Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-11-11

ton and ambition for me. had not
thought of earning money so soon.
had expected to obtain only books,
magazines and articles of use and
beauty from the editors prize lists.
and | had not supposed verses to be
salable. l wrote them because they
came to me, but | expected to be a
novelists like Mrs. SCuthworth and
May Agnes Fleming in time-that was
the goal of my dreams. That check
from Leslie was a revelation. I
walked, talked, thought and dreamed
in verse after that. A day which pass
ed without a poem from my pen con-
Isidered lost and misused. Two each
day was my idea of industry, and I
lOnce achieved eight They sold-the
Imajority-for So or S. each. Some
times I got $40 for poem-that was
ALWAYS an event. Short love stories,
lstory- writing was an acquired habit,
also added to my income bringing me
1910 or SIS, and once in a while larger
sums, from Peterson's, Demorest's,
Ilarper's Bazaar and the Chimney
Corner.
Inspiration in Everything.
/ Everything in life was material for
me--my own emotions, the remarks or
experiences of my comrades and asso-
ciates, sentences from books / read
and some phases of nature.
At Thanksgiving eve ball 1 recol-
4 tziY n
young man whom l met there for the
/ first time The band played one of
/ Strauss waItzes. AS we floated about
the hall thought to myself: eff | were
desperately in love with this man and
he cared for some one else this
waltz would sound like dirge to me-"
! So the next day l wrote little poem
called The Dirge (Which paid for my
i slippers), which was widely copied
| The Waltz-Quadrille, one of my most
popular early verses, was similarly
conceived. l had promised the quad
rifle at a commencement ball at Madi-
son university to a man on the eve of
a journey, who was unable to find me
when the number was called. Although
| did not have the pleasure of dance
with him, l wrote the poem and sent
him copy of it, saying: This is the
way / should have felt had / been in
love with you and had l danced the
waltz-quadrille with you just before
your departure from Madison"
| The editors seemed to want these
heartwails, and one returned his
| T 4o
ing: Send us little heartache verses
those are what our readers like"
A new line of railroad came through
the county, and we had three mails a
week and postoff1ce only three miles
away. My good single-pacer was sold,
but my father had taken an old horse.
| used to write my daily stint of sew
eral poems, and perhaps a story, and
with a half-dozen manuscripts address
ed to me as many editors l would
harness old Burney and drive to the
postof1ice with my brain wares, and
great was the day when | brought
home a check. Harper paid me SIS for
one poem, Leslie sent me a check for
$40 for 10 poems and short story, the
Saturday Evening Post sent me set
of Dickens, all within period of six
months after my first money success.
It seemed wonderful to me, and to
the family and to the neighbors.
Until l began to earn money the
neighbors had criticised my mother
for keeping me out of the kitchen and
allowing me to "scribble' so much.
But when they found me able with one
days work at my desk to hire an as
sistant in the house for a month, they
began to respect my talent.
The Key to Success.
| often wish the scores of grown
men and women who write me for
laid and influence" in getting into
print could know just how I found my
way into the favor of editors. 1t was
by sheer persistence. 1t never oc-
Cured to me to ask advice or assist
ance of strangers. | am glad it did
not, for the moment we lean upon any
one but the divine power and the
divinity within us we lessen our
chances of success. | often receive
asking me to use my influence with
editors in their behalf, saying: "You
must realize from your own early
struggle how impossible it is to get a
start in an eastern periodical without
a friend at court" No more absurd
idea ever existed. Eastern editors are
on the lookout for new talent constant
ly and if d writer possesses it, togeth
CT with perseverance, he will succeed,
whether he lives in the western desert
or in the metropolis, and without any
friend at court.
/ I frequently sent out 10 manuscripts
one post, to have nine come back with
dropping heads. But sent them forth
on another voyage by the next mail.
I kept a series of crude books with a
list OF the periodicals and the travels
of each poem or story inscribed there
in. Many a manuscript took nine or
! tor iourO ovc to New York and BOSTON