Evening journal., 1907-09-25
HOWARD PYLE, ILLUSTRATOR
BY Julian HawIhOrne, in PearsOns

hand and a piece OF charcoal in ths
other. II hard work could make an
artist of him. he would be onel
And how could such toll combire.'
with ravenous natural predisposition
fail TO bring sucocss2 After three un-
remitting years OF it. PYLE looked him
self over and found himself as he pu,
Il. equipped with tremendous
amount of knowledge 20 be sure. but
without ability TO use &C. The mat
chinery was there, but no life to make
Il work" So at last he gave it up.
or thought he did. and went into busi-
ness in Wilmington that he hoped
would develop into something worth
while.
There must have been a hearl-break
there for the ardent young fellow. But
in the midst of his business" the di-
vine instinct would not down-helpcd
along by some notion that he might
produce art work that should be prac-
tical ana useful His other affairs took
up all his daylight, so he must give
his nights to this additional labor: and
he accordingly spent his evenings
drawing and writing--for he was a
writer. too. from the first-hoping that
some publisher might he induced to
use his work.
One day he sent to Scribner's, as
| the present Century was then called
this was in the spring of 1S76-a copy
Of verses accompanying outline draw
| ings. About the same time he sent
! to st. Nicholas a fairy tale illustrated
] 10 20 sarf1.
ner's a story about an island on the
Virginia coast where there was Q
/ breed of wild ponies. Victory at last
all these contributions were accepted
On fire with such announcement
Pyle gave up his business and set ou
at once for New York; nor did any
of his favorite buccaneers ever pursue
treasure in the Spanish American sea,
with more impassioned intrepiditl
than did this unknown worshipper o.
the beautiful follow that faint CLEAN
of the golden treasure of art. But, oh
the way was long>
/
Crude, young. provincial, but will
courage indomitable. he worked a
whatever hack jobs might be givel
him-pen and ink sketches, fables
verses. anything a good suo
sistence. as earnings went in thos
days, but nothing more. Subsistence
however, was not what he wanted
he wanted art and he was not lonl
In making up his mind that hack wOrl
was not the way to it. If ever h
were 10 do anything in art whicl
should make a mark in the world, HI
told himself. he must abandon the lit
tie things and set sail for the big ones
and this recognition ultimately led uI
to the espisode which was really tn
turning point of his career.
He had been making little ideas
for COMPOSITIONS and selling them T.
Harper's Weekly as suggestions to b
worked up bv other artists. One o
these ideas was called "a Wreck Il
the Omng," a quaint old life-sav
ing station. a man opening the doc
and shouting out. amid a gust Of win
and snow. news of disaster to a grou
of men playing cards within. Thi
idea so caught the editors fancy tina
PYLE was emboldened 10 ask leave t
work it IN himself. Leave was gra
ciously given!
For weeks and weeks" said Pyl,
Il labored on that picture-I gave u
for it all my remunerative little pob'
T and as my expenses still went on jus
the same I finally recognized the pres
, ence Of financial stringency. The ques
ton was whether 1 could starve slow
ly enough TO finish my picture frs
or whether poverty would win the rae
against art. It turned out to be
pretty close contest"
} AS a matter of fact, on the day whe
the picture was in condition to be sub
E mitted to the art editor at Harper
E Pyle had got down to his actual las
/ nickel. and debate arose in his min
whether it should be used for carfar'
os saved for some more vital nee'
His studio was on Broadway nee
Thirty-second street. and the Harper
e were downtown opposite Brookly
e Bridge-or as much Of it as was
b existence at that epoch. There wa
Z no rapid transit in those days, or
p took a horse-car and made the best {
e it. Pye finally decided in favor
e the car-for. even should his pictw
= be declined. he could at least get
I few dollars for the idea" Arrivin
. at the publishing office, he inquire
S for the art editor. and was told tn;
g he was not there; he had gone hon
4 for the dayl
e cro BE Concluded To-morrow)