The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-01-31
JOSEPH CONRAD, A POLISH
LEADER OF ENGLISH NOVEL lists

II Is strange to consider that joseph
conrad. Of whose work Galsworthy
W...c some time ago probably the
o.r. writing Of the last twelve wears that
v..u ,'.'r the Eng .sh language to any
r\tcn.. dd not know "A word of English
ugtu rr WAS ~ years old and that his
r..t book was published when he had
reached just twice that age. And now he
j. ,iunri among tho foremost English
-r..srs ~ the period. with eighteen vol
uu.s O. his credit-the latest, Chance 4"
,s Doe issued next month by Doubleday.
Page ~ CO.
When young Joseph Conrad Korzeni.
oNsd was ~ years old he left his Polish
home cor Marsclles to seek adventure on
the sea. one night he was on pilot
sh!p which was called upon to send n
pilot TO an English vessel. The young
POLE volunteered to pull bow in the dingy
when was TO carry the pilot.
~ few strokes brought us alongside"
he SAYS and 1t was then that for the
FIRST time in my life ! heard myself ad
dressed in English--the speech of my
secret choice of my future. OF long
friendship. OF the deepest affections. OF
hours OF toll and hours of ease, and OF
solitary hours too. of books read, OF
thoughts pursued. of remembered emo
t.ons-of my very dreams And II. after
being thus fashioned by II In that part
OF me which cannot decay, dare not
claim Il aloud as my own, then. at any
rate the speech of my chlldrens Thus
small events grow memorable by the pas
sage OF time. AS TO the quality of the
address itself. l cannot say 1t was very
striking. Too short FOR eloquence and
devoid OF all charm of tone, 1t consist
precisely of the three words Look out
there" zrowled out huskily above my
head"
Conrad was born In 1857. the son OF a
Polish squire. who was exiled to Vologda
by the Russian Government. But the
family library was taken along, and from
the age Of Joseph was u great reader.
BY the time he was 10 he had read his
fathers translations OF Hugo and Shake
speare, other romantics In both French
and Polish, Don Quixo,e" and "Gil Bias"
In abridged editions and innumera ble
voyages. novels and histories.
After his father died Joseph was we'll
cared for by his maternal uncle, studying
at a public school and under a private
tutor, but his longing TO seek adventure
AZ sea could not be dissipated. So nj
length he set of for Marse.lles and after
his frs, brief encounter with the English
tongue got a berth on a French ship
which took him to the Gulf OF Mexico.
In 1877 he Joined an English steamer
bound for the Azov Sea and when the
vessel brought the load of grain back
home the young sailor first put foot on
English soil. lie began to pick up Eng
lsh from the sailors and newspapers
Then followed n routine of voyages.
examinations and promotions which are
told about in his Youth THE Mirror
VI the Sea- and other stories. In 1884
he became British subject and con-
Lnued following the sea until 1896.
II Was one evening In 1893 that the
captain Of "a ship sailing from London 70
Australia was chatting In his cabin with
young Cambridge man. They were
talking about Gibbons History. On n
sudden impulse the captain asked Would
Il bore YOU very much reading manu-
script IN a handwriting like mine?' Next
day the young Cambridge man returned
the captains manuscript said that the
story was interesting and decidedly worth
finishing.
The captain was Joseph Conrad and
ne manuscript was "Almayers Folly"
a manuscript OF many adventures which
he had for many years been iottinG down
from time TO time in desultory fashion.
He commenced II, setting down hts Ma
lays. Arabs. half castles and white men.