The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1898-12-23

beard, bushy eyebrows from beneath
which CLEAN a pair of kindly blue eyes,
a soft and almost melodious voice and
an engaging smile-that is Joaquin Mil
Ter, THE Poet Of the Sierras," who is
now a guest at the Grand Pacific.
The description of the noted author
does not end with this brief picture. He
wears boots-boots which have not
troubled him by pinching or demands
Tor attention from the hotel SINNER"
He wears clothes that are comfortable
without suggesting style in the least.
He wears a shirt guiltless of cuffs and
starch, collar without dignity enough
to stand up n assert itself against his
flowing whiskers, and a black skull cap
at least two sizes too small.
NO USE FOR CURRENT STYLE.
But Joaquin Miller never did care for
style, anyhow, and if the hotel guests
cannot resist taking an inventory of
him when he visits the dining room he
is not worried sufficiently to lose his ap-
petite. Time was when the poet min
gled with lords and ladies, dukes and
duchesses, and the whole English no.
bility in London in a far more pictur-
esQue garb. He has been the guest of
the Prince of Wales, be it known, with
his trousers tucked in his boots, a
leather belt around his waist no
coat on the outside of a bright red f1an-
mel shirt.
Those were the days when Joaquin
Miller was the rage-when the wings of
his Pegasus had at last succeeded in
carrying him up the heights Of fame
into the gaze of the literary world over
the water. hat was a quarter of a GEN.
fury ago. Since h the bard of the
sierras has never been in the back
ground long enough for the public to
forget him.. He has, without any appar-
ent effort, kept himself in evidence,
sometimes by his poems, sometimes by
his actions, and at all times, in fact,
by his undisputed genius.
TO APPEAR IN VAUDEVILLE.
MI. Miller's latest call upon public
attention comes through his unique
venture as a lecturer on the vaudeville
stage. He has been lecturing for years,
for hat matter, but as far as is known
his departure from the ordinary this
time is the first of the kind. His ex-
]periences in the Klondike region last
year are to furnish him the inspiration
for his talk before the footlights, and
his well-known descriptive ability war
rants his success as an entertainer.
Most poets would shrink from the
glare of the calcium and the nightly
association with song-and-dance teams,
soubrettes, rag-time players and aero
bats. But Joaquin Miller is not built of
that kind Of stuff, it seems. Not that
he is lacking in sentiment and the true
poetic refinement, for he has these
qualities very strongly developed, but
because he is absolutely free from at
.%fectation, and is simplicity itself in his
dealings with men. He sees nothing
to be ashamed of in the contract he has
made to go on the stage, for it means
bread and butter and money in the
bank.
SAYS HE'S A HIRED MAN.
I'm a hired man." said the poet,
seated in his apartment at the Grand
Pacific among a number Of callers. I'm
engaged for 100 nights, and am glad to
be under contract. I know nothing Of
any engagements having been made
here in Chicago, my agent having full
charge OF such matters. I expect to be-
gin a tour Monday night at Elgin, my
lecture being entitled Lessons Not in
Books My mission in this lecture will
be to teach the use of as few words as
possible in the expression of thought.
We have too many words in our books.
The Bible, you know, has but 5000
words of the many thousands to be
found in the dictionaries, and every
body will admit that the style of the
bible could not be improved upon"
Joaquin Miller is getting old, but not
feeble. His fifty-seven years of un-
ceasing activity nave scanned his face
with deep wrinkles and silvered his
long beard, but he walks and talks and
acts like a man in the very prime of
HE. ne lOOhS DIS IL lie OUSHI W ACdSA
the century mark. in spite of the fact
that he has passed through enough ex-
element and hardship to put nine men
out of ten underground. His trip to
the Klondike demonstrated his wonder
full vitality, for he undertook the trip
at a season when young and hardy men
were content to stay within the limits
of civilization and comfort.
MILLER'S EARLY CAREER.
He has been a man of many sides
since he became a settler of Oregon,