The morning times., 1895-11-11
ON His FRIEND, GENE FIELD
Bill Nye Talks in Reminiscent
Mood of the Sweet Singer.
Some Anecdotes OF the Dead Poet
and the HumOrist's Estimate of
Him as a Writer

the Two men had friendship OF long stand
ing.
My acquaintance with Eugene Field"
said he to a Times reporter, ''is of some
eighteen years duration. 1t began when
first struck Denver, Col, which happened
TO be on the eve of st. Valentines Day.
The next morning l noticed a paragraph
in the paper, which L found had emanated
from Eugene Field, who was then writing
for the Tribune. II stated that two dis
tinguished guests were i'll town, st. Val
entine and Bill Nye-
THAT evening Field arranged supper
which was one of the most pleasant thingsi
remember. Being newspaper men, we sat
down TO table rather late, about eleven or
twelve O'Clock, but We didn't leave the
board until the guests or the hotel began
coming i'll for breakfast, which was about
eight O'Clock. The reason We tarried so
long was not because we were not IN "a
condition to leave sooner, oh no, but be-
cause the flow of humorous anecdotes ana
"Reminiscences, did not Tor one Hloiicht
atate. Field was tue life OF the party his
drolscries, his ineShaustibIe fund OF stories,
his ludicrous mimicry, are something
shall not soon forget .
His was not a nature to hedge itself
about with wall of reserve when conpafa-
tive strangers were present he was per
fectly unassunIiny and natural TO everybody.
Nobody could call him prig or cad.
The personal mag gnetism OF TIE man was one
of his most remarkable characteristics
Wherever you saw linn there WAS ai"hs'
a crowd of people standing around hiih'
with their heads as close together as they
could get, trying to catch every word that
fell from his lips.
.Some eight years after our first meet
ing. Field, James Whitcornb Riley ana
tad pnfnTtHtnfIlent Ut
Indianapolis. Field had come over TO hclp
us as a matter of accomm odation, ana q
great help he was. The house was packeu
and II was just such an audience as nat
TO see; the seal skins and diamonds went up
IN the galleries Everything we salu went
and we all three were happy unti sprung
little joke on Field.
Gene had brought his dress suit along
with him. bat he hadn't unpacllc,i II smceh ne
was married, and consequently when he took
if out there was n map OF North America on
the back of the coat, which the hoths Hah
made. He was in quite quandary put
finally succeeded in borrowing coat lIoii4
his brotherin-iaw. / came on the Stage
first and took occasion to tell the auuffice
that the reason / had to hurry out pretty
soon was that Mr.. Field was waiting be-
hind the scenes for my dress coat, as ne hah
none of has own. so when he should COME out
with a coat like mine they would under
stand 1t.
the audience enjoyed the joke, bat
there WAS enough truth in IL to make
Field vince a little So tie sYorc he would
get even with me. An opportunity cidn
present itself for a year or two until
one night when Riley and / were going
TO give an entertainment in Bloomfield,
ohio Field came down there and said to
Riley that he owed me one and proposed
TO settle the debt. Afu,r going TO every
cigar store in town he iinaily secured soinc
Ioaded cigars. He then came up t. my room
where | was dressing, entered the room
smoking and offered me cigar.
II declined. saying that smoke dried
my thEoat and | thought would want
until after the show
.'sOh take one now, he said, and in
sisted so that / yielded. though l ought
to have suspected something by that
time.
II had taken few puffs and was hold
ing the cigar from me, as | am holding
this one. when IL went Off with a hiss
cody lighted the stump again and went
on smoking. He was so completely
knocked out by the failure OF his Joke
that he didn't say anything for moment,
then he grasped my hand and said
".Sye. your behavior on this occasion
is So Christ-.ike those were his words
that wish To give you all these cigars
and he gave me- handful
There is i seqati TO the story OF whirh
James WhiltonlD kley-wa the victim.
| put these cigars in my pocket ana didn'I
think OF thea any more FOR several months.
One night as 1 was goiag to the readIng
winch Riley anu / were giving to'5k tkvm
out uf my pocket aud threw them on the
table. After the show Riley hurried back
to our room u get oat Of ms dresS salt and
make h imseif comfort ble, a : h-al wa IS liked
TO do. When he gets an Old coat oG lie likes
to sit down and smoke, and he Is not par
ticular whose cigars they are. This time he
got hold one OF my doctorcd fellows, and
when 1 came in few minutes later in
company with several newspaper men Riley
was putting away complacent!y enough.
Ina few minutcs The thing exploded with
a bang: il mast have been an overdose OF
powder, anc Riley, who is very nervous,
Jumped about three feet off the floor and
hurled the wreck of his cigar out OF the
window. All he said was: yer | as
sar,d him hadn't Intended TO play prdc-
teal joke on him. / never play practical
jokes, and he believed me, bit / am sure
those ne wspaper men viii 60 to their graves
thinking that | fixed those things up for
Riley.
..Going back to Field. l remember a
very humorous recitation lie had called
the Waterbury Watch The poetry WAS
all his own and so was the watch. The
latter he had made to order, and ii was
so constructed that the winding of it could
be heard block away. and when he came
to the refrain wind. wind, and wind, and
wind he would twist this ratchet wheel
to the great amusement OF the audience. l
have a photograph at home of Field wind
ing this watch while Riley and are stand
ing by seeing it well done / came across
that picture the other day and thought
how we had all changed since it was Ia ken.
At that time Field and / weighed the same
to a pound and could wear each others
clothes. / have grown stouter, Field
thinner, and also much balder. though of
course he didn't keep up with me in that
respect. Riley, perhaps, has changed less
than either"
Can you institute sny comparison be-
tween Riley and Field?''
well, | wouldn't like to compare them.
They were very different. Both, of course.
are eminent in their way. The difference
between them was as great personally as
1t was in their writings. Very few men
have written as characteristically as Field
wrote. His, writings faithfully and con-
sistently reflect the huinor OF the man,
the light -heartedness of his disposition,
the fresh boyishneSs that fingered with him
till his death. The Influence of his presence
was like a beuediction to his friends, and
it win be long before we look upon his
like again"