Class \. ■ ^ 4 '^. , X WftKELEE « (0., DRUCcisrs, ^r-y SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. General Depot in Ctiicag^o, ^ A<^ ^.'^%\%>t. ^^^^ * BLOCKI, Druggists and Perfumers .r/^ No. Ill RANDOLPH STREET. / WILLIAH J. DINQEE Invites Correspondence Appertaining to REAL ESTATE —IN— OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA THE QUEEIS CITY OF THE PACIFIC COAST. Unsurpassed as a place of residence; i^ minutes by ferry from San Frati- cisco. Salubrious climate; Jiinety m.iles of Macadamized streets; public Schools, Electric and Cable Railway systems; subtirban drives and bearitifut views from the heights; population inside the city limits^ 60,000; including suburbs, 100,000. We have for sale beautiful Homes for all, from Cosy Cottages to Elegant Modern Dwellings. Large tracts of laiid subdivided and sold at auc- tio^i or by private sale. Substantial Business Blocks in the Heat t of the City paying six and seven per cent per annum net on the investment. Catalogues sent on application. Easy terms arranged — small properties to be bought on payments of $100 to $500 cash; balance $25 to $50 a mo7ith. Correspoyideyice promptly answered. WILLIAM J DINGEK, 460 and 462 Eiglitli Street, Oakland, California. - ^ THE LITERATURE OF THE ^— - _ Kern County Land Company CAPITAL $10,000,000. IS NOW ENJOYING A WIDE REPUTATION FOR ACCURACY AND VARIETY OF INFORMATION. IT IS ATTRACTIVE, INTERESTING AND VALUABLE. WRITE FOR SAMPLES. S. W. FERGUSSON, AGENT, BAKERSFIELD, CAL. A clear title, rotation, varietj- and certainty of crops; easy terms; availability to persons in moderate circumstances; ground ready for the plow— no stones nor thistles; good society, schools, churches, etc., are a few of the noticeable attractions of this region of country. Below will be found the address from which to procure magazines, maps, books and every conceivable variety of descriptive matter pertaining to the lands of the KERN COUNTY LAND COMPANY, all procured for the asking. DIRHCTORS KERN COUNTY LAND COMPANY LLOYD TEVIS President. IRWIN 0. STUMP, Vice-President. F. G. DRUM, Secretary. W. F. GOAD. WM. S. TEVIS. HENRY WADSWORTH. {1NCORPOR.4TED) S. W. FERGUSSON, AGENT, ■Bakersfield, - - California, FROM THE ARGONAUT.' CALIFORNIA 1849. THE STORY OF THE FILES A REVIEW OF CALIFORNIAN WRITERS AND LITERATURE By ELLfl STERLING CUMMINS. ■1fy[j,J^ ^Wjb. '^ ISSUED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE WORLD'S FAIR COMMISSION OF CALIFORNIA, COLUMBIAN Exposition, 1893. Copyright 1893 by Ella Steri,in<; Ci-mmins. HE LIBRA.TY OF JONORESS, On^^opy Received MAR. 23 1901 COPVRIQH^, ENTRY CLASS XXc. Hp COPY A. c Designs and Portraits BY UNION PH010 ENGRAVING CO. SAN FRANCISCO, GAL Press o f , r J CO-OPERATLVE PRINTING CO. Printers P'tf9LJsHE?^5 NO. 408 SACRAMENTO STREET ,b' ,£," tc'e. I t/e «CC«. OF BATTERY . = »' 'e^ eel f' J''^' •"' \ ''J ',.' % =./ SAN rRANCISCO, GAL. s (J- RESPECTFULIA' DEDICATED To THE me:mhkrs of the California World's Fair Commis.sion Irving M. Scott, James U. Phelan, S. W. Kergusson, John Daggett, K. McMurray, L.J. Rose, A. T. Hatch and T. H. Thompson. Under whose encouragement are now being presented to the world not only the products of California's soil, hut also the evidences of the culture and industry of her people. KEYNOTE. Aware that this "Story of the Files" of Californian magazines and journals, is, like all things human, far from being perfect, the author has only to say that it has been prepared mainly for the purpose of preserving the names, pictures and histories of the writers of long ago, those who are now dead and forgotten. The record of the writers of to-day may be added to and bettered by him who comes after. In these words of one of the brightest of the old-time journalists is to be found the pervading spirit of the " Story of the Files:" "No matter where uttered, a great thought never dies. It does not perish amid the snows of mountains, or the floods of rivers, or in the depths of valleys. For a time it may seeniingl}' be forgotten, but it is somewhere embalmed in memory, and after awhile reappears on the horizon like a long-gone star returning on its unchanging orbit, and on its way around the endless circle of eternity. " October^ i8p2, San Francisco, California. PRELUDE. The complete tale of the writers of California has not yet been told, and, possibly, never will be. During each epoch of Californian literature, however, mile-stones have been erected along the way, and some of these have been typical of the times. Such are Oscar Shuck's " Scrapbook of California Writers" and ^'California Anthology," May Wentworth's "Poetry of the Pacific," Roman's " Outcroppings," Harr Wagner's "Short Stories of California Writers, " the Berkeley students' "College Verses," and Dewey's "Picturesque California." The first series of sketches upon the subject appeared in 1881 in the San Francisco Chronicle. These sketches, about fifty in number, entitled "California Authors," were very interesting, and were the work of Flora Haines Longhead. A similar series was presented in the San Francisco Morniiig Call in 1889, prepared by the late Emilie Tracy Y. Parkhurst, who intended to produce them later in book form. This proposed work was to make a companion volume to the one here presented, as the material she had gathered was of later waiters, and those of the present day, rather than of the past, containing many names ot young writers of the Pacific Coast generally, and of women par- ticularly. An interesting article on "Early Books, Magazines, and Book-making," by Charles Howard Shinn, appeared in the Overland Monthly, October, 1888. There was a brief but vivid sketch in the Cosmopolitan in the autumn of 1891 — a condensed history, as it were, of the subject, by Gertrude Franklin Atherton. In the voluminous work of Bancroft (in Essays, Miscellany, Vol. 38), some attention has been given to the literary workers of the coast. During this year of 1892, Joaquin Miller has been contributing felicitous sketches to the San Francisco Mor^iing Call upon the writers he has known from early times. The 6 CALIFORNIAN WRITERS AND LITERATURE natural kindness of his heart has made him bring to notice some poems and poets little known in their own country. In November, 1891, was begun a series of sketches in the San Francisco Wasp, under the encouragement of General Backus and D. S. Richardson, proprietor and editor respectively of that journal. The onl}' thing which marked this series as different from the others was its method of classification. It divided the writers into separate schools, according to the times, and to the journal or magazine, and began at the beginning. It was not so much a history of the writers