The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-08-29
CHAT AND COMMENT.

George AIDES own account Of how he came
to write the fables that have made him
famous. OF which the latest are included In
his People You Know" Harpers), Is given
as follows in the Boston Literary World:
I'm $780," writes Mr.. AIDE. having risen to
weekly income Of tl5. lit out for Chi
eago. where l got job on the Morning
following year ,od l had pretty, good assign
stories. When the Fair closed up 1 be-
paper. called Stories of the Street had to
I'LL two columns every day. which, with a
cut or two. meant from LOO to 1000 words
.sharps and Flats When Field died 1 e got
his desk. used to get desperate for ideas
sometime ines One lucky day wrote story
was the spokesman. That was In 1885 I
heard from that story SO much that Artie
was given .,n SHOW w once 9ss week In 1888
comic form. I had learned from writing
my department that all people, and espec-'
saySr m coa Sos g fond Fl paI ,Ss
fables to make my department go. but had
no idea that those fantastic things would
eaaeS On IS th son hays Ny a vas
Bucket-Shop Man Some other papers
asked permission to copy the fables. and
then tn to share them with the Record. and
made up copyrighted book. There you
have the whole thing in a nutshell
Our idiom-the something that Is wholly
our OWNS not merely an fdiosyncrasy, and
our pride in 1t is not mere caprice: It is
a part Of our patriotism. of our national
sensibility. factor OF our destiny as
people. The figure we cut in comparative
literature. in SO far as It is an original
nsure, is a very homely one. but It has
that indefnable but .inv,olable dignity
which belongs to all things native-a kind
of autochthonous aristocracy. Our grass
hopper ornament Is as dear to US as It
was to the Oldest of the Athenians. Per-
traits in our literature all the more be-
cause 1t is their inevitable tendency to be
lost IN q wider perspective. to become
things of the past-the antics Of our ma
tional repository.
In the largest perspective there can be
but one literature OF the English-speaking
race with no separate limbo to be styled
barriers between peoples speaking the same
language and having the same destiny in
the worlds affairs are destined to vanish.
ton could not. in any proper sense, be
called 1.-THE great American novel."-Edi-
tors Study. Harper's.
In reading over the Congressional Record
one rarely finds any Of the bright flashes Of
wit that Reed was accredited with making.
and it frequently happened that after some
particularly apt remark had made its way
eastward from Chicago. the correspond
ents Of the New York dRilies would be
sharply called to account for having failed
to note these witty flashes.
To these peevish complaints the unimag-
NATIVE New York correspondents Invariably
realized that Alfred Henry Lewis Lew, was aid aid
these denials as coming from Reed. He
realized that Alfred Henry Lewis was aid
ting him to maintain a reputation that
IN
self.
It was Lewis who printed in Chicago the
tied to Reed, when the latter was trying to
get several of the New York Representa-
tives TO Washington to aid in making a
, or not. Bennett of New York wired from
Trenton . m, explaining his delay Az, :. ,.,.
piled: "A''A tSe' a''0'e ~ s' re-
"Buy another shirt and come on
There is great excitement in Iceland at
this moment. Hall Game is on his way
there equipped with large producing
plant, including cameras. sheep shears. fl
ing cabinets. blank forms Of affidavit,
photograph, ten stenographers and a barrel
Of ink. He will learn tho language on
ahipboard. so that no time may be lost.
morning nor Of August l. 1901. there is due from s
him novel of the great primitive passions,
strong. deep. fresh and true, OF which the
scene must be laid In Iceland. It win be
written with terrific force throughout, and
with abundance Of first-hand Impressions.
Types studied on the spot. actual events in
the life Of the people. their very words, =
background OF Ice. snow. Arctic twilight.
penguins and walruseS, q foreground of
fierce primitive hate and equally fierce Joy,
all to be first seen. then snap shotted. then
dictated, then carefully revived. read back.
punctuated, and hled-it will be q busy and
fruitful fortnight. But he VIII not fail.
The elements Will he there ~ Per invoice
on the morning Of August l-September
Bookman.
beautiful tribute has been paid by Eng
fish authors to the splendid and enduring
work which the late Sir Walter Besant
performed - historian Of the city Of
London. The inscription upon the bronze
bas-relief recently placed in st. Paurs Ca
thedral In memory Of the author Of London
In the Eighteenth Century, runs ~ follows:
SIR WALTER BEsANT.
Novelist, tt
Historian Of London,
Secretary of the Palestine Exploration Fund,
Originator Of the PEOPLES Palace
Founder Of the Society Of AusAors.
This Monument u erected
HIS ofaseful BretIren n ratssaturs.
An edition NJ NJ f5oorrn Horace f<,ef.