The times., 1898-08-14

/ HOuBtS tHty nave III preparation an
| authorized Life and Letters Of Eugene
| Field. The work is being done by Sla-
son Thompson, well known in the .Chica-
go newspaper world, and for many years
| a professional associate and close person.
| al friend of Field. He will have the zeal
| Gus cooperation of the members of Mr.
| Fields family, and, desiring to make the
work complete and final, as to letters as
well as in other respects the Messrs
Sc-lbner and Mr.. Thompson ask that per-
| sons VINO may have any of Mr.. Fields
| letters or drawings will send them to Mr.
| Thompson in Chicago for use in his work
Those who have read with interest Rich
| ard Harding Davis Soldiers of For
tune will be interested to know that al
| though the scene is ostensibly laid in
| South America, Mr.. Davis is really de-
scribing Cuba, and that the capital of
blanche is Santiago de Cuba. Mr.. Lang
hams mines are those al Juragua. When
he was a boy MIR. Davis spent two years
at Santiago with a friend, and the infor-
| nation which he gained at that time he
has put into his book
There is another little story connected
! with Mr.. Davis zeal for realism, which
| has never been printed. 1t has to do with
| one OF his earlier stories in which he in
| troduces a young maiden, who, disap-
pointed in love affair, tries to soothe
her wounded feelings the orthodox
| way by going to work in a mission set
| tlement. Coming home one night from
| a charitable expedition, she is attacked
| by young toughs, and rescued by. Mr. Van
! Bibber. The story ends in her complete
! and abject surrender to the lover whom
| sh0 has mistakenly dismissed earlier in
/ the game. The inside history of this tale
| Is as follows; There was a young lady in
! npl 1
to snub Mr.. Davis rather pointedly, and
| he took his revenge by writing this story
ABOUT her, and using her real name The
young lady naturally did not like to see
| herself talked of by name in the fiction
| department of a leading magazine, but
she did not argue the question. But ven
| geance descended upon the young man
from another quarter The mission set
tlement had also been described by name
and Mr.. Davis had given the Impression
! that 1t was dangerous for girls 10 work
| there, which was very far from the
| truth. Such an adventure as he described
could no more have happened in the To-
| cality which he described than in a New
| York drawing-room. The mission work
ers found that this piece Of fiction was
causing much worry to the people who al
| lowed their daughters to work in the mis-
sion. Two Of them happened to have
| some influence with Mr.. Davis publish
| ers, and they went and told the whole
| story, with the result that the youthful
romancer was summarily called down.
and ii IS not thought that he has ever put
| a heroine's real name into a study of New
York life since that time.
Edward Marshall the New York Jour
nal correspondent, who was wounded on
the field at Siboney, was secretary of the
| New York Tenement House Commission
of 1894 He was then employed on the
| staff of the Press. On investigation 1t
has been discovered, through the chair
man Of the commission, that II was Mr..
| Marshall who procured the passage of the
| law under which the commission was en-
powered TO act, and that all of the salary
which he got as a member of the com
mission was expended in employing sub
stitutes for his newspaper work, so that
he did not profit in the least. financially
speaking, by his labors as commissioner.
The design which adorns the cover OF
that clever book, princeton Old and
New" is the work of Mr. Berkeley
Smith, son OF F. Hopkinson Smith.
The Critic has secured a good story
about the much-discussed "Bacchante." "
Two young women came along and stop
| ped IN front or IT, one said:
Il don't wonder the Boston Public liz
brary rejected it. I'd have rejected it my
self"
The other said:
so perfectly ridiculous, The idea of
feeding grapes to a baby as young as
thatr'
It would be hard TO match this with
out bringing ND the anecdote which is
told of the Congressional Library build
ing. Soon after the completion of that
beautiful structure a party Of visitors
from the rural districts arrived in town.
They took in all the sights, the Library
among the rest. 1t may be that their ad-
jectives were exhausted before they
reached the temple of literature. At any
rate, when they entered the spacious hall
only one had anything to say. She, in a
voice which was meant to signal across
meadows and barn-yards, presently re-
marked:
"Ain't 1t cuter'
Before such sentiments as these reason
faints ard oratory is dumb.
The Harvard Monthly publishes a let
ter written by George Meredith several
years ago. 1t shows something of Mere
dith's attitude toward his books and his
readers, and is worth quoting on that ac-
count.
England-Box Hill, Dorkng,
July %, 1887.
Ny Dear Sir: When, at the conclusion of your
article my works, you say that a certain
change in public taste, should it come about,
will be to some extent due 10 me. you hand
me the Towering wreath ! coyet. For / think
that ali right Of life, and the secret of
life is to pave ways for the irmer footing of
those who succeed us and to my works. |
know them faulty, think them of
worth only where they point and
of our fellows, discernment of the laws of exist
ence, these lead to great civilization. have sup
posed that the novel. exposing and illustrating
the natural history Of man, may help us to
such sustaining roadside gifts. But have never
started on a novel to pursue the theory it de-
yeloped. The dominant idea in my mind took
up the characters and the story midway.
You say that there few scenes. Is it
SO throughout? My method has been to pre-
pare my readers for crucial exhibition of the
personae and then to give the scene in the
fullest OF their blood and brain under stress OF
fiery situation.
Concerning style. thought is tough, and deal
ing with thought produces toughness. Or when
strong emotion is in tide against the active mind,
there is perforce confusion. Have you found that
scenes of simple emotion or plain narrative were
hard TO view? When their author revised for the
new edition. his critical judgment approved
those passages. Yet you not to imagine that
he holds his opinion combativey against his
critics. The verdict is with the observer.
In the comedies, and here and there, where
a concentrated presentment is in design, you find
"pitch'' considerably above our common hui
man; and purposely, for only in such manner
could so much be shown. Those high notes
and condensngs are abandoned when the strong
human call is heard-I beg you TO understand