of California as it was of the journals and magazines for which they wrote. During the six months that these sketches appeared letters were received from even the most remote parts of the State, and comments were made in many journals. The " Story of the Files " touched a common chord of interest — a sympathetic note had been struck. The magnitude of the work attempted was comprehended mostly by those of the sanctum, as, for instance, the following letter from one of the brightest of Californian journalists of either the past or the present, will show : " The series is very interesting, and so far has been done with rare discrimination. I hope you are not going to get too excited over your work and die of insomnia before you finish it. Take it cool. Skip a week or two. The interest will endure all the same. Yours most truly, Joseph T. Goodman." Meanwhile, the writer had become absorbed in her task. The subject had a fascination that claimed her waking and sleeping hours. She haunted places where were to be found musty files of journals, and lived in the olden days once more ; attended theatri- cal performances now forgotten, and heard voices of those like Matilda Heron and Edwin Forest, now hushed forever. The old advertisements brought back the names heard in childhood ; old politics made Colonel Baker alive once more. Issuing into the crowded street of later San Francisco, she carried with her these shadows of the past — carried them home with her to sup at her board and haunt her dreams. It was so uncanny an experience that she was not sorry when the Wasp changed hands and the sketches were no longer needed. But there were those who were PRELUDE. 7 not satisfied — who still wrote letters asking for the series to be completed, and to be published in book form. The writer, not wishing to become a victim to monomania, evaded the responsi- bility — though the spell of the past was still on her. She knew that the work could never be done in perfection ; that all these files could not be reduced to a volume — and why attempt anything less ? There were two or three, however, who never ceased insisting upon the final completion of the work — two or three who seemed to have faith in the writer's capability for the task. Out of that faith comes this volume. With fear and trembling the writer enters upon this broad field of research, knowing that there will be imperfections in the work ; that there will be omissions and misapprehensions ; but with love and affection for the.se .shadows of the past, who are dear to her as her own kith and kin. Others could bring to bear upon the subject more skill, more technique, or as one of our authors says, "more icicle drippings of the intellect." But the writer, who was born in the mines, cradled in a gold-rocker, and grew up in a quartz-mill, knew many of these shadows as living realities, from her childhood, and honored and adored them. Thus it has become a labor of love. In taking up the theme, "Californian Writers and Literature, ' ' the chief object in view is to make, as nearly as po.ssible, a record for reference, of the writers, large and small, who have been, or who have become identified with the State or coast. Beginning with the earliest journals and magazines, the desire is to represent the growth of our literature for the past forty years — and it is a remarkable exhibit — to record the names therein found of writers of verse — short story writers, novelists and journalists, each in his or her proper .school. There are choice mono-poems which are treasured in scrap- books, but not to be found elsewhere. And there are short stories, which are celebrated in the memory of the "oldest inhabi- tant," but otherwise not known, nor to be found outside the ephemeral journals in which they appeared. And though the tale of these writers may never be told com- pletely, yet in the perusal of these journals of the past we may obtain a faint glimpse of those who.se memories will always be 8 CAI.IKOKNIAN WKITKKS AND LITKKATURK. connected with Californian literature. In the ' 'Story of the Files' ' is told their history. They came, they wrote, they passed away ; but what they have written, all united, now constitutes what we have of literature, good, bad, or inditVerent. And it is to discuss the work of these busy miuds and busy pens, now resting, many of them in the Eternal Silence (whither we all are hastening), that this backward glance is given. It is hoped that as a result of this discussion we shall be enabled to discover the ingredients which combine to make a story or a poem or a sketch or a novel popular with the public. A cold, critical survev of Californian literature will be the style of treatment ; no personalities shall be discussed, but there will be presented the work of authors, and examples of each one's style, vivid sentences, epigrams or lines. In order to confine the limits of the " Story of the Files " to one volume, it becomes necessar}- to make a choice from all this rich material. The line, then, distinctly drawn, is in favor of those journals and magazines which apparently have encouraged the growth of Californian literature. And nearly all of these have had their birth-place in the city of San Francisco. The story of Californian literature began in the early fifties with the old Golden Era. This journal was the medium of much pleasantry between and among the miners ; so much so, that in the drama of " M'liss " reference is made to it as a " t^-pical topic of their con\'ersation." Then came Hutchhigs California Maga- zine, in which the Yo.semite \'alley was written up for the first time completely by the author of "The Heart of the Sierras." Next among the dearest memories of the pioneers, in the way of powerful writing came, during war times, the Sacramento Union, with James Anthony and Paul Morrill as editors, and the Terri- torial Enterprise of Nevada, with J. T. Goodman as editor, which two papers are now believed to be the finest examples of early journalism in the West. Connected with the growth of literary expression were the Sunday Mercury and the Weet^ly Californian, published in San Francisco, journals of the early sixties, the former under J. Mac- donough Foard : the latter managed by Charles Henry Webb. J'RK/.UDK. 9 In r86S came the Overland, with Kret Harteas editor. This magazine was the first distinctively literary production, and it gave the first proof of " the existence of a peculiarly characteristic Western American literature." The bound files of the old Over- land 2L.Xic eagerly sought for to-day. No Californian's library is complete without them. Then followed the /It^onaiil in 1876, foundefl by Fred M. Somers and Frank M. Fixley, afterward