The sun., 1916-10-14

The delightfully."- informal recollections
Of the "Hoosier Poet entitled "R"ini-
niscences Of James Whitcomb Riley
(Revell). by Clara f.. Laughlin. give a
close view Of the poets personal NE ana
contain many letters for the first time
published. Miss Laughlin tells how her
friendship with the poet began.
IL began II. \ ridiculously young ed
itor. with soaring ambitions and the
least money imaginable. ] was gravely
trying TO conduct the literary depart
ment of a Chicago weekly. ! had a
yearly allowance for my editorial pur-
chases. and / decided to have a Riley
poem.
ITO this end I sklmped and saved un-
Ill I had amassed the staggering sum OF
s25. which. without any preliminary ne
gotiations. ] sen, To- Mr., Riley with "A
polite note requesting SIS worth OF his
very best poetry. ] had no idea Of the
,emsrity of my request. | got the poem.
How many hundreds Of dollars many
another editor would gladly have paid
for that poem ! am now ashamed TO
think. But ! wasn't ashamed them. /
didn't know enough.
IL was appreciatlve, though. and while
Mr.. Riley Was no strange to apprecia-
ton, he doubtless liked II as well IA we
all do. SO what with the passing back
and forth OF proof-Mr. Riley was a
most punctilious reader OF proof-ard
grateful Acknowledgements. our corre-
spondence began"
Miss Laughlin relates how soon after
this episode she met the poet for the
first time in Winona Lake, Ind, AZ an
annual meeting Of the Western Writer'S
Association and how they played hockey
from the programmes"
'DrNp we sought a secluded epO'-I
think II was on the cour, house lawn
and INDUCED In "A gane Of mumhledy
peg. whereat the poet was amazingly
proficient. He was executing some
breath taking stunt in this when he was
recognized by a Warsaw admIrer.
We'll. as for me. ] couldn't see that
the adm.rcr was tn be piticd that glimpse
Of the author OF Little Orphant Annie
Hut Mr., Riley seemed TO think It left
something to he desired in the manner
Of meeting a poet. May never meet an
other, you know he complained comic
ally. and It's likely 10 color all his ideas
~ poets. Too bad" l think we bought
a watermelon To revive our dropping
self-respect. But I remember that Il
used To be no small problem to sit by
the side OF a road and eat a watermelon
with dignity. And Just as surely as we
dispensed with tho dignity out Of an ad-
jiccnt cornstalk or hollow stump would
rise as by magic some one saying ooh,
there's James Whitcomb Riley
He was one OF the very few literary
persons this country has produced who
was almost universally recognized when
he walked abroad. And while he an.
preciated the interest people had In him
he was not inconsiderably irked by Il
ofttimes. As for instance, when I went
with him once into a gents furnishing
store in a small Indiana town the pro.
prictor delightedly recognized his GUS
Toner.
THE las time I see Mr.. Riley he
conf1dcd to me, was when he was a
right young fella. He painted me n sign.
! got II y~et-wouldn't take any money
fer It, Like to see IT,"
81 had heard n great deal about thai
phase Of Mr.. Riley's youth when he ran
away from home and the study OF law
and supported himself In his errantry nv
painting stove signs. SO ! thanked the
gents furnisher,' He produced 1t an
odd little specimen Of fancy lettering In
bright blue.
"T member the proud possessor said,
like II was yesterday. the day that sign
was painted, Mr.. Riley wore kid gloves
while he was paintin' IT,
AT this point Mr.. Riley vanished.
When ! r~ejoined him half n block
away he was fuming and Illuminating in
his own peculiar. picturesque style.