The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-07-22

ua the on the battlefield OF Seven Pr.
The hall which killed him and geo.
through it AZ j: lay there in his s,r.a.,
icthet J.st over ms neArt The
pathos Of the incident VA such 80,
it made NE 11Ite 'MArxe Char.
During Try stay in this ~orkSh.s >,
T,oraas Nelson Page / asked p.,
~QueStiors as &c his literary met T.
Ind in reply WAS shown some u a.
COPY III its -arious tag of its pr,ra-
ration for tic press | wish | coul. l3>
it beftre .nn Genius has been s,u
10 be the caascity of infinite Halo.
Ii ti..s is SO. Thomas Nelson Pas. Ia.
it. His writing is done SLOWLY and
the manuscript is worked ov-r and
over again. The first draft is mad.
with a pencil and in his own hand
This is often one masse Of ccrra
tons and revisions before II goes L.
the typewriter and come s back "a hl,n
The typewriter manuscript is rev,A.3
II the same way. and a second aas
third copy often meets the same f.,.
fen the work is Satisfactor, -
sent to h publishers.
1t comes back to him again j. IN.
galley proof, and this is revised. r.t
only as to words and sentences lut
often as TO whole paragraphs and see
tons, the old copy being cut out an.
new copy inserted.
] was especially interested IN ~.
first manuscript OF The Stable ~ IL.
Inn" one OF his stories Of The Land
Of the Spirit which has just been
published. h is written with a
pen, but it is 50 crossed out and pep
pered with insertions and revas,ons
that il looks more like the h~ierosiy-
phics in some Egyptian tomb than
the penmanship Of the ordinary au-
thor. Nevertheless. it has well pald
for h labor. for the story is a gen,
and some of the churches have
thought 50 much Of it's moral that
they have asked the permission II
Or. Page to publish for tract disir,-
b lt5cn editions of so. 00e and NOR.
Another manuscript over which
looked was that Of the "Iafe of Robert
e. Lee which, az you may know,
be one of the most lasting and best
works relating TO h civil war and the
great southern hero thereof.
Mr.. Page might almost be called a
WOrshlper Of Robert E. Lee. ~.
thinks him among the greatest IT
military senluses, saying he was great
as poi was great. and as Wash
ington was great, and Also that h-
was as great as a man as he va. y
oAaANA las AASt NOIk upon Lee was
entitled Robert F.. Lee, Southern.r j"
It was a 12mo Of SEQ pages. This hoo.
formed a part Of the revised MANI
SCRIPT Tor n greater work. look4~
over 1t. The printed pages are coy
cred with penciled lines along the
margins n between the type, and IA
ADDITION is perhaps a half bushel 1T
manuscript, written word by wore IN
Mr.. Pages own hand. The galley
proofs are likewise covered with pen
mansn1p, and the whole contains
enough writing for three or four
BOOKS OF equal size. This manuscript
IS TO be sent to the Washington ana
Lee University. which wishes to Yr.-
serve 1t as a relic OF its greatest h,.r.
airy student.
AS we looked over the ecty M.
rage 1olo me the greatest Of I<e's
c~naracter grew upon him, and how.
aIter writing the short biography. he
1ett tnat he could not help making
the larger work. This remark led to
TIE evolution OF his longer Stories
ana ne told me that many had start
60 as sketches, which,. as he deyeIuped
the characters and came to know ana
1eel mem, had grown into novels. M.
: age DeIleSes that a novel should not
pc entirely developed to one star per
ormer He thinks it should b.. 4
picture OF real life. and says that ~
Ieai NE YOU seldom find one chara1-
Ter who stands alone. AS We talked,
| asked him if his characters were
real 70 hifn~-and if he could feel and
see 1nem as though they were a}v.
He replied:
es, The people in my stories ar.
vsly reai TO me. | know them Dot only
physically, but intellectually and pSy-
nicaiiy. and ! AVE to make them act
anu talk as they naturally would DO
the were alive. This does not
mean tnat the. real villain will alway.
act IN a villainous way. but he nust
:. ii with his nature Of
| know him.
DuIihg the conversation the names
u some OF the worlds great move ,-,,
So up, and [ asked whether. II
.nacAeray and Dickens were now
~ .nelr books would be among
. MOST aSSuredly thew wnutd Was