The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1900-08-17

ing OF the dearth OF Indiana litera-
ture said that "the energy Of lndi'
ana had gone INTO commercial en-.
terprises, mostly good, aid politics
mostly bad-very bad" This was
not true then, and it is still less
true now. Riley has made the
Hoosier very real in his verses, and
Alonzo l.. Rice aud Pfrimmer and
Sarah II. Bolton, furnish abundan,
proof that poetic talent equal to an
is here at home. General Lew
Wallace wrote Ben Hur twenty
years ago this summer, yet it wa:
one of the six best selling books last
month, and more copies Of it have
been sold than any book now copy
righted. His Prince of India while
in many respects more worthy
book was too heavy to sell we'll, and
his publishers are said to have lost
money on it.
David Dudley Foulke, Of Rich.
mond, Maurice Thompson, of Craw-
fordsville, Anna Nicholas, of Indl-
annapolis, author of "Idylls of the
Wabash. Judge Howe. author OF
the puritan Republic" Hestor
Fuller, of Indianapolis, Mary jane
son Judah, author Of "Down Our
Way" Ben Coke, author Of "Jen-
n.y." and Col. Richard Thompson,
late of Terre Haute, author OF
I"Recollections of Sixteen Presi-
dents" Hon. VIM. H. English
author of "The Conquest of the
Country Northwest" of the River
Ohio and life of Gen. George Rogers
Clark. This is published in two
large volumes and is a valuable con-
tribution to the history of the coun-
try and a storehouse Of political in
formation. Gov. English spent
more than a dozen years on this
work and interviewed more than q
thousand people.
Prof. Louis Roettger, formerly Of
Huntingburg, is the author Of
work on physiology, as is also Eli
Brown. Walter |. Houghton has
written history Of politics and
Prof. Kemp of a work on history
Ida Harper has written a Life o.
Susan B. Anthony that has consid
erable literary merit. Mrs. Susan
Wallace, wife of the general, has
written number Of works, the
principle of which are "Storied
Sea, Land of the Pueblos," and
"Repose in Egypt"
Mrs. Kate Milne Rabb, of Indi-
annapolis, and Emma Mont McRae,
of Lafayette are authors Of works
on literature of no mean merit, and
George Ade author Of Fables in
Slang; have in one line or another
added luster to Indiana literature.
Then it must not be forgotten that
John Clarke Ridpath, the great his
Itorian, lived most Of his life in this
state, where n ost Of his works were
written and that he was buried at
Charlottesville last week.
1t must also be remembered that
David Starr Jordan, author OF a
work on fishes and "Knight and
Barbara" gained his reputation in
Indiana. Judge Byron X. Elliot,
as law writer, and in the use OF
vigorous English does not rank
second to any one in his field any
where. 1t has long been conceded
that Anna Fellows Johnson, OF
Evansville, is a princess among
story writer's for children; her 1.-TWO
Little Knights of Kentucky" was
the best selling Juvenile last year,
and "Gate Of the Giant Scissors"
and 1.-The Little Colonel" are
equally good.
Truly Indiana literature is in
flower. 1t has vast and varied
scope. II touches life new and old,
with feeling Of it's own. There is
an orchestra Of story tellers who
have burst upon us with something
like the unsxpectedness Of the birds
in the leahess trees after a mild
spring storm. The last few years
has been Of phenominal activity in
activity in Hoosier fiction.
The wonder is that there is SO
much that is so good. Several Of
them have passed the 100000 mark
and there was not one that did not
have merit enough to justify even
that popularity.
Will they endure? Who knows?
Will Balzac endure? Will Dickens?
Will Irving? Will Miss Elliot?
Will Hawthorne? Will Thackeray?
The audience, that is the reading
public, enlarges faster than the pop
and popularity is not neces-
sarily a badge Of Immortality. To
be enduring book need not neces-
sarily be dull. On the other hand,
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