Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1895-07-12
PROFIT IN WRITING.
mere Is Much for Famous Men
VINO Care to Weld tho Pen.

"e politicians. finanoIers and Lit
'ersteurs Who Have Be.n Offered
ana Paid BIG Price. for
Their Work
mere are number ~ men who have
no reputation as writers who would lu,
aole 10 command n alnins. any tlrnr
hieher rates for magazine or nr,vspa-
Yer articles than almost any 81 thos,
-'''era'eurs who have gained fame by
Jason OF their writings. Mr.. James
H. heene, who is well known as one Of
tne most successful and picturcsqu, ~
those men who deal in Wall street in
New York city, has been many times
asked TO write over his own signature
upon any topic which he chns.. and t.
name his own price, which would
'heeriully be paid. A. Mr.. kecne
sometimes has found his fortune ap-
P'eclate as much a. 500. 900 in single
DAY II is easy to see that if he charged
for such service in proportion To his
earning capacity he would receive an
almost fabulous sum for an article from
-'ooo TO 5000 words in length.
Inc only occasion since those early
days OF his poverty. " len he made his
living as newspape. writer, that MIR.
heene overcame his isinclination to
write was in the sum ner of 1877, just
after he had held at nay an army If
wall street speculatprs. having sus-
tanned the market single handed for
an entire day, backed by gold which
his California friends cent to him. and
thereby unquestionably prevented such
panic as this country has not seen,
excepting possibly in 1851 and 1873.
The strain upon his nervous system
OF thus maintaining the market against
the combined assault of frightened in
vestors and spectators was so great
that few days after Mr.. Keene was
stricken with an illness which threat
ened to develop into paralysis Of the
brain. He was removed to Long
Branch as soon as it was possible to
lift him from his bed, and there, after
some difficulty and through the Offices
OF the late Sam Ward, Mr.. Keene con-
sented to dictate an interview for pub
LEGATION. =.
At that time Mr.. Ward was enter
tanning his nephew, F. Marion Craw-
ford, and had been SO highly pleased
with story which Mr.. Crawford told
him OF an experience in India that he
advised the young man to write it out
and that he would see that it found
publisher, and thus it was that the
story which made Marion Crawford
famous, "Mr. Isaacs," came to be writ
ten and printed and Crawford's career
determined.
Mr.. Keene was greatly interested in
Mr.. Wards narration to him Of this
tale, which had not been printed, and
he told Mr.. Ward some of the early
California experiences Of his which
seemed quite as marvellous as did the
story of Mr.. Isaacs. and it was then
that Mr.. Ward said to him: "Mr.
Keene, if you were not q great specu-
2ator you might become a great novel
ist."
Mr.. Keene finally received the repre-
sentative of one of the New York news
papers. He lay upon his bed, which
was in quiet room of one of the Long
Branch hotels. The room was very
simply furnished, and it seemed impos-
sible to believe that the man who lay
there content apparently with the al
most humble surroundings Of this ten
by twelve room was able, if he chose,
to buy the hotel and good deal of the
adjacent property without materially
affecting his pocketbook.
He began slowly to dictate. It
sse.'ed as though he weighed every
word. He frequently changed a word
in order to put in its place another
which would more clearly express his
meaning. When a sentence or a para
graph had been written down Mr..
Keene would ask to have it read over,
and when this was done he repeated it
several times, his patience and care be-
ing quite as great as characterized
Ruskin or Russell Lowell when they
were engaged in prose composition.
Thus for five hours this great fnan-
cier lay there composing and debating
this article. The mental strain was
exhaustive both upon Mr.. Ward, who
was present, and upon the newspaper
reporter. Once during the interview
q telegram was brought to Mr.. Keene
from the hotel Office. He opened it,
read it and tossed it upon the table
with no more concern than though it
had announced q most trivial matter to
him.
This article appeared the following
day in print. 1t was the sensational
publication Of the month. 1t was re-
published either in whole or part in a
great number Of newspapers. 1t com
manded attention not only from finan-
ciers, to whom every word uttered by
Mr.. Keene then and since upon finan-
cial matters was received with absorb
ing interest, but it also made a deep
impression upon literary men on &C.
count Of the singular purity Of its
English and the lucidity and felicity
Of its style.
The editor Of the paper in which the
article appeared would gladly have
sent Mr.. Keene q check for s., 500 for
it, but the great fnancier did not and
would not write for pay. He earned q
fortune while he was debating that
article, for the telegram which he re-
ceived announced that q sudden ap-
precistion that day in line Of stocks
held by Mr.. Keene was SO great that if
he chose to sell his profits would be
Ex-Speaker Reed has only recently
been tempted to write, and for his
writings he has received q price quite
as large as the handsome sum once
paid Mr.. Gladstone by an American
publisher for . magazine article. Gov.
Mckinley was offered 81, 900 for a 1000
word article; Gov. Russell, of Massa-
chusetts, a sum almost as large, but
for a little longer article. Secretary
Carlisle, if he could find time to write,
could materially increase his income
by SO doing, and there is not one of the
more prominent politicians and finan-
ciers who could not more than match
the earnings of some of the greatest OF
the itterateurs, provided only they
were willing to accept offers which
have been made to them.