Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1899-04-13
"aR. DooLeY," OF CHICAGO.
How Peter Dunno Achieved Fame..
Originals of His Characters,


Dunno (Mr. Docley) is the object Of no lit
tie solicitous interest on the part of ed
i i,3 and publishers these days. but
tie to a cheago az eo
these many years-though he's but
young man yet, even as we reckon young
celebrities. He has been on nearly If
every kind of newspaper work, from po-
lice reporting to political leaders from
sporting "write-ups' to the manifold and
whe Once OF he now haa With he
Chicago Journal, an evening. paper. He
was always good at a story" and years
ago, when it was his delightful assign
ment to. go out to the baseball grounds
and make report of the game. Dunno
would turn in racy bit of humor in
stead of a conventional adjudication Of
the tn score, and that he was allowed to do
sufficient that 1t was good stuff" so
good that even the baseball cranks rel
ished Dunne's dramatic elaboration of
the sighting of the battles details. Well,
in those days newspaper men, especially
those on the Tribune. did a good deal of
"raIlying" in the saloon of one James Nc
Garry. 1t was next door to the Tribune
office. and the boys considered 1t part
Of the newspaper premises Many bit of
copy" was frantically scrubbed off on Nc
Garrys bar, and what mine host" did
not know, or believe he knew, of promi-
nent men and prominent events was not
worth knowing. He was "phiosophizer,
which may not be the same thing as
philosopher but passes for the same with
many persons. and his rich. rolling brogue
his deliberate manner, and his willingness
to deliver his opinions for the benefit of
his patrons, made him the hero of many
funny story in newspaper row. 1t was
when Jay Gould died. and McGarry read
the account of his funeral, that Pete
Dunno happened to be by when the oracle
n1 of ayr1nv vi c ~ nj
ly humorous that Mr.. Dunno, on returning
to his desk in the Post city ROOM and
finding himself Aossessed Of little leis-
lions. and, rather amused with the re-
suit. turned In" the stuff which was
accepted and published forthwith. The
substitution of an N for a G in the name
Of Mr.; Dunne's philosopher made but
thin disguise. so unmistakable was the
portrait of McGarry, and of course the
"boysp twitted d. him about it. Meanwhile
thoroughly capable "interviewer." found
1t possible to write another without the
necessity of bothering the irritated orig
The more Fictitious" the papers became,
the more irate became McGarry, until.
discretion being the better part of valor,
and the editor having been appealed to
changed the name of his philosopher to
Mr.. Dooley," and proceeded without debt
OIL any sort to Mr. McGarry.
When the war broke out there came a
rich crop of topics, and when Mr.. Doo-
ley's cousin George" took Manila and
Mr.. Dooley expressed his opinion of the.
Same the little "squibs" of busy re-:
porter and editorial writer jumped forth
with from local celebrity to a wide
spread fame, and more than 100 papers
the country over copied" or reprinted
the Dewey story, and Dewey himself sent
the author word that he enjoyed 1t most
of all that was written about him. From
thence the Dooley war articles have bsen
far from the least famous of the time;
but so little did their writer think of them,
more than of his other regular copy
that he did not even preserve the papers
containing them, and when publishers be-
gan to make offers to him for the book
rights of MIR. Dooley,' and he finally
consented to collect the little papers as.
best he could, 1t was an admirer OF ME-
Dooley, unknown to Mr. Dooley's author
but known to some of his friends, who
came forward with q complete file, or
nearly complete and made the book posi-
BILE. 1t has been a pronounced success
from more than one point of view, and
publishers are making flattering offers to
Mr.. Dunno looking toward more ambitious
portrayal of american life. Mr..
DUNES wit Is inevitable; 1t is his birth
right. The Irish people he knows we'll,
though he has never been in could Ire
land" The dialect of Mr.. Dooley, 1t may
interest some to know, is the dialect of
County Roscommon, and natives of that
county have enthusiastically approved its
accuracy.