Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1910-06-23

'Hdt always M dCe him Sm'le--fa
thetic Plea Made a Few Hours &c
fore His Death.
Put the pillows up higher. DOM.
want to 90 home in the dark
Only few hours after this plea. H.
pathetlcally humorous as one of his
own brilliant tales. William Sidnc5
Porter. known to the reading world H.
o. Henry. one of the greatest Amer
lean writer's of short stories in this
generation. died recently ut New York
city lie did not 30 home in the
dark" for 1t WAS just six minutes paS,
O'Clock in the morning when he died
. Henry was IA North c'arolinian
having been born in Guilford county
that state. forty-three years ago As
young man he Went to Texas for his
health and for awhile lived ON Il
friends ranch 1t was then that he
decided he was better qualified for II
literary career than to be II ranchman
Biographies say that he WAS COW
boy. miner. sheep herder. II drug.
gist. Il merchant and an extensive tray
eler before be began to write He did
travel quite extensively. but he WAS
never cowboy. he was not miner
and he never made IA pill in all his
life. These yarns always brought IL
smile to his face
Never a Cattle Thief.
just year ago o. Henry in an inter
view told this story of his life:
"A lot of yarns have been printed
about me. and none of them Is true
1t has been said that | was once Il cat
tie thief The nearest | ever rot to
that distinction was going down to II
friends ranch to learn the cattle rails
ing business. Another story is that
have been a miner never saw a
mine in my life Then there is the
yarn that Il WAS once a tintype artist
So far us this is concerned. | must nd.
nit that once had tintype taken
with my arm draped gracefully over
lady's shoulder
"Thcn there Is that newspaper in
Pittshnr" that printed the story that
when first began to write blew into
its office loo!lin" like a tramp. offered
manllS' rints for sale and borrowed a
dollar before blowing out again. That
story is IN embroidered fl Why.
was the i"Ht dressed nlHn in The orirn
unless il WIS the editor whosn Shoes
We're n mite more pointed than mine
A year aftcr this story was printed
saw it mndp n 'Spe,'ial "trip over to
Pittsliur. nnd SEM IN NY card to The
editor
"'Sir.' said | wien II last | found
myself face to face with This lihplrr Of
my Solvency. i have come to lick
you.
"'But wasn't it bully good story?
asked the editor.
81 admitted that it was. and then. in
stead of licking him. we went out and
had luncheon together"
Then the writer reverted again to
the story of his younger days when he
was on the ranch in Texas He said
he stayed there two and IL half years.
and when ii stopped raining and the
pastures dried up he decided to quit
the cattle raising business. and. pack
ing his grip. he went to Houston and
got job on the Houston Post. TIe
had column in the paper each day
and got SO Il week at first. and then
1t was raised to $40 and finally to SD
After being on the Post for ii year he
bought from Rrlnn the IconocluSt for
$3.50
Got the iconoclast.
II bought out the whole plant. name
- "a
ten page weekly story paper. Being
an editor. | of course resigned from
the post. The editor did most of the
writing and all of the illustrating
Meanwhile Brann had gone to Waco
and he wrote and asked me If
wouldn't let him have his Iconoclast
title back. | didn't think much of it
and let him have 1t and accordingly
renamed mine the Rolling Stone. 1t
rolled for about Il year and then show
ed unmistakable signs of getting
NOISY. Moss and l never were friends.
and so said goodby to It,"
After failing in the culture of ba-
nanas In Central America o. Henry
drifted back to Texas.
''In Austin l got job In drug
store" he said. THAT was rotten
two weeks. They made me draw soda
water. and gave up. After the soda
water came the highball stage.
went to New Orleans and took up lit.
erary work in earnest l sent stories
to newspapers. weeklies and magazines
all over the country. Reflections!
Lordy. should say ! did have rejec-
tons. but | never took them to heart.
just stuck new stamps on the stories
and sent them out again. And In their
journeying to and fro all the stories
finally landed in offices where they
found a welcome. can say that
never wrote anything that. sooner or
later. hasn't been accepted"
1t was while he was In New Orleans
that he began to write under the name
of o. Henry. He said that he picked
out the name Henry because IT was the
first one he noticed in society ball
writeup He took the initial 20" be-
cause. he said. 1t was the easiest OF