The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-04
CRITICISM PROVES A BAD BOOMERANG ID YOUNG SCOTCHMAN Queer Story of Real Life Co., incidence That Beats
 Fiction Hollow
HOW JAMES BARR MET
 w. CLARK RUSSELL
H. C. Wells Entertains Belgians and Helps Young Officer With His Expenses-Nick Carter Ger man Product says Globe
By HAYDEN CHuRcH

London, November 24-(Special) )-If you don't admire writer's book and private ly consider him ham, keep the fact locked in your bosom. or at least don't write and tell him so if you happen to have a past" That Is the moral of quite an extraordinary story, one of those tale of fact that make poor old fiction look quite silly, that was related to me the other evening by James Barr, author of "The Gods Give My Donkey Wings. and lot of other entertaining volumes
 Until quite recently Barr, who of course is the only less renowned younger broth CT of the late Robert Barr, conducted a regular department in monthly maga- zine here, this department being known as Red Ink,'' and ceased to do s, only because of acute irtis which now has robbed him of the sight of one eye altogether. In Red Ink, he set forth his views on all sorts of topics, appar- ently much to the edification and pleas ure of a large circle of readers.
 But not of all his readers, it seems, for one fine day he received letter whose writer ripped him up the back and no mistake. This letter was dated from a ouidi tOWH III tIe O1lLeQ SLdteS ana the author of it proceeded to administer a dressing to Barr which fairly made that veteran writer's hair curl.
 In one of his articles, it seems Barr had poked little mild fun at the late Sir Walter Scott on the score of that great writer's habit of filling space by using big words where little ones would have done just as well. and this para graph appears ot have infuriated his cor | raSnon6ont fAr iot, become obviousS we will call Mir. Blank.
 Criticism Was Severe
 "He went for me hammer and tongs. '' chuckled Barr. He said that my ideas were bunkum and my style the limit, ending up by telling me that if ever contrived to write anything within a thousand mile of Scott's worst I might | consider myself something like fit for my job. It was apparent that he must have been the original Scott man in his state. Now" continued Barr. "my children, on the other hand. cherish a deluded no- | ton to the effect that their father is the greatest writer living, so, lest they should get too cocky about it, I showed them this roast. A few days later, as it happened, my eldest daughter was out at tea party, where she told about the verbal ohastisement that had received adding that 1t was signed. Blank and exclaiming haughtily, What could one | expect anyhow, of man named Blank
 Her story appeared to cause genera amusement but just before the tea par | ty broke up, one of the men present took my daughter aside and asked if she thought that I would be willing to show him the letter, saying he had specia reason for wishing to see it. Eva could 1 only advise him to call on me. and SC he did explaining his reaso for donf | 30 as follows:
 "He is one of the partners, it seems in big furniture manufacturing com pany. and some years ago they gave em ployment to a young Scotsman, named Blank, who, among other things was { | great admirer of his country's most ia | nous novelist Well, Blank did we'll fl the business and finally was made mana ger of one of the firms branches in { big English provincial town. There h, became engaged to an attractive girl ant the course of true love was running quit, smoothly when the head of an American business house. who was in this coun try, fancying the cut of Blanks lib, of fered him a position with them, which h, promptly accepted and sailed for Americ, shortly after.
 "It had been arranged" Barr went on "that, so soon as he was established ove there he and the girl should get mar
 
 his letters ceased and from that tim on nothing whatever was heard from him The girl naturally, was anxious to knov where she stood-whether even he wa dead or alive-and every possible inquir, was made by her father. who Is a maj Il of some substance, but all without re suit. It proved that he had left tn I American city--it was Grand Rapids Mich, to which he had originally gone but there all trace of him ended. jus | as If he never had been.
 l Gave Himself Away
 | And then,'' laughed Barr, after GOV ering his tracks so successfully. he wen and gave himself away by writing saucy letter to me! For directly m. 1 daughters acquaintance heard about tha | letter signed Blank, obviously from | Scott enthusiast. he guessed that 1t wa written by the missing man, and so i proved. by George! They sent solicito
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