The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-02-09
RILEY AS A SIGN PAINTER.
Tae Famous Poet Relates an Experience
of His Youthful Days.

TAe Famous PoeG Relates an experience
of His Youthful Days.
"Well, now, want to know about that
patent medicine peddling, " I said to James
Whitcomb Riley.
Something in my tone made him reply
quickly:
'tThat has been distorted Tt was really
a very simple matter and followed the
sign painting naturally. After the trade
episode had tried to read law with my
father, but didn It seem to get anywhere.
Forgot as diligently as 1 read. So far as
school equipment was concerned, was an
advertised idiot, so what was the use?
had a trade, but it was hardly what
wanted to do always, and my health was
bad-very bad-bad as 1 was
IA doctor here in Greenfield advised me
to travel. But how the suffering Moses
was to travel without money? 1t was
just at this time that the patent medicine
man came along. He needed man, and
argued in this way, This man is doctor,
and if l must travel, better travel with a
DOCTOR He had fine team and nice
looking lot of fellows with him, so pluck
ed up courage to ask if / couldn' t go along
and paint his advertisements for him"
Riley smiled with retrospective amuse-
ment. 81 rode out of town behind those
horses without saying goodby to any one
And though my patron wasn't diplo-
maed doctor, as l found out, he was a
mighty fine man and kind to his horses,
which was a recommendation. He was a
man of good habits, and the whole compa-
ny was made up of good, straight boys"
"How long were you with him?"
'sAbout a year. Went home with him
and was made same as one of his own fam
lily. He lived at Lima, o. My experience
with him put an idea into my head-a
business idea, for wonderland the next
year went down to Anderson and went
into partnership with q young fellow to
travel, organizing scheme of advertising
with paint, which we called The Graphic
company We had five or six young fell
lows, all musicians rs well as handy paint
ers, and we used to capture the towns with
our music. One fellow could whistle like
a nightingale, another sang like an angel,
and another played the banjo. | scuff1ed
with the violin and guitar.
'Our only dissipation was clothes. We
dressed loud. You could hear our clothes
an incalculable distance. We had an idea
it helped business. Our plan was to take
one firm of each business in town, paint
ing its advertisements on every road lead
ing into the town, go to Mooney s, land
things like that, you understand We
made good thing at it."
''How long did you do business?"
stThree or four years, and we had more
fun than anybody" He turned another
comicaI look ON me over his pinch nose
eyeglasses. "You 'veheardt this story about
my travelling all over the states as blind
sign painter. Well, that started this way:
One day we were in small town some
where, and great crowd watching us in
breathless wonder and curiosity, and one
of our party said, Riley, let me introduce
you as a blind sign painter So just for
devilmentI put on crazy look in the eyes
and pretended to be blind. They led me
carefully to the ladder and handed me my
brush and paints. 1t was great fun. I'd
hear them saying as worked, THAT Teller
amt blind Yes, he is. See his eyes.
No, he amt, tell you-he's playin off.
Il tell you he is blind. Didn't you see him
fall over a box there and spill all his
paints9'
Riley rose here and laughingly re-enact
ed the scene, and L don't wonder that the
villagers were deceived, so perfect was his
assumption of the patient, weary look of
blind person.-Hamlin Garland in Nc
Clure's Magazine.