The Washington herald., 1915-01-18


very little for stories or for any reading except
the daily news are devoted to o. Henry They
know his stories almost by heart. They feel for
him regard that is personal and intimate. They
like to hear about him as he was in life.
To those who knew o. Henry personally the
tributes to him as must curiously
inadequate. They certainly to me. did
not know him well, but my acquaintance with him
extended from the first year that he lived in New
York. Though most of the "reminiscences of him
identity him with the work he did, l never knew
writer and man so different 1t seemed, at times,
as if, in his case they could not be and the
same The only link between them the wit
that flashed both in the printed page and in the
everyday speech.
What used to strike me post forcibly in O.
Henry was his distinction of character. To those
he knew and liked he revealed himself a man
of singular refinement. He had beautiful, simple
manners, low voice and a most charming air of
self-effacement He has been represented as talk
ing the slang of his stories. And yet l cannot
recall ever hearing him word of slang. In
fact after getting to know him, l used to be as
tonished his facility in using slang in his stories
The fact was, l suppose, that he developed a
certain kind of manner in writing and this manner
became his writing nature, kind OF second ma
turc And as with all writers OF slang, possessed
of originality, as he went on, he ceased to be con-
fined to so limited a vocabulary and invented
phrases that passed as current slang usage.
For the glory of being famous o. Henry cared
little. He had dislike OF being lionized Lion
hunting women filled him with alarm. In fact, he
was afraid of nearly all women. After his success
he was, naturally, much sought after but, in his
bachelor apartment, he was expert in barring him
self against INVASION Even the clerks and the bell
boys in the house were in league to protect him.
And it was only some close friend who could break
through the barriers and reach him on the tele-
phone.
In the last years so great was the demand that
10. Henry received phcnomcnally high prices for
his stories. And his books contradicted the pub
fishers wel-known theory that collections of short
stories would not sell. He was, however, free
spcndcr and kept pretty close to the edge of his
income. Besides like many other imaginative
writer's he would go through periods of helpless in
activity. For months at time he would not write
line And during such intervals he would suffer
intensely from attacks of depression.
A few years before the end o. Henry began to
take keen interest in the theater. He longed to
write a successful play; he curious to sec
what kind of play favored by the managers
and the public What he disgusted him. To
one OF his friends he conhded the belief that he
could do better. He later coaborated on a comic
opera which did not reach New York; but his play
lhe never wrote In his Stories however, he left
for other writers material enough for many plays
The most successful so far has been alias Jimmy
Valentine"
Personally o. Henry gentle, kind man
loyal and generous to the few friends he took tc
his heart. One magazine editor in New York, who
was among the first of the editors to encourage
him. he was deeply devoted to. That editor now
has a collection of queer neckties, startling in
color, tributes of o. Henry's affection.