under the editorship of Jerome Hart, which developed a peculiar and powerful school of writing, distinctively Californian. The files of this journal con- tain unset gems in the way of short stories, which made a .sen- sation at the time of their appearance and were copied in the old worlrl ;is well as the new. In addition to these are the fervid utterances of Frank .M. Pixley, for these many years, upon the general theme of "Americanism," and the notable" Dramatic Criticism" of the late Mrs. Joseph Austin, under the name of " Hetsy H. ' A very clever but short-lived journal was 7'he I'orlico, of the same period. Both the Jipifrram and The Californiayi Magazine were founded and edited by Fred M. Somers. After an existence of two years, the latter was turned into the later Overland, under the management of Millicent W. Shinn. This magazine has a school (S writers of its own. TIk- San Francisco News Letter, founded by Marriott, Sr., has always been ably edited, and occupies a field peculiar to itself. The Waap, the oldest cartoon paper in colors in the United States, was founded by Korbel Brothers in 1876, and has always been devoted to the brief and pithy things of literature. The Ingieside, an offshoot of the Argonaut, under Henry McDowell, assisted by Henry Bigelow, had a brief but brilliant literary career — every page full of vivid writing. About this time, 1884, the Golde?i lira was revived in magazine form under Harr Wagner, and became the medium of utterance for new writers with original ideas, if sometimes crude in expression. The San Frajiciacan was founded by Joseph T. Goodman, assisted by Arthur Mciiwen, and completed by W. H. Harrison, lO CAMFORNIAN WRITERS ANI> LITER ATL'KR. lu its bound files it presents a couple of volumes of the choicest, most elegant English — a credit to the language — besides con- taining stories and sketches of great originality. Meanwhile, in journalism, many dailies and weeklies have been born, some fated, like " The rank weeds, to die in tlie mornins; lisiit," and others, by good fortune, to flourish for many years. These latter ones are the well-known journals, the Alia California, the Evening Bulletin, the Mornijig Call, the J/orni//g Chronicle^ the Morning Examiner, the Ez'ening Post, the Evening Report, and many others, containing the work of our very best writers, and each requiring a volume in itself to tell its history. Among the last ones inaugurated is the weekly journal owned and edited by J. O'Hara Cosgrave and Hugh Hume, the Wave, which has a strong literary flavor, though distinctly devoted to society. Of the magazines, the last is the Illustrated Cali- foniian, under the direction of Charles F. Holder, who came here with honors from the East, and who has brought out, par- ticularly, the writers of the southern part of the State. Besides these regular journals and monthlies, there have been published volumes to the number of six or seven hundred or more. Poetry and prose have been given to the world in tiny volumes and in bulk}^ ones. Few of theni are from skillful pens, though many are original and odd. The chief difficulty seems to be that it is youth which has the courage to publish its maiden eifort ; but when years creep on, and the workmanship is of more finished quality, the enthusiasm has died out, and nothing further appears in book form. To this class of novels belong, " Boutul Down," by Mrs. Thomas Fitch ; " Robert Greathouse," by John vSwift ; " Dare," by Mary W. Glasscock; "On the Verge," by Philip Shirley; "The Little Mountain Princess," by the writer ; "The Man Who Was Guilty," by Flora Haines Longhead; "Sacrifice," by Will S. Green; "Braxton's Bar," by RoUin M. Daggett. Our poets have given to the world some really finished work, if not great. Clarence Urmy's " Rosary of Rhyme," Madge Morris' "Debris," (tCu. Lucius H. Foote's " Red-Letter Day," PRELUDE. II Carrie Stevens Walter's " Rose Ashes," Lillian Hinman Shuey's " California Sunshine," Virna Wood's " Queen of the Amazons " — all are of unusual delicacy for first volumes. Our great writers speak for themselves. The humorists, such as George Derby and J. Ross Brown, were the advance guard of a host to follow, better known, perhaps, but not so fondly remembered ; Bret Harte, with his mastery of English and study of peculiar human nature ; Mark Twain, with his per- ennial spring of humor, freshening and revivifying each theme he touches ; Prentice Mulford, with his delicate philosophy ; Charles Warren Stoddard, with his poetic imagery ; Richard Realf, whose recognition has been tardy, but none the less complete ; Joaquin Miller, whose poetry is the genuine article, and whose prose is vivid and beautiful ; John Muir, whose descriptions of California are prose-poems from beginning to end ; John Vance Cheney, who has become identified with our literature ; Bancroft, with his tre- mendous library of historical record ; Edward R. Sill, with his vigorous verse — each of these has won his laurels in litera- ture, and we can neither add nor take away. Of the women writers of California, Gertrude F. Atherton, Kate D. Wiggin, and Ina D. Coolbrith have won recognition abroad as well as at home. But there are among our writers those whose names are scarcely known outside of California, who have given evidence of great skill and command of English, and fine delineation of character — who, in one single story (for instance, J. W. Gaily, in " Big Jack Small," or Yda Addis, in some of her brilliant per- formances), have proved a claim to extraordinary ability. The vivid tales of Emma Frances Dawson, Annie L,ake Townsend, Flora Haines Loughead, and others of the Argonaut school, have made a strong impression upon our literature. The wonder story is a natural product of the soil. From Ferdinand Ewer's "Eventful Nights of August 21st and 22d," in 1856, and W. H. Rhodes' " Remarkable Case of Summer- field," in 1868, down to the present day of Robert Duncan Milne's " Eighteen Centuries in Ice," W. C. Morrow's " Remark- able Case in Surgery," and Ambrose Bierce's " The Man and the Snake," we have had a full flowering of the literary orchid. 