Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-31

All records of tarrying by the wayside
have been broken by Clement Shorter and
II. W. Massingham. distinguished London
editors, who left Philadelphia this morning
after having actually stayed four whole days
in Philadelphia
II wish it could have been forty" said
Mr.. Shorter. This was real tribute, as
he was paying his hotel bill as he spoke
He added that he finds travelling cheaper in
America than in England nowadays;
''Mr. Massingham and ] have had de-
lightful time in Philadelphia, said Mr..
Shorter who is the literary editor of the
London Sphere and well known to book
lovers all over the world as author and
critic and husband of the lamented Dora
Sigerson Shorter, the Irish poet, who died
last winter.
81 visited Philadelphia twenty six years
ago Mr.. Shorter said. when George w.
Childs was the presiding deity of Philadel-
phia journalism. His place has now been
taken by Mr.. Curtis. whose enterprises seem
to run along the same lines as those of Lord
Northcliffe in England. In Philadelphia I
have been privileged to see the finest publ
cation Office in the world, that of the Ladies'
Home Journal and Saturday Evening Post,
Sees Literary Treasures
Nothing has impressed me more strongly
tnan tne amaZlDR COlleCtlOuS VI HttIATy
treasures I have seen in this country. Most
of the rarest manuscripts aud books asso-
ciated with the literary life of England for
three centuries seem to have been concen- :.
trated in the hands of private collectors in
New York, Boston and Philadelphia.
Through the abounding hospitality of Doctor
Rosenbach. | have been able to see some
startling treasures-for instance Byron'S
will and his marriage certificate. 1t is my
deepest regret that rich men in England
have no taste for collecting literary treas
ures. One of our most charming experiences
was in visiting the collection of Mr.. A. Ed
ward Newton at Daylestord, where we saw
the manuscript of Lambs Dream Children
and Hardy's Far From the Madding
Crowd. "
Mr.. Shorter expressed his regret that he
and his companion should have to be in the
train to Washington on the day when Phil !
sadelphia is paying tribute to the memory
of Walt Whitman. For thirty years, y he
said. II have been an ardent admirer-u ut
Walt Whitman. ! recall discussion of his
merits in Stopford Brooke's debating society
in London in the early eighties, a discus
sion in which Bernard Shaw and others took
part. Many English readers were admirers
of Whitman even in that day. The Good
lsh democrats long before there was any
big democratic sentiment in England as
whole, and when the majority of English
men were reading Tennyson and Longfellow,
My own long affection for ireland was addi-
tionally kindled by Whitman's poem Ire
land
Imagine my interest to find myself at his
home and grave in Camden the day before
his hundredth birthday, an interest qualified
by disappointment in finding his house SO
neglected | would gladly subscribe to any
project to restore the Whitman home to
some of the dignity that we in England have
been able to give to the homes of Words
worth and Cowper. Tt is my privilege to
send word of affectionate greeting to the
great memory of the poet who has thrilled
me so. I hope he may have found a sue
cessor in Carl Sandburg. of Chicago. whose
two volumes show something of the same
note of humanity and freedom
Visits Poe House
1T was delightful also to visit the Poa
house on Brandywine street, but that also
is not accorded the honor it deserves az
one of America great literary shrines.
Yesterday we visited Haverford and Bryn
Mawr colleges. but our pleasure in thosa
beautiful scenes was marred by the sad news
Of the death of Hayerford's brilliant scholar,
DIR. Francis Gummcre, whose reputation
as literary student and authority on poetic
origins was well known in England .
Mr.. Massingham also paid reverent tributs
to the memory of Whitman, and said that
he considered Whitman, Lincoln and Poe the
three greatest men of modern times. 'Lin
coin was the greatest of modern statesmen, =
he said: Poe the greatest modern prose
writer, and Whitman the greatest modern
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