The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-01-19

NAASA
 |SESZS proach.
 N. P e I s o nal: Nothing gives me a more depress- ing feeling than to find, while digging through piles of unan- swered correspondence, a letter that should have been answered promptly and has been long neg lected. I am always dreading that I have passed up some persons who may have died or moved away in the meantime. Here is one from Mrs. J. Allen Jones, written last August, from a tent in the mountains near Van Horn, Texas. All she asked was an autograph, which would be glad to give. And she, @ former KanSan, was a little bit lonely in her mountain tent, while her husband was away at work. can understand that. Now, in nid-winter, do you sup- pose she'd get the letter if I sent it to that address? Probably not. So I'm hoping she may read this and write again.
 There is a camaraderie among magicians, where you might ex- pect to find jealousy and tricky rivalry. AS a matter of personal observation, I'd say that the magi- clans I've known have all been bubbling over with good will, par ticularly toward other magicians. The craft has code of homer that few ever violate. Magic tricks are so easily stolen that magicianS simply refuse to steal.
 John Mulholland, one of the top-notch men of the magic world, recently told me a magic story, briefly like this. Half dozen oil men, at a convention in New York, told, over a card game, about won- derful magic tricks they'd seen. Each had witnessed the great trick in some part of the world far away from where the others had seen their favorite stunts.
 One member of the company phoned for magician he knew personally. He was Nate Leipzig, card magic specialist. Johns story is that, as Nate appeared, each of the half dozen said, That's the very fellow I saw do the trick was telling you about"
 Sounds just a little too O. Henryish to be true, but it indi- cates that Nate is a good magician and John good fellow.
 Jim Fully, during his recent long visit in New York, was gen. erally to be found in the lobby of the Algonquin in the after moons. Often I saw him alone there, sitting on a comfortable chair, just staring into space. His flaming red hair, so much talked of in the days of his rise to it- erary fame, is grizzly-gray now. But it's all there, forest of it, and, apparently, still uncombed.
 Jim Fully succeeded as a writer, although he has almost no school education. He was reared in an orphan asylum in Cincinnati, and as tramp from coast to coast. But he was a reader. From child hood he wanted to be writer, and somebody once told me Whatever you think most about, that you will become" Seems to be true.
 Henry L. Mencken, I suppose, should be credited with discover ing Jim Fully, though Rupert Hughes undoubtedly had some- thing to do with 1t. Sara Haardt, who became Mrs. Mencken, wrote the most understanding size-ups of the man and his work.
 Fully still wears his shirt open from the neck down to about the third button. It does give you the impression of a pose when you see him that way, and with his hair so stiffly standing up, in a New York literary hang-out. But maybe it's merely Jim's idea of comfort, and if 1t is, say, God bless him! Jim has large neck, and there were many years when he couldn't afford a clean collar. Maybe he just doesn't like collars and ties.
 He appears still very strong, though he's going to be 51 next June, and his weight is up con- siderably from the 122 pounds he used to weigh when he was con- tending for the featherweight box ing championship. I'd guess him at 172 on the hoof today.
 Now, as to the hair standing stiffly up. must testify that some hair is just that way, and there's little or nothing to be done about 1t.
 Jim lives mostly in Hollywood now, and still entertains in his grand home some of the tramps he used to know. Best tales of his formative days are to be heard in Akron, where he was once a reporter.
 In our back yard the blue jays have won the war with the squir- rels, tails down. My wife losses Texas oceans out to those poor little squirrels when there's snow. The jays steal the nuts. chase the squirrels, and, in most instances, are able to break open the shells and celebrate.
 (Copyrigh.. 1899, McNaught
 Syndicate)
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