12 CALIFORNIAN WRITERS AND LITERATURE. Pollock's poem, "Evening Through the Golden Gate," in 1856, has not been supplanted in the hearts of the people ; nor has his "Parting Hour" been forgotten. John Ridge's poem to his wife, ' ' The Harp of Broken Strings, ' ' has not lost its exquisite sympathy with the beating of the human heart to-day. Of the sagebrush school of writers, such as John Swift in " Robert Greathouse," and Dan de Quille in the " Big Bonanza," each has laid the colors on the historic page with realistic brush. Our school of iournalists has produced writers of finished liter- ary style, such as Ambrose Bierce, Arthur McKwen, John Hamil- ton Gilmour, and others of great versatility, such as Henry Big- elow, Frank Millard and George H. Fitch ; and of vigor and originality, like Frank M. Pixley and W. H. Mills. Our vivid short stories at Christmas tide are evidence of the talent which rarely finds utterance the rest of the year. And yet from all this rich hoard, we cannot venture to pre- dict what Californian literature ma}^ yet become, although it is evident that all these writers of the past have become a force in shaping the quality and destiny of this literature which is to be. Thus it is that a record of these names is merely a duty to the public. There are writers yet to come whose genius will be equal to or greater than that of any in the past, who will have been unconsciously affected by the journalistic schools of the past or the piesent day. It will be worth while, therefore, to analyze this peculiar style of writing that has been developed among us, and to present for comparison these extracts — pithy, forcible, and excellent. Whether any of our own writers will ever produce a novel equal to " Ramona " in its picturesque completeness of Californian early life is a question, but that there are new fields for portrayal there is no doubt. The tone of the great novel of the future, judging by the powerful short stories which the Californian writer presents upon all occasions through the medium of our weekly journals and magazines, will be vivid, strong and rugged, rather than beautiful or artistic. Thus, the underbrush being cleared away, as it were, and a good trail having been made around the boulders, we enter upon our analysis of Californian literature. :f;vr>7ii:irTiv ^ -"f "»JV^ l-IIANl l~» < THE GOLiDEfl ERR SCHOOIi. KROrvl 1852-18S2. EDITORS: J. Macdonough Foard, Rollin M. Daggett, Joseph E. Lawrence, James Brooks, Gilbert B. Densmore, John. J. Hutchinson, J. M. Bassett, Hurr Wagner, E. T. Bunyan and others. COflTRIBUTOI^S: Francis Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Joaquin Miller, Charles Warren Stoddard, John R. Ridge, Joseph T. Goodman, Dan De Quille, A. Delano, Orpheus C. Kerr, Thomas Starr King, Fitzhugh Ludloiv, Henry E. Highton, Stephen Massett, Prentice Mulford, John C. Medley, Richard Henry Savage, Ada Clare, Occasia Owens, Eliza Pittsinger, Minnie Myrtle Millet', Adah Isaacs Menken, Sallie Goodrich, May Went- worth, Ina Coolbrith, Anna Morrison, Lulu Littleton, Mary Watson, Alice Kingsbury, Mary V. Tingley, Anna M. Fitch, Janette Phelps, Frances F. Victor and others. A great pile of rusty, musty tomes, breathing of "the velvet bloom of time," in a dark little room in an old Montgomery- street building ! It is the file of the Golden Era. The old advertisements are of themselves a historical record of those legendary days when the waters of the bay came up to Montgomery street, and the sketches, stories and poems breathe the flavor of the literature of that time. If this file could tell the tale of its goodly company, it would reveal much unwritten history now impossible to obtain. 14 CALIFORNIAN WRITERS AND LITERATURE. But the stor}' of its origin and its founders, J. Macdonough Foard and Rollin M. Daggett, has passed into record, and any one with a desire to trace up the stor}' may do so in the pioneer number of the revived Golden Era, in magazine form, some thirty-three years later, written for the occasion by the author. It was in December, 1852, that two young men, named Foard and Daggett, the first twenty-one, the latter but nineteen years of age, resolved to start a weekl}^ paper in San Francisco. At first they hired their type at the rate of thirty-five cents a thousand ems, for each issue, but soon afterward raised money enough to purchase a printing office of their own. It was a new sort of venture for that peculiar time, but the paper soon com- menced to work its way into the mines, and find a place in the affections of the miners — in fact, it almost immediately became the vadc inecum of every mining-camp in the State. Foard had come around the 'Horn,' and Daggett had come across the ' Plains, ' and they soon fell into the way of writing up their experiences in bright little sketches that appealed to the wanderers from comfortable homes in the East, giving them a liter- ature of their own, flavored with our peculiar soil. Up to 1854, the paper had quite a struggle, having manj'- a bout with the Sheriff" to prevent him putting from his lock on the door ; but by this time the experience obtained by the young editors began to be of some use to them. With an eye to picturesque effect, Daggett arrayed himseli in a red shirt and top-boots, and went traveling among the miners, getting enormous subscriptions wherever he went. The rate per year was five dollars, and for advertising they obtained whatever they asked, until they counted up a subscription list of nearly ROLLIN M. DAC.r.KTT. THE GOLDEN ERA SCHOOL. nine thousand, which, with the advertising patronage, yielded an income equaled by only one of the several daily papers then published in San I'Yancisco. . In those expensive days they sometimes paid as high as twenty-two dollars a ream for paper that now can be obtained for five or six dol- lars, and paid one dollar and twenty-five cents per thousand ems for composi- tion, that now brings forty cents. Quite a wonderful point in artistic excellence was attained when they in- troduced engra\ings, and copies sold at times for twenty-five cents apiece. But the principal charac- teristic in the Cioldeu Era — one which it retained throughout all its varia- tions and vicissitudes — one that made it different from all the papers which have suc- ceeded it — the one in fact which causes it to outlive tho.se of greater force and brilliancy, perhaps — is that of its peculiar human sympathy. It has always met its readers half-way, and, in fact, been more of a chronicler of people than events ; human nature, rather than the face of nature ; thoughts and feelings, rather than lakes and mountains ; making, indeed, the old files of the Golden Eta a sort of book of fate in which may be read the beginning of the career of many of our Californian celebrities before they had dreamed of greatness or had it tlirust upon them. There is, indeed, no publication so identified with Cali- fornia and her people as this self-same Golden Era ; and that it has continued an existence for thirty-three years is perhaps owing solely to this human element, reflecting as a mirror the life around it, and making it welcome wherever it goes. J. MacDONOUGH koro. l6 CALIFORNIAN WRITERS AND LITERATURE. Horace Greeley said of the paper, during his famous visit to California : ' It is the most remarkable paper ! To think of its power and influence when the population is so sparse and the mail facilities so poor.' But it was this human element that appealed to the hearts of its readers away up in their mountain fastnesses ; and the desire for it was so general that it triumphed over the diffi- culties of transportation. One of the chief attractions was a dramatic department, the first introduced by any paper in the State, and here may be read the whole history of the drama back to the early days. It became such a power that all the ' stars " rushed to the Era office upon arrival, to make a favorable impression and receive recog- nition. Its office became also a place of re.sort for all the celeb- rities of the day, many of whom contributed to the columns under a pseudonym. Under these circumstances, it could not fail to become a sort of school to the aspiring youth upon the outer edge of the circle, who was permitted only to look on and admire. Rollin M. Daggett, one of the originators, has been iden- tified with the literature cf California from that day to this, and, having published his works in book form, will be sketched fur- ther on under the head of ' Fiction.' J. Macdonough Foard is now in his sixties, a heavy-set man, looking like a Frenchman rather than an American, with his iron-gray moustache and fierce, blue-gray eyes, and, like many of the old pioneers, still lives in the greatness of the past. He is a descendant and bears the name of Commodore Macdonough, who was presented with a solid gold snuff-box, worth five hundred dollars, by the city of Albany, in honor of his signal victory on Lake Champlain. Born in Cecil count}-, Mary- land, Mr. Foard came to California in 1849. when a mere boy. For eight years he was a.>^sociated with Rollin M. Daggett in edit- ing and managing the Golden Era. Connected with tvpe and printers' ink, he returned from many different business positions always to his first love. He was at one time a member of the Board of Education, and wrote a valedictory in which his old-time Golden Era fluency is THE GOLDEN ERA SCHOOL. I 7 apparent. But, as a characteristic bit of style, nothing is better than an extract from his ' Vale ! ' in the Golden Era, in i860, upon disposing of the paper to J. E. Lawrence and James Brooks: " ' The Golden lira is no longer, like too many of its cotem- poraries, a mere phantom on the surface of newspaperdom, but may be regarded as ' a fxed fact ' in the record, and far beyond the influence of those sudden reverses which have served lo tumble into the dark and yawnmg tomb of forgetfulness many a luckless literary journal. Go where you may, within the vast confines of California — amid the denizens of the frozen north, 'where the flinty crest of wild Nevada ever gleams with snows,' among the hardy sons of toil whose strong arms are digging from the earth the glittering treasure which is enriching the world — among the yoemanry of our broad and fertile valley.s, who, ' far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,' are silently adding to the glory and wealth of our rising vState ! — visit the family circles of our cities and towns, and there you will see the Golden lira with itsVich and teeming pages.' " The history of the (iolde?i lira school is best told in the words of the old editor and founder, J. Macdonough Foard : "Oh, yes! The Golden lira was a great paper, and, if the same policy hadl)een continued, it would be a great paper to-day. But I will tell you where we made the mistake, and that was when we let the women write for it. Yes, they killed it — they literally killed it, with their namby-pamby school-girl trash. " But the first five or six years it was grand. There has never been anything like it. vStarr King was a constant visitor and contributed anonymously. John R. Ridge, a half Cherokee and the handsomest man I ever saw, was quite a poet, and wrote for us under the name of 'Yellow Bird.' E. G. Paide— who.se ' Patent Sermons,' ])ublished under the name of ' Don Jr.,' were copied from one end of the Union to the other — was a compositor and contributor, as were al.so Joseph T. Goodman and Bret Harte. Goodman was then a boy of eighteen, and afterward be- came famous as editor of the Territorial Enterprise. He has also written .some fine poems, notably that on the 'Death of Lincoln.' " Bret Harte was not much of a compositor, and occasionally he gave me a little .sketch or poem to help out, which I put in l8 CAIJFOKNIAN WRITRRS AND I.ITKR ATURE. unknown to the rest t)f the numagemcnt. After a while they would say, 'That's rather a nice little thing. Whose is it?' And I would say, ' Oh, I got it out of the box.' After a time he did so well that we took him on the staff, and from us he went to the Overland, where he became famous in a single day, as it were. I noticed just the other day (juite a long reference to the Golden lit a in a sketch of Bret llarte in a London paper. Oh, the Golden Era is known better and farther awaj^ than any paper that was ever pul)lished in California. "Charles Warren v^totldard began when he was but a mert^ boy, ami wrote under the name of ' Tip Pepperpod,' which name he was persuaded to drop and instead sign his real name. Henr\' E. llighton was one of our editorial writers in 1858. You know, he is the great lawyer now. He was a brilliant num. Watkins. under the name of ' Snicktaw,' wrote so successfully as a humor- ist that the people of Shasta sent him to the Legislature, where he created great merriment, keeping the Assembly in a constant roar. A. Delano, better known as ' OUl Block,' another humorist, was also an early and highly appreciated contributor. Orpheus C. Kerr and Dan de Ouille are names familiar to all old Califor- nians. Fit/.-llugh Ludlow was a regular hasheesh-eater. He was more than half crazy, but he wrote some good things. "I tell you, the Golde)i Era was a wonderful paper. The money just ilowed in, but I don't know where it all went. So, not liking the way things were going, I sold out in i860, and so did Daggett — to Brooks and Lawrence. Daggett, you know, has been American Minister to the Sandwich Lslands and has also represented the State of Nevada in Congre.