Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1903-11-14
ALICE tIEGAN RICE, r: ssSIHRR =.


When recently Mrs. Alice Hogan
Rice returned from trip to Europe
with her husband, Mr.. Gale Young
Rice, two agreeable announcements
books, mrs. Wigs of the Cabbage
Patch" and Love Mary" the only
books she has ever written, had sold to
the number Of full half million and
were still In demand, with popularity
undIminished. The second pleasant bit
of news was that the play, Mrs Wigs
of the Cabbage Patch" which Mrs
Constance Fexner of Louisville con-
structed by putting together and dram
atizng the two stories in one, had been
presented on the theatrical stage and
was as successful In It's way as the two
books had been in theirs.
| The good luck OF MRS. Wigs" was
| indeed something uncommon from the
| start that of Love Mary no less so,
| The first book was a modest though
| dainty volume OF only l50 pages. Per-
| haps because of the episode of the
| Wiggses' Christmas turkey II was espe-
| cially wanted for Christmas presents.
In December Of last year, the month In
which Miss Hogan was married 70 Mr.,
! Rice, $1,000 copies OF Mrs Wlggs'
were sold. That fact could not help
making the youthful authors honey
moon all the more joyful.
| what Is the quality that makes Alice
| Hegan's tales so widely read2 NO story
| could be more unpretentious than they
| are being simply the ups and downs
of a quantity original and benevolent
mother and her children and friends
I'm the no white trash" quarter of Lou
isville. The style in which the stories
are written Is so unbooklsh that proba-
bly, many OF the million people who
read Mrs. Wigs" remarked;
what a simple story that Is! Any
body could have written IT,
1t sounds that way, doesn't II? Yet
| if ANYBODY thinks he or she can depict
Mrs. Wigs let that person try IT.
! When the common people comment on
writing with why, that's just what
would have said myself; ! always
knew that; anybody could say IT,
| then we may know the author mas
struck great chord Of human life Al
author can receive no higher compll'
| ment. =,
The quality that makes everybody
read and like Mrs Rice's stories Il
their great underhowing current o.
sympathy with all that lives. the ar
tinoer in any field OF work who possess
es that will be successful. Next 10 I'M
warm human sympathy OF the pleasan
tales there Is the vein Of persistent, de
termlned optimism running through
them, and this delights all OF us NOR
tails. No matter how cold or hungry o
noyerty stricken the Wiggses are, NJ
matter how much trouble they or thei
friends are involved in, there Is gen
orally good ending. Parted lovers ar
happlly reunited, troubles are satisfac
toriiy settled, hungry stomachs ar
filled We all like that we know we q
I'm spite of our pretending 20 admire IN
sane pessimism and morbidness Deoaus
they are artistic. This optimism some
how makes us feel that maybe our ow
troubles will cease In some pieasai'
way. 49,.
The delightful optimism in Mr.
Rice's stories is due no doubt to the au
thor's own happy childhood and CIR
hood. She must have brought with ne
into the world what the theosophls,
would call a good karma. In the Woou
a little way out of Louisville was a 10
cabin. built pioneer style, with an ope
nassageway through the center, dlnln
room on one side Of It, living room o
the other, with great nrepaces for log
IL was the Hegan's pIcnickng eabil
The Hegans gathered up bits OF OF
, TINY furniture and put them In the car
in, which had wide porch around !
, The family and their friends had wee
end partles" in this cabin from sprin
, 10 autumn, and here Alice passed man
, of the blithest hours she ever spent
ever win spend. one Of the features
the cabin was the old fashioned watt
. bucket and gourd Of the pioneers Al
4 other.was a round dining table. with
, raised revolving center. Upon this Gel
d. ter were placed the food dishes, so TN
b when a diner wanted anything he cou