Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-06-25

y,
and when it stopped raining and the
pastures dried up he decided to quit
MS cattle raising business, and pack
Ing his grip he went to Houston and
got job on the Houston Post He had
column in the paper each day and
got SIS week at first and then it was
raised to $40 and finally to $25. After
being on the Post for year he bought
from Brann the Iconoclast for $3.50.
Il bought out the whole plant, name
and ALL" said O. Henry, "and started
ten-page weekly story paper. Being
an editor, I, 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 would
not let him have his Iconoclast title
back. didn't think much Of 1t and let
him have it, and accordingly renamed
mine The Rolling Stone. It rolled for
about year and then showed unmis-
| taxable signs of getting messy Moss
and l never were friends, and so
said goodby to 1t.
Then friend of mine who had a
| little money-suggested that join
whittier heswas going with the inten-
ton Of going into the fruit business.
Well. it takes long time and costs
lot of money to learn how the little
banana grows. We didn't have enough
! of the latter, and so never did learn
the whole secret of the bananas de-
velopment.
"The banana plantation faded into
nothing. l drifted back to Texas. In
Austin l got in drug store. That
was rotten two weeks. They made
me drow soda water and gave it up.
LET me see. After the soda water
think there came the highball stage.
went to New Orleans and took up
literary work in earnest sent stories
to newspapers, Weeklies and maya
Lordy! I should say did have rejec-
lions. but l never took them to heart.
| just stuck new stamps on the stories
and sent them out again. And In their
journeying to and Hro all the stories
finally landed In Offices where they
found welcome. can say that
have never written anything that,
sooner or later, hasn't been accepted.
GAS for reflections, take The Eman-
cipation of Billy as good story as
ever wrote 1t was rejected no less
than thirteen times. But, like all the
rest, it finally landed"
1t was while 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
| q I, IN q
write-up. He then took the initial
90" because he said it was the easiest
of all the letters to write.
This is o. Henry's own receipt for
short story writing. He gave 1t in
answer to a request for advice to
young writer's"
II will give you the sole secret OF
short story writing, and here 1t is:
Rule 1, write stories that please your
lself. There is no rule Rule 2, the
technical points you can get from Bliss
Perry. If',you can't write story that
pleases yourself you will never please
the public. But in writing the story
forget the public"
Nine years ago o. Henry came to
New York. OF that shift he said:
"When l first came to New York I
spent a great deal of time knocking
around the streets. 1 did things then
that | wouldn't think of doing now.
I used to walk at all hours of the day
and night along the river fronts,
though Hell's Kitchen down the Bow
cry, dropping into all manner of places
and talking with every one who would
hold converse with me.
II have never met any one but what
l could learn something from him; he
has had some experiences that l have
not had He sees the world from his
own viewpoint. If you go at it in the
right way the chances are that you
can extract something of value from
him. But, whatever else you do, don't
flash a pencil and notebook; either he
Twill shut up or he will become Hall
| Came"