The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-08-01
AUTHOR Of BEN HUR|
Con. Lew Wallace Tells How He
Acquired q Taste for Lit
srary Labor.
- Writes Slowly, Laboriously
md Oonscientiously. Doing
His Best Always


Written for Tn HELENA I~NpEPENpENT.l
~ PERSONALITY GEN. LEW WALL
lace, OF Crawfordsville, Ind, II . de-
~ lightfll man. He bears his sixty
dvs ysars % II they were but fifty. Tall,
eYect. dignihsd, without = "~frill," grace
fully approachAbls and Of a mild DISPOSE
tion. with homo Of those ''ecosntricitiea OF
0snius'' which make many famous men 10
disasrssabls personally, he 10 . charming
man 10 visit. He and his gifted wife live
alone, - the saying 10. That il. his son IL
: resident Of Indianapolis. But tho four
other dwellings in the vast enclosure OF
Elstoh grove are occupied by relatives OF 2
brother and sisters Of Mrs. Wallace n
there 10 NO dsarth of company.
6incs q curious public is always tnquir-
Ing into the habits Of great authors and
ths questions "dosa he drink" and 'does
he smoker" may be asked. l may b par
doned il / relate a harmless little story
which il still sometimes told in Crawfords-
vile. There used to be a place in That city
II believe It still exists-whsrs tho oronles
Of tho town wore Won to come and s's IN
goodly company the while they spun their
Teminiscsnt yarns and respectively slipped
toddies made from pure runs Of years long
gone. II is said that Gen. Wallace now
and then dropped in here to meet his old
friends and talk over the events Of the day.
On one occasion, 20 the story goes. he en-
tsred and stood before the counter. Al the
Same moment his son Harry entered by
other door, and before either knew it both
we're standing side by side at the counter.
The discovery might have been embarrass-
aug. but the father promptly laid . dime
upon the counter, saying:
Give mo : Cigar"
''Givs mo a cigar" said the son.
And the two locked arms and walked
away.
II this tale be true IL would seem to indi-
cate that there was a time, some years ago.
whom Gen. Wallace smoked to some slight
extent.
Before We 10 into his workshop to pry
into his literary methods. let Us sit on the
cool porch and question Gen. Wallace about
his literery career. for although he was a
gallant soldier and a great general, his pen
has become a much more potent influence
his sword ever was.
1T il difficult to say when l first began to |
WRITE" he answers, II was q wild boy and
refused in great part ali opportunities for a
regular education. But along with that I
was always . reader of everything. Ny
father was = lover of books and had q fine
library, which, Of course, was always open
TO me. In my trusnoies I was in the habit
Of taking . gun a dog, . fishing rod and a
book and so I varied my amusements
When about sixteen years of age I wrote a
novel (about three hundred pages of closely
written manuscript entitled The Man at
Arms-A Tale Of the Tenth Century, It
was my hrst work. With it I used to amuse
my young friends.
I'm my eighteenth year I began a book
which was to be known as 'The Fair God
From my earliest recollection Mexico was
= country of great interest to me. and the
episode of the invasion of Cortez was par
tioularly agreeable. Ny first reading in
that line was Robertson. Southey's Tina
laba" was . pointer, also. and Prescott fur