Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-01-03
STANTON AND HARRIS
WERE LITERARY CRON|ES
'sUncle Remus Daughter Tells
of Father and Atlanta Constitu
ton Sweet Singer.

Julia Collier Harris, daughter Of the
man who gave Uncle Remus' TO the
world. tells in the book on her father. re-
Gently published, a great many things
about his literary methods, his kindly
nature. and his modcsty, which those
whose privilege Il WAS 70 be near him,
much or little. during the years Of his ap-
parentlv humdrum labor on The Atlanta
Constitution, have long known and have
been passing around among his friends.
Miss Harris has brought together many Of
the most charming Of the anecdotes told
about her father by his contemporaries,
and has succeeded in recountlng them well
Her book. which viii he welcomed by all
friends az Uncle Renas, can stand upon
IFS own merits
Ono wonders, however, why Frank J..
stanton who was. so to speak, joel
Chandler Harris office mate for many
wears has not put into print and between
covers, his recollectlons of the daily rou-
tine in those newspaper-strewn little
rooms at the head of the stairs In The
Constitution Office. Stanton and Harris
were always visiting You climbed the
steep, straight stairway, found Stanton
and got him started In conversation, when
Harris. scissors in one hand and a news
papercutting in the other, or, perhaps. 4
page Of copy, would put his head IN at
the door and saw: Frank, | want you to
hear this" then pause, apologize. and
back away Always Stanton would say.
Don't 90 away: | vas Jest wlShin You
all would look in, let me introduce YOU
to and 80 on Or YOU climbed the
stars and found Harris alone III his little
room. he invited YOU to take a seat, You
found one already partly occupied BY ''eX-
changes" and YOU were Just beginning to
cnjov the talk of the man whom You had
50 long desired To hear, when Stanton
scissors in hand. or, maybe, a lead pencil
and newspaper or magazine or page OF
manuscript in the OF her would darken the
door and say. Look heah. You jest listen
70 this, and pause and apologize for the
Intrusion And always Harris would say.
Come right 4, YOU; what you-all stand
IN in the doah foh? Let me introduce you
To- and so on.
Then if only they took a fancy to YOU,
YOU would hear something worth while.
The dialect was intended for, and only
used before, people they liked They
could be as precise and pinetlhous Us
university professors before people to
whom they were indifferent but, when the
visitor was fortunate enough to have
lnauc BOou lIiiplcSolul uii Clidtit bo1ii
would drop into the beautifully mellow
dialect which the Southerner likes TO use
among "home folks,
Joel Chandler Harris hal such fund
| OF Southern Negro tradition AID lore To
| draw upon, that he was never at a loss for
| figures OF speech or illustrative anecdotes
and nc only paused occasionally, when IL
| the humor for talking, TO let Frank Stan.
| ton come in with one Of his delightful
| stories or rhymes. That the two enjoyed
| each other thoroughly vas plain 10 the
| caller.
Joel Chandler Harris knew that ne had
made "A place for himself IN the esteem
and affection of tens of thousands oi
| people the world over, but the knowledge
filled him with wonder rather than witt
| sclf-pride. lie was the least concelted O.
writers, the least conscious that hc haC
| done anything extraordinary. Ills success
| of course, was made evident by the de
mand for his manuscript, 1t was con
/ firmed by the demand for his books il
was written on the face of the checks
that came from his publishers; but 1t wa.
! all in the nature OF Il surprise to him. Ht
could not sec. and hc could not be made te
see, that he had done anything especially
remarkable.
/ This was no affectation. Ii all seemed
/ perfectly easy and simple 10 hun Ht
| could put on Uncle Rcmus as he put on his
coat, and while he had on Uncle Remus
or any other OF the characters that spoke
| through him. ii was no trouble at all fol
| him to talk or write the things for which
! his publishers and their patrons were look
| ing-Christian Science Monitor.