The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-04-05


est. most affable men | have ever had
the pleasure of knowing. We form our
| own ideas of those who interest us by
their works, and | believe the general
impression of his countless readers who
have never seen him Is that he is Of
| very small stature. ON the contrary,
the Brownie man. is over six feet, two
| inches in height. He has a smiling
pleasant face. with frank, blue eyes
| and dropping moustache which one
enthusiastic little girl, who saw his
| photograph. has declared "is the love
lest in the world" Some fifty years
ago the author of the brownies was
born on a farm near CRANKY, Canada
Mr.. Cox is a religious man, and de-
vout Episcopalean.
when | think it over" he has said
to me, lit seems strange that l. rough
| farm boy, with only the piainest kind
| of an education, and very few advan-
| tages. should one day have a story to
| tell to which the whole world would lis
ten" There is no egotism in these
words, for, to those acquainted with
him, Mr.. Cox is utterly devoid of all
| conceit. In his creation Of the Brown
| lNH, iF if5eAlbS IllHlSGlA HlIlDiy
instrument in Gods hands.
His Start in Life.
Mr.. CoX's mother died when he was
| very young and his father married
again. His second wife was of Irish
| descent, with a rich stock of fairy-lore.
To amuse her step-children, she told
| them stories in which goblins, pixies,
| and brownies, and other fdiry-crea-
lures figured. The ones the boy Palmer
| Cox liked to hear the most concerned
the brownies. and he thought a great
deal about them, and even dreamed of
| them at night. At school he tried to
draw pictures of them on his slate and
in the fly-leaves of his books He was
| passiOnatly fond of drawing, and, even
as a child, he longed to be an artist.
| But, when he grew up, there was the
battle of life before him. Mr.. Cox
| drifted out, like many another, to the
golden land of promise California,
where he engaged in the railroad busl-
| ness. In his moments of leisure he con-
tributed to the San Francisco press
without remuneration.
Though successful in his occupation,
his old boyish longing to be an artist
was stronger in him than ever Final
ly an unfortunate investment swept all
that he had saved away, and he re-
| solved upon a bold stroke. He decided
to go to New York to engage in liter
ary and artistic pursuits. 'It was a
good thing that I lost all that money"
Mr.. Cox has since declared. "If I had
not I should probably be in California
to this day engaged in the railroad
business, and The Brownies" would
never have been written"
Origin of the Brownies.
From the first Mr.. Cox was success
full in New York. The idea of "The
| Brownies re-occurred to him one Oc-
| tober night, some years ago. He wrote
the first rhymed story about them,
which he called 1.-THE Brownies
Ride" in one evening, and afterwards
drew with pen and ink the pictures for
it. He invariably draws all his pic
lures and writes all his own verse. The
brownie figures are his distinct inVen-
tiOn. when l sent the first story and
pictures to st. Nicholas" Mr.. Cox has
said to me- Il told a friend / believed
there was something that would not
die" Subsequent events have proved
that he was right.
When the contribution appeared in
| ST. Nicholas, it met with instant popu-
| larity. Letters came pouring in upon
| the editor from all sides for more of
| the same sort. The result is that,
| though Mr. Cox at first did general
| literary and art work, he has never
| done anything but draw brownies, and
write verses about them, ever since.
| The first brownie story appeared about
| fourteen years ago. and they were
never more popular than they are at
present. They are to be found in all
| sorts of mercantile goods. such as sta
| tionery, scarf pins, handkerchiefs,
dolls. rugs, wall paper, etc, and from
| the sale Of these Mr.. Cox derives q
handsome royalty. His income from
''The Brownies" is a very large one. Not
| long ago he was at a dinner in Brook
| lyn, where ices were served in the
| shapes of various brownies The dude
| fell to Mr. Cox's lot and, though it
may seem horrible to relate, he de-
| voured him like a cannlbal. In doing
so, he first dismembered the dude with
brownie souvenir spoon.
| ANOut inc brownie PIay.
A number of well known managers
spoke to Mr.. Cox about the great value
of "The Brownies" for dramatic pur-
poses. Finally, in response to the general
demand, he decided to put them on the
stage. He honored me by choosing me
as his colloborator, my special province
being to supply the music for his text.
Our work was finally completed, after
q years hard labor. The spectacle
was of such an elaborate scenic nature,
and necessitated the investment of such
a large fortune, that 1t was enough to
cause the most reckless manager to
hesitate before embarking in the enter
prise. c. =. Jefferson, Klaw & En-
langer, the well known theatrical firm,
decided promptly to produce it.
1t took a great deal more money than
either they or Mr. Cox and myself at
first thought to realize It's magnificent
possibilities. "The Brownies was first
presented at the Park theater, in Phia-
delphla, where it met with instant sue
cess. Since then it has been witnessed
| by enormous crowds, and It's business
has been the largest of any theatrical
company now travelling. In New
Haven recently, a city of $4,000, over
22, 900 people saw 1t in one week, and
the actual receipts were $10,355.75. The
attraction Is In such demand that in
many cases c. B. Jefferson, Klaw &
Erlanger, its owners. exact guarantee
from local managers. In order to Sc