Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-04-13

Fiction"
$50 you are the Irene buckingham
whose story appears in that magazine
you are holding so lovingly"
1T is my first published story" she
replied. smiling from her brows to her
chin
How many times have you read it
in print?"
Let me see 1 think it is six
blushing.
Il must have read my first produc-
ton in print sixty times
You: 1 did not know you were an
author"
Not very many people know that"
"You keep mOdestly in the back
ground. How delightful! Your works
go out incOGnito."
NO; they have usually been pub
lished under my own name"
But l never heard
"Of Matthew Briggs?"
Pardon me: T.
singular, since l have had consider
able success. have made fortune at
literature"
You surely don't mean that you
write this trash that is so profitable?'
MY work has been as good as my
talents would produce. l think l can
say that il is far above the average"
You made Il fortunate hit-wrote
something that was original"
~ wrote several original things, but
the more original they were the great
er difficulty | found in securing Il pub
Usher. one very original bit of mine
was published. but l mismanaged the
disposal of it and made nothing out Of
it. though it took like wildtire.'
do. please. satisfy my curiosity.
You say that you have done good. le-
Ultimate work which it does not ap-
pear, from what you say, has been re
munerative. and yet you have made
fortune by it."
y Will give you Il brief account OF
my career. My first productions We're
in imitation Of my favOrite author.
They were not even accepted. My sec
ond We're my own peculiar idens writ
ten in my own style. They, too. re
manned unsold. Finally l made zip my
mind to write what the people wanted
rather than what | wanted. FOrtu
natcly there was field in which l was
very much at home. There was plenty
of romance in it and this l extracted.
l wrote what seemed to please every
one. but my productions did not reach
the great mass of the public. The re-
suit was a failure. At last l found a
friend. Il partner in publishing house,
who gave me his influence. and the
concern published novel for me-
Il see. This was your chance. How
many thousand copies were sold%"
Two thousand"
"OnIy two thousand? Surely this
could not have made you 4 fortune or
n reputation. BY and by YOU will tell
me of some great work of which ]
have often heard"
Il never wrote another"
"WeHE"
MY royalty on my novel was $500. |
l made 4 fortunate investment of this
money and got what men who have
made fortunes declare 10 be the hard !
est part of their work.. e. the first
thousand dollars. l lived on little !
more than nothing and kept turning
over my money. Today am account !
ed n rich man, all, as you see, made in !
literature"
But you could as well have made |
II i'm molasses.'
Il had no molaSSes to sell. had n /
faculty for scribbling. and this gave |
me lump sum. Fortunately l had /
the good sense not TO try to live by 1
literature alone, so that / could invest /
my little capital. While l was max |
ing my living this capital WAS making /
money for me. The disproportionate |
ability between capital and labor to /
make money is as the sands of the sea /
TO a single grain. OF the million dol |
lars of which l am possessed three |
hundred millionths were made by /
very high order OF intellectual work /
and the rest by capital"
II am disappointed"
II fear YOU VIII be more disappoint- /
ed X you set your heart on making /
large sum without any other assist /
ance save your brain. The brain is /
simply lever to put that powerful en-
gine. capital. into operation. If the I
brain and the muscles, after keeping 4
the body alive and in condition. do (
this they viii do all that should be re
Quircd Of them. The rest is the work 4
OF capital"
But how about authors who make
great sums from their wOrksE"
Tell me about the winners OF the
first prize in a lottery. and 1 viii re-
spond with something of interest about
these literary prize winners"
She, too, made n fortune at litera-
ture. She married the man who got
his start rs 4 capitalist by writing q
novel EDWARD SANDERSON.