The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-07-10

the Nofk OF Stephen Crane. a young
wrilef living " New York City, whose
FIRST adequately published novel, The
Red Badge Of Courage. recently took
the London literary world by storm.
and Is receiving more taFdy but no less
emphatic recognition In this country.
Genius Is a rather vague and a very
much abused work. but Il can be appro.
priatlyr ap1lied 10 ar Cranes work.
slihqish he personally objects to the
ternt writes j. II. Wclch In Leslle's
weekly. lie says that his success,
aside from literary apprenticeship Of
eight years In the field OF newspaper
writing. has been the result simply OF
intense application and mental concen-
traiiOn. Bhi whatever bis own expla-
nailon Of biz power may be- u Is GER
talnly a most unusual power, which
rarrles both the average. indlscrlmlnat.
ing reader and the keen critic along ir-
rosistlbly. Indeed the critic Is apt to
forget his vocation when The Red
Badge % Ccungev Is opened His erlti-
eisIn Is seept away By the rage Of bat
re. the screaming Of shells. the hoarse
shouts Of men. the tumult and excite
mcnt.
The young author Is but twenty-four
years old. and began 10 write for pub
llcatlon AZ the age Of sixteen. He was
born IN Newark. New jersey. Of a fam
Ily whose male members on both his
mothers and his fathers side were
chiefly Methodist clergymen His ma
fernal grandfather was Bishop Peck.
and his father was an eloquent and
successful preacher.
These. however. are not the most in
tercsting things about the author OF
1.-THE Red Badge OF Courage" Little
has been said Of the personality that
can produce such a work. Physically
Stephen Crane Is a slender young man
Of little above medium height. with
anely ohiseled but rather delicate feat
ares and a large head covered with a
iuxuriant growth Of light hair. which
falls In careless disorder over a high
forehead. The blue eyes which look
ont from beneath have a suggestion Of
WEAKNESS and even OF sadness In them
when the brain behind Is passive. hul
when II is alert and active, az In inter.
esling conversation. they light mp and
Fash with sparkling animation. Hii
eyes are a good index OF his tempera
ment.
Il can't do any sort OF work that
don't like or don't feel like doing" h
said the other day. "and I've given al
trying TO do H. When I was al schoo
few OF my studies interested me. an
as result was bad scholar The!
used to say at Syracuse University
where. hy the way. didn't finish IN
courst. that was cut out TO be
professional baseball player And IN
truth OF the matter Is that went Their
more TO play baseball than to study
was always very fond OF literature
though. / remember when ] was eigh
years old | became very much inter
eaied IN child character called.
think. Little Goodie Brighteyes. and
wrote a story then which called aftc
his fascinating little person when
vas about sixteen began 10 write 10
the New York newspapers, doing cor
rpependence from Asbury Park an
other places. Then begnn to writ
snecial nriiclcs and short stories "a
the sunday papers and one Of the M,
rary syndicaies. reading great deal /
The meantime and gradually acqulrin
style. ! decided that the nearer
writer gets 10 life the greater he b,
comes as an artist. and most OF m
prose writings have been toward N
goal partially described by that mii
understood and abused word. realism
T.H.H.H D.. fEn .aaf... I nHu.f.. r,s,rf .