Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1913-01-31
WHERE FICTION
PALEs BEFORE FACTS
in the News OF tho Day There Arc Plots
That No Novelist Would Dare Al
tempt for Fca Of Being Ac-
cused al E%cuocration,
cWscd OF ENGQGoratIon,
I.,.aa ~ .A.,.aaA INiala.. =

enc of those inorStlS OF nrpNrrplul WIS.,
dom whose absolute truth one Is quite
justified in questioning. Certainly We may
escape the charge OF paradox -mongcring
as the result of declaring mach of contcm-
poralN fiction to he stranger than truth.
Criminals of tho Ratlcs and Arscnc
Tupin type have. for instance. absolutely
no prototype III real lite. where the
swell mobsman.' in SO far rs he cNlsts
at all. is moro notable FOR his clothes than
for his gentle birth or chivalrous feelings.
Similarly, most of the stock characters IN
.iction-thc adventures. the strong. silent
man" tho stage liishman. and the villain
OF mclodrama-arc AT best mere car'ca-
lures. and I'm general creatures that never
were on land or sea.
In the Everyday News.
But much, of course. depends an the
precise Interpretation of the word
strange" If it merely indicates n de-
parture from the normal. whict, in these
days OF abused cpith.ts Is it's habitlal sig
ni1cance, then the novclists and tho play
wrights and the inventors of short
stories must how to the superior ingenuity
of the impressarios OF the great thcater of
life.
The newspaper is today The great chron-
!cler OF the truth that is trangcr than
six-shillins fiction. Down its column
stripped Of psychological speculation.
passes a cine,nagraplic procession of
crimes and achievements. passions and
discoveries. war, murder. violence, and
sudden death. II is not art, IL is often
mclodrama OF the crudest kind. but 1t Is
life, palpitating, and careless il it be un-
sophisticated. And IL you van an object
lesson OF the extent to which our imagina-
tive authors. and they dared. could tak
:heir plots. from real life, a weeks news
papers offer you a veritable surplus of
Ciches.
Here is a plot to which oniy the epithct
of ZOlaesQue can be attached. A man
marries, after being the sweetheart Of his
wifc's sister. Subsequently he goes
through a form of marriage with his dis
carded mistress. Both women bear chill
dren to him: both. although knowing of
his relationship to the other, remain OF
friendly terms. and neither upbraids the
man nor each other. The last act Is the
attempted murder by the man of both the
wives and his children. his suicide, and
the setting Of his house on fire to destroy
the evidence OF his crime, the plan sue
ceeding save that one of the sisters es-
| apes with serious injury. That is, bald
ly. the gist OF the Murray or "Mackie'
case which has provided n great sensa-
ton.
lola Would Have Been Condemned.
lola might have imagined this story OF
polygamy and wholesome murder, but he
would of a certainty nave been assailed
by the criticism that the story was far
fetched to a ridiculous, an impossible, de-
gree. And the critics would lave been
| justified to this extent, that the events.
like the historical incident of the soldier
who was transported unframed from one
bank of a river to another by the blowing
up OF a bridge, are SO much outside not
only common experience, but beyond the
bounds OF ordinary probability, that the
novelist or playwright who records them
undoubtedly places an excessive strain Of
credulity on his readers.
The writer's OF adventure stories"
usually escape serious criticism. because
their objective is admittedly and frankly
imaginative. But truth occasionally sur
passes even their fiction. Robert Louis
Stevenson would have wept tears of joy
over the story of the elephant poacher
Rogers (can you imagine a more roman
tically nefarious enterprise than elephant
poaching p. whose arrest and death have
just been given to the world. Rogers
maintained an armed following OF unlaw
ful ivory hunters In the remote regions
Of the Lado-Congo district, in Belgian ter
ritory, where he was overtaken by British
officers, who found the bandit lying NOR
tally wounded. Then came his extraor-
dinasily vivid little dialogue. which it Is
impossible to forbear quoting.
Il Sounds Like Fiction.
Come and stand right here. so that I
can nave a look at you." Rogers said.
The officer went and stood beside his
bed. the other white men standing close
by. Under the red blanket which was
covering Rogers could be seen the shape
Of a revolver which was pointed straight
at Captain Fox. Rogers eyes were
blazing.
Rogers said, Tell ME what you have
come after me to arrest me for" Captain
Fox answered. You are wounded now:
let all that rest until you are better"
No." he said.
II am a dying man, I guess. i did not
think they could kill old Rogers, but they
have got him this time, and ], want to AK
this thing up right now What is your
name?"
We'll. Captain Fox" he continued. on
receiving q reply. you are a young man.
ana you have got yourself into q lot of
trouble, Tor do you know that you are in
Belgian territory, that you are surround
ed by 800 men. and that you stand more
chance of arrest than I d0?"
Captain Fox rejoined. II am not in Bel
CLAN territory, and we need not discuss
the chance Of my arrest
u wish were feeling a little better. :,
Rogers SAID. Il would soon convince YOU.
Imagine It. The dusky interior Of tho
hut. the natives in the background. and
the dying soldier OF fortune splitting lersI
hairs with the officer who had come 10
deliver him up to justice. from whose
Jurisdiction . higher power had already
wishdrawn him.. And when you get hack
to your "best-seiler," have the eoodness
not to repeat for Z few days the siIiv
Islander that romance il dead In the a0th
century.
0ne On Dad.
From the Toronto Mail and Ennpire.
tnis ssnt.in Kid story 10 vouched for