Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1907-11-01
Who Is Luep


Of selling soap. in Portland. where it
i admitted there is ampl" field for
effort. and he is running the only OK
clu>iNriy soap >tur" in Portland.
makes several rgrtTiouS plumbers in
the letter we append. devoted to COM
mrnts on I.ur Vernon. His a>sump-
ton that he has established the idrn-
1ity of that contributor is as ridicu-
luus IL i that it is an assumed name.
While La. writes occasionally from
SEATTLE. Portland. Salem San Fran
cisco. Los Angeles. and Tonapah. as
we'll Us Olympia. Luc has never set
foot in Mason county. although it has
cyolutrd Il no less famous writer than
Mr.. Scott. of the Olfy"nirn. In fact
the personality OF l.uc has never been
definitely settled; So far as We know.
The Sage of Yrlm" declares his be-
lief that the writer is a woman, and
agrees with him in religion who
politics by heck!' which in his opin-
ion is something to be highly COM
mcndrd Kettle Kcttlrson says he
knows Il scribe Of far less note. who
really confines his illusions To the
STANDARD. who writes " Driftwood, y
a statement that is plainly untcnable
from the fact that Lue's articles are
found in many papers of this State,
in some of the leading magazines.
East and West, and one of them was
made the subject of full-pagc col
orcd illustration in the San Francis
.Nnn'iy Thronich.
1t really seems to us that Il knowl-
edge acquired mainly as cnd-man of
minstrel show does not specially
qualify one for criticism of the liter
airy efforts of u versatile writer like
Lue Vernon, especially when the
critic makes such palpablc errors
with such amusing assurance. Try
soft soap, Charlie.
Here is his letter:
PORTLAND, Or, Oct. 2G, 1907.
EDITOR STANDARD:
Lue +. Vernon has had q good deal to
say the past few weeks, in his FIR
Twigs" and "Driftwood," about Tacoma,
Seattle and Portland, comparing the two
latter places to a streak of lightning and
snail. Friend Lue has been down
among the fir-twigs and snais Of Mason
county SO long that his mind has become
moss-grown and fuzzy, and his judgment
is not altogether reliable. 4 man that
can't see any beauty in All automobile is
hardly fit to pass judgment on cities OF
this class. He has been in the woods SO
long that when he struck Seattle he
thought he was riding on a "streak OF
creased lightning" We will admit that
Seattle is pretty swift. and can remem-
Der when Lue +. himself was not so
slow, but he has been eating 80 MANY
wOolly worms" that he is getting more
like snail in gait, and We will probably
find him some Of these days residing in
Portland, for snails are still crawling
long after the lightning is gone and for
gotten. Come over to Portland's Rose
Fiesta next June, Lue, and you will see
a sight that will last yon till you 70 to
the Seattle Fair in 1909, and you will
imagine that your snail and streak Of
lightning have changed places.
1t is quite touching to read Lue F.
Vernon's scornful remarks about people
who have not the courage to sign their
own name to the letters of criticism they
write for the newspapers. and the way
he "roasts" the preachers. Christians
and others who do things contrary to
his ideas Of right and wrong and then
himself hides behind nom de plume il
quite as touching. venture to say he
would never get through hating me if
were to reveal the identity of Lue. F.
Vernon. But don't be alarmed, friend
Lue, Pm not going to give you away y
Ii were in your place, though, l would
not condemn others for what do my.
self. 1--WE are all pore critters" and
you can't help it if you make mistakes
the same as the rest of us. like tC
read your "squibs'' just the same, even
if have read some OF them before, and
to some of your criticisms of people and
things ! say amen" with good grace
Every week when l take up the
STANDARD the first thing l look for i.
your "Driftwood" or "Fir Twigs," anl
while criticise some of them severely
J to myself, am glad to note that you arr
! improving your natural talents to gOOC
advantage, and wish you abundan
J success in the future al a writer. if not {
poet, but you must not say anythin,
against Portland if you would be success
full. C.. NJ. MOORE.
If it be true that the famous Juniu.
Letters, published over centur,
ago, obtained much force from tn,
mystery surrounding their publica
ton, they being attributed to Burke
Dunning, Wilkes, Sir Lord Francis
and others; and that 300 years ago
the Bard of Avon did his work S,
well that in 1856, the literary worlt
wrangled over the contention tina
such eminent men as Raleigh, Jonson
Bacon, Beaumont and Fletcher wer
entitled to the honor of authorship
instead of the manager of the Glob
theater Shakespeare who first pre-
sented them. Should there be an,
wonder that the gnid nnmcs of tn
present day should attempt to dis
, cover the authorship of " DriftwOod
and Fir Twigs"?
SEATTLE MORE UNCLEAN THAN Ma
, NILA.-Dr. Bourns, the government
expert who has been charged witt
! direction of fighting the fOOthold 70
the bubonic plague in Seattle, de
, clares that 1.-THE conditions of SAM
tation are infinitely worse in Seattl
than they were in Manila at the tim
o l assumed charge of the work in tn
Philippines for the government.
Nothing short of the destruction G
many old buildings was ordered a