Evening star., 1912-09-01

1T ISN'T much wonder that Rex Beach
can write the sort of stories that keep
j one sitting up at night. He has led
tbo+ sort Of life. He went through
five wears Of double and twisted hard
luck in Alaska, during which he spent
most OF his time packing heavy articies
around over the face Of nature.
| Il never did get chance to get on
TON OF anything and ride" he says
whimsically. Il was always underneath
lifting"
In this period he picked the frowsiest
lot Of partners that ever stole sheep. The
best of the lot was merely murderer
The only easy money he ever made was
SIS. for which he ran 100 miles, part OF
the time in snow water to his waist.
When he got $50 for his first magazine
story he thought his fortune had been
made. It did not occur to him that his
income would shortly be several hundred
! times that much.
Il had a job them said he; a good
lob. Paid me $50 every month. All
| had to do was to sell fire BRICK to 1ur-
mace makers and carry a carload or sam
pies In q suit case. The editor to whom
| / sold that story told me to hold my job.
Literature is all right as a SIDE line,
said he, but stick to fire brick. That
pays!'
Three years later Beach had SO much
money-all made by sitting up nights
with a stub pen-that he didn't believe
it. He had piped tune to which other
writer's on Alaska had danced. Then
he went to Panama, and ms story OF
love and graft in the isthmian Jungle
kept his name away up in the list or
the best selling writer's. All of the
time he had been turning over in his
mind u plot which had been simply
1 s. In q
run across traces of the Black Hand.
He had found this remarkable secret
organization of Italian criminals flour
ishing and efficient in Panama. He
went to New Orleans, where the Malta
made it's first tragic manifestation In
| America, and was enabled to see the
Mano Nera from the inside. He came
to Chicago and New York, and d1scov-
cred that the finger of the Black Hand
is very apt to be stirring in the pot OF
politics.
His Best Story.
So he wrote "T4e Net the serial
publication of which in The Star starts
next Tuesday. He couldn't help it. A
tremendously vital, tremendously danger
Gus development of modern days had
been disclosed to him. An Inheritance
| from the middle ages. it has preserved
its yigor and eniarged-ftS scope, until
today the man who orders dagger
driven home in Naples may dictate &C
tion at the polls upon a candidate Tor
alderman in New York. 1t has made
graft a science, thievery an article of
faith. murder the flower of achieve
ment. The police horizon is spotted
with manifestations of the Black Hand
but the police see only the individual
| criminal. The newspaper reader dis
misses the morning story of murder
| and arson as the act Of single outlaw.
instead of an assault by an organiza-
=; lnID
seen the wonderfully dramatic POSSIBLE
| tiles Of the whole, and in story that
throbs with vivid action and gloWs with
color he has told the story Of an Amer
Black Hand The author believes it
| to be the best story he has ever writ
| ten. Good judges who have read his
manuscript fully agree with him.
It isn't fair to the reader to anticipate
the plot of the new story. But 1t is per-
| nlissible to state that the opening scene
| is laid in Sicily, where u young Ameri-
can has gone to attend wedding OF his
| best friend, a Sicilian land owner. under
sentence Of death by the Malta The
manner in which that threat is executed
| is told by Mr.. Beach in one OF the most
remarkable chapters OF modern fiction.
| the American-who had been more than
| a bit of a coward all his life-sets about
| making himself courageous by sheer de-
| termination. The tale of the tracking
| delight any lover of red-blooded fiction.
| The threads Of two love stories are
| woven through it all. Mr.. Beach car
| ries his readers along at a characteris-
Of the story. The man s worth atten-
| ton.
Played Foot Ball.
| He is a whale of big man, as he
sits in the writing room in his New
1 " ~
shirt because he likes gray flannel
shirts. He leans back against a gun
case filled with dozen or battered
and polished rifles. Bearskins which
he won from their original owners in
various games of Alaskan chance are
scattered over the floor. He is clean
shaven, his hair is trimmed short and
his jaw is framed like a stone house.
He carries mighty little extra flesh. and
| 1t is a good guess that he would strip
close to 400 pounds. He smokes a
pipe, keeps cigars for his friends and
talks like a Caucasian, born free. He
was born in upper Michigan, by the
way, went to Florida as a boy and
reached Chicago when he was eighteen
years old; weighed 10 pounds. and was
| to study law.
| But I had no money! he explained
one day. Therefore ! had to find a
place to eat"
In those days the athletic associa-
tions of various large cities maintained
teams of giant gladiators to entertain
| the multitude. Beach had seen just
one game Of foot ball. but he was so
very husky that he was engaged as
tackle by the athletic association foot
ball manager The college teams used
| to play an annual series with these
professionals. Later they gave 1t up.
because the murderous truck horses
hired by the athletic associations could
not he hurt by anything short Of an
ak. whereas the college players were
apt to tear under the wings. Beach
played through the season. taking part
| in the game by which his team won the
championship Of America
| Then, being still destrous Of eating
regularly, he attached himself to the
athletic associations swimming team,
and broke an indoor record That was
lin 1897 when the K1ondike excitement
broke out He stampeded with the rest.
with his two partners he was dumped
Off the boat at Rampant. on the Yukon,
one rainy night. They didn't have a
i dollar between them. but they had
plenty of goods Then things began to
happen.
Choice Partners.
I'VE prepared to become exorbitantiy
rich" said Beach. But it was a bad
winter. There were 1900 roughnecks
in town, very little food and plenty Of
scu.vy j soon found out that my
strength was in my legs. l could
-,,tf, IN Sfamnoded