The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-04-15

on that coca Ao1,s 81
It IDS graf isyang to virginians to feel
that the tws women who have written
the most POPULAR novels published Eans this
country ny sinys woman nor many years
are VirginiaEs.
ME x endr1ct.s Walker Of Btrming ham,
Ala. a talented young woman. who de-
votes her time to literary and newspaper
work and VINO q "a personal friend Of
Miss Johns 81, has prepared the following
interesting al ticleE about the clever young
novelist: u 81
;BIR1INGIfANI, ALA April 13.---When
Mary Johns on's ublsners, iHoughton,E
3si,ft1In &. CO... Of Boston, sent down their.
REPRESENTATIVES to Interview this hitherto
9,,nl1nc,wn ny;iter about her first book,
r.pr,soners az Hope t was with some
5d;f11culty that he found her residence.
That was two years ago. To-day there
as not a person In Birmingham to whom
this residence has not been pointed out
$ER;nnfngh am :. people call attention to it
with the same degree of pride that Mo-.
sbIlians do the house on Government
street in that ancient centre of South
sern aristocracy, where Amelle ;fsiyess lived
before size h,came famous as a#novellst.
Even The .street-car conductors can IN
form strangers in Birmingham OF the
de.cc. Th:, ma:l-carriers, blindfofded,
could find it. The postal authorities say
3 that hersmast is In proportion to her fame
An International figure, she receives let
tiers from many parts of the world. Her
personality, her past, her present and.
future are subjects Of which the news
papers of the country are as eager as the
publishers aud public for her books.
There has not been SO great a demand
for the works Of any author since the
days of Harriet Beecher Stowe. With Miss
Johnston's first book, published in this
country under the title, Prisoners Of
Hope" and IN England under the title, I'm
the Old Doii11nion,'' at the height Of its
popularity, her second story, ITO Have
and To Hold has gone beyond. the 3d.
600 edition, IN two months after its publi-
cation in book FORM On the day of it's
publication advanced orders for $4,000
copies had Leen received, and two weeks
after it had been issued from the press.
the actual sales amounted to 1915 The
sales in this country are approaching the
POO, 600 mark, which will bring Miss John
ston $4,000. Assuming that the English
sales viii equal the American. which is
probable. this will swell the copyright to
$1,000 and the remaining 10000 will come
along in the course of two years. This
leaves opt cf the account all possible pro-
fits from the characterization Of the book.
These may, be very large. ITO Have
and To Hold" is published in England
under the title 5'tBy Order of the Com
pany."
A NATIVE VIRGINIAN.
virginia'.: interest in Miss Johnston is
probably greater than that Of her adopt
ed State. Americans in their hero worship
go to the very core and make a shrine
of the mansion or matched cottage that
once sheltered its hero. This being ma
,tiona1 Characteristic, a little pilgrimage
could be made to the town of Buchanan
in Botetonrt county, against whose soil
the James breaks through the Blue Ridge.
1t was here that Mary Johnston was born
on November q. 1870. A stage coach and
a canal boat connected Buchanan with
the outsid: world. and this little Virginia
girl in pinafores was content to study the
river mirroring sunset and dawn, the
blue of a Virginia heaven, the mountains
beyond TIE brilliant colorings of a stretch
of forest. AS, q child she studied and
read and was familiar with pages of bio
Sraphies, memoirs, histories, essays. She
read everything that she could lay her
hands upon. The fact that her books are
historically correct is accounted for by
the envronment Of her childhood. Her
favorite authors as a child were Scott and
Scotch BILLIARDS. as she does to-day. She
Is especially fond of English dranatists.
WRITING ANOTHER BOOK.
Mics Johnston is at work on announcer
etory tha scenes of which viii be lad IN
virginia. Instead, however, of using the
colonial. period for background, the
SCENE Of her story will be laid during ehe
fine of the war between the States:
Miss :r5hnston is at present in New oriA
for the purpose of considering PROPOSE
tions for the matization OF TO have
and To Hold" It is understood the ITO
hams have made her liberal oi1er.
FOND. OF THE SEA.
Tho Yohnstons came from Virginia to
Biruin sham in 1873. They live well ana
entertain frequently. They are very eA-
elusive: Miss Johnston cares al11e doi
cavety While she spends her winters
here, the summer finds her IN me virginia 1a
mcuntains. in the East or abroad. Inc
Johnst,ns have spent many summers on
Cnhh's Island, off the southeastern shore
of Virginia and during the season there
Miss Johnston could be seen every day
in he's. sai!-boat. Her figure. slender
nau.iCally clad, with a yachting cap on
her brown hair, made a charming picture
silnouetted against the sky. She loves
the ocean passionately and knows how 10
its mOO0S. lIllS lSidllu 4AASo oO'iii-
ston made the scene Of the encounter be-
tween Captain Ralph Percy and THE Di-
rates. last summer was passed on the
crest of the Alleghanes. where the novel
ist wrote the concluding chapters OF her
story, '"ro Have and To Hold then run
mag seria!ly in the Atlantic Monthly. By
the holidays this magazine had so IN
crea sed its sales by reason of the story.
that the editors sent her check for $1,000
as i Christmas present.
SILENT ABOUT HER SUCCESS.
Tie Johnstons lived for four years in
New York. In their apartments over
docking Central Park, she wrote the first
chapters of her story, Prisoners of Hope
Sh,. is an attractive girl. with character
istics Of a Virginia woman. In CONVEX
salion she is Particularly clever, but upon
the subject of her literary success she is
reticent
Her Virginia ancestry is a topic upon
which she willingly furnished some in
formation On her paternal side, she is
descended from Peter Johnston, who set
1-07 "a