^-s. \\\ 1S70 G. B. Densmore became a partner anil kept control for a nundjer of years. In 1877, J. M. Bassett took possession and conducted it with marked ability, as he is one of the most trenchant writers in the State. He sold out in 1881. Under Wagner and Buiiyan it became a sort of Young-IMen's-Chrislian- Association paper and temperance organ and I don't know what all. It nuist have sur- prised itself a good deal, I think. And now Harr Wagner has it and is introducing a sort of German mysticism. I don't go much on those things. '■ But I tell you, that in its palmy days the Golden Era was THE C.OLDEN ERA SCHOOL. I9 one of the most wonderful papers that ever was, and I don't see why it did not continue so. If it hadn't been for the women — " I wonder if the present generation can appreciate the pathos of these old miners living in the great past ? Not long ago the Bxamifier said in its review column : " The Golden Jira has come to hand. While it is rather crude, yet there is a delightful crispness and flavor to it unlike any other publication. " And this review, with almost singular fitness, might be said of every issue in those good old times. The (ioldrn lira was ?2noly. and ak>no 1 sought The valley of the ages and the plaoo Of tlie wiud-hraided waters." THK COI.DKN JvRA SCHOOL 21 The last stanza is triumphant in its tone and full of strength and power : " Still we climb I The season and the summit passed alike, High on the glacial slopes we plant our feet. Heneath the great crags unsurmoiintable, , Care, like a burden, falling from our hearts ; Joy, like the wings of morning, Ki)lriting Our souls in ecstasy to outer worlds, Where the moon sails among the silver peaks On the four winds of heaven/' Here is the name of Joaquin Miller, one of the brightest in California literature since the old days. But there are very few lines in these tinkling little poems to tell the story of the mature genius which was to delight the world of letters in time to come. Also as a contributor to these pages appears the name of Rich- ard Henry Savage, who, since his experiences in the Egyptian army, has developed a talent for dramatic jwriting, which is not even suggested in this early time. Among the lesser names is that of Stephen Massett, who wrote under the title of "Col. Jeems Pipes of Pipesville. ' ' He utilized his verses and songs in the way of entertainment, and thus he became known personally to many of the early Californians as few of the writers of the Golden Era were known. There was a certain ease and charm of manner in the presen- tation of his ver.ses and .songs that gave him great popularity as a writer, and on his tours around the world he has achieved a cer- tain kind of reputation of which we at home have little knowledge. STKI'HKN .MASSKTT. f 22 CAUFORNIAN WRITERS AND LITERATURE. A song writer sometimes touches the heart with a bit of simple sentiment that according to the pKimb-line gauge of criticism falls far short of greatness. But there is always more demand for the bit of simple sentiment than for the mightier things of verse, and from this point of view he must be judged, although he has also written for Eastern journals several noteworthy poems, especially one, entitled, "The lyost Ship." A favorite song of Massett's is : MY DARLINfi's FACE. " Wlien day is done and night comes on And stars shine forth on land and sea, There comes an hour — the only hour — ' More tlian all otliers dear to me ; The hour I wait thy coming, love ! For then iny darling's face I see ! " When night is o'er and bright tiie sun Sheds its soft beams, dear one, on thee. If by its light it leads me, love, To liear thy voice, so sweet to me, Tiiat is the hour — the only hour — For then ray darling's face I see ! " THH momEN OF THE "GOLtDEH E^A." The women who wrote for the old Golden Era were of varied degrees of talent. No one will gainsa}' that there was a grain of truth in what Editor Foard speaks of so gravely, that "the poor Era was killed by their school-girl essays." The Ada Clares, the Florence Fanes, the Occasia Owenses were not powerful writers, as is revealed by the columns they have left behind them in these tell-tale old files. But the first- tiamed, Ada Clare, was heralded in the largest of type as the *' Queen of Bohemia, " and the position she left in New York city was taken by the now famous " Willie Winter. " Her favor- ite expression was, "But, as usual, I am wandering from my subject, " which is not very inspiring to a reader. But the letters of Florence Fane were bright and readable, and since then, under lier own name of Francis Fuller Victor, she has done some of the strongest work in historical research yet attempted by any woman writer. Mrs. Victor has assisted materially in the com- piling of the magnificient Ban- croft Histories, which are known world-wide. She has al.so been connected with the Overland. It was at this time that Eliza Pittsinger reached the climax of her fame and wrote some very popular verses, though they are not to be found to-day in the libraries. There is in existence, how- ever, a small collection ot her poems, entitled "Bugle Peals." Of these lines Calvin B. McDonald says, happily : "When her muse came down from the sacred mount it was at the invocation ELIZA PITTSINGER. 24 CALIFORNIAN WRITERS AND LITERATURE. of serried battallious, not to smiling Cupid's beckoning from beds of roses. ' ' Eliza Pittsinger is a native of Massachusetts. She came to California in the early sixties, and, taking an active interest in the questions then agitating the public mind, wrote poems upon war themes and read them upon many public occasions. Her personality thus became known to the people of California, and her name remembered, though there is little of her work to be found in the libraries or the files of Californian journals or magazines. Her verse is cast mostly in the moral instructive form. Had she lived during the tribal times of mankind she would have been the one to raise the song of prophecy, of victory and death. But in these days of conforming to the convention- alities of civilization she is merely the poet of occasion, when California is celebrating some memorial day. A more extended sketch of Mrs. Pittsinger appears in the IVomefi of the Century. An extract is made from her poem entitled A DIVINE GUEST. Thought is speeding, time is waning, Let your banners be unfurled, Tyranny has long been gaining Hidden marches on the world — God is speaking through the nations, Trampling Error from its throne. Truth with migiity inspiration Thunders it from zone to zone; And the voice of tribulation, Justice crying for its own, Peals along the vast creation In a seething judgment tune. Here are to be found many little poems of the ill-fated Minnie Myrtle before she became Mrs. Miller in that strange romance of early times, before the "Poet of the Sierras" was known to the world. She was a woman of an odd sort of beauty — on the fantastic order — a splendid head of curlirg black hair, dark eyes and of rather imperious carriage. I remem- ber seeing her when she came to lecture in Sacramento, very youthful looking, alive to her finger-tips and oddly dressed, on a THE WOMEN OF THE GOLDEN