South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-07-22
TATE S MEN
REAL AND NEAR
By Fred c. Kelly


II easury, is a man worth knowing. II
doesn't matter much if one doesn't
make the acquaintance Of the aver
age man because one will meet an
other man presently just about like
him. But there aren't any more like
Newton. III one is TO know person
of the Newton type il is necessary to
know Newton himself l would just
as soon know by" Newton as Pres
Wilson or Kaiser Wilhelm.
One Of Newton's original angles of
view is in estimating the objection TO
any given task by the number of lives
he would want before he would be
willing 10 perform the task. For ex-
ample. if one were to mention some
undesira BILE piece of work requiring
a week. Newton might say:
"A week at that would he too
much time unless 1 had at least FIVE
lives to lead"
If the job were even more difficult,
he might say:
We'll, if / had eight more lives
coming to me after this one,
wouldn't object to doing that for
three or four days"
One of Newton's strong aversions
is New York city He put a good
many years in that town and con-
sdering that ne is sure of only one
life he thinks New York took from
him too large proportion of the
days he has TO devote to this world
Not long ago, an enthusiastic New
extraordinarily from Logansport
Ind.-came into Newton's office and
began to talk about that place, men
tiOning il as the only place 10 live"
He said il was shame that so many
people are obliged to spend most Of
their time away from dear old Man
haitian Isle
Well" said Newton. eff had
about II or IL lives to lead and had
my choice in the matter. would de-
vote just one evening of one life to
New York city, and I think l would
spend that evening out in Harlem or
Brooklyn attending a concert"
When Newton was working on the
New York Herald, he used to give
vent to his spleen by writing poems
about New York. One day he had
been up i'm the country on a nerve
racking assignment. and when he got
off the train at Grand Central sta
ton TO find himself in the midst of
the turmoil of New York traffic. felt
even greater disrelish for the big
town than he ever had before
"A squirming herd. a squirming
herd" he muttered to himself as he
When he reached his office that
squirming herd idea kept running
through his head, and he sat down at
his typewriter to incorporate the line
into a bit of verse, which ne entitled
lowed to New York" This is what
he wrote:
Vulgar of manner. overfed.
Overdressed and underlined.
II ;,h
Rude by day and lewd by night,
Bedwarfed the man. enlarged the
Ruled by boss and prostitute;
Purple robed and pauper clad.
Raving, rotting. money mad
squirming herd in MammOn's mesh.
A wilderness of human flesh;
Crazed with avarice. lust and rum,
New York. thy names delirium!
The authorship of that little poem
has since been claimed in almost
every land and every cline by all
sorts and conditions of men. Once
at a dinner in Paris a man got up
and recited Newton's verse as his
own. A friend of Newton CHANGED
TO be present and he had been wined
just enough TO make him a bit quar-
relsome. He got up and pounded the
stealing NewtOn's brain child. and
the two nearly got into a fight
Just "A few weeks after that man
came into the local room of a New
York newspaper office with a human
interest story. Newton happened TO
be the reporter who was assigned 10
hear what the visitor had TO tell. II
seemed that a man had committed
suicide in "A squalid lodging house
~
wasn't surprising. for it was not un-
natural that man living in a Brook
lyn lodging house should wish to end
his life. but the man was a genius.
When it was too late his talents had
been discovered.
The fellow was poet" said the
visitor 10 Newton. why he could
have made thousands of dollars
year with his verses. and yet he COM
starvation See here what was found
in his room. a bit of verse that he
had finished just before he died in
which he set forth the city as il APP
peared 10 a genius who was yet a
failure"
Newton put on his glasses and
read:
Vulgar Of manner. overfed,
i
Then Newton paused. took off his
glasses. looked the astonished
stranger in the eve. tore the crum-
/ pied verse into bits and observed:
IF that suicide claimed 10 have
written this poem. he was liar and
i has gone TO hell"
/ "Oh. but ! know of MY own per-
sonal knowledge that ne wild write
+ IT," insisted the caller.
Then" declared Newton. you're
liar yourself and will go to hell.
/ WhereupOn he turned on his heel
I and ended the interview
Newton is not only a poet but a
musician. He can get many a plain
/ tive wall out OF a violin. And one
I OF his theories is this:
Every man has a keynote IL you
! can find his r string YOU can get out
j OF him anything that he knows.
\ Whenever you want anything from a
man, you must first try TO get his f. -
I Copyright, 1914. By Fred c. Kelly.)