The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-05-01

THE
own stories that money began to roll in |
upon him, and now he is radiantly indie !
pendent. His opera, he told me, was pet
fad which ne had cherished for seven or
eight years. The stories Of his tribula-
tons IN finding a man who could write
nlelodic music are very amusing. The dis |
couragement which he met with at the
hands Of children of musical genius were
enough to drive man insane. But he held |
TO the idea that sooner or later he would |
put poly Middlesn on the stage. One of
of his pet theories was that in many OF the
vast failures of operate compositions there
must be considerable valuable matter, and
so he went proving around New York for
several years in old secondhand book and
music stores looking for forgotten and DIS
eRrded scores. He purchased every old
volume Of operate music that nc could lay
hands on and carried it of 10 his musician
to be sifted and selected from. One old
volume struck him as containing great
deal of fat, and when his musician began
to play some of its airs on the piano he was
reminded very forcibly of hDer Freis-
chuetZ.n This mystitied him considerably.
When he began to investigate the matter
he found that the old opera in his posses
sion had been written by Weber and had
failed and that he afterwards wrote Der
t'rieschuetz," introducing much Of the
music of his discarded opera and so
achieved lasting success. Mr.. Gunter, 1
believe, is Of English extraction. He is
short stocky built man, fond of conversation
and good company, possessing enormous
capabilities for work and gifted with that
quality which alone can make industry
valuable-persistency. He is most COM
panioDable man, and while he has a very
modest estimation of himself be believes
implicitly in his resources. l have watched
his evolution with considerable interest.
When first heard of him he was known
as a. Q. Gunter. When came to know him
his friends called him Archie Gunter He
has we'll earned and well deserved all the
success that has come to him, and were 1t
not for the Inconvenience, | would be glad
TO see him add three more joints TO his
name as well as the title of Bachelor of
Arts.
HAwTHoRNE's GRRAT STORY.
see that cheap publishing concern in
this city is reprinting Nathaniel Haw-
| tnorne's story of 1.-THE Scarlet Letter" l
have always regarded the name of Ma
thaniel Hawthorne as the foremost in
American literature. His genius seemed
to com bine, In degree, that of both Scott
sud Dickens. His powers of observation
|
sweet and lovely integrity and nobility of
thought which made everything that he
wrote almost classical. THE Scarlet Let
teri was undoubtedly his master piece. 1t
was first published in 1850. The copy
right lasted but twenty-eight years and
renewal of fourteen years is permitted.
Thus 1.-The Scarlet Letter" has been be-
fore the American public for forty-two
years and the demand for 1t now will be
great because it can be put into popular
form. a few years ago when we were
| printing a series OF standard stories COM
plete in the Sunday World, / endeayored to
obtain the privilege OF reprinting 1.-THE
Scarlet letter. Mrs. Lathrop, the daugh
ter Of Mr.. Hawthorne, in which the copy
right vested, referred me to her publish
ers in Boston. They declined to have the
story printed, although they knew that
their protection would last only three years
longer. l learned then that the sale of the
book was only q few hundred copies year,
and | endeavored to convince them that by
publishing it IN q newspaper, the interest
in IL might be revived and new demand
created. They had their own views. l
see now that they have prepared the story
in cheap paper form, and are going in to
compete with the other dealers in cheap
literature. Just why it never occurred to
put % cent edition on the market Is some
thing cannot understand, but l presume
the pride of the house was involved, and
suppose IS long as they controlled the copy
right, they wished to keep the story out of
the hands of the general public by publish
ing it in high priced form. Indeed the
ways Of publishers are past finding out
The sane Boston publishing house owns
the copyright of Uncle TOMS Cabin y
which expires next year. The first copy
Of this famous story, as l remember it, was
bound in paper and sold for less than fifty
cents. Cheap editions of IL now flood the
market, but question very much whether
the demand for it will be great Our civil
lization has passed it by, and the walling of
| the slave no longer Y6Xes the sentimental
ear The old play of Uncle Toms Cabin
has made fortune for several managers
and it still has q hold upon the public, but
l think it is the trained dogs, the song and
dance Topsy and the comedy of Lawyer
Marks which fascinate the populace in and
around the one-night stands, rather ttAu
sweetness of Eva.
NB. MILBANR's INTENTIONS.
Some of the newspapers of late have con-
l tanned cable references TO Mr.. H. Vane
Milbank, the professional English duelist,
who came over here recently with the
young roue, Borrowe, to carry on some
{ kind of warfare with Mr.. J. Coleman Dray.
l ton. Since returning to England, Mr.. Mil
bank, it is said, has announced publicly his
intention to return to New York soon for
the purpose Of settling his accounts with
= certain New York editors who failed TO ap-
: preciate him during his brief but somewhat
: luminous visit to this shore 1t is possible
/ that l may be one of the persons destined
o TO enjoy MIR. Milbank's ganguinary atten
g tions. When this swashbuckler turned VI
Q here as the hired bravo of debaucheC
J, young man who had broken up the family
g OF rather conspicuous citizen he nstur
q ally became an object Of interest to tbs
e newspapers In an interview with a re
. porter for the Rcc0I der he admitted that ht
:, was a terrible professional fighter, and hi
}, recounted with evident gustO a number o.
Q duels he had engaged in on account of hi
r Illicit amours in different parts OF Europe
& His whole manner was that OF a boastfu
) creature in whom there was not one laten
o germ OF gentility. The whole affair wa
q Offensive, and it seemed to me- to merit tht
Il contempt shown by eli intelligent Ameri
Il cans. The publicity which this fellow CAV
r himself entitled him TO public criticism
/ and after waiting for some tina for to-
II American public 70 express its opinion
r undertook to put it in concrete form. l an
t pleased TO know that my effort was sue
: cess in that IL received the very hearty in
:. dorsement Of that very large element o
o every community which despises ruf1an
1t ISM and blackguardism Mr.. Milbank dit
$ not manifest any displeasure so far as
4 can learn, before leaving these shores, an
q there is some surprise now that ne shCult
5, think it worth while TO cross the ocea
:. again to make war UPON the entire Ameri
d can press. For that is precisely what hi
l. proposed campaign over here means. II hi
" sensitiveness 10 newspaper criticism is q
u great as 1t appears 10 be now he will cel
n uainly extend the area of his disquietud
n by invading the United States for the pun
l. pose of correcting the policy of the NeV