The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-07-20

the Century. and one OF tho new editors
in clearing up the papers found among
them Il bulky roll OF manuscript which
had been jammcd into a pigeonhole so
tightly that IL would hardly come out
lie opened il and began to glance
through ii. 1t interested him. and 'Meh
Lady was printed 1t attracted favor
able attention, and have been writ
ing. more or less. from that time to
this"
What was the origin OF 'Marse
Chan. MIR. Page" asked l.
1T was written before Men Lady
but was not published until afterward.
IL may have been held back on account
of the feeling which stir existed be-
tween the North and the South at the
close of the Civil War The story dealt
largely with the Southern side. AS to
its origin. it came from an old letter
which 4 friend OF mine showed me
This letter was written to Il Confed-
crate soldier by his lllterate sweet
! heart in Georgia.
1T was poorly penned and poorly
| spelled. but the sentiment in II at
tractcd me. The girl had, 1t seemed,
trihed with the man. and it was only
after he had left for the war that she
realized how she loved him. In her
letter she wrote:
II know have treated you mean.
my life, and | loved you all the time.
When you asked me to marry you |
laughed and said | wouldn't have you.
1t makes me cry now TO think you are
/ gone away 10 the war. But l want you
&c know ! love you I want you to git
n furlough and come home. and I'll
marry YOU
The letter closed with this post
script:
Don't come home without a fur
Tough, for unless YOU come home hon
orable ] won't marry you.
! This letter was found in the breast
pocket of the soldier when he lay dying
On the battlefield of Seven Pines. The
ball which killed him had gone through
is as ii lay there in his breast pocket
Just over his heart. The pathos of tho
! incident was such that ii made mo
write 'Marse Cham"
During my stay in this workshop Of
| Thomas Nelson Page asked many
questions as to his literary methods,
and in reply was shown some of his
copy in the various stages of its prep
aration for the press | wish | could
lay ii before YOU. Genius has been
( said to be the capacity of infinite labor.
/ II this is so, Thomas Nelson Page has
/ It, His writing is done slowly, and the
I manuscript Is worked over and over
/ and over again The first draft is made
/ with n pencil and in his own hand.
/ This is often one mass of corrections
and rcvisions before 1t goes to the
typewriter and comes back to him. The
typewrittcn manuscript is revised in
/ the same way, and a second and third
copy often meets the same fate. When
the work is satisfactory 1t is sent to the
publishers.
1t comes back to him again in the
galley proof. and this is revised, not
only as TO words and sentences. but
/ often as to whole paragraphs and sec
tons. tho old copy being cut out and
new copy inserted.
Il was especially interested in the
first manuscript of THE Stable of the
Inn" one of his stories of The Land
OF the Spirit" which has just been pub
lished. This is written with n pen. but
II is so crossed out and peppered with
insertions and rcvisions that IL look:
more like the hieroglyphics in some
Egyptian tomb than the penmanship o
the ordinary author. Nevertheless, Il