November Century. written by Mr.. Bales
tier and Rudyard Kiplng, in collaboration
The career i'm literature upon which Mr.
Balestier had Just entered was one OF r.
markable promise. and in the circle of men
of letters, among whom he was just attain
ing an enviable place. his loss will be
deemed irreparable.
Mr. '}alestier was just approaching his
3lst year. having been born in Rochester.
y. Y. Dec. -, 1861. His grandfather. as
stated in The Phoenix article referred to.
was the late Hon. Erasmus Peshine Smith
of Rochester. y. y. a man of high dis
tinction in the law and in the public affairs
with which he was connected. His knOw-
edge Of International law was of great val
ne TO William H. Seward and Hamilton
Fish. as secretaries of state. His most
notable work was accomplished when. in
1871. under the recommendation of Secre-
tary Fish. he went to Japan as advisor TO
the Mikado i'm international law. He was
the first American TO thus assist the Japa-
nese government in an official capacity.
and he did much toward the advancement
Of the kingdom in the path Of modern
progress and development then entered up
on.
Mr.. Balester's father, who was the son
OF the late J y. Balestier of New York
city and Brattleboro. himself died at the
age of 80. leaving a wife and a family OF
four children. two sons and two daughters.
of whom Wolcott was the eldest. In his
boyhood, from 10 to rs, much of the lad,
time was spent with his grandparents on
hi, g.. l.. 81,
at Rochester and at Cornell University
For one term at least he attended the Brat
tleboro High school, his mother and her
children living at Mrs kirkland's. A he
approached manhood he developed strong
taste for journalism, being first employed
on the Rochester Post-EXpress. and after
ward having place in the Aston library.
New York city. and doing more or less
work for the New York Tribune. For a
time he was editor of lid Bits. a New
York numerous publication. His taste
for literature and his facility as a writer de-
vcloped early. and it was while he was en-
ployed in the Aston library that he wrote
his first novelette, "A Fair Device" He
had the usual difficulty OF young author
in finding a publisher, but when John W.
Lowell saw the work he at once perceived
its taking quality and brought it out in one
of his cheap editions, and it had a large
sale. Ii was at this same time, in the year
1854. that he wrote his life of James G..
Blaine. which was also published in the
Lowell series. The work was crude and
faulty, as it must inevitably have been.
but the remarkable thing about it was the
pace at which it was written. At only two
weeks notice the youngster gathered his
material and dashed off the copy in his
odds and ends of time. A friend relates
how he used to write a dozen or 20 pages
of the work each morning as he rode down
town on the elevated trains. \ few years
later he went to the far West spending
year in Colorado, where his familiarity
with the life of that region, so picturesque
" described in the Naulahka. was obtain
ed. He also spent some time in Mexico.
Three years ago he went to London in
the interest of Mr.. Lowell. Here he was
brought into contact with the leading liter
AIRY men resident there, and many warm
friendships were formed, among them Hen
~ James, the novelist, and Edmund Gosse
\ year ago the firm of Heinemann d Bal
estier was formed. This was a stock COM
pany, with headquarters at Leipsic, organ
lied to publish on the continent choice
editions of current English literature, as a
rival to the famous Tauchnitz editions
The business of the firm is understood to
have been very successful. In London
Mr. Balestier made the acquaintance of
Rudyard kipling, and it was in January
and February of last year that 1.-The Nau-
lahka, a story of West and East" was writ
ten. This work is in a rare sense collab-
Grafton, the two young men being close
and sympathetic personal friends, and Bal
estier's knowledge of life in the far West
of America supplementing in a curious
and unusual way Mr.. Kipling life and eX-
perience in the East gained through his
early years in India. For this story the
Century company paid a handsome price.
and it Is understood that since its compile
ton Nh. Balestier has written novel OF
his own, which is already in the hands of
the same publishers for early use Within
the past year he had contributed "A victo-
rious Defeat to Harper's Magazine and
"A Common Story to the Century.
As already indicated, the death of the
young man took place AT Dresden, where
he had gone on business for his firm. The
news OF his serious illness was received by
his brother in a letter which arrived last
Friday, announcing that his mother and
sisters were then on their way from Paris
to Dresden to care for him. A letter re
ceived yesterday brings the information
that the cause of death was typhoid fever,
and that Mr.. Ba1eStier had been in a hos
pital for two weeks. The young mans last
visit to this country was in May Of this
year, when he came here to accompany his
mother and sisters abroad
Mr.. Balestier was a young man of pure
and gentle nature, and one who literally
absorbed his knowledge of men and things
and of the inner workings of human life,
such knowledge seeming to come to him
by intuition rather than by actual expert
ence and contact. His case was one of the
rare ones where a writer, conscious of his
own ability, deliberately waited until years
OF maturity came before making final en-
trance upon the field of literature, know
ing that only in this way could his best
work be done and a permanent reputation
be achieved. 1t was in this spirit, as was
well known by his friends, that he waited
after the age of 21 for his 30th year to
arrive. Just on its eve and when he felt
his career to be assured, death claimed
him, leaving a wide circle of friends sorely
stricken, and the world of literature the
poorer by his loss.
] ST N r.,