Evening star., 1935-03-24

cIcu WIFI llIle, DTOWU ndlE, WllCn Is
cut close at the back and falls in thin
locks over his temples. His complex
ion Is dark with a fiorid tinge, his
head is joined to a pair of broad,
healthy shoulders by a short, we'll
padded neck, his face is full and his
forehead broad and high. Twinkling
blue eyes smile at you from under
it as he talks and thick, iron-gray
mustache half covers his mouth.
The great writer dresses in business
clothes. This morning he had on a
pair of light pantaloons and a dark
cut-aWay coat with vest to match.
His white collar was a turnover and
his necktie a scarf which entirely
filled the front opening of his vest.
AS he chatted he gestured now and
then with his hands and noticed
that they were remarkably small and
free from the ink stains of the ordi-
nary literary man.
Mr.. Howells was modest in speak
ing Of his work. He told me he does
not believe in the word genius" He
thinks he has a natural bent toward
literature but that his success is due
~ AAoAN WI n nc ID SuIc LLldL lOIlR
terms Of intellectual inactivity are
injurious to writer. Mr.. Howells
works right along the year round and
prefers to take his rest day by day
rather than in lump. In response
to questions as TO his habits Of work.
Mr.. Howells said:
Il rise about Z, breakfast at 8 and
then go to work. I eat the usual
American breakfast and find that a
good hearty meal agrees with nv
labors. When I came back from Eu-
rope I did think that I would keen
up the foreign custom of a light
breakfast of coffee and rolls. But
dropped it after a time. 1t Is not
adapted to our climate, not suited
to our habits with the children going
to school so early with nothing but a
light lunch at noon. After break
fast 1 sit down and begin to write,
and I work away for three or four
hours until the family lunch time.
I then drop my work for the dav
and spend the remainder of the time
in chatting, walking, driving or doing
whatever comes along"
What is your average days work."
I asked.
About page of Harper,s Monthly
or an editorial column of a newspa-
per, replied the novelist. II do not
like to write fast and I write, rewrite
and change both words and matter
over and over again. I don't think
anything pays a writer so well as
going over lis own work. Some of
my novels 1 have entirely rewritten.
such as, for instance. The Foregone
Conclusion. consider that one of
the best pieces Of work I have ever
done and its revision improved it
greatly. I should like to be able to
do this IN all cases but am often
unable TO take the time. Sometimes
l rewrite a whole chapter, or I FIND
often that / can condense a chapter
into single paragraph. Many Of my
novels are hot completed at the time
OF their publication in the magazines,
! but I do not let them begin until
have good lot of copy ahead
How long does it take me to COM
| plete a novel? Well, it differs ac-
cording to the subject and the time
l have to do it in. In writing the
last part OF "A Modern Instance I
turned out Is pages of copy q day.
which is twice my usual amount.
write at the rate have told you and
1t took me nine months of steady
work to produce The Rise of Silas
Lapham.' The Lady of the Aroos-
took was written in six or seven
months, but it was plain sailing from
the beginning. I have never more
than one novel on hand at one time,
though may now and then write a
sketch Of travel by way of a change.
OF course, I have a general idea of
what I am going to write before I
begin a new book. but I do not
analyze plan and think it up in
chapters beforehand I invent the
incidents as I go along Thus each
morning consists of new inventions:
the work is pleasant and does not
grow stale.
Il invent my characters" Mr.. How
ellis continued Il know no man liv-
ing who corresponds exactly with
| BARLEY Hubbard, nor is there in
existence a Silas Lapham. But 1
AAOPN my Vial dStCLo lldNC
fidelity to nature that men can be
found who are more or less like them.
do not grow enthusiastic nor senti-
mental over the persons in my novels,
though I am. of course, deeply inter
ested in them and have to live close
to them during the writing. I
have never written book simply for
the purpose of producing something
| for people to read. but always to give
my readers something to think about
! which might better themselves and
| the world. I do not believe in the
theory Of art apart from morals and
everything else. This couplet Of an
Italian poet. which keeps running
through my mind, expresses my idea
| in this regard:
"'Our work Of making books is all
in vain
If books in turn do nothing to make
men.
John J. ingalls,.
| For pure sarcasm which cuts and
rankles as it goes into the soul there
is no man in public life who can
compare with John J. ingalls, of
Kansas. ingalls, came nearer to
being a natural genius than any other
of the United States Senators. His
long, iron-gray head works like
steam engine with a weight on the
| safety valve. 1t is the embodiment
of perpetual motion and the sparks
of thought fly from it like those
of an electric wheel running at the
rate of a thousand revolutions per
minute. He has a new idea on al
most every subject.
Senator ingalls, shaves his face
twice before he comes to the Senate
to make a great speech. He has his
hair carefully combed. takes Turkish
bath and looks as he rises from his
seat as thought he had popped out
of bandbox. His Prince Albert coat
is buttoned tight around his interro-
cation point of a frame. his red neck
tie is of the freshest and he has a
half inch of red silk handkerchief
sticking outside Of the left breast
pocket of his coat.
Gen. Joe Wheeler.