Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1913-06-13

rms space was Thoughts mysteri-
Gus seat"
Most all v of poetry are fa-
miliar with the poem, 40 a Skeleton"
the first four lines OF which are printed
above, and the manuscript Of which
was found nea a skeleton in the Lon
don royal college of surgeons in the
early part of the past century The
author has never been found, though
a reward of SO guineas was offered
for his discovery. 1t seems remark
able, in view at least of the great
amount of publicity given to the
verses at the time of their finding and
ever since. that no one came forth to
claim their authorship. nor after the
most careful search has it been pos
sible to find who expressed these beau
tfful thoughts o n the discarded paper.
There must be some. mystery con-
cealed behind them, for otherwise 1t
would appear so unnatural that
the author should disown his
much admired effort. The efforts to
find him have been most diligently
prosecuted by literary men of both
continents. and in n instance, among
the many an American was named
as having written h poem.
The first copy of the poem is said
to have appeared in the london
Morning Chronicle and unsigned, but
NAASA y Web0 ~ y al AitC III RCu
Magazine of November, 1916. 1t bore
the initial W" This was the signature
used by Miss Anna Jane Vardill, and
while this young woman frequently
contributed to this magazine, she made
a complete denial of having written To
Il Skeleton"
The story of the finding of the
while an attendant of the Royal College
OF Physicians n Surgeons of London
was passing through the library of that
institution he observed a few sheets of
paper lying carelessly on a table. A
pen, inks and skull were the only other
objects on the table, When he picked
up the e he noticed they were
still damp. He blotted them very care
fully n turned them over to the liz
brarian. 1t was a holiday and the Ii
brarian at once demanded to know who
had been admitted or a day lei Wis
ttOrs were not allOWed.
The rebuked attendant hurried away
in search of the offender. Only a pro-
fessor and two janitors were to be
found in the building. He hurried
back to his superior and recommend
ed that the verses be burned. as they
had evidently beer written by some
supernatural hand.
placed them on the desk of the dean
of the college. where they lay for
some time and were found SO inter
esting and exceptional that they
We're read and copied by a great
many professors and visitors. One
of these copies reached the London
Chronicle. and when printed it made
a remarkable impression on the mind
of the public.
There at once began a great demand
to know the name of the author. 1t
was thought for a time that some
professor of the college had written
them. but they all disclaimed credit.
For 10 years following their printing
the question Of authorship was fire.
quently revived. and finally a reward
was offered for any one who could FUR
nish proof. the sum being placed at
$3.50. There never has been a claimant
for the reward.
The poem has been at various times
assigned as the work OF nearly all Its
contemporary authors. but the mystery
of the writer's identity seems to deepen
with the years. AS the poem was
written close to a century ago it is
not likely that it will ever be known
who sat at the library table on that
holiday in he early part of IN last
century. with a skull before him and
unused so POLITICALLY upon the problems
OF life. 1t has proved Itself to be one
of the most -exasperating of the minor
| mysteries of literature.