The Topeka state journal., 1902-05-06

and short stories and poems that have
found their way both into newspa pers
been published in book form.
INTERVIEW WITH MR. HARTE.
The following which will give an idea
OF Mr.. Hartess manner of living in Eng
land is from an interview by Kate
CaIew in the New York World and IS
one of the last newspaper talks with
the gifted author.
The Bret Harte OF my imagination
had been taller and gaunter than the
reality and he had been grave and
taciturn, like an Indian chief. Whereas
the reality was genial and loquacious.
His years IN London have endowed the
mining camp poet with many of the
attributes of civilization, including \
double chin: but they have not tanned
cut of him all the stigmata of the old
life-the open-air complexion, the
swinging stride, the broad shoulders and
the keen, free glance out of eyes now
fortified with thick glasses.
Crown the portrait with a head of
beautiful snow-White hair worn short
and a little rumpled and adding a final
note of distinction to a personality al
ready distinguished.
The World story" I began lis it
about California in the mining days2''
.sOh. yes he replied, and added with
a laugh. I have only one jar to dip
into, you know. I'm the old man that
resurrects all the spectres of California; s
past and I'm told that California
doesn't thank me for il.
/ think it's a rather foolish attitude.
don't you? There's something very fas-
cinating IN California's early history
and l can assure CalifoFnians that in
the eyes of a European they are all the
more interesting because of it
Knowing something of California and
its nhabitants, it was on the tip of my
tongue to make rejoinder, but the
| clock on the nantelpiece indicated 11.11-
/ The drive from the station had Occu-
I DlPf l& T0lnTTRS and tn catch the II -tfs5
! up I must leave at 11:18. 1 swallowed
my rejoinder on behalf of Ca1ifornians
and asked Mr.. Harte which was his ia
Yofite of his own stories
L think .Tennessee's Partner - he
| replied. because it doesn't depend on
any adventitious element 6such as the
baby in The Luck Of Roaring Camp)
! There are Just the two men. and the
friendship Of those two men is the whole
story, without a woman or any ex-
traneous factor to compicate it,
And what is your favorite among
Mr.. Harte took off his glasses and
| polished them.
'sOh, that's too difficult he protested.
| I have SO many fayorites."
What do you think of Kipling?"
| .Oh, he is wonderful If
l yentured a criticism of Kipling it
would be based on his adora tion of
force. He sounds this note a little too
insistently- One would say that he has
might, of strength"
And his poetry2''
.Ah. as singer he is almost IN
matched in our day. In the sheer music
/ and roll of his verse he is unequalled eX-
| cept by Swinburne- He seems TO have
the natural gift of foIk-song."
From Kipling we wandered to Mark
/ Twain. I asked Mr.. Harte if he knew
/ the great humorist, not dreaming that
| the topic might prove a delicate one
Nor. I confess, was there anything in
| Mr.. Harte's manner to hint at acute
] personal feeling-only his words, calm
! ly and dispassionately uttered. indica-
| ted a rift IN the lutte.
Mark Twain? Oh, yes-very well in
deed. We wrote play together once.
1 In fact, [ always considered that We
| were friends until that trip of his to
! Australia. and there it appears, he at
tackled me in a most savage and un-
4 provoked manner-denounced me as d
| feeble sentimentalist, and altogether
gave it to be understood that Art and
| 1 were strangers. I've never been able
to understand his sudden change of at
titude. It was foolish of him, too. for
l have a great many friends in Aus
tralia, and it was inevitable that all this
| should come to my ears.
What do you think Of Mark Twain's 5
new activity in American politics ~
I've heard so little about it. He's
a reformer, isn't hep
I think it's very good thing-a fine
thing. He's a very nervous mana n an
of strong prejudices-but he is very
sincere. An honester man doesn't live.
asked Mr.. Harte if he liked play
writing.
4 would never have done it except to
/ protect myself" he replied. 1T was SIM
ply u choice of two evils Under the
! copyright law as interpreted at that
time. anybody and everybody was at
! liberty to adapt my stories for the stage
] without reference to my feelings in the
matter. naturally preferred to do the
/ work myself
Under the CoIeridge decision, how
| ever-Bord Coleridge, you know, the
/ late chief JUSTICE am better protected
| however much other authors may have
/ cause for complaint"
Mr.. Harte's eyes twinkled behind his
glasses
The law as interpreted by Lord Cole
| ridge is that the authors plot, character
/ and scenes may rightfullys be seized by
the dramatist but at the same time
/ not one written word Of the original
/ may be used. OF course. that means
/ dialogue-for a play is all dialogue. And
| as my stories happen to be mostly dia-
/ lect and depend on the dialogue for
| their effect and whatever popularity
they may have, the Coleridge decision
/ protects n very materially
And Mr.. Harte leaned back with a
/ triumphant wave of the hand.
Did you find playwriting more diff
| cult than story-writing ?" I asked.
.sOh. very much more There are so
/ many limitations. The very fact OF be-
| ing confined to dialogue hampers you
| very much You cannot analyze your
characteristics must analyze them
selves in their actions. You cannot de-
scribe them-they must describe them
selves in their costume and makeup
All the rich field that the story writer
| enjoys in descriptions is denied to the
playwright.
Just think Of all our literature
T would be deprived of if it were in the
dramatic instead of the narrative form.
Here is just one example that occurs
to me Dickens in one of his stories
describes a chest of drawers as being
in such a condition that YOU had to
open each drawer with q knife. like an
oyster. Now you couldn't possible do