The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-08-10

ing. How can he make the photographs
 if he is totally blind?" She answered
 "He is very unusual man"
 l TOO GOOD A HOAX
 It is great sport, fooling people; but look out! By and by it may get you
 into a deep, deep hole, and that was what happened to Riley. He went on a
 Ioosier newspaper, the Anderson Dem. | ocrat, and the taste for fooling people | tagged after him, and it was there that he played monstrous joke the pro- fessors of literature by cooking up poem, signing it Edgar Allan Poe" and palming it off as the real thing "Leo- nainie." he entitled it, and, not contented with initiating Poe's style and forging Poe's name. prepared a solemn introduc- 1 tion, headed. newspaper fashion: POST HUMOUS POETRY" "A Hitherto Unpublished Poem of the Lamented Edgar Allan Poe, written on the fly leaf of an old book now in the possession of a gentleman in this city" The professors bit. Learned treatises appeared. proving that the newly dis covered masterpiece was actually Poes Eminent scholars all over America staked their regulations on it, and were in a mood to celebrate it's resurrection with sky rockets, Roman candles and red fire A publisher begged leave to fac-simile the original. Then-somebody is always
 
 exposed, and Jim's editor bounced upon ! Jim with great fury and told him to ! beat it for home and mother, and Jim i wished to goodness that he had never been born.
 | However, there are worse calamities than getting caught at bamboozling l the professors. The crime brought Jim his first hot mouthful of notoriety, and if you can't win fame. notoriety is fine imitation. Longfellow wrote Riley letter. congratulatng him on having so eleverly aped Poe. Better yet. the Indianapolis Journal heard or Riley and had him over and asked him to stay, and stay he did As a respect able citizen though. Upon the portion of his spiritual insides where the zest for humbug had been, Riley inscribed Poe's melancholy refrain, "Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore." ]
 Words fail me to tell how respect able Jim became. What with spats, impeccable clothes and holy black cord to his glasses, Jim in his later years was a regular Beau Brummel and folks in Indianapolis say he took out his blue eyes every morning and polished them.
 Poe e-faking Jim remained, and. while tales of his early escapades helped to spread his renown, I'll say it would have got spread around plentifuEy enough without their assistance. Genius like Rileys won't stay hidden. and Joe Miller whacked the nail on the head when he wrote:
 "Jims gab's what made him famous, for since he began to walk He allus wuz feller that wuz gifted with slick talk.
 Jims got a mack O sayin' things in |. sich clever way
 Without the hifalutin words the eii- cated say"
 Still. it was slow work getting the public to see it. Riley first knew he was a big hit when looked in on 8 political convention in Indianapolis and heard newfledged candidate say: Gentlemen of the Conventions: thank you for the honor you have given me. I can't make speech, but I'll tell you one thing The ticket you've nominated today is a-going to win when the frost is on the punkin an the folders in the shock" A great. roaring whoop of tidal mirtk went up in recognition of this line from poem which Riley had brought out barely a week before and which was already known by heart through. out the length and breadth of Hoosier- dom. Jim had arrived" As Petroleum V. Nasby would have said. "Hallelloo- tyr
 LED HAPPY EXISTENCE
 Jim hugged himself, and from that day forward poured out tuneful dit. tses scr~e dorefw1, ~cn-A sweetlv Iovew-