The Hawaiian gazette., 1907-05-31
JACK LONDON'S REPLY
TO PRESIDENTS CRITICISM
CFrom Thursdays Advertiser.)


What President Roosevelt thinks of
some of the writings of Jack London is
given in an interview with him by Ed
ward w. Clark in the June number of
Everybody's Magazine. What Jack
London thinks of the Presidents crit
icism was learned from the young
novelist himself yesterday morning,
the writer suspending his usual rou-
tine of daily work at his desk in his
temporary home at Pearl Harbor in
order to discuss with a representative
of the Advertiser the difficulties a nov
elist, especially a realist, has to con-
tend with in being subject to the ex-
preston of dogmatic views from ev-
eryone who thinks that his particular
knowledge of the matter under dis
'cussion covers everything that can
possibly be known about it.
Roosevelt says London is mature
faker;" London says that Roosevelt is
talking from insufficient knowledge of
his subject and shows it by reversing
the situation in the story quoted and
basing a criticism upon this.
Everybody's Magazine says that
President Roosevelt is "from every
point of view in a position to be an
authority on stories of animal life;
Jack London says:
Thank God l am not an authority
on anything. 1 have knocked around
enough to know that one man cannot
see it all and b, cause 1 never saw any
particular thing that is TO reason why
1t may not have happened"
The magazine article in question,
Roosevelt on Nature Fakers," quotes
the President as saying:
Take the chapter from Jack Lon
don's White Fang that tells the story
OF fight between the great northern
wolf, White Farg, and a bulldog.
Reading this, ] can't believe that Mr..
London knows much about the wolves,
and am certain that he knows moth
ing about their fighting, or as a realist
he would not tell this tale. Here is a
great wolf CT the northern breed; its
strength is such that with one stroke
1t can hamstrirg a horse or gut n
steer, and yet II is represented as rips
ping. and slashipg with long, tearing
strokes again and again and again a
bulldog. not much more than a third
its size, and the bulldog. which should
be in ribbons, keeps on fighting with
out having suffered any appreciable
injury This thing IL the very sub
Unity OF absurdity. In such fight
the chance for the dog would be only
one in thousand, its victory being
possible only through getting n throat
grip the instant that the fight started.
This kind OF realism is a closet prod
uct.
"In the same book London describes
n great dog-wolf being torn In pieces
by luoivee, n northern lynx. This is
about as sensible as 10 describe a tom
eat tearing In pieces a thirty-pound
fighting bun terrier, Nobody who real
~ knew anything about either a lynx
or wolf would write such nonsense"
Mir, London had not seen the article
quoted until II Was pointed out 10 him
yesterday. CHANGING at the title he
exclaimed;
"a nature fakorl Gee, is that what
l ann Wei. I must admit that
haven't hunted wolves the way the
President has, but IA like 90 match a
bulldog against wolf and bet with
him on tho fighl, ! think the Pres
ldent would lose, an TlEht Ana them
he added, reading hnrrledly through
tbs last ~ the quotation, "l'Ye seen
some mlFhly small tom cats lick some
miFhiy bis doFH ila.N
A second reading NJ the paragraph
hfnughI "a lansh from ihe s0unE writer
WHY lonk hrre' he rili 'The