The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1893-06-08
ErI00tTED
QUESTION
By Tom Rhorgan.

,4# <SS that your case is hopeless so Ions
eS19S as you stay whore you are. foI
are doing yourself injustict
eFery day you remain in that out-oi-the- worie
hole New York is The logical Mecca of the pen
worker You know. A year in the Metropolis, anf
you will be made
i can pul YOU in the way of catching on " from
the starr. For one thing, the Sunday Octopus pay'
HayerIy SO apiece for his humorous sketches
Now. / know, sub rosa. that Haverly will resigr
next month"; and am in position 10 insure you
stepping iuto his shoes if you are here on tht
ground when he vacstes them.
Then | can use q goodly quantity OF your para
graphs right along in the Sparkler, and will also
put yon IN with Dale, of Chit-chat, and oaiSes, o.
Ghe TssiiOr. Lawrence says that yoa and he can
do good bil of work In collaboration if he has you
near bim-you fit jokes 10 some Of his drawings
and he to fiji drawings 10 some of your jokes.
Now, drop everything and come On here at once
il viii be the making OF you, old man. Come
Faithfully. BIHG.
Trent, Bingham, and Lawrence had been
fellow-members in the little club Of con-
genial young grubbers in the stony fields oi
literature and art which used 10 hold Its
twice-yearly meetings up in the Middle
North 1t was poor little club, perhaps
but it started some of its members on the
way toward better things-industry, pluck,
and perseverance are not easily kept down.
Bingham and Lawrence had grayitated to
che Metropolis, the former to presently find
his place rs associate editor of the SparkLer,
a scin;illating journal of the town and the
times, and Lawrence TO begin TO be known
as an illustrator of no little promise.
I'll go!" decided Dick Trent, after re-
reading Bingham's letter.
"Bu;," protested Richard Pomeroy Trent,
mildly, if I 90 when can / ever find time
and opportunity for attempting a higher
class OF work something for the great
mag zines; the book / have planned and
dreamed over so long ,"
"My dear fellow" said Dick Trent, oracu-
larly, q the book must await the coming of
a'niore convenient season. 1t is The present
that demands consideration. Once settled
In the Metropolis, can safely count On an
income Of HIM. Let me see -
HOh, but" interp0sed Richard Pomeroy
Trent, There is something better than
working for TIE mere present. A little
measure Of fame and -
"Pshawln broke in Dick. "Famei Can
you exchange fame for groceries? Can you
pay lailor's bill with fame? And, while
you are working and waiting for fame what
happens? Seek it through the channels of
the great magazines, say. How many worthy
manuscripts meet rejection where one WINS
ACCEPTANCE? Hundreds, l presume, at a
moderate estimate. If yours is fortunate
enough TO be Of the chosen few, what then?
The majority Of the great magazines pay
upon publication-possibly within the year,
though il may not be prophesied with GER
tainty within the decade. In the meantime,
what of The author? Now, as TO the book
long dreamed over, if is said that bat one
book IN every 2l6 issued from the press
even Fcpays the publishers the cost OF the
initial edition, and only one in several
Thousands pays anything like reasonable
profit 10 its auihor.n
] do not know" returned Richard Pom
eroy, humbly, "but it seems to me that there
is some hing in authorship better than the
mere dollar"
Possibly" retorted Dick, a trife skeptic-
ally. But for the present / shall work
for the dollar. / shall 90 to New York;"
"And bid good-by TO all the fond dreams ~
asked Richard POmeroy, gently. "What of
Hope?"
Dick Trent's gaze rested on the bunch of
magnolias in the quaint, old-fashioned vase
on his desk. Their sweet soothing perfume
flied The room. Hope had placed them
there IN the morning with the dew still
giisiening in their creamy-white cups.
Corporeally Richard Pomeroy Trent and
Dick Trent were one. +" BY their works shall
ye know them" saith the Scriptures, and
Judged by that just criterion Dick and
RlchaTd Pomeroy were twain.
Richard Pomeroy Trent believed In in
spira ION, and dreamed Of living in time
- 1.
was written from the heart, and he glowed
with a tender joy when perchauce one of
these children of his fancy won a little
measure OF appreciation.
Dick Trent followed writing as a trade.
and wrought as does the carpenter, trusting
to perseverance and industry rather than TO
inspiration, preferring the tangible pieces OF
silver 10 an intangible and uncertain fame.
Inspiration be held to be good, but when the
divine aflatus came not he did his stint
with bull-hesded diligence, and felt that his
reward was justly earned. He reasoned
that a good, reliable draft-horse was OF
more yalue than a high-headed but weak
winged Pegasus.
Dick had in his composition a vein Of the
grotesqne or humorOus-guite broad i. was
which in Richard Pomeroy was narrower
and finer and ran off into the pathetic; for
humoT and pathos are near akin. they say
There is an active and remunerative demand
for humor, and SO Dick wrote paragraphs
sskits and little dialogs by the score, and
smany sketches Of about columns length
each, bordering quite markedly on horse
play. sEsch wrung laugh from the reader
and aSremittance from the publisher, and
shaying completed its mission, was forgotten.
yIhep, TOO, he wrought out stories to fit pre-
tom y Morgan was born 80 Connecticut in 1884
bet iSss bPen resident Of various portions Of the
" eel Tor nearly half s life Ia 1887 he Rrayita ed
from the editorial department of a Kansas news
pauet 3n9 the field OF fiction writing where lac
4sFsn GsltDediate recognition. Mr.. Morgan's worl;
fEfngeS from the pathetic 10 the humorous lis
stories have been feature of this paper aud find
acceptance with The besi literary markets ia tie
land But IL is perhaps ia lumor that lac has beer
most widely successful. bis sketches and para
graphs having appeared ia almost every humoron.
publication Of Eole IA the country. he is not only
a CONSTANT contributor 10 the leading comic week
lief, but lie regularly conducts humorous depart.
nnent la each Of two of lie great family sseetiies
One OF 5is best humorous sketches appeared in .
recent issue OF cur paper, under the lille OF ThS
Late Ar. sims" The above story, very true q
hature, affords but additional evidence OF ths
Hsthoi Stability as an all-aIOund writer. Mr. Nor
gan lives at Rogers, Ark,