Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1921-12-15

Stevens Point can boast OF the fol-
lowing. Joseph " Collins, who has
written sketches; Myra Emmons,
ghost stories; Julia NJ Tascher, Ar
butus and Dandelions'; her mother,
Mrs. E. NJ. Tascher, The Story of
Stevens Point and Ada F. Moore,
Under the Pines All women, but
one, please notice, which is contra
ry to the experience here in Wau
sau where the three leading writer's
are all men.
Il refer to Neal Brown, Thomas
Curran Ryan and Frank Cramer ,cthese
men who have done excellent work
as authors, although their works have
never been best sellers.
81 consider Neal Brown the best es-
sayist Wisconsin has produced and
worthy of standing by the side of the
best writer's of our country In fact,
his style partakes the style of tbs
earlier essayists like Lowell and En-
erson. Letters lost a brilliant son
when Neal Brown decided to devote
his energies to large enterprises and
we who admire his writings can but
regret his choice. He was a master
of vitriolic satire, but could also
write in the impersonal style of the
English essayists; note his essay on
John Smith and Andrew Lang. Had
Neal Brown had press agent like the
advertiser that made Main Street
famous, his writings would have en-
joyed wide popularity among the ed
ucated | can imagine what he would
have said about Main StreeJ- as a
story. 1t would have been necessa-
ry to print it on asbestos. Person
ally / have not patience enough to
criticize such book as Main Greet.
1t is not story; it is clinic of cheap
souls, each of whom is kept this
side of nobility by an autnor that re-
wells in rubbish.
Unafraid
Judge Ryan's writings covered the
field of philosophy and theology. His
books, intellectual Religion, and
Finite and Infinite, treat the most
profound themes, but are written in
sucmh clear style that a high school
graduate should be able to read them
with profit. Judge Ryan was not
afraid of the truth nor of the con-
illusions of his own logis and it is
gratifying to find how he upholds the
great Christian verities in his writ
ings. His 'O'Holligan's Fine Forms
is in a lighter vein and full of quiet
humor.
Frank Cramer was born in Wau-
sau and lived here until ne went to
| Lawrence college. Ill health drove
him to California where he wrote five
| books. The first was The Method OF
| Darwin, defense of the inductive
method of arriving at truth. The
next was Talks to High School Stud
ents on How to Study, book that
| should be in the hands OF every stud
ent in our upper classes. When
think of how Frank Cramer worked
and struggled and starved himself to
| get an education l feel resentful at the
| hippant manner in which many of our
young people regard educational OPP
portunities. This was followed by an
amusing book on The Evidence in
the Case, concerned chiefly with legal
absurdities. One summer he trav-
elled across the desert Of California
with donkey, the experiences OF
which he recorded in manuscript His
latest work The Errors and Triumphs
of Medicine, shows tremendous re-
search and a brilliant s,yIe. 1t has
been pronounced technically correct
by the physicians who have read it.
1t shows how medicine has gone from
guess work, quackery and bleeding
to its present scientific basis whereby
it has been able to conquer one disease
after the other to the great blessing
of mankind, story as fascinating as
a stirring novel
81 hope that some day, soon, some of
our Wausau girls will begin to write
the modern dreams that enrich their
souls and give us books that we may
properly place besides those of Neal
Brown, Thomas Curran Ryan, and
Frank Cramer.
Which reminds me that / have now
come to- the last group of writers
whom Wisconsin delights to honor,
three women who have enjoyed a wide
% pularity, Edna Ferber, Ella Wheeler
Wilcox and iona Gale There are
many others that deserve more than
passing mention because of their ex-
cellent work, among them Hattie
Tying Griswold; Carlotta Perry; Fan
ny Driscoll; Elizabeth Farnsworth
Means, known as Nellie Wildwood;
Myra Plantz; Mrs Mary A. STAINS
bury; Margaret Ashmun; James Gates
ISIClNdi, Ella "A. OlleS, anu 6Sp6Cld1-
ly Mildred McNeal Sweeney, poet
whose verses are found in nearly
every collection of best poetry. Mil
dred McNeal Sweeney was born at
Burnett, Wis, in 1871. Her father
was Universalist clergyman. She
graduated from Lawrence college in
1899 and while there showed very
marked poetic ability. Today her
writings are known wherever English
is spoken. When Yesterday Was
Young, and Men of No Land are the
titles of her two volumes of poetry.
Edna Ferber
EDNA Ferber was born in Kalama-
zoo in 1892. Her father was Hun
garian Jew, while her mother came
from a family Of Berliners which
doubtless accounts for her gift of Ian
guage and description. The family
moved to Ottomwa and then to APP
pleton, where they ran and 10c
store which they called My Store.
Edna attended the Appleton public