The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-11-06

Special CORRESPONDENCE OF The Sunday Repueiit
Indianapolis. Ind, Nov. +-General Lev
Wallace is writing his autobiography.
He is working upon it at his home ii
Charlottesville, forty miles from here. 1,
the same surroundings where he wrot,
-"Ben-Hur." The Fair God" and 9TH,
Prince of India"
He has already finished several hundred
pages and has, perhaps, that much more
to write.
General Wallace is now a, and is still ir
his Intellectual prime.
He has been in the thick of political. mil.
itary and literary life since the Mexican
War. in which he served as a Lieutenant.
He did noble work during the Civil War,
entering the Northern army as a Colonel
and rising to be Major General.
He was one of the court which tried the
assassins of Lincoln. and president of tina,
which convicted Wirz, the head Of the
Andersonville Prison. Later on he was
sent on a secret mission to Mexico By
General Grant, and in 1881 was made OF
Minister to Turkey by President Gar
field.
Before he went to Turkey General Wal
lace had written 1.-The Fair Cod and
"Ben-Hur: a Tale Of Christi During
his stay there he collected the materials
for The Prince of India which is now
oramatized and which will probably Re
presented on the stage during the coming
winter.
/ went to Charlottesville yesterday
and spent several hours with General Wal
lace. chatting with him about himself and
his work.
He lives in the heart of Charlottesville.
IN a comfortable home, surrounded by sew
en- acres OF magnificent beeches and
eIms, which were already large trees
when the Declaration of independence was
signed.
Much of his writing during the summer
mas been done under these trees. and un-
great part OF "Ben-Hur." This tree stands
some distance from his house and at the
corne. OF his library. which is. perhaps.
the most remarkable of the literary work.
shops OF the United States.
The library was built by the General
several years ago.
remember his telling me 1t was in
course Of construction when I talked with
him at st. Louis at the time of President
Mckinley's first nomination. 1t is a one-
story structure of brick and stone, with
ROOF OF glass and bronze plates.
!, u Lighted from the top. and its sur
close the door and be as far away from
the noises of modern civilization as though
ne were In the neart of the Rocky Noun
The structure is ~fireproof and II con-
tains the Generals treasures in fine e6l-
lions and valuable manuscripts. It has
but one room. which is lined with shelves.
shove which pictures hang.
HOW WALLACE WRITES.
There is a desk in the center of the room,
out General wallace does all his work on
q low rocker. writing upon a lap board
which Just fits across the square arms of
The lap board is covered with cbamo,s
q to keep the papers from slipping OF
n the seat is SO arranged to bring 1t
~ Inc right height for writing.
nane 5enerai uses a lead pencil for his
even now. In his seventy-eighth year. and
n,s manuscript looks like copper plate. He
eaways uses the same kind Of paper. cut
70 sneets OF such a size that each wifi
make a page of the completed book.
ne numbers these pages consecutiyely
20 mat ne knows just how far along he is
with the work upon which he is engaged
He tells me that he writes slowiv. re-
SlsinE each day the work of the day be-
lore. and when a chapter or paragraph lie
r WrI.tn nsti f. oyer throwing II away and
said, to destroy unsatisfactory work thar
10 try to patch IT up here and there" After
ms manuscript is finished It is carefully
eSAAS HI DUTCIudled 1nEt
Is Il is to be In the published book. Moth
inG is ieft to the Judgment of the printers.
Iaktng with me about HIS autobiogra-
phy. General Wallace said:
IT Will not be like the ordinary work Of
In II.
should as sooa think of throwing a
log across the driveway up to my house
az to ask my friends to travel over a
sDrouroy road OF letters in telling the
story Of my life"
csanaS,w far back doe. your memory 60.
can remember things that happened
Enen 1 was 6 years old. / was born in
tsz.: and this takes me back to 1883, which
memory. and 1t seems as good now as It
mas ever been. Indeed. l am surprised to
md how well / remember conversations
Of my life seem to OH have M' been ~pnotoEpra phes
their fullest detail"
UNwRTTTEN HISTORY.
suppose o. memoirs will contain
much unwritten history. General?'
Yes. l had to do with some important
matters in the life of the nation. and with
some things the real history Of which Is
For instance. I was the agent
such assistance as enabled them 70 keep
their country q republic:
Louis Napoleon wanted to make 1t a
monarchy. he was backing Macmillan,
and vas In a fair way to succeed. This
was just at the close OF the Rebellion,
when we were still In an unsettled condi-
tion, and did not dare risk a war with
France. ! was sent by General Grant
without the knowledge of Secretary Sew
ard, to consult with General uarez, the
Mexican President. to see If we could not
In some way assist the Republic. I went
70 the Rio .Grande and pushed my way
through. the country to Chihuahua, where
~ s-- H. ~ss In q I'D ~sv. had