The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1913-03-08

sense only once during his career after he
had achieved an international reputation.
Il was the fortune of the writer to be one
Of the two newspaper men, who hnally
obtained an interview with the dis
tinguished author.
The interview took place in Brattleboro
several wears ago and, it Is the purpose
Of this article to state IN somewhat alb
breviated form what Mr. Kiphng said and
to show him in bis dress and manners at
hat time.
Mr. kipling first visited Brattleboro IN
he spring of 1892 His wife had lived IN
he outskirts of the pretty town Tor .
number OF summers and was much at .
tached to it and to the people Her grand
mother, Madame Balestire, had summer
nome about three miles out OF the village /.
For some reason Mr. kipling made visit
to the section in either March or April /
1892, and as he stated IT the mercuI! was
Thirty below freezing.
With his great industry and keen busl
ness sense Mr.. Kiphng had hardly reached
Brattleboro before he wrote one OF his
brilliantly descriptive articles that gave
the color of the intense cold, the town and
everything else which passed under his
observation. 1t was purchased by the Nc
Glare syndicate and the story was printed
IN many Of tn leading papers OF the coun-
Try
Mr.. Kipling was not content to speak OF
he intense cold, the beautiful views and
I'D that sort Of thing. He also described
the men and the women. Here are a lie"
sentences from that first Brattleboro story
showing his wonderful style: There Is a
certain scarcity Of men to make love with.
Not so much III towns which have their
own manufactures and lie within lover 5
sabbath day journey OF New York, but III
the farms and villages. The men have
gone away-thc young men are fighting tor
fortune further west, and the women re
main forever as women must. On the
farms when the children depart the old
men and the old women strive to hold
things together without help, and the
,gomen's portion is work and monotony.
Sometimes she goes mad to an extent
which appreciatively affects statistics and
IS put down in the census reports. More
often let rs hope, she only dies.
In the villages where the necessity 1or
heavy work is not so urgent the women
find consolation in the formation OF liter
ary clubs and circles and so gather &c
themselves a great deal of wisdom in THEN
own way That way IS not altogether
lovely. They desire facts and the knowl
edge that they are at a certain page in {
German or italian book before certain
time, or that they have read the proper
books in proper way. At any rate they
have something to do that seems as If they
had been doing something.
There was something about the picture
something in the story that did not pleas
tlol,, haNrr
Vermont. They did not relish it. Rev
George Leon Walker published an article
IN reply to some of the views which Mr.
Kipling had taken on the Vermont hill
and in the village giving a true picture 0
Vermont people as he had seen them 70
many years The two articles caused con
siderable comment and for time Their
vas a feeling that Mr.. Kipling had beel
unjust, that his pictures were not true t
life.
1t was while that feeling was quite ger
eral in Brattleboro that the writer was as
signed to interview Mr. Kipling Their
were exaggerated stories afoat in relatO
To his manners, his dress, the usual yarn
that are current in a country town aboU
any celebrity who chances to make hi
home in a small town and who does nc
IulnglC with the people freely, and VIII
IS d tTifie eccentric. At that time Nj
Kiphng was building "Naulahla," tn
name Of his country house, just over til
line in Dummerston, abut three miles frol
Brattluboro village. He was living Will
his country house was built, in a sma
cottage on the Bliss farm. which gener
report said was formerly the home Of II
coachman OF assistant farmer on the farm
Certainly it was an exceedingly modest re
idence for a man who even then had d
income we'll up in the thousands.
We called at the cottage on the day
the interview, and were told that NJ
Kiplng was walking somewhere on Il
mills We then drove in the direction
the Balestier farm, where Madame Bal
stleT made her summer home. Present
We saw a man coming down a steep hi
side pasture above the road. 1t was u
mistakably Kiphng.
In a minute or two he reached a POI
ton Il few feet from a barbed wire fenc
For a brief instant he stood, like a bron
statue. The eye photographed him in
instant. There was a short. stocky bod
supported by legs that seemed to be ma
for a smaller man. They were cover
with a pair Of old. almost slzin-tig
brownish trousers. Mr. Kipling wore
faded greenish Norfolk jacket A neglig
shirt, collar and a black silk four-in-ha1
showed at the neck. His face was dan
his moustache dark brown. his mouth "
determined His eyes were sharp, rath
retreating, and they were partially cover
by double-lens gold bowed spectacle
topped by heavy eyebrows. His forehe
seemed to be broad, but not high. ]
wore on his head a large gray SLOUGH h
It caused him to look little top-hea,
In his right hand was a heavy walk
stick and on his left arm was an ordina
market basket.
us this Mr., Kipling?'' said Mr. Fax,
Quick as a flash came back the reuI
Who are you, newspaper reporters?"
He did not wait for reply to his o