The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1910-08-05
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

Henry Mills Alden, who from his
editors study in the Office of Har-
pers Magazine has watched the
growth of American letters for forty
one years, talked to New York Sun
reporter as an analyst and historian.
Mr.. Alden confined himself to a
discussion of the novel and the short
story only. Particularly he dwelt
upon the short story.
He said at the outset that it was
difficult to determine whether the
rise in the art of writing the short
story and the increase in it's popular
ity had come from popular demand
or through evolution of and inspira-
ton in the spirit of the short story
ITSELF Environment was perhaps the
master influence which brought about
the perfection of the short story, and
it was the peculiar environment of the
American writer which made this
form first broaden and develop from
the conventional lines of the first half
Of the nineteenth century to what it
is to-day. The environment pushed
the short story as an accepted form
of literary expression ahead on this
side of the Atlantic before Europe
could be weaned from the spell of
the long novel.
Il should say that it was the pro-
vincial idiomatic peculiarities inner
ent in each of the differening sections
of America that first determined the
mould of the short story as we know
it to-day" said Mr. Alden. This not
withstanding the earlier and note
worthy examples of Poe and of Haw-
thorne. Poe did not imbibe one bit
of the influence of his environment
His stories were built out of the i'm
agination and with sheer intellectual
acuteness. He might have been a
Frenchman instead of an American
so far as atmosphere drawn from the
ground appeared in his works. His
stories pleased because they aroused
terror in part and in part intellectual
pleasure.
with Hawthorne the case was
much the same. He did not write Of
the New England of his day, nor
flavor his novels and short stories
with any of this provincial idiomatic
salt that l have alluded to. BY the
exercise of his strong imagination he
peopled his books and drew his scenes
from past age.
Contrast with these two such
writer's as George Egbert Craddock
and Bret Harte, who drew upon the
rich atmosphere of provincialism
about them for a new type of story
Bret Harte's earlier stories all are
typical of this influence, which I be-
lieve characterized the change in the
form of the short story and fostered
it's growth for the better. After
Harte went to London he lost the
sense of appreciation for external fea-
lures Of environment. In the closing
years of the last century Harper's
published some of his humorous
sketches, which were totally unlike
any of his earlier work.
Mr.. Alden said that traditional |
estimate of the Importance of serial |
fiction had once. dictated that the |
magazine under his charge should |
give scant attention to the short story.
even while carrying two or more |
serials at a time. At the end of the |
magazines half century the short |
story as peculiar American product
had a world wide acceptance and by
many it was considered to be form
20, IT, Il ~ft L1 A ~
novel, even against the English con-
vention which took little heed of the
short story as rival of the novel in
popular interest.
The rule of Harpers Magazine now
is that but one serial shall run at
time in the magazine, and this has
thrown open pages of space to the
short story. Nowadays the magazine
carries seven or eight short stories in
every issue.
with more room offered there has
been remarkable increase in the
of short stories written" said
Mr.. Alden. Recognition of the short
story as high form of the creative
art cannot now be gainsaid.
THE short story as it existed fifty
years ago, with few brilliant eXcep-
tons, could not justify the awarding
of much space in a magazine. Before
was started there was an en-
tirely different kind of short story
This variety was best repre-
sented perhaps by T. S. Arthur, and
for the most part women wrote the
stories Graham's Magazine carried
the conventional type of short story
Of that day, all stories of romantic
love