ERA. 25 MINNIE MVRTLK. very warm day, in a white muslin dress, with a black fur tippet about her throat. Afterward, I read the pitiful letters she wrote to the Evenbip; Post when she became a part of the printing ma- chine and was ground down to earn her living and the support of her children by its means. And through it all rang an earnestness and a feeling that betokened the power to do something better if circum- stances had been more pro- pitious. Some seven or eight years ago, a beautiful tribute was paid to her memory by Joaquin Miller in a letter to the Chronicle^ and this was done by him merel)' as an act of justice, owing to one who aspired and desired, but fell asleep by the wayside with empty hands. Very remarkable is the story of Adah Isaacs Menken, the an- nouncement of whose position in literature at all will be a surprise to many. vShe shows here in these old files some bright sketch- es, and for one who has been known only as an actress of "Mazeppa," and a noticeable fig- ure in Paris during the time of the later Napoleon, the fact that since her death she has become famous for some of her verse will seem incredible. And yet it is power- ful and thrilling, and is cla.s.sed among the " Poetry of the Future." In the criticism of her lines it is said that there is more real poetry in them than in Walt Whitman's, counting page for page ; that her ear is truer and more delicate. But with a closer following of the principles of rhythm, she would have ADAH ISAACS iMF.NKKN. 26 CAr.Il'OKNIAN WRITERS AND LITEKATURK. taken place among the brilliant writers and "left us something far better than these few frantic soul-cries of poetic aspiration, shrieked, as they were, out of the Darkness into the ear of Humanity and of God. " [From James Wood Davidson in " The Poetry of the Future. " Alden, publisher.] KXTRACT FROM "HKMI-OCK IN THE FURROWS." O weak Soul ! let us follow the heavy liearse that bore our old Dream out past the wliite-horued Daylight of Love. I^et thy }iale Dead come up from their furrows of winding-sheets to mock thy [irayerswith what thy days might have been. Let the Living come back and point at tlie shadows they swept o'er the disk of thy morning v'^tar. Go back and grapple with thy lost angels, that stand in terrible judgment against thee. Seek thou the bloodless skeleton once hugged to thy depths. Hath it grown warmer under thy passionate kissings? Or hath it closed its seeming wings and shrunk its white body down to a glis- tening coil ? Didst thou wait the growth of fangs to point the arrows of Love's latest peril? Didst thou not see a black, hungry vulture wheeling down low to the white- bellied coil where thy Heaven had once bxsed itself? O blind Soul of Thine ! Blind, blind with tears! Not for thee shall Love climb the Heaven of thy columned hopes to Eternity. — Adah Isaacs Menken. Owing to the pectiliar method in which her little poems were •produced, the name of Sallie Goodrich calls up some funny mem- ories. Old residents will remember instances at the State Fair in Sacramento in the earl 3' sixties — a sudden commotion, a voice pleading for pencil and paper, and while she was in her poetic frenzy the people would crowd around while she evolved the idea from her brain. Strange to say, in the columns of the Golden Era they sound very much like all the other little poems, with no particular hint of their tumultuous suddenness. May Wentworth afterward became an author, as is evinced in the two pretty volumes, " Fairy Tales from Gold Lands, " which were verj' popular in '68 and '69, and will be reviewed later among those who have published their work in book form. The only woman of these early writers to acquire popular celebrity and a fame that shows no signs of diminishing with TINC WOMIvN Ol" Till': COI.Dl'.N I'.KA. 27 tlie yc.'irs, is Ina I). Coolhiitli, and no one- has yet appc-arcd among Califoniian women to wrest the laurels from lier or to share them, even. In tliis early time her verses are thoughtful and fin ished, which makes them stand out like cameos among the shells in the sand. Her sketch will follow in the " Ovrrhtiid School, " willi which she is more closely identified. When in her extreme youth, Anna Morrison c(>ntril)Uted to these columns many poems which were afterward ])ul)lished in book form. One n (fc' plunw. Janette H. Phelps was born in Steuben County, New York, but came to California when quite young. She early displayed a facility with the pen, and wrote not only for the Golden Era, but Till', WOMI'.N OI" rilE C.Ol.Di-.S l',KA. 29 also for the y1//a, the Ca//, the vSacranicnto f/n/ou and the Ca/i- f()rnia7i Magazine, taking more to journalism than fiction, Upon her marriage to Mr. J. I'. Purvis, now the vSheriff of Modesto, she retired from literary work, but her natural activity of brain would not allow her to be altogether idle. vShe has since interested her- self in tli<- pracljf ,'ij (|uestions of the day, prepared lectures and delivered them, and liclj)ed to frame and pass bills before the TyCgis- lature for the protection of the young against narcotics. vShe has also become actively connected with the Woman's Christian Tem- perance Union, and is now serving as delegate to the convention in Boston. An active, useful life is not conducive to literary production, otherwise " Hagar " might have made her mark in the present day as one of the Californian writers, instead of being only a strong shadow of the past in the old fdes of the (iolden Era. Very different is the story of another who began her literary work in this old journal— Mrs. Mary Watson, who, as journalist and correspondent, has written for nearly all our vSan F'ranci.sco le I Have Met, " including illustrations of many — " (ieorges Sand," Anihony 'iVollope, Miss Braddon, Lady Duffus Hardy, Oscar Wilde, and others. Alice Kingsbury's name appears in these early days — an odd study of a tiny woman brimful of tireless energy. At first a bright soubrette the darling of Ihe public, she retired to domestic life, and, amid her babies, nujdeled dainty shapes in clay, which were put into plaster and much admired, as " Cupid 30 CALIKORNIAN \VR1TKKS AND I.ITKRATURK. at Play" aiul the "Sleeping Baechus. " She \vas a restless soul, and her mind had to find some outlet for its repressed energy, so she wrote and published a number of books, all bright, clever, and entertaining. ALICK KINr.