The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1899-04-12

iea, honolulu, Japan,, China and so to
/ Lahore, writing letters for publication.
The offer was sccepted.
When he returned to Lahore, be en-
tered the Office of The Pioneer and took
a subordinate position in order to learn
everything in the publishing line. The
| work was not congenial to him, and be
was anxious to turn his attention to
something else. It happened that the
| Duke Of Connaught, then military COM
mander of the Northwestern district OF
India, would occasionally pay visit to
the Kiplngs and spend an evening at
their house When he net Rrfyard. he
became greatly interested in him and.
in the course of conversation, reHlar ked,
| "What are you going to do. Mr.. Kip
ling, now that you are in India again?'
"Wel. sir, have an ambition be-
yond the drudgery of working IN the
Office of Tie Pioneer. .
.sWhat would you like to do. then.
Mr. Kipling
81 would like. sir, to live with the
army for time and go to the frontier
to write up Tommy Atkins. . The duke
| considered the matter and finally gave
him carte blanche to do whatever he
liked, go to any military station in his
command and, if he wished, go to the
frontier and live with officers or men,
and if at any time he required an escort
he could have enc. Rudyard availed
himself of the dukes offer and went off
to make acquaintance with Tommy
Atkins At the same time he became a
great student of nature and the life and
character of the people.
Thus began a career in literature
which has given Mr.. Kipling wide and
enduring fame.
Mr. KipHng was married Jan. 10,
1892, in London, to Miss Balestier, sister
of the young American novelist, Wolcott
Balestier, who died in Dresden in 1891,
and with whom Kipling collaborated
in the story called "The Naulahka-
It was through this brother that she be-
came acquainted with Mr. Kipling.
Her father, Joseph Navarro Balestier,
was very successful real estate man
and lawyer of New York city. he
bought very extensively property in and
around Brattleboro, Vt, and today the
Balestier estate there includes many
hundreds of acres
It was thus that Mr.. Kipling settled
in Brattleboro shortly after his mar
riage. He and Mrs. Kipling lived in
the town until their new home was fin
ished just outside the Brattleboro line
It is fashioned after the plan of an In
dian bungalow, in which one long cor
ridor from end to end Of the building
divides al the apartments, as in ho-
tel, and is built on the side of hill 1t
is a long, curious looking structure,
without an entrance on the side that
faces the roadway and with but one
door in the house, that on the hillside
The property slopes down from the
hillside to the roadway, and at the base
of the hill, although there are no fences
or distractions, are scattered signs
reading, 'Trespassing on These Premises
Is Forbidden.
Here Mr.. and Mrs. Kipling lived for
some time the year round, and many
stories are told in Brattleboro Of his
life there. Strangers who saw him for
the first time thought a cowboy had
come to town, and his boots. his
greatcoat and his sombrero, whenever
the weather permitted him to go with
out thick cap, were familiar to all the
town folk
There are few personalities more in
teresting than that Of Rudyard Kip
ling, and there is no man of letters
about whom there has been so much In
quiry, yet he is very little known. He
has what is sometimes called the British
insular prejudice against inquiry into
his private Life and habits
A good many hundreds of people who
have come in contact with him have
called him all the names that one may
use in polite society. The explanation
thereof is simple enough Mr.. Kipling
did not care to know them and resented
their attempts to know him. To these
Kipling is inclined to be exceedingly
short. not to say rude. He believes chat
he gives the best he has to the public
in his writings and that it has no right
to bother about his private life.
To those to whom he gives his friend
ship he is as genial. as kindly. as warm
hearted, as any one could ask He is the
most delightful of companions
Personally Kipling is as complex and
remarkable as his writings. His af:ec-
tion for his wife and children amounts
to worship.
Everything in connection with his
life in this country shows how desirous
is the young man to avoid people who
bother him. He absolutely refuses to be
iionized. and the thought Of seeing in
print what he ate for dinner draws
from him language as picturesque and
as vivid as his poems. but not so print
able
While Kipling has steadfastly refused
to tell the reporters much about him
CT L.