Evening star., 1896-12-19

ful row a forty-five than he was as a
boy. and l doubt whether he knows any
woman very intimately except mis- wife.
He 5. you know, a newspaper man well
an author. He Is connected with the
AtlcIJa Constitution. and for years ne
dId his editorial work at the office of the
paper. Now he does it all at home. Stree
he became famous the female curiosity
seekers from the north. in passing through
Atlanta. have attempted to call and visit
him. When they entered his room his
tongue seemed to cling TO the roof OF his
mouth ara at last TO get rid of them, he
traT sferred his work to his home. He never
gees into society; seldom attends the the
ater, and his delight is III his work and III
his home
Where "Unclc Remus' Lives.
The house of Uncle Remus'' is an ideal
one. 1t is rambling Queen Ann cot
tage. containing about nine rooms all of
which are on one floor Below this there
is basement and above it an attic. and
about II runs a vine-covered porch big
enough to hold ''Brer Rabbit and all his
friends, should they happen to call 1t
Is In one OF the prettiest suburbs of At
Idnta- and still 1t has big enough yard
TO make it sort of a country estate as
well as city home. 1t contains more
than five acres of land and it's surround
ings are those Of farm: We walked
back through the fields before we entered
the house to look at the donkes which the
young Harris children ride and to pat the
two beautiful yellow Jersey cows which
are among Mrs. Harris pets. There is
big chicken yard just back of the
house. ard lot of brother and sister
chickens were running to and fro as we
looked through the netting. Uncle Remus"
tock an almost childish delight In showing
me his possessions. He pointed out mis-
big strawberry bed, where he raises the
most luscious fruit. and told me how his
asparagus was ready for the table at the
nf oil oil kx;-
flowers and spent some time in admiring
his roses, which, though 1t was then al
most winter, were still blooming. He
has. / venture. more than one hundred
In his garden sIxty-seven different va
rieties. He said he would have a thou
sand II he were rich enough, and as 1 saw
him handle the flowers l could see that
he loved them.
We sat moment on the porch and then
entered the wide hall, which runs through
the house and into which the living rooms
open At the back IS the parlor, and at
the left the sitting room and work shop.
There is nothing of the machinery of a
newspaper editor or literary man to be
seen u ncle Remus'' uses bat few books
In his wcrk. A pencil and a few strips
or blank printing paper are all that are
needed TO make the Uncle Remus'' .tCries
Mr. Harris handles these and with his
short stub pencil touches the hearts and
tICkl~s the sides of millions He does his
writing with his family about him and
his best stories have been written with a
baby a his elbow.
How "Uncle Remus'' Was Written.
Mr.. Harris IS fond of children. He has
been told thousands of times how fond the
children are OF him. but when l told him
that my boy Jack knew his Uncle Rernus''
stories by heart. and that my little girl
was "a love with ''Brer Rabbit" and ..Brer
Fox he seemed pleased and I said: 1T
must be a great pleasure TO write for chill
dren.
Indeed. il is" replied Mr. Harris II
enjoyed the writing OF the Uncle Remus-
stories. II was not hard work and / he
heve l got as much fun out of their CON
Eersauon as the children seemed to get
from hearing them read. I could SEQ how,
the children liked them, but it has always
been wonder to me that grown-up peonIe
READ them with interest In fact. today
rather question the veracity or the sanity
of the man who tells me he is fond of
Uncle Remus.' "
"Brer Rabbit's' First Appearance.
When did you tell your first Uncle
Remus story. Mr.. Harris?' I asked.
1T was in 1878" was the reply: "iust
about eighteen years ago. j was writing
for the Atlanta Constitution I had hee,,n
my newspaper work, you know az a boy OF
twelve. when / left home to learn 10 Sc,
type for a rich planter. who was publish
ing a little paper of his own near our conn
try town In Georgia | had risen from the
typesetting case to the editorial desk and
had had some experience In connection with
the newspapers OF Savannah and Other
places, and now l was employed upon the
Constitution writing editorials, little stories
and such other matter as seemed interest.
ing TO me. l wrote the first Uncle Remus
sketch for the Sunday paper. and handed
II TO the printers. not deeming II of special
value. 1t was published and was copied
into other papers. Ny friends spoke to me
about II, and ] was urged to write more
Among the papers which copied the article
was the New York Evening Post. This