The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1921-05-26

quite unlike the father Of Joe Vanc
was a well-known and brilliant NATL
ematician and logician, a distinguish
ed English scientist and professo
Of mathematics at the University Col
lege, London, for the greater part O
his life. That he was the author O
"a Budget Of Paradoxes," (which dis
cussed with sparkling wit and kee
logic the vagaries and fallacies of sci
entific freaks and cranks" and whic
"was pleasantly quoted by Holmes ir
"Over the Tea Cups"
Our authors mother published
memoir of her husband and an inter
esting book of "reminiscences entitled
"Three Score Years and Ten"
She and her father who had been
tutor at Cambridge had known Chas
Lamb, while the paternal grandfather
was lieutenant colonel in the India1
army which would supply the easy ia
milarity with the lives of officers of tn,
Indian army which are woven into the
stories. Of such antecedents was VIM
Friend De Morgan, born Nov. 10th
1889. He attended the university Col
lege, studied painting at the Roya
Academy at 20 but after five years OF
this did more serious work in design.
ing painted glass from 1864 to 1870.
.Afterward he seemed to have found
his life wdrk in Ceramics.
He experimental in luster which
was not much known then in England,
and for more than thirty years worked
developing methods and designs with
the result that tiles and pottery of
"De Morgan Luster" are ranked by
connoisseurs as among the triumphs
of the 10Th century. The commercial
success of this work did not, however,
equal it's artistic excellence.
He invented a clay-refning sieve
and understanding fine CRATE,
also duplex gearing for bicycles
without reaping financial reward.
Having lived life in one art De
Morgan started at the age of sixty
five upon new and quite different
life work and in the following eight
years had published seven long books,
having captured his audience with the
first novel.
In eight years this man after the
ae of sixty-five published over a mil
lion, words and left several hundred
thousand in manuscript, every word
written by hand. He wrote about
1000 words day discarding about as
much as he kept.
Joseph Vance, the first Novel, he
started "just for a lark" when he was
in bed convalescing from the "fu" and
stopped when he recovered but went
on with it at the insistance of his
wife.
This book of 100000 words was re-
jected by one publisher because of
the size Of the manuscript, but was
accepted by another to whom it had
been sent typewriter after two of
the girl typists had been found weep
ing over it. 1t was published in 1906.
"Alice for Short" brought out in
1907, is similar to Joseph Vance in
characteristics of the telling, accord
ing toG w. Harris in the Review of
Reviews, who says that "a better story
has seldom been told and the skill of
it's telling" is "well night perfect"
In 1908 came Somehow Good"
which was started after suggestion
from his wife that he write one, with |
an ordinary beginning" but he could
not let it go in that form so wrote the
first two chapters afterward. The i'm
provement is easy to see by turning to
the third chapter which as beginning
suggests to the reader skipping or lay
ngdown the book together.
"Somehow Good" has been called
De Morgan's masterpiece as story"
,ut there has been difference of opin-
To Il ct
for the "story' is not the main charm
If De Morgan's writings.
ut Can Never Happen Again" fol-
owed in 1909 can Affair of Dishonor"
n 1910, and "A Likely Story" in 1911.
The following year when Mr.. Phelps
net the De Morgans in Florence, the
author said, with a cheerful smile,
THE American people do not like my
asst two books but perhaps they will
ike this one better for it is the most
De Morgany novel l have yet written"
This was said of "When Ghost Meets
Ghost" Mr.. Phelps further says that
his hope and his statement were both
justifed.'
During this period of his American
1isfavor our critic wrote that each
Of his novels showed deterioration.
During these years the sales of even
the earlier books decreased markedly.
"When Ghost Meets Ghost" De Nor
gan's last novel was published in 1914,
and through it he returned to favor
in America.
VIM. De Morgan began novel writ
ing at the age sufficiently advanced to
have given him a fund of knowledge
Of life and with the advantage of hav-
ing actually seen the whole careers of
a large number of lives which made it
possible for him to create characters
who were the logical results Of their
environments and who are convincing
because they react in a true way to
the cause that develop character.
These characters entertain because
they are so real that we feel toward
them as we would toward real people.
Some brief opinions:
The Bookman, called De Morgan a !
prodigy at 70 instead of at 20 like
Kipling."
"He had no method other than the
deliberate absence of method and no
style beyond the ignoring of and con-
tempt for those elements of style