The Colfax chronicle., 1904-08-06
HOW JACK LONDON ARRIVED
Story OF Early Struggles Toward Sue
- cess Of Brilliant War Cor
respondent.

JACK London. the fascinating short
story writer and brilliant war CORE
spondent, now at the front, is but 2
years old, says the Boston Globe
Three years ago he was unheard O
by the reading world To-day he i,
read everywhere, is sought by pub
lishe.s, and the pages Of the maya
zines. from the Century down, ar,
| open to him.
The story of his early privations ant
hardships-his boyhood on a Califor.
MA ranch, his years before the masi
In the waters of the Golden Gate. his
struggle for learning, and the daring
Trip to the Klondike, from which he
returned with more knowledge than
nuggets-is known to most OF his
readers now. The story of how he
arrived" how he first set foot upoA
the stepping stone to success. he tells
In the Editor, the New York magazine
Tor literary workers, incidentally Civ
ing the latter class some excellent ad-
vice. Here are a few. of his terse.
pregnant sentences:
Work! Don't walt for some good
Samaritan osteiI you, but dig it out
yourself.
Fiction pays best OF ALI
Don't write too much. Don't dash OF
9 6,00O-word story before breakfast.
Avoid the unhappy ending, the
marsh, the brutal, the tragic, the hor-
rible-if you care to see in print the
things you write. ~
Keep a notebook. Travel with 1t, eat
with 1t, sleep with It. Slap into 1t
every stray thought that flutters up
into your brain.
This valuable advice is appended to
the story Of his own struggle for
recognition. Every one likes to know
now the successful succeed.
He had many liabilities and no as
sets, no income and several mouths to
feed. He lived in California, far from
the great publishing centers, and did
not know what an editor looked like.
But he sat down and wrote. Day by
day his pile of manuscripts mounted
up. He had vague ideas, obtained
from Sunday supplement, that
minimum rate Of ten dollars thou
sand words was paid. and figured ON
earning 5000 month, without over
stocking the market. ~
One morning the postman brought
him, instead of the usual long, thick
manuscript envelope, short, thin one.
he couldn't open it right away. 1t |
seemed a sacred thing 1t contained |
The written words of an editor OF big |
When. modest as ever. he
had figured in his mind what the offer
'or this 4,000-word story would be at |
he minimum rate-$4O, of course-he
opened the letter. Five dollars!
Not having died right then and
here, Mr.. London is convinced that he
nay yet qualify as an oldest inhab-
tant.
But, by and by, in the course of its
Vanderings, one of his stories reached
a editor who could see the genius. of
ack London, and had the patience TO
enetrate beneath the husk of wordy
and discover the golden E
rain-the capital Story. with a capital
, and-rarest quality of all--fhe busi-
ess sagacity to offerf an unknown
ritter more for good story than he
'ould pay for commonplace one from
famous author. L,
Here is the incident that proved the !,
'rning point in Jack London's liter
ry career, as he so graphically (,
Ills 1t: II
Nothing remained but to get out / !,
nd shovel coal. had done it before.
nd earned more money at 1t. | re- H
'lved to do it again, and l certainly Ie
lomu have done it, had 1t not been II,
" The Black Cat. I
"Yes, The Black Cat. The postman n Is
ought me an offer from it for II,
e0o-word story which was more &,
ngthy and strengthy, If l wouldI
ant permissions to cut 1t down hall. /
rant permission? told them thcyI :,
uld cut it down two-halves IL they'd I :
ly send the money along, which thew :
d, by return mail. AS for the nye3 !"
liars previously mentioned, | finally :
ceived 1t, after publication and > al
eat deal of embarrassment and /"
,uble forgot my coal-shovelinyJ' :. :.
solution. and continued to whana =
'ay at the typewriter" q
And. the rate he received for hisj :.
st Black Cat story was nearly col :,
nes what the five-doIIar editor paid ~
Nor is Jack London the only wrfteJ
10 has been lifted from obscuritys to H..
ominence by the lucky Black Cat.
lich, as the New York Press has Ii
lily said, has done more for short.
ry writer's and short-story readers 4
In any other publication.
Zach of its famous prize compesi- |
ms has brought new writer's to the \ le,
M. In its most recent, the s21oo la
re was won by a young Texan who va
never before written a story. and au
second, 81 300, went to LAWYERS he
e in an obscure Missouri town.
I has just inaugurated another CON- TIL
in which $4,000 will be paid 10 of
tiers in sums of from 500 to 81 500 lca
Is Will no doubt. add many new gr
mes to<the list OF those who have as
rived thrapgh its recognition. sir
he conditions are announced in the tn,
rent issue OF The Black Cat. and fet
also ho mailed f~<< a.