Los Angeles herald., 1892-07-31
THE SHORT sTORYs STORY.
An American Literary Creation
Discussed.
Several Papers Discussed by Friday
Morning Bas-Bleus.
Mrs. Margaret Collier Graham and Miss
Jennie Collier on Condensed Ro.
mances-vicws of Various
Authors.

artistic papers were presented by Mrs.
Margaret Collier Graham and Miss
Jennie Collier, both of South Pasadena.
The first, read by Miss Collier, was
entitled The Short Story. She said that
the short story might almost be called
an American invention, and that what
ever credit there is in it is rightfully
ours as an American nation. 1t is not a
revival, not restoration scarcely de-
velopment = and without ancestry.
though perhaps distantly related to the
fables of Esop or the stories of Greek
mythology; but it would take Darwin
in fiction to trace the descent. We
kodak Americans accept the short story
on its merits, without asking, after
the manner of the English, Who is it's
grandfather?
Its value must be decided by its fidel-
ity to truth, and it's desirability by the
character of the truth depicted. A story
must be true to the motive, the i'm
pulses, the principles that shape the
life of actual men and women. This
truth, which necessarily includes the
highest morality and highest art, being
admitted, the book cannot be wicked
and cannot be weak; while without it
all grace of style and feats of invention
and cunning of construction are so many
superhuities of naughtiness. We are
inclined to think that what we like is
good, instead of learning how to'distin-
guish what ia good before we like it.
Richard Harding Davis, Rose Terry
Cooke, Miss Jewett, Miss Wilkins and a
host of others know how to teach awhole
system of ethics in story of twelve
thousand words.
Miss Collier disagreed with Miss
Grace Charming in her protest against
the use of dialect. What loss would
be ours were we to be deprived Of all
our valued friends who do not speak
correct English; and more miserable
yet would we be to lose all our dear fic-
tion friends portrayed by such writers
as Ruth McEvery Stuart, Thomas Nell
son Page, Matt Grim, Viola Roseberro,
J. M. Barrie and many others, who
bring us by their magic art in touch
with humanity in all its phases, dialect
and bad English included.
James Lane Allen was then touched
upon by Miss Collier as a remarkable
portrayer of Kentucky life in his King
Solomon of Kentucky; while Thomas
Janvier has introduced US into the
charming society of the Quaker City.
But if we have social ambitions and
would like to spend few hours in the
rarefied atmosphere of the Four Hun
dred, we must make the acquaintance
of Richard Harding Davis, and we can
not know him without knowing Van
Bibber. Her First Appearance is
realistic enough for Howells. ideal
istic enough for Charles Dudley Warner,
and pure enough in style for both. 1t
is not simply asstory, but whole code
of morals for the person who knows how
to read stories.
Our most successful writers of New
England life are Rose Terry Cooke, Miss
Jewett, Miss Slosson, and more recently
Miss Wilkins; her portrayal of the
dreary, torlorn contentment, the calm
acceptance of life with all the high lights
left out, is as interesting as it is somber.
Hamlin Garland, in his Main Trav-
eled Roads, depicts western life, grim,
bitter, hopeless and full of misery born
of ignorance.
Further west one can get breath of
California air in Luck of Roaring Camp
by Bret Harte, and revive his dropping
spirits with Kate Douglas Wiggins' 81
charming stories Of the Pacific coast.
Whether the story comes from the
north, south, east or west, we can only
give it royal welcome, and trust that
it may always come as the hash-light of
American fiction should, honest and
true.
The subject of Mrs. Graham's paper
was William Dean Howells. She began
by saying that the question of fame as
applied to writers of contemporaneous
fiction, is bafHingland elusive. To be
much read is not necessarily to begreat,
and yet the desire of every writer of
fiction is to be much read. There are
many famous writers whose fame is
without ideals, without influence, and
without foundation. With fertility of
Imagination and readiness of express
sion, they simply supply demand for
sensational literature. And yet their
books are far more widely read than the
works of James or Hardy or Howells.
The best fiction has really @ very mar
row range of readers. The men and wo-
men of today who do not read novels,
and esteem their ignorance a virtue, are
either besotted by metaphysics, or drug
ged by theology, or hypnotized by sci
ence. But there is alarge class of intel
ligent readers who know how much of
the best and purest life goes into the
faithful delineation of the coE1monest
and rudest; who are able to appreciate
the touch of the real artists hand which
always dignities our poor human ma
ture. Is it the soul of our nezt-door
neghbor, plain, uninteresting man or
woman; frivolous girl, callow stu
pid boy, and do we call it micro
scopic and Photographic, and say
that it is not genius than in
vests this man or woman with
the interest that makes a story. Then
why have we lived so long beside them,
and found them only uninteresting and
plain and stupid ahd frivolous? Why
must we wait for this man or woman to
come and show US our brother? When
Mr.. Howells said, ''Ah, poor, real life
which I love, can / make others share
the delight 1 find in thy foolish, insipid
facef' he gave US the keynote of his
literary life.
We may differ regarding Howeils' pre-
eminence and hispermanence, butwe can
not fail to agree that his work as q critic /
has had a wider and kindlier influence |
on American fiction than that of any
other man of letters.
Mrs. Graham then showed how much
OF that breadth and genuineness and
acquaintance with the life of the people
that characterize his work. His travels
abroad gave us those two delightful
books, Venetian Life and Italian Jour-
neys. Ten years later he developed a |
settled tendency for novel-writing.