Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-07-20

"Oplnlon," a weekly literary and po-
lltical publication for which General
Hamill supplied the capital and Field
was writing the "Sharps and Flats"
nonpareil column OF the Chicago News.
Those Of Fields panegyrists who have
tried TO clothe his character with the
attributes Of Babyland and Angeldom
do him a maudlin injustice He was in
tensey human. with yirle passions;
an almost theatrlc contempt for con-
ventionality and a strong appetite for
revenge. where he thought he had been
deceived or injured.
So when the Colorado senatorial
campaign came under discussion and
General Hamill was mentioned as a
candidate, Field made a scurrilous at
tack ON him pointing hin. out as Hitter
ate bOOrlsh and inscriptions. The
abuse contained not a word of truth.
WAS wholly devoid Of the humorous or
sdtIical and fairly oozed malice, Field
had been guilty Of similar departures
from the path Of journalistic rectitnde,
without having suffered a check. ms
time he was administered one severely
by the last person from whom he
should have expected II.
Rothacker In despite Of their lntl-
macy and the fellowship In which theS
had lived and worked, landed on Field
ferOciously, in "Opinion." He denounced
Field as a dishonest migrate ana
poured upon him a volume OF mucky
invectiye that Is not worth while pick
ing over here. AS Field never neglected
an opportunity 20 goad or satlrlze a
contemporary, the Chicago press retail
ated by reproducing Rothacker's de-
Tense of General Hamill. Field was pill
lorled as a journalistic ghoul.
The blow was severe one, ana
would have Jared many a man of the
track Field felt 1t keenly and brooded
over it. In his moods Of resentment MS
savage design would manifest itself IN
the awful threat, II will live to write
Rothackers obituary The two meh
never spoke TO each other again. Fields
premonition that he would outlive
Rothacker was satisfied but the poet
and satrist, broadened and softeneo
by that time, forgave in silence
Fields physical breakdown, and
simultaneous transfer TO the Chicago
field Of journalism, was the combine
ton of causes that made for his better
ment. Naturally Industrious once he
emerged from the environment that
must have soon warped and Slapped him,
motive and method came into his life.
He found himself admired and sus'
tanned by brainy and well trained CO.
workers. who took themselves and their
duties seriously, and who discovered
their keenest enjoyments in intellectual
pursuits. His managing editor John
Ballantyne, afterwards his brother-in-
law, gave him the blue pencil In allo-
pathic doses, though kindly. The
treatment was new, and proved cura-
tive. Ballantyne could not tolerate the
trick doggerel and vulgar verse sur
prises that Field used 90 frame with
such facility sim, more potent iniiu-
ence in Fields growth was slason
Thompson, the chief editorial writer of
the News, now editor-in-chief OF the
Chicago Record Herald. Thompson had
fine literary taste and discernment. His
reputation was established as q critic.
AS playwright he had produced In
collaboration, "Sharps and Flats" for
Robson & Crane: m liss, and CHS
pa" also q twelve part comedy for the
veteran John Howson. He had given
TO the literary world that entertaining
compilation, THE Humber Poets" He
was an honest, frank companion; an
athelete with a surplus Of the vitality
and health which Field envied. He was
the opposite Of Field in the sanity OF
his habits and the proriety Of his man
ners. and therefore attracted him. In a
brief time Thompson became the men
tor Of the twain. He is now writing
for Scribners a life Of Field that will be
the first fair estimate Of the genius and
character OF the poet, the humorist and
the man.
Fields style OF composition on the
News quickly improved, A deeper sim
cerity began 20 peryade his pathos; his
sentiments were encouraged into more
enterprsing play. and his prose,
humor and versatile verse developed
technical accomplishments acquired by
unceasing study. His father had be-
dueathed him a library of 5000 volumes,
never explored until now. He became
daily visitor at the Jansen a McClurg
publishing house, and established there
the famous saints and Sinners Cor
ner," among the $4,000 worth of rare
editions presided over by Geo. Millard.
An unorganized literary society grew
out OF this invention and for its mid
night delectation once Field wrote and
read his "Dibdin's Ghost" To this mys-
tic corner he led many victim and
Initiated him into the mysteries of
Bibllomania. only 10 make satirical
copy of him later. He found food for
fun In everyOne's fads. even his own.
Unable to save money. owing to his in
durable thriftlessness. he took TO laying
UP valuable books, grotesque toys,
freak canes and rare autographs. These
i'm time constituted the treasures OF his
home and the bulk OF the small inheri-
lance he left his children.
sham and sordidness were the two
things Field detested most in man, and
never cultivated In himself. His iniirm-
ity, in the matter Of dissipating money,
was so pronounced and incurable that
bis salary. save a few dollars for to-