Judsonia weekly advance., 1915-03-03
HOW AMBITION
 LED YOUNG GIRL
Miss Fannie Hurst's Long and Hard Apprenticeship in
 Story-Writing.
PERSISTENCY WON AT LAST
interesting But Not Always Pleasant Experiences Working in Stores, Restaurants and Sweatshops to
 Gather Material for Yarns.
By RICHARD sPILLANE.


 Copyright Mcclure Newspaper syndicate.)
 Usually it is poverty that gives spur to ambition and plenty that dulls it. Money, ease and recognition are the beacons that crown the heights of sue cess. The more distant they may be, the more brilliant they seem.
 There was no spur of poverty in the case of Fannie Hurst. She had money and she had ease. Her father was wealthy. Her home was charming. Tens of thousands of young girls would | have thought themselves blest if they were in her place. She probably would have been perfectly happy and never been heard of had not ambition somehow taken root in her brain and started her to do things wealthy girls rarely attempt.
 Fannie Hurst's home is St. Louis. Her parents gave her every educa- tional advantage. After her regular schooling she went to Washington uni versity and then in 1909 she went to New York to take postgraduate course at Columbia.
 While she was in Washington uni versity she had two desires that are not unusual with girls. She wanted l to be an actress and she wanted to be a great writer. Her parents smiled at her talk of the stage and smiled when she talked of writing. She dreamed of the day when she would be an actress, but contented herself for the time being with writing things which she thought would set the world afire.
 She had lots of ideas. She had keen and observant eye. There is publication in St. Louis to which she sent some of her productions. She sent others to the newspapers. At first most of them came back. few were printed. She never has known greater joy than she felt the first time she saw in print something she had written. There was an added joy when she got money, real money, in payment for it. She went and saw the editor He was more than kind to her. He made suggestions that were of great value. He explained wherein some of her work was crude, l pointed the way to good writing, and cheered her with the statement that l she had promise. Then he gave S10 to l her for one of her yarns.
 She wrote and she wrote and she wrote The editor printed some of these stories, and when the spirit moved him he put some bills in an en- velope and sent the money to her through the mail Even the newspa- pers paid her for what they accepted. 1 She made enough out of her writings in six months to almost pay her candy bill.
 New York Editors Were Chilly.
 In New York she found the editors colder than in St Louis. She was to put in two years in Columbia She was to attend three lectures a week 1 She had to devote a good many hours to study but she had some spare time. She improved the opportunity by do- ing little writing. Most of the stuff she wrote was short, the sort of mat | ter that is called filters. She sent this stuff to the Sunday newspapers. Most of it came back. A little of it was printed She thought if she could see one of the editors and talk with him she could make him understand the value of what she was writing, and possibly open the columns to her. She went to the office nine times and sat 1 in an anteroom until even the office boy felt sorry for her. It is hard for | newcomer to get audience It is not the editors fault. Most of the edi- tors are overrun with visitors If they saw all the people who go to newspaper offices they would have no time for their work.
 She lost hope about this time of ever making an impression as writ CT and her thoughts were turned to- ward the stage. As a matter of fact, the stage always had been uppermost in her mind Writing was only sec ondary consideration. She deter mined on a theatrical career. After a lot of trouble, she got an engagement. It was small part in "The Concert" which play was put on by David Bel asco. She was to get $15 week. She appeared in two consecutive per | formances. The second night after the show was over, and she was leav- ing the theater, gentleman met her at the stage door, He was her fa- ther. He had come to New York on business and had gone to see the play. When his daughter appeared in the cast he was astounded. He hurried out of the house, and when the show was over he talked t6 her as only fa- 1 ther can. Then he took her to St. Louis. She remained there for two l months, and was permitted to return | to New York only on her promise that she would give up all thoughts of the stage.
 1 She resumed her studies at Coluna- l bia. and again took up writing. Moat of the stories shs turned out were l fiction. Nearly all of her productions came hack. Every time the postmap