The Washington herald., 1907-10-20

Mrs. Upton Sinclair, the wife Of the
professional Socialist, and author Of 'The
Jungle" lies dangerously i'll at a Battle
Creek sanitorium. a sacrifice to her hus-
bands success.
Some years ago. Upton Sinclair was
working his way through the College Of
the City Of New York by writing melo-
dramatic stories for boys One morning.
as he was pacing gravel walk in Cen
traI Park. grinding out the details OF a
plot he met a woman whom he knew.
and with her remarkably beautiful girl,
Meta Fuller
Miss Fuller invited him 10 walk with
her the next morning. Sinclair became
strangely fascinated by the girl with the
deep, serious eyes.
She was a dreamer. a young woman
whom Ibsen would have made a charac-
ter, one who threw aside everything for
an ideal Before long. Sinclair walked
every morning with her. Lectures we're
cut. contracts for blood-curdling stories
were sent back unsigned. Then Sinclair,
too, became a dreamer
Influenced His Life.
He gave up his hack work and began
to live for art. With but few dollars
in his pocket he went North to the St.
Lawrence River, and, pitching a tent in d
small wood near it, lived there. One day
as he was digging into a manuscript hs
felt a soft hand on his shoulder He
looked up. It was Meta Fuller, the young
girl who had given him the ideas that hs
was working out. She had left her home,
the evening parties, and brilliant CONVEX
satiOn Of her mothers drawing-rOOm 70
come up into a rough country 10 help
him.
That day they were married. Sinclair
had but 50 in the world and for supplies
coarse, unsavOry food. The girl lived
with MIN in his tent, a crude bit Of can
vas with no flooring under il. Undtched.
it let in the rain. The larder grew lower
and lower. Both Sinclair and his wife
We're too proud, too confident in them
selves TO ask for help from her parents.
They literally starved. Mrs. SinclaC be
came III and pale, with barely strength
10 move about
The two dreamers then gave Up the
battle. and with money that had been
sent 10 them came back to New York.
They still lived for ideals but it was Bit
ter experience. The book they had sac
rifiCed their health 10 write in the Canad-
ian woods "Springtime and Harvest"
failed. Manassas" a later novel too,
was not popular.
The struggle became disheartening. A
boy was born to them, and Mrs. Sinclair,
stiil weak from the hardships Of the tent
life had 10 undergo two operations.
Then Sinclair thought Of his expose,
The Jungle" His wife. not we'll enough
to leave her room, bTavely went with him
10 live in the unhealthful- close tene-
ments Of the Chicago packing town.
Jungle Brought Prosperity.
The enormous sale from The Jun
gle" put the SincIairs on their feet and
made possible the ideals that they had
always hoped for They formed the
communistic settlement, Helicon Hall.
Mrs. Sinclair. with her husband. worked
increasingly to make the scheme a sue
cess. Just as il was in running order
HelicOn Hall burned.
The shock was too severe for Mrs
Sinclair. During the past year she had
lived only on her nerves, and now she
has broken down completely.
Sinclair. TO restore her health. took
d pleasant little cottage on the banks
Of the Manasquah River. at West Point
Pleasant But Mrs. Sinclair's sacrifice
had been too great After a consuIta-
tion of prominent physicians she has
been removed 70 Battle Creek where,
once more, she is pluckily. although
almost hopelessly, fighting 10 get back
her strength TO help her husband de-
velop the dreams that she talked Of
during their walks on cool spring
mornings in Central Park