The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-03-27
BONDS
HALLE ERMINIE RIVES.
She In b, Not n Beauty, but a Clever
Press Agent for Herself.

OttIOit JOuIHdl
Miss Halle Erminie Rives, the operatic
and romantic author who secured much
publicity by entertaining Capt. Boss
Weeks. of Ann Arbor, stranger to her.
at lunch at the Cadillac Saturday. left
Detroit that evening for New York with
out visiting the university town. as was
expected.
Weeks remained with Miss Rives all aft
ernoon. dined with her and then. after the
lady had departed, remained in the city
over Sunday, as he was too bashful to
run the gauntlet of joshing he knew he
was sure to encounter from his FELLOWSHIP
dents. large number of his friends wan
dered down to the depot at Ann Arbor,
hoping to catch a glimpse of the football
hero's fair inamorata, but they were dis
appointed.
The spectacle of a woman of thirty-two.
or thereabouts, of not prepossessing ap-
pearance, thin in FORM rather oddly dressed
and with a mass of golden brown hair as
her most striking personal attraction, who
was entertaining college youth of twenty
years. bashful in manner and confused
over the inexplicableness Of the situation
he found himself in, was one that brought
out considerable comment.
To those who know something of the
lady In question the episode was not so
"the Rives's little wildcat" as her South
ern neighbors called her. and Gods child -
as her fond father dubbed her, has been
doing just such eccentric things ever since
she was small child Her writing smacks
OF IT 1T has won her reputation, success,
II you will.
Therefore. the lady may be put down, not
scribed in other harsh terms-but as Just
the cleverest press agent that ever hit the
pike of publicity.
One of the first things that Miss Rives
did to display her eccentricities was to ride
to a church entertainment on a load of cof-
fms Since then she has confined much of
ner oddities to her books. Erratic quail
ties seem TO be bred in the bone. for her
kinswoman. no less celebrated as an author,
Amelie Rives-Chanler, now Countess Trou-
petzyskol. mas succeeded in keeping her
self in the public eye. About the time she
had become famous as the author of "A
Brother 10 Dragons" celebrated man
pegg ,,d p the honor of an interview, Miss
as the hour and received the astonIshed
man In an old-fashioned arbor She was
dressed In an elaborate ball gown and ap-
peared like princess coming out of a
misty fairyland.
Halle Erminie Rives is an only child. She
lived during her early life in Kentucky and
Tennessee. She grew up petted and spelled.
1t is said by the neighbors. without educa-
ton other than that received from gov
erness and utterly ignorant of discipline
York city with her mother, a complete
stranger TO every one. il was only short
time before she had gained a worldwide
reputation on account o. the popularity of
her work.
The hrst work for which she received a
check was sketch of the life of Adlai
Stevenson. Her first book, Smoking Flax -
was described as being green as fresh
corn. but yet IL had something in IL that
caught the public fancy. "A Furnace of
Earth" received scathing condemnation
from the hands of the ministers, but the
book raised so much discussion that pages
were given in its criticism. Clubs even split
5 over Its motive and morals and the con-
demnation made the young author ill., But
2S000 advance orders were received for the
book before IL left the press. so that its
pecuniary success was assured.
has wide acquaintance with celebrities i'm
all walks Of life. and at one time contem-
plated going on the stage, Mrs. Brown
emotional actress of her in two years