Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-12-27
A BIOGRAPHY MILL.
A QUEER INDUSTRY THAT is IN A
FlouRIsHINe CONDITION..



Is condueted--some Specimen Letters
Written BY tho Trade Agents.
Of the numerous trades tho followers Of
which depend for their livelihood upon
INC FOLLY, vanity and snobbishncss Of their
icllow iuon one OF tho simplest and not
least remunoratiyoi Is TINT Of thu biography
manufacturer. To succeed IN this branch
OF business II Is necessary TO possess q GER
tain knowledge OF mankind, considerable
tnct nnd, above all, groat deal OF assur-
nncc.
There nre various ways Of conducting
TINS business. onoof tho commoncst ~ by
means Of the circular letter. This, which
Is scnt by tho biography manufacturer TO
any likely victim. announces TINT Messrs.
so-nnd'so will shortly publish blograph.
ieal cycloredia. and that, as tho work
would be very incomplete n 1t omitted to
mention the addrcssee, tho publishers
would DO much obliged to him II he would
furnish them with his biography at an
early date. To this is usually added tbas
no Charge whatever is made for printing
the biography but we aro very anx-
ious, - tho letter goes on to say, ito secure
your portrait, the cost Of which will bs
-" The price varies considerably, ac-
oording TO Its slxc, tho status of tho bioV.
raphy factory, etc, The letter generally
concludes by saying that "your orders and
those of rs many Of your friends rs posi-
bio for the complete work are solicited"
Sometimes the biography Is written by
friend; but, N ho IL n good friend, the ro-
suit Is generally much the same as II 10
had been written by the subject himself.
| The following extract from tho life Of
| A. L., poet, as submitted to blog.
ranhy factory, will serve TO Illustrate this;
His many slded nature Is illustrated
| by the following lnoldout: Ono morning
he went to New York to give his foreman
and workman soma instructions IN carry
ing out contract for building crcosotc
factory IN lohokun. In the afternoon tho
Poets club gave him reception, and his
latest epic was tho topic Of discussion. Lat
or no went to Shccpshcad Bay to SEQ his
famous stoopleehaser Buccphalus engage
III u race thurc. In tho evening ho lecturod
OH Folklore before select literary ou-
dicnec and altorwArd before the - Attn
letic club, he whipped the champion ANA
tour pugilst OF tho world"
Sometimes tho autobioprnpher cnacnvors
to convoy tho Impression TINT tho litc was
written by another Here is q verbatim
copy Of such biography; - - - was
born In Portland, Ne, Jan. Q, 1864. Ills
fathers name Is John p. Ericsson; by trade
no WAS blacksmith, left there when
was 81 years old. went 90 school until |
was 10 years Old, and taught school md
did clerical work until was 81 years old,
aud then | came west TO knnsHs TO work
at my fathers trade. = For the past
ilyc years Of my life have taken PAtOuts
nud DcyclODcd them. took out pntCt
ave years ago II was a machine that tlune
away with typrsettinR. l got mar
ricd in 1870 to Mary L. Jones we have
two children"
To this the agent considerably added
II suppose you can write tho above from
these dHti
Most autUbiorraphers attach the utmost
Importance 10 every detail that relntos
either TO themselves, their fumily connec
tions or their friends. One OF these, for In
stance describes at length tho illness u
his daughter and concludes with, "Ot
Jan. Z this beautiful girl loft her iathcr''
handsome residence ON pnlisado nvonu'
for heaven''-'h or fathers handsome resi-
donco on Palisadc avenue" being carefully
inserted In the original statement, show
ing 1t TO have been an aiterthought thn
tho reader might bc impressed with III
dosiralilliy Of both ends OF tho route dc
scrlbol.
Modosty is not ono OF the autohloRra
piers characteristics. Aftor many page
relative TO his achievements, both In gon
ornl and In particular, but mostly In partlc
ulnr, Florida physician asked his biog
rnphers to tell THO world whit ! hnNl
dunol" a dentist thus ohronlolod III
work. "Sinco removing 10 Dakota, DIR
| It,u "A gnrias af hVilllun
successes" Twenty pages devoted 10 tb
achievements, ancestry, personal appear
nncc, etc, Of wholesale grocer wound NJ
with tho credible statement, MIR. Soap
andstarch Is modest man." That th
agent Is tho prime cause Of biography fac
tory success isproyed by tho following lot
Tors. In each instance tho agents lette
was accompanied by bulky autobiograph.
from tho subject"
Messta g. Cot
GIsTs-I send you the blogs Of Mr.. an
Mrs. under separate cover. have bee
working OH Mr. Walker for u 1900 order eve
since have been In this city, but have not yo
secured it, He Is very wealthy and full 0
conceit, Judging from tho biogs. he had copie
from different publications and from what
have Observed. but hts leg has been pulled un
nj IL got soar (scl, and now II IN hard TO sc
his namo down again, He said he wanted .
see how we will write his and his wifc'H Dloes
before he will do anything ! think IL Wi
nav Won 20 write those two biogs. ut once an
Give th,m all the Hattery possible. You car
not give them too much Write them extei
s.yely, and after have the orders you can Gu
Thorn down 10 suit yourselves. Both Mr. an
Mrs. - said that NIL the biogs. that hay
ben written about them don't do thom !u'
tic, NJ all. They imagine that they arc u
greatest pconlu In the state. Write above ID
biors. that Il 10 written by the editor in chiei
because told them that would have tn
Liogs. written by cur editor in chief, and tina
he Is a great historian ard only writes th
biors Of great value. You'd better write
letter 10 me, saying that the editorial stu
nav. decided that Mr.. md Mrs. WALKER ar
entitled TO full pago portrait, and that IL
H willing to pay for q you will publish IT, 90
called ON General -. and he said that
don't want the books in his library. and tha
h. will not pay more than SIS for making TIN
ID portrait He says that he IN conneete
with publishing b use, and that he know
exactly what IL costs to make such portrait
Yours truly, -
GEsTs-Wiitc the incloscd biog. In gran
style and send It TO me right on. IL mean
no II succccd In securing his order writ
n Let,.t 10 me- siatlng that the editorial stu
has cro.d.d that Dr. - Is entitled TO iul
page portfuit Yours truly. -.
New York Sun.