Evening journal., 1911-02-02
new NEWS OF YESTERDAY
The Literary Lark That
Resulted in a Famous
"BeSt Seller"
By ~ROlIand."


After a brilliant career as an
officer in the Civil War General
Joseph r. Hawley returned to DIS
home at Hartford, Conn.,, at the close
of the hostilities. He purposed be-
ginning over again as an editor, for
he was the editor of a Republican pa
per at the time he laid down the pen
to open the first recruiting ofiice In
the State Of Connecticut in response
to Lincoln's call for volunteers on
April IS. 1861. And twenty-four hours
after the call had been issued, be had
raised his States first company Of
volunteers.
General Hawley, however. was
Obliged to defer that purpose, for, in
1866, he was elected Governor OF
Connecticut. A year later. however,
when he returned to private life, he
brought about him an able body Of
associates, five in all. who bought
the Hartford Courant and consolidat-
ed with it the Hartford Press, Of
which General Hawley had been the
editor before the outbreak of the war.
One Of these associates was Charles
Dudley Warner, who was known to
circle ofscultivated literary men and
women as master of English style,
but whose name was not then ia
miliar TO the public.
General Hawley's election to the
lower house of Congress in 1868 and
his long service In that body follow
ed by four terms I'm the Senate) made
il necessary for Mr.. Warner to as
sumo the duties of editorial chief Of
the Courant Il was while he was
serving In that capacity that Mr.
Warner began the publication of z
daily series of articles without the
slightest thought that upon this
trihing work, as he called 1t, was 70
be based his mastery reputation. and
that by reason Of IL he would join the
ranks Of those who in that day pub
lished what nowadays we should call
best seller"
While Mr.. Warner was occupied
with conducting the department en-
titled THE Editors Drawer" in Har-
per's Magazine. a task which he as
sumed in 1884, asked him II he
would tell me how he was led 70
write the little series of daily essays
which became nationally famous un-
der the book title, MY Summer in a
Garden"
Il have been asked that question
many times" said Mr., Warner. "and
I have always said that did not
know exactly how ] came TO write
those daily articles. I suppose it was
n sort Of literary lark. lived in the
center of a colony of well known lit
erary people; Mrs Harriet Beecher
Stowe was my neighbor, and so was
Mark Twain, and there was the
charming literary circle which met
at the house of Francis Gillette. who
had been United States Senator. and
was the father of William GillettA
the actor. We all had little plots Of
ground attached to our homes, and
some Of us understook to have kitch-
en- gardens. We used to have great
sport in describing our experience
with pusley weed.
"One day | thought | would turn
my attention from the heavier sort of
editorial work to a sort Of recreation,
to writing a little sketch each day
that would hint at the experiences OF
the amateur gardner, specially with
pusley weed / aud my fellow colon
list had had proofs of the truth that
Wao III AhA nu9 Ahb VI AAbA gucliAClls
our great fellow-townsman. who in
one of his lectures spoke of the moral
perversity of inanimate objects. II
there could be anything more per-
verse than pusley weed, none of us
knew what it was.
We'll, there was something in the
humor. possibly something in the
light Of philosophy that worked their
way into those little sketches which
happened to catch the public fancy
and before ] realized it I discovered
that the sketches we're gaining in
popularity far beyond the boundaries
Of Hartford. Then many persons
urged me to have them republished in
book form: and tell me that after
times my friends tell me that after
/ all, My Summer in a Garden. is the
best thing lever did. Measured by
popularity, / am inclined to think II
! is"
Mr.. Warner might have gone fur.
ther and said that the phenomenal
success Of this work. and the type oil
humor that was in It. caused him tc
be ranked among the foremost oi
American humorists."
Copyright. 1911. by z. J. Edwards
Allrights reserved).