University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1911-03-24

to go home in the DARK u. Henry
said, then died.
These were the last words spoken
by that master of the short story
the man who took the slang Of the
street and bound it together artis.
tically and uniquely and gave it to
literature. So long had he thought
and written in the language Of JEFF
ferson Peters. Shamrock" Clancy
and others of the same TYPE that,
when the end was at hand, he told
those about him that he did not want
to go home in the dark" In the most
trying hour of his experience there
came to him these words of the song
that has been sung by the news-boys
on the street, by the singers in vaude-
vile. by the laborers in the factory. at
the mill and at the wharf and by the
Ipoker-players in the dingy room on
the alley.
BY living nomadic life, O. Henry
came to know the life and customs
and language of those people who are
sometimes said to live in "the under
world" He saw the evils there, but
of these he seldom wrote in melan-
cholic and pathetic strain; he pre-
ferred to narrate the things that ting
led with humor. In his search for
plots for stories, he walked about III
every section of cities, principally
New York. Many of these journeys
were made at night, when he was able
to get more of the kind of information
he wanted. He talked with every type
Of person, for he said he could get
something new from everyone with
whom he might come in contact. He
often walked about in the slum dis
tricts talking to first one person then
another, seeking always something
new. '@
In this way was o. Henry equipped
for writing such stories as are con-
tanned in his books, The Voice of the
City" Options" Roads of Destiny"
His knowledge of street slang is per.
haps nowhere better illustrated than
in his story, by Courier" While he
used much slang, it was never coarse,
and he always made it appear almost
necessary right at that juncture. This
Is particularly noticeable in at least
one place in his first book, Cabbage
and Kings" the plot of which is laid
in Central America. One character
in the book finds it necessary to send
a telegram. 1t was customary for the
government authorities to inspect
such messages. This telegram was
personal. There was no pre-arranged
code, and the sender knew that Span
fsh or English would never get by
without inspection, SO the following
was sent:
His nibs skedaddled yesterday per
jack-rabbit line with all the coin in !
the kitty and the bundle of muslin
he's spoony about it. The Doodle is |
six fgures short. Our crowd in good |
shape, but We need the spondulicks. |
You collar it. The main guy and the
Try goods are headed for the briny.
You know what to do.-Bob."
While slang and jokes were not o.
Henry's only stock, these were the
lines he was particular to keep IN
store. These were the articles tina.
got the window-displays. Other
goods were sometimes sold to the peo-
pie. but before these could be dis
ributed, o. Henry had to stoop and
pull them from under the counter, or
limb a ladder and get them from
iusty shelf at the top. His jokes are
lot the HE and She" kind; they are |.
he unlabeled species that hold un- |,
'retentious places in paragraphs. In
lis eagerness to give his readers
'ause to twitch their lips a little, he |,
would sometimes endeavor to force II
! little humor where it was least ex- II
'ected or desired. But he gave so ID
many things that are worth broad L
miles. or even hearty ha-has, it is X
70 wonder that he occasionally erred 1t
q giving Humor the benefit of the II
oubt.
o. Henry was Of easy temperament
nd careless in his ways. He was open
nd frank. thoroughly approachable 8
nd Of talkative turn. Society" was
bnoxious to him, especially during J
is last days, when he came to live t
lmost like hermit. He liked 20
pam, especially about New York, d
'hich, confessedly, was the most at.
'active place to him in the world.
Greensborough, N. c.. is the birth. 9
lace of o. Henry, whose name from Ii