The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-01-29


he. said: Tho power to express "a prob
lem In terms of life like Ibsen.nn Jh.' Then, rs
he continued, II don't think the writer
ought to be hampered BY the limitation
OF formal style. I believe an author
should plunge Into his subject, develop
LIT & in n logical dramatlzed way. Mr.
Dixon himself n IS one ofS$Stho best ex-g
iponents of this. In q sense he has yio-s
lated all literary traditions In his books,
but to offset this, there have been tres
Emendous Ylgor and virllit y, s a d genuine
story instinct and a. rar re apprec citation Of
70 dramatic situation. 5 y III
"A Literary G Confession.
!.s Mr.. Dixon made a very interesting con-
5fession..S$ gu know" he sntd 81 de-
4termined TO / be a writer when I was a.
boy. It has really been a life ambition
fIshad the privilege of starting the student
paper at, Wake Forest ollege 4 In North
Carolina, and the first storyGI wrote was
fslngularly enough, a Kll Iklux story.
# IT determined not to write novel ur-4
It'll Z was forty years old IL I believe that
d man " no writes should know life be-s
I fore he begins to- write about t. 459 Hi
But didn't you write fiction before the
forty years time limit was up ~ ], IA sked.
g5a Mr. Dixon smiled. 10y es = he said 10y OH
see II have lived a pretty strenuous life.
and when I was thirty-sx felt that +
had skipped a few years and Z my CON
science didn't hurt mo. All my work In
the pulpit was n IN! a sense preparation
for literary work. Besides, T have long
had the idea Of q trlogy. Of southern
novels & dealing with the race problem.
1.-THE Leopard's s; Spots canored to be
written. In tina t. book 7 tried to tellatho
story Of the negro from Ills cnfrnnchise-
Iment to- his ACKNOWLEDGMENT while In
1.-THE Clansman''3SI have tried to reveal
the meaning Of the ,ISu Klux Khan that
overturned reconstruction rule and pre-
served the Integrity OF the Ang, o-Saxon
race In the South fsreally uel'eve that
the story Of the Khan forms one of the,
most dramatic chapters In the history OF
the Arynn IA CO. si{ ii AZ 4S
Il to return to the matter of
writing. i wrote 1.-THE Leopard 8 Spots''
in a whirl md sentE TO Doubleday, Page
and Company, who accepted II by wire
A. Y outhful Experience.
MI, Dixon's reference to his youthful
ambition to be a writer recalls tho very
striking fact hitherto 8unpub lsllcd that
he was the youngest member Of the North
Carolina Legislature. He was twenty
years old when he was elected. His first
y
bill that he had introduced to pension d,s--
abled Confederate soldiers. It was the
first bill of55the kind introduced lin the
whole South. atAt that time Mr.. Dixon
was lawyer which profession he
abandoned to enter the ministry where
lho achieved "a remarkable reputation. For
years he was perhaps the best known 4
pulpit orator in America and one of8the J,
most sensational. Ills sermons were
syndlcnted and We're read every Monday
morning all over the country, }i
"A Strenuous Life.
5 Mr. Dixon's life has been crowded with |
dramatic and exciting incidents. but none /;
was moro sensational than his encounter
with Tammany, when he was pas or J
the Peoples Church In New York clty.li
Inyew Pr pakhqrStts ses Ws, cRorfH
rrecailllng. DR. Parkhurst, afterln personal
investigation, madelh's first and nov a.
moust attack on Tammany EraiL ana N Sor,
York preacher who came to the support
OF tho doctor was DR., Dixon, lnna fiery
sermon delivered at Association Hall, nt
where he conducted the PEOPLES Church,
he bitterly assalled Tpnmany and de-
nounced the officials that the organiza;
t tnrret a Mas latfeu eSese Wom
Dr. Dixon scnthingly arrn gncd as Il crook.
AS a result he was Indicted by the grand
jury on the charge Of criminal libel, and
arrested. Thu Warrant was served by
four detectives Hs, was taken 70 the
Jefferson Market jail, where he gave
bond, That night, with the aid Of some
newspaper friends, he obtained the RECORDS
Of the members Of tho grand jury. he |
found out that twelve OF them were Tam |
many heelers with bad records.
THE Jury had been packed.
He announced through tho papers that |
on tho following Sunday he would de-
nounce the Jury. TWO hours before the !
doors of ASSOCIATE on Hall We're opened,
the streets were crowded with people, Mr.,
Olson preached to an enormous audience
and he nlercllessly aralgned the Tam
tmanylcs in the jury. He was cheered {
The sermon created u profound sensation
IN ii few days ne was visited by the dis 4
4trict attorney, who said the Indictment I
was n mistake aud had heen fled away,
'sPhen somebody has, lied,i slId Mr.,
Dixon, and the next sunday he naycd |
the district attorney. 4@ti1 Fs L
Subseguentlysthc New DIRK clergy raj
cleansing OF the Tammany stables.
t$ His Life Threatened,
z But the Tanimnny incident was only
one Of many, 'tFh6 One Woman was
violently assailed nv the Socialists. Many
Of the friends 81 an lIcrron, on Whose