Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1902-05-07

vas immoral and Indecent. I read Il
over again in proof at the request Of
the publisher, Mr.. Roman, and was
touched, I am afraid, only with my
own pathos. l read it to my wife, and
1t made her cry also. Mr.. Roman also
read it to his wife, with the same dia-
bolically illogical result. Nevertheless
the opposition was mistaken. ! was
without sympathizer Or defender.
Even Mr.. Roman felt it might imperil
the prospects Of the magazine. ! told
Mr.. Roman that if The Luck of Roar
ing Camp was not good and suitable
story l was not good and suitable
editor for his magazine. said that
the chief value of an editor lay in the
correctness Of his judgment, and II his
view was the true one my judgment
was clearly at fault. l am quite sure
that ii the decision had been left to
San Francisco the series of mining
pictures that followed the first would
not have been written, at least not in
that city. But the editor remained and
the story appeared. 1t was received
harshly. The religious papers were
unanimous in declaring it immoral, and
they published columns in its disfavor.
The local press, rejecting the pride Of
young and new community, could not
see why stories should be printed by
their representative magazine which
put the community into such unfavora-
bic contrast with the effete civilization
of the east. They would have none Of
It.!
"A month later, however, by return
of mail from Boston there came an i'm
portant letter. 1t was from Fields &
Osgood, the publishers, and was ad-
dressed to me as editor. It requested
me to hand the inclosed note to the
author of The Luck of Roaring Camp
The note was their offer to publish
anything he chose to write upon his
own terms. This became known, and it
turned the tide of criticism. Since
Boston Endorsed the story San Fran.
cisco was properly proud Of it. Thence.
forth 1 had my own way without in.
terruption. Other stories, the mining
tales with which you are familiar, fol-
lowed in quick succession. The num-
berless impressions of the earlier days
were all viz dly fixed in my mind,
waiting to BIT worked up, and their
success was made apparent to me in
very substantial ways.
my stories are true not only In phe
nomena, but in characters. John Oak
hurst, for instance, was drawn quite
closely from life"
Short ketch of His Life.
Francis Bret Harte was born in AL
bany, N. Y, Aug. 25, 1889. He was
eleven years old when he wrote his
first poem in the most profound &C.
crecy and mailed it to the New York
Atlas. 1t was named "Autumnal Mus
ings," and he watched for it's appear
ance with the most feverish anxiety.
At home his poem was scorned, and
he was ridiculed. Not long afterward
he ran away from home and, working
his way across the isthmus, finally
reached California in the heat of the
gold frenzy He was failure as a
nluCl anu III a SAAAC WOAASo 0C - WA
collector. Later he became Wells
Fargo messenger and still later school
teacher, editor, at Humboldt and EN-
ployee of the Frisco mint. In 1868 he
began serious literary work as editor
Of The Overland Monthly.
The quality which made Bret Harte's
stories as famous in Europe as in
America was unquestionably their sim
certify. They are stories. They do not
pretend to be anything else. Harte
was never ashamed Of being interest
ing.
He was the originator Of new school
"a school that Is founded on realism,
but on the realism of big things. The
scenes of Bret Harte's stories are big;
the emotions that play in them are big;
the results are big with importance to
the people whom he painted in them.
Not less remarkable than his recogni-
ton of the truly dramatic was his rec
ignition of the truly humorous. 1t was
that very appreciation of the funny
that led him to indirectly give his great
brother American to the world. Sam
uel Clemens, when man of no i'm
portance whatever, told Harte the story
of the dumping Frog of Calaveras."
Harte insisted that 1t ought to be writ
ten, and after Clemens had protested
for time he finally wrote it, signing it
Mark Twain. 1t was one of the first
things to win the recognition from the
public which has since widened into
international fame.
For many years before his death
Harte had lived in London. Several of
his stories have been very successful
plays, notably "M'liss."
Roosevelt to Lay Cornerstone.