The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1908-07-27
GL|MPSES OF
JUNGLE REMUS, F"
Fun Joel Chandler Harris Had
With a False Eye.
INSTANCES OF HIS KINDNESS.
How He Bought Out 4 Soap Vender
and Helped Printer-Amusing
Stories Of His BashfuIness-Source
Of His Famous Negro Tales.

Of His Famous Negro 7 ales.
who recently died at his home in West
End. II suburb of Atlanta. was known
throughout the English reading world
for his creation of the character of
Uncle Remus." Mr. Harris was the
subject of many interesting stories and
incidents. Some of them are herewith
related by his friend and neighbor,
Forrest Adair:
lone day Mr. Harris little daughter
broke her doll. and her father picked
up one of the pieces. The fragment
CHANGED to be the dolls eye and Mr..
Harris found that slight compress
sion Of the muscles Of the face would
enable him to easily hold the eye over
his own optic. The mirror showed
him that the thing had an uncanny
and CHASTITY look. 1t had the staring,
CLASSY appearance Of q dead persons
eye. Carefully placing his treasure In
his vest pocket, he went to town and
tried its effect upon the Office boy with
80 much success that he was encour-
aged to repeat the experiment else
where. On the car going out to West
End three schoolgirls occupied seats
not far from him. They were stran-
gers, and incidentally their glances
were turned to his direction. At IA
vornble moment, when his newspaper
concealed his face, he fixed the dolls
eye In position and then lowered the
sheet, which he pretended to read with
the other eye. Suddenly there was
pause IN the lively conservation OF the
girls, and Harris could see that they
were gazing In horror at the wonderful
eye. They had never seen anything
like 1t. Just what it was they could
not tell, but 1t was more than they
could stand. They put their heads to-
gether and whispered and then stared
at the horrible object 1t was too
much to be endured. The girls
watched that immovable, expression
less orb for few moments. and, with
very pale faces and in evident nerv-
BUSINESS, signaled the conductor to stop
the car. They were at some distance
from their destination, but that did
not matter. Anything to escape from
the glare of that corpselike eye.
IAN old lady on the car started t.
ask Harris a question. Before she had
uttered three words she noticed thai
hideOus eye. Her voice faItered and
Ind oF ha G
lost Taking her spectacles from her
bag, she wiped them vigorously and
put them on. In the meantime the re-
pulsive eye had been slyly removed,
and Mr.. Harris was smiling blandly
upon her. with his honest blue eyes
frankly meeting hers. This seemed to
puzzle the old lady more than ever.
She rubbed her eyes, examined her
spectacles, and went OF into a brown
study. No doubt she thought OF con-
sulting an oculist about the strange
thick her vision had played her.
The dolls eye caused his possessor
endless fun while he had 1t. Ere
quentiy children and simple Africans
met on the back streets Of Atlanta an
otherwise Jolly looking, rudy faced
man with one twinkling eye and one
dead looking black orb, and their In
coherent stories Of the man with the
evil eye disturbed their home circles
not a little. The dolls eye was finally
lost and Harris regretted 1t greatly. 4
never had 30 much fun in my life out
Of little thing he said.
The members of tho Harris family
spent most of their time at home, but
occasionally they took long summer
outing, leaving Uncle Remus' to hold
the fort during their absence. At such
| times he worked hard and turned out
piles Of copy for his publishers. One
morning when he, was alone In the
! house, working on q free silver, six.
teen to one editorial. ring at the door
disturbed him. He answered the bell,
and 4 rather genteel looking. middle
/ aged man saluted him, Offering toilet
! soap for sale ct 10 cents cake OF
three cakes for q quarter Annoyed
/, BY the Interruption. Harris said rather
bruesquely that be did not need any
soap.
! "'But am on the verge OF starva.
t1on.' said the man.
1.-The idea! laughed Mr.. Harris
why, man, you are wearing a better
coat than have
"'You would not talk So. he replied
/ In tremulous voice, II you had seen
how hard my poor wife rubbed and
bruahed my cost this morning % that