The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-08-11

O. Henry to North Carolina Is a praise
worthy but impossible task we have
not been OF that happy few who knew
U. Henry personally. but wo know him
as he writes. We know the O. Henry
OF his Dooks-the worlds o. Henry. O..
iiehry might have. as man. loved
North Carolina, but he neyor made any
enort TO put her into HIS works we
beIicVc when a writer loves q place.
whch MS heart turns back there when
he calls 1t his own, his native land"
win pride at his heart and Il song in
his soul. he must sing that song-he
must write of 1t, he must tell tho world
about 1t.
washington Irving couldn't have kept
tho hudson River and lazy Tarrytown
cut OF his masterpieces. John Fox, Jr..
mad to write about Kentucky Joel
Chandler Harris could but immortalize
me Georgia negro. Sidney Lanicr sang
In Immortal melody" of the hills of
Hnbersham and the valleys of Hall.
Nhcn q mans soul is filled with one
spot he's going to burst forth I'm his
writings and tell about 1t. Docs any
ono mink that Mark Twain could have
helped making the mississippi River n
world figure? Could Thomas Nelson
Page have kept his once splendid man
sions. now fast falling into decay" out
OF his books? Poe was anything but
realist. He laid but little emphasis
I,
Few possible exceptions, have hap
rcned anywhere on earth. However. no
loved his alma mater, tho University
of Virginia. and he laid the sccno OF
ono story Tho Ragged Mountains"
near Charlottesville. lie honorcd Rich
tnond and the James River with The
Premature Burial" and he immortalized
Sullivans Island. where he served in
the army as Private Edgar y. Perry"
in The Gold Bug"
But o. Henry didn't choose North
Carolina for his stories. New York
was his garden patch" and he loved
TO write OF the wild, free life OF Texas.
However, when he came 10 lay tho
scene OF a story in the South he took
Nashville. New Orleans. or the Tenncs-
see mountains. His stories are staged
from New York to South America, but
no skips over North Carolina. He was
intrinsically realist n localist. His
background was the sine qua non OF
his stories. but lac didn't pick North
Carolina for n background Even in
his story. The Fool Killer" in which
lc introduces Il North Carolina cOlloqui-
alism, no does not even mention North
Carolina. He always refers 10 other
places freely-in this very story. he
speaks Of Chicago. Idaho. Westminster
County. etc. but no North Carolina.
Tho writer Of the article says: "Uc
loved North Carolina, and he was ever
true ana lo!a! 10 ms native state. II
90 Henry" loved his mother state
''on the side" he must have been
ashamed OF her "in comp'ny." We hope
he did love her She's worthy OF q
great SONS love, but tho O. Henry OF
the books didn't love her. lie stunned
her. He talked about almost every
ether place on this side OF terra nrina."
but he hid old North CaroI!na's light
under bushcl II North Carolina
owed her fame 10 O. Hcnry's pen. she'd
fall into 'innocuous dcsuetudc." Per
haps q. Henrv's long years as a Tar
heel drug clerk. town wag. and pencil
artist. rs the son OF the town sot. ever
precluded his calling into his Iilads his
uat!ve Greece. Perhaps the memory OF
her pine fields, her snuN and her dc e
sccndants from tho sRncrs OF the