Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-07-20
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BY E. D. cOWAN'
!. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES

! $sSsssss%@''' $1,000 r.'
n,oyn a reporter on the Denver
Joe ao when Eugene Field was as
Ir' s,a editor has exhumed from us
soO'"' volume of verse which should
hlss ,nonded to merclful consldera-
Dc the literary critic and reviewer
tl0p oompllatlon 1t is a tribute to the
" .,orcial spirit OF the times A SEN
c0'H atol regard for Fields reputation
u" IA have dictated its suppression
NV ~ a. only fair to say that Field him
never would have sanctioned SUCH
anhlleation. Indeed, in his matnrer
as ne often anticipated with dread
Il WIN IN horror the future appearance in
,1s hook stalls, Of his earlier column
4 tTng yersidcations' OF all the tenta-
Il live jIngles he wrote from'the time he
4 an newspaper work In ST. Louis as
renorter under Stanley Huntley-the
|e,,bor II the "Spoopendyke Papers, =
aT,i he took his own measurement on
we chicago News six years later, he
deemed only five productions worthy
If revision, and one OF those was an
errotic, ,.
when Field started on his newspaper
career. photographic levity was coming
INFO vogue. The Murat Halsted sheer
baa many imitators Lonergans satlri-
"sI skits. Huntley's and Budrette's hui
,oors Bartlett's keen wltticisms, were
,noaels FOR the leavening of the editorial
nsg.. Field was peculiarly qualified by
,emnerament and experience for work
,o lighter vein. He enjoyed life as a
com.dy He had drifted through Co
tmmbia and Gallatin colleges on Il single
5rlank-Latin. Mathematics was cryptic
GRANNY to him. He had reveled In Ro-
man rhetoric. Chaucer, Spencer and
Anglo. Saxon folk lore. Everything
sordld dlspleased him, He delighted In
Ms own responsibility; gave full play
10 the Instincts Of the practical Joker
and was ashamed to disclose the fund
N sentiment with which he was en-
lowed. In romp around Europe, Field
h mad wasted to the last penny moder-
ate patrimony. Rescued by his uncle,
No had returned 10 the sweetheart who
afterwards became his wife, had taken
oNense al some trinlng criticism she
passed, and had presented to girl ac-
oualntance a diamond ring he Dough.
4 al Paris for his betrothed and preserved
from the Mont Pete while In dire dis
,ress. The day he was married he
caused a fearful panic at the home Of
4 A.. L.. htrff ca ~ N "a
pearance at the appointed hour. on
the way he had paused TO decide a dis
rute between boys who were playing
game OF marbles and unconscious of
the figure he cut In his dress suit,
Joined them In the pastlme.
The third day after Field began re-
porting he was advanced to the edtori-
al page as a paragrapher. Then came
an executive experience as city editor
at ST. Joe and az managing editor with
Dr. Mumford on the Kansas CityTimes.
Here Field first began TO gain repu-
taton as a humorist and comic versl-
. fer. His personality had much 10 do
with the spread OF fame. He was a
4 mimic Of the highest order. a passable
musician, a fine vocalist. and a capital
story teller. Cornwall 10 the last de-
q gree he was the most sought and the
beat known man around town. by that
"a class OF admirers, who, though sincere
in their homage TO talent, hurry 1t
~ down hill al the fastest possible pace.
n Life was made 10 seem 60 him like a
81 glass Of champagne IN which the eff
!. ferYescence never was TO die. The most
& accomplished recognized In him the at
q tributes Of great comedian. and vain
a ly urged him to adopt the stage.
Il was at this point In his career
n that Field met o. ii. Rothacker.
n through the mutual acquaintance OF
N Frank Mulvaney. the artist. Rothacker,
& then the editOr-in-chief Of the Denver
n Tribune, was by all odds the cleverest
q writer west Of the Missouri The two
q men were Of an age, and OF kindred
" sociability. They conceived warm re-
gard Tor each other at the outset, and
4 Field accepted a two years contract
on the Tribune stan. as Rothacker's as
ISOLATE. with the executive functions Of
managing editor.
Instead Of escaping the environment
which repressed or misdlrected his tall
ents. Field now plunged the deeper into
u Denver at that time was western
Bohemia. Leadville and the other min
Ing camps OF Colorado were pouring
out millions Of treasure. much OF which
found It's way to the capital.
Personal habits or inflrmlties, outside
'he criminal court. were not considered
proper subject for serious criticism;
political morality was on vacation,
and The arts OF convlviallty were prac-
ucsd by everyone who desired influence
or newspaper recognition II was the
rlgn OF the good fellows. and an eX-
perlence out Of which Field coined such
expressive words as "sozzle," and 60
me memory OF which his "Cinkeyt-
ellnk OF the Ice IN the pitcher" many
mes ~ his paraphrases OF Horace, and
Try.
Abstinence was not so much a strug-
ge OF the will power at times az IL
was question OF tactical escape. re-
.sH' for example, the appearance one
gay by a special car. OF two railroad