The Washington herald., 1916-11-26
JACK LONDONS LIFE
ONE OF ADVENTURE
Sailor and Tramp Before Adopting
Profession of Literature.

Finis has been written on the career OF
Jack London. novelist. Socialist and ex-
plorer, whose tempestuous life ended on
Wednesday night following brief Ill
ness.
London. who was born on January L,
1876, in San Francisco. came of very poor
parents, and as q boy his life was that OF
an ordinary street gamin of the Pacinc
Coast city.
Beer replaced candy as a childhood de-
light with Jack. for at that time he looked
upon alcoholic capacity as more manly
than the habits Of sweets. Later in life.
however, his view took q decided oppo-
site turn, and after the publishing OF
John Barleycorn," which Is said to be
his own story, he became q strong worker
for prohibition.
Although memory Of his early education
was somewhat vague. he claimed that he
could both read and write at the age Of 5,
and during an apprenticeship as a ranch
boy when he was s years old, he read
Washington Irving's "Alhambra." So i'm
pressed was he with this book that he
tried to interest his cowboy companions
in the story. and his disgust at their lack
Of interest prompted him to outcast him
time to reading.
Dime novels. old newspapers and stale
ranch literature in general became meat
for his consumption. The barrenness Of
this field soon forced him to the more
fertile of the public Libraries In Oakland.
where his intensity In assimilating litera-
ture and lack Of physical exercises
brought on an attack Of nervousness.
Begins Life of Wandering.
1t was then that the spirit Of adventure
claimed him and during the remainder
of his life he was enslaved with wander
lust
Oyster pirate. sailor. fisherman and seal
hunter followed IN rapid succession as
his occupation as he travelled from Cali
fornia to Japan as shoveIler. longshore-
man and Jute maker as the occasion de-
mRnded.
It was during his work in tute mill
that he won the first prize offered by a
San Francisco newspaper, his article
being a description of a typhoon on the
coast of Japan. He was forced to burn
the midnight oil while writing the article
as his duties in the mill occupied him
for thirteen hours a day.
He then became a tramp in the word
strictest sense roaming through the
United States and Canada and at one
time serving a term In jail for vagrancy.
At 10 the necessity for further educs-
ton urged him to attend high school for
q year in Oakland serving in the capacity
as janitor OF the school to pay his tuition.
Then followed a brief term in the UNI
versity of California for which he pre-
pared himself in three months. although
the ordinary prep course occupied four
years. job in a laundry served to
alleviate room rent and food problems
during his flyer at higher education, but
when he found It too hard to make
both ends meet he tried writing.
The usual Indifferent success of
beginner attended him. whereupon he de-
cided that he could not write and mi
grated to the K.ondlke.
While there his father died leaving
London with the support OF family
Reams of copy were rapidly written and
as rapidly rejected by the publishers un-
til a California magazine paid him 5
for a story which was closely followed
by an acceptance from the Black Cat
magazine which netted him $40.
From that moment he fairly raced to
the position in the world of writing which
he held at the time Of his death. Trans
lation of his books have been made In
numerous languages and though an
American he is a fayorite author in
rany foreign countries.
His travels were as wide as they were
varied and in one of his stories, the
Cruise of the Shark" his own personal
adventures were narrated without elab-
Grafton.
Becomes Socialist Speaker.
When he entered the ranks of So
ardent workers of the cause, his
speeches on the subject being quoted
throughout the world. He was a war
correspondent during the Russo-Japa-
nese war.
He was married twice. Bessie Mad
dern, of Oakland. Cal, being his first
wife. and CHAIRMAN Kittredege HIS
second. His first romance ended in d.
Yorce.
books. aSquired such a reputation
among anthropoIogists that II is used
as a text book in classes on the sub
ject.
At the beginning of the Mexican
trouble he went to the border in
search of material for his writings and
while there became i'll with the. intes-
final trouble which finally resulted in
his death.
Among the most famous Of his
books are: The Son of the Wolf"
THE God of His Fathers" "A Daugh-
ter of the Shows" THE Children OF
the Frost" The Cruise of the Dag
zler," The People of Abyss" Kemp
.ton-wace Letters" "Tbe Call OF the
Wild" The Faith OF Men," The Sea
Wolf" The Came" War of the
Classes" Tales OF the Fish Patrol,
Moon Face" white Fang" Before
Adam" Love Of Life" The. Iron
Heel" THE Road" Martin Eden
Lost Face" Revolution" Burning
Daylight" Theft" when God
Laughs" Adventure" The Cruise of
the Shark" Smoke BeIlew." The
Night-Born." The Abyssmal Brute,
John Barleycorn," The Valley Of the
Moon" and sun Of the Sun"
Substitutes for Medicine.
In these days when color dyes and