Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-02-13
A GREAT OLD MAN.
A CHAT WITH JULES VERNE, THE
IMAGINATIVE FRENCH WRITER.
YIRILE AND VERSATILE is He.
All His Wonderful Works Are
Thought Out in the seclusion OF
His Library mt Amiens-His steady
Habits.
ocorresnondence OF the pIspatch)

Correspondence of the Dispatch)
PARIS. February III have just re-
turned from Amiens. where have sue
ceeded In obtaining what many have
sought in vain, a most interesting inter-
view with Jules Verne, the popular no
velist l was received in a most cordial
manner by the novelist, who lives with
Madame Verne in a splendid house in the
Rue Charles Dubois. In answer 10 my
request that he tell me something re-
gardlng his daily life and literary HABITS
the veteran novelist replied:
81 have long ceased to have any desire
TO revisit Paris. 1 have grown to love
the clear, mild, salubrious air OF Amiens'
and at my advanced age, for" added the
novelist, gravely, II have approached
very near TO the three score years and
ten. a man is glad to get away from the
whirl of n big city and seek rest from the
turmoil OF life amid quieter surroundings
81 suppose l should go back 70 my
earlier life in order to tell you the story
in proper sequence. Ny first recollection
of writing anything was when, as stu
dent in Brittany, / perpetrated half a
dozen tragedies, or, in other words, wrote
them. and then being possessed with the
idea that / was budding young genius,
J for whose talents Brittany offered TOO
little scope / packed my valise and
started for Paris.
Here. fortunately for me, i met a
friend in tho elder Dumas. L wrote a
play in collaboration with Dumas Fills,
which attracted little notice; composed
I'm Drame dams les Aris,' which attract
ed some attention, and then achieved my
first great success with my Sing Semaines
en- Balloon
HIS FIRST SUCCESS.
"The popularity of this production in
| toxicated me- L expected to become a
new Balzao within a week, and had IL not
been for the paternal advice or my pub
Usher. the elder Hetzel, 1 might have
gone astray completely in the literary
world. He advised me TO stick steadily
TO the line Of the mysterious and ad-
venturous. / am glad l took his advice
| OF my seventy-six books / leave the
world to speak.
"You ask about my habits. They are
simple. / am up with the lark every
morning and do my best work soon after
| L
when. after luncheon. l go to reading
room in the town and look over the news
papers. except on the days when 1 at
tend the municipal Council, of which
am a member. In the afternoon l wori
again. finishing up for the day at about
| o'clock. when dine with Madame Verne
In the evening take my ease as coun
| FRY gentleman should, resting luxurianti,
In NV home. Occasionally i so TO th'
theatre, but not often.
NOT A SPOFDr.
T have no extravagant habits, neithe
am I sportily inclined" continued thu
novelist. 1T once owned a yacht anC
sailed the Channel and the Mediterran
can. but I never saw any OF the scene
described in my Around the World II
Tirhtv DAYS / neither hunt, shoot, o
fish. although did have little adven
ture with q gun on one occasion. whe
aimed at q duck and succeeded II
lodging the entire charge or shot IN
noliceman's hat. My Nimrod days die
with that unfortunate shot. / have ha
no desire to go hunting since.
at am quite content TO sit at home ]
tbe ouiet of my study and learn all abou
those countries concerning which
write sron the volumes on my librar
shelf. Some novelists think 1t absolutel
| impossible 10 Write ABOUT pdrucuia
Mace without going there first in orde
TO study it's local color. 1t Is probsoI
advantageous to DO so, put IL woula pu'
~ia writer to find a means Of obtaif
ing such help in writing a romance Q
the ocean. such as my Twenty Thousan
Ssasues under the Sea- or my 'Voyag,
from the Earth TO the Moon
"a little thing suggests TO me a gre.
! story. Thus the Tour OF the world
Eighty Days was suggested WINE ,, va
!, ossnts when the idea bad once bee
r~r,' a. was an easy thing for the stoi
30 develop. I had 10 study the chara
, tor,st,cs ana geography OF the countri'
, ssro',Sb which l TOOK my voyaeers, ar
Construct en,v the story around them. SO
> r. with many of the IDEAS that come ,:,,
4 me. They are sugges.ea os syn 49,
simple thing like that ] have refsEssa !