St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-11-18

fordsS Music hall tonight have been
Hhened TO Poe'S. James Whitconb
t@iiey' the Hoosier poeI, whom every
one loves. has style ali his own, which
is;as CHARACTERISTIC, and which is as in
ae'ipiy Fastened upon him, perhaps. as
siiaI oI any writer IN literature; yet he
mas shown great adaptability III initial
iIg The writings of others. Some crit
les claim to find a great similarity in
some of Riley's poems TO those of Poe.
White others see in Sierley's, 1.-The
valley Of Unrest"- hook without a
Woman-a likeness 10 Foes prose
works.
In connecting Riley with Poe, there
Is story which very few people know.
Inc best students Of literature know
mat In 1876, twenty-seven years after
the death Of Poe, an obscure paper in
Indiana. the Kokomo Dispatch. pub
HShed little poem Of four stanzas.
called "Leonainie, +" Claiming it to be an
unpublished poem by Edgar Allan Poe.
IL TOOK like wiidfirp, and was copied
ana reeopied all ever the state. then all
over the United States and England.
suageS wherever Poe was known.
various critics, however, questioned
the alleged authorship of Poe. and
nefcely denounced the Dispatch for set
tIlg up such a claim, and demanded
PROOF. Among those who denounced
the Foe poem as fraud. and backed I'D
his claim by showing that there was in
In
prove 1t could not be Poe's. was James
@hltcomb Riley, then reporter
on local paper at his home in An
derSon, Ind. When "Leonainie" was
nrSt published, it was accompanied by
an editorial setting forth the fact that a
certain butcher in Kokomo Zone of the
most ouscure men that could be found)
had in his possession an Old book which
his grandfather had left him, on the
back dy-leaf of which was this poem,
Inns grandfather had been a tavern
Keeper i'll Virginia. and the family
tradition was that one summer night
young man came to the tavern and
asked for lodging. He seemed very
much distressed and downcaSt, and that
night paced the floor i'll his room till far
into the morning. When they went to
call him the next morning he was gone,
and lying OH a stand in his room was
THIS book. with the poem carefully
penned Oh the fy-ieaf and signed e.
a. P"
But little attention was paid to the
circumstances, but the book was pre-.
served. Thus the proof the critics de-
manded was the original copy on the
t1y-leat OF that book. The Dispatch
boldly responded, Come and see" and
they came from far and near. by tbe
dozens and by scores-but none were
able TO see the book. Riley was one of
those VINO ''came TO see," but when he
went ne took the book under his arm.
with the poem carefully and skilIfullv
written III diluted ink on the ffy-Ieaf in
the back-and thereby hangs the ex-
PLANTATION of the circumstance which
Riley thought at that time had ruined
him for life.
Riley had dabbled quite a little in
verse, writing for the most part under
the pseudonym OF Benjamin f. john
son." He had an idea that good work
OF an unknown writer might go IN
recognized, while very puOr ARTICLE
with good name to it would receive the
warnest reception. To prove the latter
part or his theory. he decided to get
some OF his OWN lines published. with
strong cIrcumStantIaI evidence (never
the direct assertion) to show that some
famous author had written it. Then he
selected Poe. and wrote 'sIIeonaiuie. y
1t would never do to publish it in his
own paper, so he arranged with the Dis
patch at kokomO.
He never dreamed that the matter
would ever be heard of outside of a few
adjoining counties, so when the demand
for proof came pressing in from all
over the country, he found his greatest
difficulty confronting him. At his own
home he was already accused of being
the author and the hacker of the
fraud" and he was discharged
from his position on the pa
per. The Dispatch was clam
oring to be relieved from its precarious
situation, while the old butcher could
no longer be held in line. Something
must be done. The ''originaP' couy on
the tiy-leaf must be produced. and it
was-with lar more skill and difficulty
than the copy" that was fist prepared
for the Dispatch. Riley went Ito see
the proof and carried the precious
treasure with him for the Dispatch Ito
produce" The care with which that
most eXacting study of Poe's careful
method i'll preparing copy for the press,
together with few scraps of Poe's
handwriting, would form an interesting
chapter by itself. That Original fiY-
leaf copy" is now held by }. II. Foote.
Of the firm OF Hatch o. FoOte, brokers
and bankers. New York city. having
been purchased for fancy price. The
following is the poem:
Leonaiuie-Angels named her,
And they TOOK the light
Or the laughing stars and framed her
In a smile of white;
And they made her hair OF gloomy
Midnight, and her eyes of bloomy
Moonshine, and they brought her to me-
IN a solemn night.
In solemn night of summer.
When my heart of gloom
Blossomed up to meet the conner,
Like q rose in bloom;
All forebodings that distressed me
forgot as Joy caressed me
Lying joyI that caught and pressed me
IN the arms OF DOOM
Only spoke the little lisper,
In the Angel tongue:
Yet L listening, heard her whisper,
Songs are only sung
Here below that they may grieve you{
Tales but told you 10 deceive you,
So must Leonainie leave you
While her love is young"
Then God smiled and it was morning.
Matchless and supreme:
Heavens glory seemed adjoining
Earth with its esteem.
Every heart but mine seemed gifted
With the voice OF prayer and lifted
Where my Leonaiuie drifted
From me like dream
HOW THE MONEY WENT.