The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1897-01-02
N sai ut must be q great pleasure to

sai L must be q great pleasure to
& write for children.
S Indeed, it is" replied Mr.. Harris, Il
4 enjoyed the writing of the Uncle Remus'
\ stories. It was not hard work, and be-
Y lieve got as much fun out Of their con-
Yersation as the children seemed to get
from hearing them read. l could see
Z how the children liked them, but 1t has
always been wonder to me that grown
UP people..read them with interest. In
fact, today I rather question the veracity
or. the sanity Of the man who tells me
he is fond of Uncle Remus.
when did you tell your first Uncle
.Remus' story, Mr. Harris?" asked.
"It was in 1S7S," was the reply; 'just
about eighteen years ago. was writing
for the Atlanta Constitution. l had be-
gun my newspaper work, you know, as
a boy of twelve, when l left home to
learn to- set.type for rich planter, who
was publishing little paper of his own
near our country town in Georgia. ] had
risen from the typesetting case to the ed
itorial desk. and had had some expert
ence in connection with the newspapers
of Savannah and other places. and now
was employed upon the Constitution
writing editorials, little stories and such
other matter as seemed interes ing to me-
wrote the first Uncle Remus' sketch for
the Sunday paper, and handed it to the
printers. not deeming it of special value.
1t was published, and was copied into
other papers My friends spoks to me
about it, and I was urged to write more.
Among the papers which copied the ar
ticle was the New York Evening Post,
This surprised me, as the Post, you
know, is a very sedate paper, and it
seems to keep as far as possible from the
frivolous Well; T. wrote more OF the
sketches. They were also quoted and
within short time Uncle Remus' and
his tales became regular feature of my
work"
when were the Uncle Re1nus' stories
first published in hook form?"
.It was in 1880. The Appletons then
=
published the book entitled Uncle Re-
mus, His Songs and His Sayings. The
book was we'll reviewed by the press, and
the Saturday Review. of London, gave it
a page This started it we'll in America.
The Boston papers followed with good
reviews, and was surprised to see that
It was everywhere fairly we'll spoken of. :"
"You must have b. been delighted"
said I. ..,-.,... .
81 was" replied Uncle Remus." "And
T was little scared, too. The surprise
was so great that I did not know what
to make. uf. IT.
Chow did the book SELF"
1T had.auite a large circulation" re-
piled Mr. Harris. 81 wrote, you know,
several more along the same lines, and
they all have steady sale, both in Eng
land and the United States"
where did Uncle Remus' come from,
Mr.. Harris?" said l.
"He was born, think, at my home in
Putnam county, Ca" was the reply.
''But Mr. Harris, tell me, did he ever
really exist. in the flesh, or is he simply
the creation of your fancy?" ..- .-
Both replied Mr.~Harris. "The I'm
Gle Remus'. Of my stories is composite
of three or four old negroes, whom
knew as boy. L have combined them
and perhaps have added something to
them. But the Uncle Remus' of fiction
is chiefly made up from them"
AL suppose he really exists as an indi-
yiduality in your mind" said I.
eyes, indeed" replied Mr.. Harris, Il
can see him before my eyes as plainly as
I see you know him; can hear him
talk, and his voice rings In my ears as
WRITE ..e,. s-
"But, Mr.. Harris, are the stories those
which are really told on the plantations
by the darkies, or are they made up of
whole cloth ?'','
"rrhey are in most cases the stories of
plantations" replied MIR. Harris. "They
are the FOLKLORE OF the negro. Isuppose
many of them have come down through
the ages IrOlU Africa J. an LOlU tudt
some of them are almost the same ps
; the stories OF the FOLKLORE of India"
"Why is it, Mr.. Harris, that oBrer Rab-
bit is generally the hero Of these tales?
why do the negroes pick him sout as the
most intelligent and cunning Of the ami
mals?"
~ don't know" was the reply. 'The
fact is, the rabbit has low rather than
high degree Of animal intelligence. The
hero of many of the folklore stories of
the Orientals is the hyena, which, you
know, is the meanest of beasts
"But you have not@written any Uncle
Remus' stories for some years, Mr.. Har-
ris."
"No, am done writing them. Uncle
Remus' has finished his storytelling.
He has posed before the public for more
than fifteen years, and it is time now that
he stepped down ond out. You may say,
in short, that Uncle Remus' is dead"
"But you 90 not intend to stop writing.
Mr.. Harris?"
''No, indeed. was, the reply. IT shall
write, suppose, as long as live. l have