The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-18

RutiWhs LtteFRtuFe,
One Of the recent developments in Amer
lean fiction is what may be called the lit
erature of the railway. Until the last ten
or fifteen years this phase Of our civiliza-
ton has been practically unnoticed by the
novelists. or course, railway accidents
were useful in the making of plots-they
afforded opportunities for heroism, test
of character, and the Staying Of people
whom the writer wished to get out of the
way. Occasionally, toe, the heroic young
engineer or brakeman, and the Hallway
magnate and his family. played their part
upon the story-teller's stage. But the real
life Of the engineers and brakemeh am.
conductors, the stories of the road and the
roundhouse, remained unrecorded.
This is all the more curious Because the
railway has done more than anything el 9
to make this country what 1t is. If it had
net been for the knitting together of the
interests of various sections by this means,
and the facility thus afforded for the ming
ling of people from different parts OF the
country. the nation might never have teen
welded together at all. Without the rail-
way North and South. East and West. must
have developed seDarate systems of civili
cation, and this mih at have resulted In the
splitting up of the United States into half
a dozen different Republics, some OF which
might have remained independent, While
others came under foreign control. TIE
railway is perhaps the most typical CT
American institutions. and the men who
u. - Z. - tot Va
Americans, from president to brakeman.
The organizers of such vast systems Of
transportation must be men~of exceptional
character, and, as a rule, the engineers are
picked mechanics, resourceful, quick
witted, faithful, and full OF pluck and en-
durance. In the ranks of the -raiiroad men
may be found many who have Travelled all
over their own country and seen some
thing of the rest of the world; who have
known hard luck and prosperity, sometimes
in quick succession; men of all nationali-
ties and traditions. Il does not take ex-
traordinary powers Of perception to see
that wealth of literary material is here
for anyone who knows how I'd use it.
The trouble seems to have been that
those who know the life have not been
writer's by nature or-education, and the
trained and experienced novelist is not
sufficiently familiar with railway men &c
describe them accurately fed of lit
erature has waited Tor the,,Esilwsy man to
write his own story; and during the last
few years he has been doing it. At leass
a dozen books dealing with the incidents
and characters OF railway life have ap-
peared. and nearly all of them were writ
ten by men who gained their knowledge of
the subject from actual experience, as eagi-
neers. train despatchers, ielagraPhers, or
brakemen. In one or two cases the story
teller was almost brought up on the read,
these books have been mere collections Of
short stories. and more or less crude ana
imperfect in form, attractive rather from
their realism and sincerity than from per-
lection OF style. The novel of the railway
is yet TO come.
The development Of this line of fiction is
one of the significant and encouraging
things in American literature. 1t indicates
that in course of time We shall have
writers VINO Will picture every phase III
our national life with the truthfulness and
sympathetic intuition which comes of ac-
tuai experience. We shall not have a dis
tinct literary class Of bookish men whose
traditions ard experiences are those OF the
library and the magazine Office. Our lit
erature Will be made by authors repre-
sentative of every class. Of all occupations.
and traditions, who. through
their exceptiona! ability. have become
poets, novelists. or writer's OF essays. with
out losing their sympathy with the people
among whom they were brought up. \ lit
erature which rests upon this broad foun-
lation Of personal experience must have a
quality of realism which is not to be found
in one created by a separate caste of |
scholars.