The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-01-17

MRS EDGAR W. NYE
John Phoenix was notably improvident.
Had Artemus Ward possessed Nye's BUSH
ness instincts and his moral fiber he could
have earned fortune in few years. and
other humorists who have won some fame
have done well if they have been able to
make bare living with their pen.
Nye, however, has the business instinct
as native gift, and he has cultivated 1T
well. When he began TO write his sketches
for the Boomerang he had no idea that they
would be OF more than local interest nor
IN fact did he realize the humor that was
In them or its market value He simply
reported things in Laramie as he saw
them, not understanding that his mental
vision and his capacity TO reproduce il on
paper was of such peculiar nature as would
gain for him fame, would create in the
popular mind demand for constant
supply of it, and would therefore have
pecuniary value.
He, however, realized this when, to his
intense surprise he found that his sketches
were appearing in every newspaper in the
land. He had an indistinet idea at once
that If these things were worth reprinting
they were worth paving for. Thew
brought him nothing but fame in Laramie,
and there he received far less appreciation
than anywhere else. Fame in that town
was not money, and the Boomerang gave
up the ghost.
Nye had determined that it was his duty
to cultivate this talent, because he saw in
IT an opportunity to gain at least fair
support, but while he was turning over in
his mind the course best to pur-
sue, he was brought to deaths
door by an attack of meningitis, and when
he was recovering from that he was the
victim of cyclone which had its way
with him, blowing him hither and thither,
and finally depositing him on the sod with
a broken leg and some fractured ribs This,
of course, brought him to a halt for
awhile. While convalescing in the South
he wrote an exquisite sketch, accompany
ing il with a picture which he drew. and
sent it TO the New York World rather tim
idly. That paper instantly printed it, and
forwarded to Mr.. Nye proposition to join
its staff
His business instinct served him well
on this occasion. Nine men out of ten
would have been only too glad if they
were situated as he was to join staff con-
nected with the World upon terms pro-
posed by that paper, but Nye was wise.
He felt that il would be dangerous thing
for humorist TO go to New York city. He
doubted whether such a person could
maintain himself there, and he believed
that the chances were that in the whirl of
newspaper life, and especially of news
is the World, the humorist would be
stunned, his work would become forced
and artificial, his identity would be lost,
and he would sink TO the dead level of the
average.
Nye therefore determined to make
proposition to the World himself. He
went offering business, not seeking any
employment the paper might have to
give. He did not expect that his offer
would be entertained but TO his surprise
it was He was engaged to write what he
chose, as he chose. over his nom de plume,
10 be subject TO none OF the restrictions or
discipline of the office, ana it was common
report that he was 10 receive 5000 year
for this undertaking. This shrewdness of
management unquestionably saved Nye
from being buried in that mighty wave of
literary endeavor " hich produces anony
mousiy the best in our daily newspapers.
Ii revealed that Nye was as strong IN busi-
ness as he was in humor. and from that
time on his pathway has been one OF ever
increasing prosperity.
HIS fame being established he was able
to make other newspaper connections, so
that in the course Of year or two he was
in receipt of an income of over $1,000
wear There were times when Mr.. Nye
felt some sadness that his reputation
should be merely that of a literary jester,
but he consoled himself with the thought
thousands, was providing we'll for his
family and also with the hone that in the
future he would be able TO win a more crit
zeal reputation IN higher iiterary endeavor.
His business instincts served him Well
also when he entered the lecture held. The
work is hard and dreary and entails pro-
longed absences from most charming
family. but its pays well. His profits
are commonly reported to have been as
biob as from $4,000 TO $50. 600 a year,
so thai in the past four or i've years Mr..
Nye's income has equaled that OF the
greater lawyers. has been as large as the
individual profits which many bankers
and merchants nave received from thclE
business and has been equaied among
literary men probably only by the income
OF the Rev. Or. Talmage. He has ven
tured into the drama, although ne Is not
a dran1atist. and must ever rely upon
those who have dramatic instinct ana ex-
nerience To make his plays Mt for stage
representation. He has also conquered
the literary set, and Is now furnishing
series of articles for one OF the Ieadihg
magazines.
Mr., Nye's life, however, is in his domes-
tic circle and il is no wonder. His vile.
a charming woman, Is Just the helpmeet
for such man, and with ms four chlldIsh
he is rs much child as any OF them. lie
lives in luxury in a beautiful place On
Staten Island. and has also residence AT
Asheville, y. c., where he IS now con-
vaiesCinc from the effects OF the recent
accident from which he suffered in Jack
son. Miss.
Mr.. I'VE has barely entered the prime OF
life, being in his 10th year, ana II ms pres
ent prosperity attends him he seems lkeiy
10 become the wealthiest OF our literary
men.
Not one in twenty are free from some hyue
siiment caused by inaetion 81 the liver Use
CsrteF's Little Liver pills The result w. Ue .