The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1908-12-18
STORY OF WALT MASON.
Unique Genius Of Nebraska Man Now
on the Emporia Gazette.

date contains a three column article
treating of the life and literary style
and achievements of Walt Mason,
whose El'pora Gazette verse in prose
form has been run frequently in The
News and in many north Nebraska
papers.
The Journals opening paragraph
reads:
Enough evidence has appeared
within the past year in Kansas news.
papers to return the indictment that
Walt Mason is a genius, His harp is
singing its most eloquent songs, com
minglihg smiles and tears. The bub-
bling effervescence of Ben King is
surpassed. MasOn's softer half notes
and subdued minors get under a mans
vest as do the little twilight songs of
Gene Field. The octaves flare wide
on the worries of the things that Ma
son can do. Lines come to him for
every mood and tense of the great
scale of human endeavor and failure
the beggar's wall the political
champions huzZa, the kings mistake
the great hearts kindness, the death
of a little child the flower strewn
graves, a baby's toys, the mounte-
banks lying, the grouchiness of men,
the mountainous ascent of the grocery
bill, the kicker and his troubles, the pes.
tiferous book agent, the shadow of the
valeyof death, and on through the end
less ramitiCatiOns of things and feel
ings to which human interest attaches.
Day after Day Mason produces. A
year ago last month he gravitated to
Kansas, and each issue of the EN-
poria Gazette now carries on its front
page two or three little poems Of ten
or fifteen lines, run together"
Among the Journals quotations
from Mason's pen are these signi-
ficant lines, captioned THE Noah s
Ark"
The little toy ark is all rusty,
It's sail and its rigging are torn;
The little pink horses are dusty,
The little green sheep are forlorn.
The camel still patiently fingers,
The bear watches still by the door,
For the little affectionate fingers,
That play with the toys never more.
To slumber the children are creeping,
The tired little girls and the boys;
Alas, for the one who is sleeping
Afar from his ark and his toys!
The little blue ostrich is lonely,
The zebra'S been crying all day;
In toy words they murmur: "If only
Our master would put us away"
The Journal writer had an inter
view with Mason to CLEAN some facts
concerning his life, and says his
story of himself, without the inter-
lineations of questions, runs like
this:
II began writing rhymes about the
time | learned to SPELL and when l
was fourteen years old all the white
paper on the old home place was
covered with undying song. 1t was
about that time that my first lyric
appeared in print; | sent it to a coun-
try paper in Canada, in which country
| was born and brought up and al.
though it was given a prominent place
next to pure patent medicine adver-
Using, it didn't attract international
attention.
I'm 1885 | was working on the At
Gibson Globe, and one day | wrote
parody on The Ninety and Nine,
| touching some local topic; it was
/ printed in prose form, and seemed
| to please Ed Howe, and after that
wrote good many, always in the
prose shape, and some of them had
great run. In 1887 | went on the
| Lincoln (Neb) State Journal, and
kept up the same old gait, and my
/ rhymes went the round of the news
papers, usually credited to 'Ex.,' and
some of the dirges written at that
/ period still bob up for another run
occasionally, credited to anybody but
the author. One, burlesQue or
Amelie Rivers style, is a sort of ever
green: not long ago | found it in q
book of recitatiOns, credited to mar
named Holman, who by the way has
fastened his name to good many OF
mine. Another that still kicks
around the country periodically is
'Kickers Must Turn to the Left
For several years | vibrateC
around the country, working on many
papers, but never staying anywhere
long enough to do myself or anybody
any good. lost all interest in a tow
when l had been in it a few weeks
and moved on. In 1893 | went t.
Washington as editorial paragraphs
there-the Evening News. | begar
printing my prose rhymes, and they
attracted a good deal of attention, anc
some people of prominence took {
kindly interest in me. One day the edi
tor-in-chief told me that | had at las
achieved a genuine distinctions; Mrs
Francis Hodgson Burnett of Little
Lord Fauntleroy fame wanted to see
the poet of the News and | should
go right up there. | went reluctantly
had on a dinky suit of hand-me
downs, with a sack coat that already
reached below my shoulderblades, anC
high water pants; they had buffers
and footmen and such critters at the
Burnett house, and | was ushered into
a room well filled with ladies and gen
tlemen in correct attire and Mrs
Burnett gave me great reception
and introduced me to all those birds
of paradise, and my buds seemed tC
shrink all the time, and | never was