The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-12-14

It seems to be quite conelusively es-
+ablished that the author of "Confes-
sions of Wife" is Mrs. Elizabeth
stuart Philips Ward-not because Mrs.
Ward has confessed to the authorship
or the publishers have made public
the secret, but because by careful COM
parison with some of Mrs. Wards ae-
knowledged writings, the confessions
at times approach the degree of sim
ilarity known as plagiarism. Not so
long ago Mrs. Ward had a serial in
one of the magazines and this story
had about the same quality of hysteria
that marks the Confessions fur
lhermore, the beginning course and
conclusion of the former work bears a
striking resemblance to the latter. Most
critics have agreed that no one but
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps could have
written the Mary Adams book.
Meantime, the publishers admit that
while the sercret of authorship has
made the book much talked about, the
same fact has encouraged so much
newspaper printing of extracts that
many chances for a big sale have been
lost.
After all, it is difficult to conceal.
through non de plume, an author
who is fairly well known, for the
stamp of individuality exists in ones
manner of writing almost as much as
in the handwriting itself Even among
authors not so well known, the Sc
cret of anonymity is not safe among
the writer's friends. Fora lone time
no one suspected that George H. Lor-
inner was the author of 1.-The Letters
of a Self Made Merchant" until one
day, Mr.. Lorimer happened to write to
a friend:
Il don't want to edit your stuff with
a meat-ax, but L had to cut it down,
etc"
About the same time, the friend
CHANGED to read almost the same OK
preston in the letters then appearing
serially. Whereupon he apprized Mr.
Lorimer of his discovery and was ask
ed by return mail to keep the secret
until time for book publication.
In most cases, the hue and cry about
the secret of authorship is an attempt
to boom book sales, and. fortunately,
so many attempts are made that the
public pays little heed nowadays. If
the publishers continually cry wolf,
Wolf" they cannot expect a hearing,
though a good book does much to at
tract attention to itself and save it
from the general fate.
No one who reads RED Saunders
and learns that the author, Henry
Wallace Phillips, spent ten years in
the West as cow-puncher, prospector
and several other things, would sus-
pect that he cared for anything else
but spinning his tales of Western
humor. Very few know him as a sci
entist but scientist he is in the best
sense OF the word, for all of his spare
time from such writing as he feels
Obliged to do for living, is put in by
him in various experiments in electric
1ty and chemistry.
When only a small boy he nearly
wrecked his home by an explosion. and
he was constantly trying to find out
why certain reactions took place. The
other day Mr.. Phillips was experiment.
ing on a battery when he inhaled a
quantity of chlorine gas. He became
sick at once.
Let me see." thought Phillips, I'll
Just take something to unite with that
chlorine and make a SALT
His mind worked rapidly-intereste
apparently more in the chemistry of
the matter than in his recovery. With
the next step in experiment, he felt
better, but he was still sick.
Too much SALT" he groaned. "Wa-
1er will fix that
l did not know how thirsty 1 was
until L took one swallow, he explained
afterwards. Then 1 think / drank two
quarts, but it cured me-
Mr.. Rollin Lynde HART has written
an article on the making of contribu-
tors Tor the current number of the
reader, which should encourage all of
the army of newspaper writer's who
may read it. Mr.. HART believes that
the writer's for the best magazines the
writer's of the most successful books,
are recruited from the ranks of the
contributors to newspapers more es-
pecially from those wro write for the
magazine supplements of newspapers.
mere is a kind of writing very differ
eht from the preparation of news copy
"a writing which combines the fact
OF t1meliness with style. what Mr..
Hartt calls the literary treatment of
news subject
mat there is reason in his argument
no one can deny. The supplement ed
ltor OF newspaper does much to
mould the clay of common scriblers
INTO beautiful vessels which glow and
pdlpltate and change hues with the