The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-04-06
From the Brooklyn Eagle.

TIL you will some evening go to mar
row little house at 1853 st. James
1 Place, Brooklyn you will find prop
ably the only man in America today anu
one of the very few in theworld who knew
Rudyard Kipling intimately years ago IN
India, before he became famous IL was
while Kipling was an assistant editor
q or 90 years ago, of newspaper IN
the Hill city of Lahore, the ancient cap
ital of Moaul empire, In the Punjab.
Assistant editor of an Indian news
paper means practically what star re-
porter" does here. The man who knew
Kipling as cub and delights to talk
about him is minister, just kipling' 9
own age He came to Brooklyn recently
and is assistant rector at ST. Luke
church. He is Enthusiastically an Anglo
InCian, and his name is the Rev. Arthur
J. Watson.
Kip" said the Rev. Arthur watson
.Kippy? Well, yes. There are very Few
people whom know or remember SO
well. He and | were young fellows TO-
gether. Kppy's Al now; yes, he's that
exactly-just my age. It's about ~ years
since we were together in Lahore, meet
ing every day, generally at the club. La
hore,s not very big town, you know.
Practically everyone knows everybody
else. Twas in the indian civil service
then, and sKippy had just cSsne out from
England to do newspaper work
..My father was merchant In lndla'
AMI his father the principal of the Art
schoc, at Lahore. Kippy had been at
school III England and been offered this
post of assistant editor in his home city.
He called Lahore that, although he was
born In Bombay.
yo,, il, this country can't quite UNDER
stand the position of an English news
paper maii in India.
''lnGis isn't like the United States'
with a fairly good newspaper every few
miles in every little city. There are just
n few first-class Anglo-Indian newspapers
They arc widely scattered. There are
only about five of them in all india.
There the Civil and Military Gazette
Of Lahore. that Kip was on; the Pioneer
of AIlahabad, the Times OF BOMBAY, the
.Ergijshman' of Calcutta, and the Mali
of Madras The result of this is that IN
stead OF having lot of English news
paper people In India, some GOOD, some
had and some Indifferent, there are only
a few. and those are exceptionally good
man or the Anglo-Indian press is pouno
10 he the pick. They select them pretty
oc. eg,,,iv and all of them are men you'd
like to know
"Rut ! knew Kip intimately all through
his Indiar days, as well as anyone couio
know him who wasn't native-a sikh
soldier particularly-or British private.
ave all liked hint can speak OF the
fellows at our club, especially. lie De-
onecd to that We thought he was one OF
the rices; little fellows in Lahore. But
we never thought anything more. of him
than that. Strange. wasn't ltF Ihert
WASN'T one of us who ever had an ldea
that he'd become great man. ne
didn't seen, at all remarlSable-just nice
He was small and slight, with a little
hack mustache and big glasses. Kip was
one or the worst dressers in Lahore.
..rt wa, perfectly evident to us all thai
if ever a man knew things about the
ouecr people all around us that the res
Of MS never pretended to understand, l
was this little fellow
.Eut, oh, the way he got into tn
curious life about US. We could see that
and WE wondered at it. Once in whil'
some of us would ask him:
- How do you know all Of these things
Kip
An and tel
rs how his ayah-his old Indian nurs
had tolc him a good deal, and he hat
ren,er.bercd lie wouldn't say anything
mora thar that. We realized that tina
must be true but 1t didn't explain how
he could get at the natives and get then
to tai. to him. He would do that o.
the hour They would talk to him whel
they would be stoid wooden images y
everyone else
"What made us think more Of kippy
perhap s than we would otherwise wa
| the story he had In every Saturday. eai
| ton Of the Gazette. This was a part
his lob. His name never appeared as IN
author OF these stories. but we all Knes
that ISippy wrote them. Some OF tnen
vera very good indeed; SO good IN lac'
that everybody has read them IN ~
p,alu Tales From the Hills others
we'll. In. sure KIppy was glad to let then
remain buried in the oblivion OF 'he news
paper flcsr Having to write q s'or
week after week. month IN ana mont
out was task even for Kippy, and It
M wonder that come Of them fell shor
~ bo,nc works Of genius. Indeed, the
,.an prstts unevenly; so much SO tina
tbere would he considerable speculatio
ahout the club every Saturday whethe
Ktnov.s newest yarn would be wort
rendipq or not. some Of them would b
20 .punk' that Kippy would be chaffe
uu,nercifully by US amateur critics; bu