The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-05
HUMOR|ST JACOBS
LONGS TO Write
ASER|OUS NOVEL.
Would Like to Publish Book
Upon English Life
of Today
BARRIE MAY RETURN
TO FICTION WRITING
Said to Be Disappointed Over Failure
of Recent Effort as Dramatist.
Almanac de Gotha' Brings
High Prices
BY MAYNARD EVANS

lie mas been tell1nS an lnuulrlHS yoohs
woman who visited him at his delight
full home, Feltham House. on Gliding
Hill, just outside Loughton, in Essex,
all about his secret ambitions. And
like so many of his fellow men, Jacobs,
the master of humor aspires to honor
In a field quite outside of the sphere
In which he has won such high place.
In short, his present day ambition
is not to excel his best efforts IN the
humorous vein - admittedly task
worthy of almost any contemporary
writer that one can call to mind-but
to pen a long novel of English life
touching upon one or more of the
great problems that confront his fellow
countrymen of today. Most of us have
our ambitions and few of us attain
them, yet those of us--and they must
be numbered by millions now--who
have spent many pleasant hours among
the delightful pages OF Jacobs stories
must regard with CONSERVATION this
proposed desertion by one of our fa-
vorite authors. There are so many
novelists dealing with the problems
OF this life and so few capable of CIV
ing US the rare and refreshing ~humor
that we so greatly crave, that the
metamorphosis of Jacobs would indeed
be calamity.
Barrie Hurt Over Recent Experience
But If we are to lose Jacobs as a
humorist we might in time beconne re-
signed IL the latest bit of gossip that
comes to me be true. My informant
tells me that Barrie, deeply hurt over
his latest experience as ramatist-his
most recent effort being "booed" by
the first night audience when presented
in London few nights ago by Charles
Frohman--is said to have declared to
close friends that he would return to
novel writing, his first love.
Barrie Is the most sensitive of Great
ures, a shy inaccessible soul. and 1t
will be recalled that he deserted novel
writing entirely for the drama when
his Tommy and Grizor' was cold
shouldered by the reading public.
l have diverting account of the
svents that Immediately followed the
booing of "The Adored One" the other
night. There is probably no author
living who has so many friends and ad-
mirers among the small circle that
counts in England. When it became
evident that "The Adored One had
missed fire all these loyal friends gath
cred in the stalls of the Duke Of York's
theatre, rushed to the side of Barrie
intent upon first consoling his wounded
spirit and then lending any assistance
they could in saving the situation If
possible,
AT a little private supper party, the
party, headed by George Bernard Shaw,
gathered in consulate over the body
of the ailing play. Far into the night
they discussed analysed and made ex-
perments and suggestions, with the
result that the following morning there
was delivered into the hands of the
actors and actresses In the play a new
second act. embodying the spirit and
much of the best bits of the second and
third acts of the original Probably
this constitutes record<in remodeling
play.
''Blue" Books Bring High Prices
a recent book auction in Berlin re-
veled the fact that old copies of the blu
est of blue books. the Almanac de
Gotha.' are not only highly priced by
bibliophiles but fetch almost unbeliev-
ably high prices. The first edition,
published In 1864 reached the highest
. figure being sold for $3.50. But the
copy of the 1896 edition fetched s13n,
and that of the 1897 $50. while COM
plete series from 1866 to 1892 reached
$3.50; and another from -776 to 1912
realized $3.50.
Nowadays the Almanac confines its
efforts to proving that present-day
monarchs have more or less sound
claims of heredity upon the thrones
they occupy, and to reminding these
same rnonarchs of their poor and less
fortupate kith and kin. With the ma
jority of human beings it Is pos
sib1e to ignore and sometimes 20 forget
inconvenient relations. especially the
poor one Not so the royal sovereigns
of Europe. Armed with rhe latest edi-
tion of the Almanac every uncle aunt.
cousin. nephew and neice can make
good their claim to recognition.
There was time, however. when It
had other claims to wider interest. In
the early days of the Almanac It's repu-
tation was due to its articles of gen
eral information rather than Its
genealogical tables 1t contained scien-
tific articles on the strangest plants
and animals. essays on art and indus
try notes on "the history of the wig"
and on Love declarations among the va
rious people of the world
Mill Girl Writes Novel
There has just been published in
London novel by Lancashire mill
girl which, though it Is not In any
sense autobiographical. inevitably re-
calls Marie Claire with which the
French sempstress, Marguerite Audoux
electrified the reading world some four
years ago.
The authoress of this book, which Is
called Miss Nobody" and which con-
Germs itself with the struggles of /,
mill girl. much in the same circum-
stances as the author. is called Ethel
Carnie. For nine years she arose every
morning before sunrise and clad in her
shawl. her black dress and ner clogs
clattered through the cobbled streets
Of one OF the north England cotton
towns to the mill where she worked
as bobbin winder Watching the lit
tie human tragedies that were con-
stantly enacted about her she became
a keen student of character and finally
turned her efforts to writing poetry.
Much to her astonishment she discov-
cred that she had a real gift tor rhym-
ing. and her Songs of a Factory Girl
not only sold out three editions put at
tracted the attention Of among others
Robert Blatchford. the English social
list, who gave her position on a paper
he was then publishing. Unfortunately
the paper was not a success and ulti-
nately went out of existence Ethel
Carnie went back to her mill work for
a space, hut finally broke away from
the hard life when she took 4 shop in
conjunction with her mother. 1t was
while working behind the counter Of
this shop that Miss Carnie pcrned the
novel, which Il now attracting SO much
attention.