Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-11-30
STORIES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE.
The Erratia Poet Had Loose Ideas of Com
 mercial Honor.

The Erratia Poet Had Loose Ideas of Com
 mercial Honor.
 To have leaned Edgar Allan Poe fifty cents is a distinction; to have put into type the poets own correction of one of his poems is an honor. It is questiona- ble, however, that the man who en- tered into such transaction with the poet back in the forties thought he was particularly favored. Col Jacob Child, eX-minister to Siam and prominent citi- zen of Ray county, eloquent, irrepressi- ble, pul2hritudinous, knew the author of The Raven" intimately. Indeed, he was so well acquainted with the Virgin ian genius that he let him have fifty cents on one occasion wherewith to buy the cup that cheers and at the same time intoXicates.
 ''I knew Poe very we'll" the colonel said the other day. "He was a tall, slender fellow, looking much younger than he really was. His hair made him look like poet. It was long and he 'combed it under in the style of the time. His piercing black eyes were an other feature of his unusual appear ance. When the least bit under the in | tluence of alcohol Poe was man long | to be remembered. Those sparkling | orbits fairly blaZed. He came into the | office of the Richmond Whig not long before he died and asked me to let him | have fifty cents for a short time. In | those days a poor printer boy in the 1 south thought good deal ofa half-dol- lar, and l remember that I reflected twice before letting the poet have the | money. A few days later he brought in a proof of ''Lenore," which had ap- | peared in the Southern Literary Mes l sengcr, full of errors. Leaning over one | of the big makeup stones, Poe made q number of changes in the original poem | and asked me to set it up for the Rich mond Whig. did so, and the next week l 'Lenore' appeared in correct form" | According to Col. Child, Poe sold his "Annabel Lee" twice, once in Buffalo and again in Richmond. If this story has ever appeared it has been kept out l of books on Poe and his work, for the reason that it casts a shadow over the | glamor that envelopes the character of the poet John R. Thompson was edi- tor of the Southern Literary Messenger at the time that ''Annabel Lee" was written Poe brought the manuscript to him and sold it for good sum. Thompson announced to his friends the ! contain Poe's masterpiece. He refused however, to say anything about the style of the poem. After Col. Child had put the verses in type in the Richmond Whig office, where the Messenger was printed each week, Thompson took the proofs away in his pocket, so as to bt sure that the poem would not appear before his magazine came out with it One day when Thompson, Child ano Dick Heath, sub-editor, were loung ing in the office of the Whig, the latter said:
 i've got new thing by Poe here il my pocket. clipped it from Buffalo paper and I'll bet it beats that thing you are hiding"
 ''Read it!" choruscd Thompson ano Child.
 Then Heath began:
 ! It was many and many year ago ! In a kingdom by the sea
 ! That maiden there lived
 Great Scott!" Thompson exclaimed
 "The same thing" murmured Child
 And he's got the money for it, Thompson went on.
 ''I spent a day setting it." groane' Child
 "What in the world is the matter? Heath finally asked.
 "Matter!' Thompson almost shrieke' it. "Why, the matter is that tha cursed fellow has sold poem to tn
 Messenger that he had already dispose' of up north. I'll sue him for damages i it's the last thing I ever do!'-Kansa City Times.