The New York herald., 1922-04-30

q lcHOI toICS. ne Cuitoi VI thS
magazine accepting it apologetically
offered $50. The story appeared
But the check never came. George
Barr McCutcheon is another author
whose maiden effort was rewarded
with honor only. Ten years elapsed
before he disposed of his second
story. That time he was paid sis.
Cleveland Moffetts first profession
al effort was a poem, THE Song of
the Bank Cashier" which he now re-
CARDS as most immoral prOdue-
tion for a serious minded minis
ter's son. 1t was published, with
out payment. in Tegds Siftiags.
THREE dollars for a poem
L called Grape Bloom from the
New York Sunddy Mercury WAS
Meredith Nicholsons first return
from authorship. William Hamilton
Osborne began with story The
Bank Compounds a Felony" for
which he was offered s12. But the
editor, being told that it resembled
a story that had appeared before,
changed his mind. Will Payne, be-
ginning by .disposing of his tales
for years subscription TO the mag
azine, eventually rose to the dignity
OF receiving s4 for a story. Hugh
Pendexter, happier in his maiden
effort, disposed of his first tale for
$3.50 and carried the check for dis
play purposes, until he had diff
Guilty in cashing it. The check that
the late Robert Rudd Whiting of
Smiths Mdgdzine sent for the story
1.-THE Flat Above" was the first
money that Nina Wilcox Putnam
earned from literature.
TN the course of his life as one
i of the vagrant printers of the
old newspaper days Opie Read
reached small town in western
Tennessee. There he wrote his first
sketch entitled "A Cross Tie Pill
grimage." He borrowed an enve-
lope and a stamp and sent the
sketch to the New York Sunday
Mercury. In due time came a check
for So. Ernest Thompson Seton
scored with his fifth attempt, an ar
ticle on "Housebuilding." Thanks
TO what he now refers to as very
heavy pull through a political
friend" he extorted from a Cana
dian magazine SIS for the article OF
2.009 words. A prize competition
IN 81. Nicholas paved the way to
tke ihsrary path for Anna Mcclure
ssAASssi. Her story. called "Helen's
Prize Dinner won the second prize
Of SEQ. Arthur Stringer. breaking
/ in. sold. or thought he sold. a full
page poem to a Canadian magazine.
The poem was. sent in. accepted,
printed. and the author was hon.
ored with twelve editorial copies
Of the periodical. But when the
long expected letter arrived, in
stead OF check II proved to be
bill for So for the twelve copies.
T HE first money that Booth
L Harrington earned from lit
erature was SIS, in a short story
competition of the Nassau Literary
Mdgdzine when the author was an
undergraduate at Princeton. Incl
dentally, the story called THE Bet
| ter Man" was the germ of the novel
1.-THE Gentleman From Indiana"
Marayene Thompson's first effort
was an ambitious one, novel OF
10000 words, which she succeeded
in selling for 5000. Arthur Trains
| first literary earning was a check
from Outing for 1891. Just why
| the thirty-one cents he never fully
understood. Louis Joseph Vance
in his maiden effort made the mis-
take of the Unhappy Ending, SO
'The Death of the Dawn" came
back to him with depressing regus
1arity. Taking the lesson to heart,
| he wrote another story, and this