The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1918-11-08

ing his confidence in me that he kept
me to the mark. | admired him so
much. and was so hungry for his ap-
prevail, that was determined to make
good If 1T were in me to do it.
And all the time the fleshpots were
calling. II | quit work for an hour
could hear the march of the prodigal
sons, and yearned to be with them,
There was day when the manag-
ing editor wanted a stickful of stuff
IN hurry, to fill corner on the front
page. 1t was Saturday, and I sat
down and wrote little rhyme in
prose. form, urging people to go to
church next day. | had been writing
such little rhymes for years. When
working for the Atchison "Globe" /
/ used to write the advertisements of
grocers and coal dealers in verse. and
throughout my newspaper career
employed the talent Unfortunately,
always could write verse as easily
as prose. The rhymes form them
selves in my head as fast as | can
write them down. | am never stuck
Tor rhyme. 1t there is a word in
any corner of the language that will
rhyme with another, it hobs up in INV
mind without effort.
The verse Iwrote for the "Gazette"
was printed with border around il.
and caused some comment. So [
wrote another on Monday, and a third
on Thursday, and so on. The verses
became feature of the first page. In
the beginning they treated of local
topics exclusively, then they had a
wide range, and newspapers all over
the country were copying them. It.
never occurred to me that the rhvmes
mad possibilities as money-makers.
But one day Mr.. White said, in that
friendly way of his, "Walt, it's time
we began to figure on getting Won
something for those rhymes. / have
been waiting to see if you could keen
up your lick before talking about i
iou seem to be an inexhaustible foun-
tam OF verse, and l believe you can
keep it up indefinitely. The newspa-
pers are using the rhymes everywhere.
ana | am sure they'd pay something
Tor them. Now, l am going to write
TO a friend of mine who syndicates
things, and feel sure he will sell
those verses SO you'll have quite an
income from them"
:, linen he wrote to Mr.. George Mat
thew Adams, with the result that the
latter agreed to syndicate the poems
ne hadn't much faith in the proposi-
ton, for poetry has always been re-
garded, by publishers and syndicate
men, as something to be touched with
ten-foot pole. At the beginning of
tne experiment Mr.. Adams paid me
eighteen dollars a week for six
rhymes, and this, added to my wages
from the "Gazette", seemed opulence
ana restored some of my natural on.
tlmlsm. + began to think that ner-
maps God was in His heaven. after ali
Inc rhymes caught on, and every
month or two Mr.. Adams added some,
tning to my pay. That was more thar
eight years, ago, and he has been as
sne same trick ever since. l have
never asked him to add dollar to
my pay. He has kept on increasing
the stipend with untiring generosity
ana at the present time he probable
pays me more than any other man ev.
er received for rhyme alone.
II is ten years since / came to En-
Poria, with my extra shirt and INV
Sl.35. Emporia has been a tender
nurse to me, and / expect, and hone
20 potter around under her ancestral
ems until Joe DUNN calls for me
With his six-cylinder motor hearsa
since prosperity overlook me have
received fiattering offers from Chi
cago and New York-even from Ion-
don. But little old Emporia is rona
enough for me. The people here
snow me FOR the stuffed prophet I
am, and won't allow me to get swelled
up with false pride. When I begin to
Ieei important, and realize that INV
nat ~ is too small, meet Carl Kicker or
marry Peach, or somebody else who
knew me when I had only one extra
shirt, and l know can't get bv WIFI
any pose. feel that this chasten;ng
OF the spirit is good for me. So / re
main in Emporia.
i nave sumptuous automobile
with all modern improvements. and
sometimes when am iauntino alone
tne road begin to feel that the sun
rises 4 ana sets somewhere in my neigh
1orhood. Then l see a landmark
tnat my weary eyes beheld ten wears
ago. When had only one xetra shirt
ana l quit trying to look like Wash
ihgoon crossing the Delaware. Such
Things are good for iineg6for 7 don,t
want success to give me the idea that
i'll Emporia. ~ ieiiiain
now, there would be no sense in
writing, or printing such a story as
TINS unless it has moral. The Ed.
!, OF the American Magazine he
lieved my story might have valne ss
showing that q has 49, 40