New-York tribune., 1902-05-07
SKETCH OF HIS CAREER.

ShE1CH Of HIS NAhEEh'
Francis Bret Harte. whose literary reputation
will rest upon his short stories. which give dylnc
pictures of life in California in the early days OF
gold seeking. was born in Albany, this State
August 25 1889 His father was professor OF
Greek in the Albany Female College and the noy
was brought up in atmosphere Of books he
said of himself that his imagination was expanded
by reading Froissart's Chronicles of the Middle
Ages Don Quixote'' the stories of the Argo-
nauts and other books from the shelves of his
fathers library. His early education was received
in the public schools OF Albany. While he was
young his father died, and in the spring of 1858
the boy and his mother went to California by
the way Of Panama. As all the Pacific coast was
under the influence of the gold fever. it was not
long before he to Sonora, Caaveras County,
where he thrown in the midst Of the pict-
uresque frontier life of the mining camps.
He said of these surroundings, which fill so
large place in his contributions to literature in
later life. few years ago;
Here was thrown among the straneest social
The setting was itself heroic Gs The great
mountains Of the Sierra Nevada III Hfed rit males5c e
Magnificent pine forests of trees which were
sense of iargeness and greatness 1t was a land
of rugged canyons. sharp deelivties and magni6- @
cent distances. Amid rushing waters and wild
shirts and top boots We're feverishiy in Search Of
the buried gold of earth Nobody shaved and
hair. mustaches and boards were untouched by
unknown. 1t took a stout heart and strong
venture,
of 5000 miles and battle for life in the wids 1t
a civilization composed entirely of young
mamie was nifty perhaps. but he had gray
bsardmwas nointed out ut as curiosity Iy, in the city
they would have looked at any other unfamiliar
VIEWS OF WESTERN LIFE.
These. men, generally speaking, were highly
civilized many Of them being cultured and pro,
fessionay trained They hey, We're in strange and
the trammels and conventionalities of settled civ
It was a land Of perfect freedom limited only by
the instinct and the habit of law which prevailed
picturesque. Woman was almost unknown. and
ehTsy to manhood G Invested gir bsr wS
ideal value when respect could supplement it. and
Strong passions brought quick clnaxes, all the
1nbfdled np pay TO e it was az ike sraps eshg m
varying panorama, novel that it difficult
years afterward that the great mass Of primary
Impressions my mind became sufficiently clarf-
IN the midst of these surroundings he lived the
life of his companions. Asking where get gold
he told take a shovel and dig anywhere
but the grub wages" secured for the few grains
got in that way did not suit him. and he secured
a place as a Wells-Fargo messenger succeeding
man who had been shot in the arm by stage
robbers. and having thrilling experiences on
the box seat beside the driver. few months of
this enough, and then the youth tried his
hand at teaching the first school in Sonora, but
this success, and he wandered from
place to another, finally becoming a COM
positor in newspaper office in Eureka. He had
early ambition TO write poetry, which at the
precocious age of eleven, resulted in the produc-
ton of Autumn Musings" which he had the
pleasure Of seeing in print in The New York
Sunday Atlas" But when his family saw II he
was not encouraged, and it was not until he
worked the shat he put anything else of
his own in type. In 1857 he went TO San Francisco,
and while compositor The Golden Era"
wrote some sketches which attracted the favor
able notice of the editor TO whom he became
assistant. He was afterward associated in the
editorship of The San Francisco Californian"
and in il appeared his Condensed Novels" which
were printed in book form in 1867, with some
Bohemian sketches. his first volume of prose.
Two years before, in 1855, had appeared a little
book Of verses, taking its name from the first
poem, The Lost Gslleon."
THE AUTHORS TRIBULATIoNs
In 1854 Mr Harte was appointed secretary Of
the San Francisco Mint. office he held for six
years 1t gave him opportunity for literary activ-
ity. and he wrote The Society upon the Stan
islaus," regarded one Of his best poems, and
The Story Of Miss" which gave him a con-
siderable reputation In 1853 he aided in starting
The Overland Monthly" and became It's FIRST
editor. In looking the contributions the
first number he was impressed by the lack of a
dstinctvely Californian story and decided write
one for the second issue which would give local
color. This the famous The Luck of Roar
ing camp "hlch eInpooleo some OF MS personal
experiences. But when il had been put in type
there CONSERVATION in the Office. for the fore
man Of the composing room went 10 the publisher
and said that It immoral and indecent, and |
that the young proofreader had declined |
to read It. OF this experience Mr. Harte once
said.
! read Il again in proof. at the request |
OF the publisher. and was touched. I afraid |
only with my own pathos read il 10 my wife
] had married in the mean tme-and II made her |
cry also. l am told that Mr.. Roman uhe pub |
lisher1 also read IL 10 his wife. with the same
diabolicay illogical result Nevertheless. the !
opposition unshaken.
! had serious talk with an intimate friend of |
mine, then the Editor of THE Alta California - |
He was not personally opposed TO the story, but |
felt that that sort of thing might be iniudicious |
and uhfavorably affect immigration l was with |
out sympathzer CT defender. Eyen Mr.. Roman
felt that % saisbt iUlpeT9 the prospects Of the