New-York tribune., 1900-04-22
KTPLING As A JOURNALIST.
From The Windsor Magazine.

From The Windsor Magazine.
In the autumn of 1882 having finished lis
course at school, position was secured for him
on THE Civil and Military Gazette Lahore.
The Civil and Military Gazette" is the chief
journal of Northwestern India owned and
Quoted by the managers and owners Of The
Allahabad Pioneer" the ablest and most influ-
ential of all Indian newspapers published in the
interior Of the country. For five years he worked
hard and steadily on The Gazette" Much of
the work was simply drudgery. He shrked
nothing The editor in chief was a somewhat
grim man, who believed in snubbng his subordi-
mates, and who, though he recognized the talents
of the clever pup" he called him, and al
lowed him pretty free hand in his contribu-
tions to the paper. yet was inclined to exact
from him the full tale of the heavy routine
work of a newspaper office. But these were
happy years. For the youth was feeling the
spring of his own powers. was full of interest in
life, was laying UP stores of observation and
experience. and found in his own home not only
domestic happiness. but sympathy in taste
/ and a variety of talent and accomplishment
which acted as a continual stimulus to his
genius. Father, mother, sister and brother all
played and worked together with rare com
bination of sympathetic gifts. In 1889 some of
the verses. with the writing of which he and his
sister had amused themselves, were published
at Lahore in little volume entitled Echoes
because most of them were lively parodies on
some of the poems of the popular poets OF the
day; the little book had its moment of narrowly
limited success. and opened the way for the
wider notoriety and success of volume into
which were gathered the Departmental Ditties'
that had appeared from time to time in The
Gazette" Many of the stories, afterward col
Tales from the Hills made their first appear
ance in The Gazette, and attracted wide at
tention in the Ango-Indian community.
Kiplings work for five years at Lahore had
indeed been of such quality that it was not
AIlahabad in 1887 to take place upon the edi-
tOra staff of The Pioneer The training or
an Anglo-Indan Journalist is peculiar He has
to master knowledge of many kinds to become
thoroughly acquainted with the affairs of the
English administration and the conditions of
Angio-indian life. and at the same time with the
tha of ifa
vast underlying native population The higher
positions in Indian journalism are places of
genuine Importance and of large emOument,
worthy objects of ambition for a young man
conscious of literary faculty and INSPIRED with
zeal for public ends. The Pioneer" issued a
weekly as well daily edition, and in addi-
tiOn to his regular work upon the daily paper
Kipling continued to write for the weekly issue
stories similar to those which had already won
him reputation and they now attracted wider
attention than ever. His home at Aliahabad
was with Professor Hill, man of science at
tached the Aahabad College. But the con-
tinuity of his life broken by various jour
news undertaken in the interest of the paper
one through Rajputana. from which ne wrote
a series of descriptive letters, called Letters
/ of Marquee: another to Calcutta and through
Bengal, which resulted in The City of Dreadful
Night and other letters describing the little
known conditions of the vast Presidency; and,
finally in 1889, he sent off by The Pioneer
on a tour round the world on which he was ac-
companied by his friends Professor and Mrs.
Hl Going first to Janan. he thence came to
America, writing on the way and in America
the letters "hlcH appeared III ne 1 l'Ht'l
under the title of From Sea to Sea and in
September. 1889, he arrived in London His
Indian repute had not preceded him To such
degree to make the way easy for him through
the London crowd. But, after somewhat
dreary winter. during which he had been making
acquaintances and had found irregular employ
ment upon newspapers and magazines, arrange
ments made with MeSSrs. Macmillan II
CO. for the publication of an edition of Plain
Tales from the Hills" The book appeared in
June. Its success was immediate The reprint
Of Kipling's other Indian stories and poems
Oily followed and the issue of the new tales
am poems. which showed the wide range of his
creative genius.