The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-10-08

bond Of affection between the White
and black"
In her aliveness to the present,
Mass Elliott loses the perma-
nency OF the past in her. Her moth
s1,va hvea in the paimy days Of
tried 10 free his slaves, ever practic-
aliy ctte1npting to organize a Liberian
colony. She was educated at home.
aod her taste in it's old-world cultiva-
ton kept her from reading such
stories as Little Women" 1 bad the
oio li0rary around me-" she said with
a smile which revealed how strong
a hold memory has upon her daily
l!1e. When l was SO high. 1 was
given Reade, George Eliot, Scott and
Dickens" Then she added with a
dlhnitive tone to her voice that defied
refutation. There is too much dust
and dishwater in the books read by
the young up North"
During the afternoon Miss Elliott
referred many times 10 scrapbooks,
scared with the atmosphere of years:
among these manuscript treasures
there are the work-a-day journals Of
her aunts. which she hopes to edit in
the future. They are very rich in
atmosphere" she said, like Mrs.
smedes's Memorials of a Southern
Planter, recording the life of the
Dabne family. Mrs. Smedes lives
in Sewanee, you quaint old
soul.
When I'm in a big city l can write
better,' Miss Elliott continued, but
down here l am continually running
out to see what's going on. I have
few friends OF the literary side, and
IN my isolation down here any big
movement | come IN ontac with
makes me restless. When Ibsen first
attracted me, in 1905, his depression
set me walking the countryside for
an hour, battling the problems. l
discovered Ibsen for myself, before
the commentaries deluged the mar
ket. and | reached my own conclu-
SiOns as to his spOntaneousness be-
fore the scientific critics clrcumscrib-
ed him by a set development. How
many battles I've had with the pro
feSSOrS heret'
In fact, Miss Elliott's intellectual
vigor is Very individual; she cannot
adapt it to ACCORD with anything but
her own individuality. It is her in
difference to the economic phases OF
her calling that has oftentimes beer
her undOing. When I was a child
she declared, Il wrote anything;
was never trained to write to order
And | never ant an order with
time limit attached. l might pre-
pare an essay to order, but not a story
The mere thought would paralyz'
me-" The faint odOr Of h~oneysuckl,
was mingled with the fresh damp
bare feet on the stairs betOkened tn
presence of children. A towsled
haired boy came in-one of he
nephews-to have a cut finger attend
ed to, and for the moment "Aun
saba" forgot literature. These do
the literary output of Miss Elliot
/ but children will grow up, fortunate
! ly for literature, and the log house
1 the garden is already housing a ne
story.
Il wish Southern literature woul
change Miss Elliott resumed. hay
4 ing prescribed peroxide for the hur1
Its all very well to have a sections
= interest. but nc writer should consc
ously set out to create somethin" set
9 tional. write of the life I kno'
best; l cannot plant out that life
set form. My characters just ope
e the door and walk in. And whe
they are in, l can't control then
They even name themselves I don
believe in writing dialect for the sal
Of the dialect alone. But I believe
the truth alone; if you adhere strict
to the truth-and herein I'm a rea
b island herein I'm q realist"-
l. Miss Sada," came a drawing vote
you're wanted on the phone"
- - Left to myself. I roamed about II
g room with its valuable books. The
e were andirons with the crust of yea
- upon them, and on the mantel was
picture of the Inflated Major Butt
:. l was looking at the latter when Mi
Elliott returned.
n Poor Archie" she said. "Whe
he was a student here, he used to
q great friend. I think | made hi
do the first piece of real work he ev
did in his life-rake the garden!' II
smile of satisfaction showed that Mi
Elliott had had ample opportunity
bringing up boys. Then we return'
tt to our talk.
IF you adhere strictly to the tru
d you can't go far wrong. No edit
~ will now accept the idealized negr
20 but l remember when one of n
A. stories was returned to me simply b
Of cause I had in it a real darby Wi
1e tricky characteristics. OF course '
of have to consider relative truth. VIII
IN may be so to us down here might n
OF be acceptable in the North. a we