New-York tribune., 1921-11-13


tories Of journalism, and there are
| plenty Of other men who can write
them f more be needed. But nobody
n the world but Melville e. Stone
could have written the bulk Of the
| narrative and the great majority of
| the incidents In this book--the things
which, because Of their vivid and vital
| human personality, are of immeasur-
ably more interest and value than
twice the amount Of mere encyclopedia
annals.
The son Of Methodist circuit rider
of the a0's and SOS, who played amid
| the then fresh ruins of the Mormon
Temple at Nauvoo and saw the blood
| of Hyrum Smith on the Jail floor at
Carthage, who was schoolboy in H.
linois at the time Of the Lincoln
Douglas debate, who witnessed the
building, the burning and the rebuild
ing of Chicago and who was most
curious and intelligent observer of all
things that came within his ken, has
an enviable wealth Of rccollections to
serve as the background for the
| memories of the great achievements
of his maturer years. We do not know
that he was diarist or that he prac-
ticed any pseudo-scientific systera Of
| mnemotechny. Let us say merely that
he is endowed with the memory Of q
great journalist. At any rate, he re-
calls from both his earlier and his
later years such an opulence of In
cident and characterization. invested
with such lifelike vividness OF color
ing, as few other writers Of memoirs
have ever approximated to. and, per-
haps, none has ever surpassed.
! Some "Reminiscences
Notably accurate. too, nre his remi-
niacences; in some cases in which
error has been all but universal. Take
for example, the incident of Roscoe
Conkling's use of a stanza Of poetry
in nominating Grant for a third term
in 1880. The lines were reported in
| all considerable newspapers at the time
! and were commented upon by many
But not one, SO far as this writer's
correctly or commented upon them in.
telligently. Not one seemed to recog-
nize them or to know their origin
Some attributed them to Conkling him
self, while others credited him with
improvising what was meant to be
merely rhetorical prose, but sponta
neously took the form of rhymed anc
rhythmical verse! A thousand times
since the lines have been referred to
but never correctly. Even such in
formed and authoritative writers q,
Francis Curtis in his fine "History o1
the Republican Party" and JOSEPH
Bucklin Bishop in his "History o1
Presidential Nominations" got them
wrong. Yet only few years before
Conkling's quotation of them they hat
been published in half the newspapers
Of the land and had been read and re-
cited and sung by millions until the,
were as familiar as "The Star-Spangle<
Banner itself! Mr.. Stone, singular
solitary and alone among the hun
dreds who have written about the in
cident, gets the lines right, ant
rightly credits them; though even he
there must be fatality in it-errs ii
omitting the irony which was involve,
in the use for one purpose Of son,
which was written for the diamet
rically opposite purpose!
Another historic incident is authori
tatively set right by Mr.. Stone, afte
such widespread and persistent misrep
resentation as few others have eve
suffered. The all but universal YER
sion of "the public be damned!" il
that William H. Vanderbilt uttered tn,
words to New York interviewer tt
express his selfish and arrogant dis
regard Of the people and their rights
In fact, they were uttered in Chicago
to an ill-bred and intrusive reporte,
who had insisted upon disturbing Mr.
Vanderbilt at dinner with some incon
sequential questions.
Don't you see, sir" said Mr. Van
derbilt. "that ! am engaged 2"
"But want an interview"
"Well, sit down until have finished
dinner and will talk with you."
"But it is late and will not reach
the Office in time. The public
"The public be damned! You get ou
Of here!"
One more, out Of the innumerabl,
array Of delicious anecdotes. must b.
quoted. Mr.. Stone is not sure whether
it has ever before been told in print
1t Is She impression Of the presen
writer that 1t has not been, though i