El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-07-19

surrounded by the old Nelson and Page
| libraries, and some of his reading was
done by the light Of pine knots Among
the first Of his book loves was walter
Scott, whom he read and reread in that
way, and the same is true of Dickens
! and Thackeray. Even as boy he liked
l to ina CINE stories, and his little head
| was filled with battles and sleges, and
/ with plumed knights and tournaments
in which love and fair ladies played
] their parts
As the times grew better the boy was
I prepared for college, and at 16 he en-
! tered the Washington and Lee univer-
! sity, where he stood high in the liter
! airy socities and was the editor of the
| college paper. After leaving school, he
became the tutor of a private school IN
/ Kentucky and with the money he made
| there started to study law at the Uni
| versity of Virginia He began the prac-
tice of law in Richmond when he was
/ p and kept at 1t for years, writing
/ some Of his best stories in the midst of
| the preparation of dry legal documents
He was made a doctor of laws by Yale
| college in 1901, and he has received
| several degrees as doctor Of literature.
Home Is in Washington.
| I have known Mr.. Page for years. He
| lives, you know, here at the capital.
] His home Is reproduction OF the IDEAL
/ southern mansion of the old time plan
/ tatiOn 1t is built of the same rough
I brick as was imported for the Virginia
| homes in the days of the cavaliers. 1t
mer windows of colonial days and its
broad entrance porch and old fashioned
doorway are among the artistic fea-
lures of the Capital City.
Entering the house, you come into
wide hall hung with paintings, etchings
and engravings, each of which has its
story. An easy flight of stairs leads to
the second floor, where is the library, a
room as big as the hall of a colonial
church This is walled with rare edi-
lions OF the classics and of history and
fiction in beautiful bindings The cases
are of cedar and they extend from the
floor almost to the ceiling. The furni
ture is old mahogany, beautifully in
laid. There are soft divans and easy
chairs, and all the surroundings of the
dilettante book lover and cultured,
you you see no signs Of work, and the
average caller or visitor leaves without
imagining that such thing as work
is connected with Mr.. Pages life.
Pages Real Workshop.
It Is different in the real workshop.
This is two stories higher, a little
room which is almost under the roof.
Here the books are of many kinds and I
most of them are in ordinary bindings.
There are scores of old biographies. ,
odd volumes of history and historical |
collections, shelves filled with Ameri- !
cana and volume after volume of BIZ i
ograpEies and stories relating to the |
old south. There are reference books, !
religious works, a well thumbed Bible |
or so and full equipment for literary /
labor.
The desk is covered with proofs, !
manuscripts and papers. A half dozen
pencils lie within easy reach of the
chair, and beside them are several quill
pens, made from eagles feathers The
only easy chair in the room is one I
with an old fashioned wooden frame,
covered with a wide sheet of leather,
makes it tight or loose, enabling one to !
rest his back as he sits. The frame |
work of the chair is of black walnut
and it is wonderfully comfortable 1t |
was made for Henry Clay and was used
by him while he was in Washington.
After Clay died, It came into the hands
Of AinswOrth r SpoffOrd, the librarian,
and then TO Mr.. Page.
As I looked at this chair, I asked
Mr. Page something as to the other
furniture, and found that much Of it
had historic memories.
The Camp Chest.
This camp chest" said he, as he
pointed to a box covered with books,
was carried by my father throughout
I'D a great steel bit. which hung at its
side, lis the bride bit with which he
rode through all his campaigns He
got the Dit at the first battle Of Bull
Run, taking il from the horse of 2
Yankee, and making it serve for the
south"
Turning to the other end Of the room,
asked Nj. Page as to the thing which
ike the electro plates of some manu-
script" said I
And that is just what it is" was
he reply. Those plates meant a great
ieal to me when the books from which
hey were printed appeared They
ire the electros of my first stories.
The pages on this side are from
'Marse Chan" and those on top are
'Meh Lady" while here at the left are
some from I'm Ole Virginia and the
Two Little Confederates.''
49,. L.. I. l. " i
% write and whether it had been easy
% get his stuff published
LAS to my first writing I cannot re-
member when I did not want to write.
made up stories in my head when
vas boy and wrote them out upon
states when We were too poor to afford !
he paper and pencils. 1 kept on writ
ng at school and at college. where my
short essays in the paper gave me the
nickname Of the short Article Edi-
or" I sent some things to the Cour-
er-J Journal, while 1 was a tutor near
louisville, KY, but they were not ac-
,epted and the same is true of many
# the first things sent to the maya
lines"
Il don't know what you mean by
-eal," said Mr.. Page, but the first |
hing of any merit which can remem-
Der was a sketch entitled. "A Soldier of
he Empire This was written before I
Mars Chan or Meh Lady, although it
vas not published until after they had
appeared"
The Story OF ~Meh Lady,
what is the story of Meh Lady,"
"I don't know that it was worth pub
ishing," was the reply. 1T was writ
en- during my first practice of the law
It Richmond I was always writing |
It something or other, and while study !
ng law. I remember I would read about |
wO pages of Blackstone or Coke, and !
hen try my hand at fiction I kept
his up after I began to practice, and, !
Though the greater part of L. income