^>lUKY. Ho ! for Elfland " sold two thousand copies in San I'Yancisco, and "Secrets Told" was the dain- tiest kind of sarcasm on social c[uesti(>ns. Where other women pour acpia fortis, she sprinkled rose water. Her last novel, just published, "Asaph," will be reviewed among the novels. "Riding Hood" appeared in the iiolden Era, but as she was more identified with the Sacra- mento ihiion, she will come unilcr tliat division. Miss Lulu Littleton of Sacramento, daugh- ter of the late Captain Littleton, was a contributor in the seventies, and wrote afterward for the San Franciscan. \'ery early there was a writer who showed great promise, and who has since fulfilled many of these expectations, although not well known to the later public. This is Mrs. Anna M. Fitch, the wife of Thomas Fitch, the well-known orator. She was the editor, wheu but a young" girl, of the Ilcspcn'an, and since has written the first novel publi.shed by a Californian woman — " Bound Down, " a remarkable book, considering that it preceded all our present knowledge of theosophy. She has since collab- orated with Mr. Fitch upon another work, which will be sub- jected to comparison with other Californian novels under the head of " Fiction. " Alter leaving the Golden Era, J. ALicdonough Foard estab- lished the Sunday Mercury, which journal is specially remem- bered for the bright letters of a young woman writer, who signed herself ' ' Topsy Turvy . ' " Some one wrote for her picture, to which she responded " I send you the enclosed. If you are not satisfied, von will have to (\mtinue to see me through the Sunday Mercury.'' THE WOMEN OF THE GOLDEN ERA. 31 This faded photograph was one of the precious little souvenirs of J. Macdonough Foaid, found among his effects since his death. In tracing up this bright little woman, who made such an impression upon the hearts of the public in the early sixties, I have stumbled upon a very pathetic stor^^ of one of the first Californian women who attempted to live by jour- nalism. To my surprise I find that ' ' Topsy Turvy ' ' of the Sunday Mercury and "Carrie Carlton" of the Golden Era, and author of several books, are one and the same writer. She was a pretty, black-eyed woman, sweet and confiding, full of good humor and lightest gayety of spirits, and clever with the pen. Her hus- band having died, leaving her with three children to support, she was neces- sarily forced to yoke her talents together to draAv her in her humble cart along the rough way. The five dollars a week she received from the Mercury barely sufficed to stand between her and extreme want ; but when extra writing came in to add to the amount she forgot the necessaries of life and indulged in the luxuries. Other kinds of employment she sought, but at writing only was she a success, as she lacked the business instinct. The quality of her writing was similar lo that of Minnie Myrtle Mil- ler and Alice Kingsbury, rather saucy, piquant and "cute," if the term be permitted. Personally Carrie Carlton always made friends, as she was possessed of a lovable, grateful disposition. Kven a glass of ice cream, sent to her by a lady friend, is recorded in her book by a graceful little verse in return. Her "Wayside Flowers" is a TUPSV TURVY. 32 CALIFORNIAN WRITERS AND LITERATURE. collection of promising verse, issued in 1862. " Under the Mist " is quaint in its thought, and would soon pass into a by-word if written to-day. 'Twas strange that cliildhood could cheat me so, But I was under the mist, you know. Another volume is "Inglenook," a bright story of early Californian life for children. " The Letter Writer " is a humor- ous view of the situation — applying the old-fashioned book of the name to the needs of Californian correspondence, such as a daughter addresing her mother as "Honored Madam," or a miner writing East for goods in the same stately manner. It is written in crisp, unconventional st57le, with clever little bits of advice here and there. " You should always write to your grand- father," is one of the axioms of the " Letter Writer." This was her last work. Her many privations were finally too much tor her delicate constitution, and in 1868 she succumbed. Friends laid her away tenderly, and remembering the brightness of her mind amid all her trials, they erected a stone to her memory in the Masonic Cemetery of San Francisco, and placed upon it this inscription : "TOPSY TURVY." MAY 1, 1868. CALLED HO.ME. Aged 32 years. For it was under this name that she had become known to the public and had awakened their affection in those bright letters to the Sunday Mercury. As Elizabeth Chamberlain or Mrs. Washington Wright she was unknown utterly. Even her friends called her " Topsy " or "Carrie." Her own name signified nothing. Her nom de plume called up a smile of interest. Her daughter, now in Northern California, inherited something of "Carrie Carleton's " facility with the pen, but her talents are absorbed in the smaller circle of the home. She has preserved her mother's scattered poems and writings, and possibly among them are some which are now floating through the press without a name or a claim. THE WOMEN OF THE GOLDEN ERA. 33 In concluding the record of the old Golden Era School, it is perhaps as well to state here that the complete file of the old jour- nal is no longer in existence. Since the day spent by the writer, some seven or eight years ago, in pouring over the dusty tomes, and dwelling over those old names, the columns have been rid- dled and scissored mercilessly. The heart of the volumes has been cut out piecemeal, and only the wretched skeleton is left. A new paper was to have been started with these clippings from the past. Macdonough Foard and Rollin P. Daggett were to have been the editors in this later day — but it came to naught, and the old files were despoiled in vain. Mention must here be made of the passing away, Jan. 15th, 1892, of J. Macdonough Foard, the original editor and owner, with Rollin P. Daggett, of the old Golden Era, the first literary paper on the coast. In a late sketch of him in The Wasp, he was spoken of as being in the seventies, and though lying upon his death-bed and awaiting the '' flap of the raven's funereal wing, " as he himself expressed it, he wrote a bright little note resenting the mistake and announcing that " he was not the Methuselah of the coast. " He felt mentally, as young as when he fought with the Sheriff to keep the Golden Era on its feet, in his twenty- first year, back in 1850, living over again the triumphs and pleas- ures of those stirring days. As an earnest of regret for the error in making him over sixty- three, a bouquet of flowers was sent him, and, in return, he accorded his forgiveness. Now he has laid aside the habiliments of earth, and free and young once more, sought another existence upon some other star. Whatever his age upon this sphere, his spirit was never more than twenty- one. 1^(l^^ JJioln^er jnagaxine EDITOR: Fcrdiiuind Iur,r. COf«lTRlBUTORS: Eduwd A. Pollock; John Phoatix (Col. Geonn' Ihrb}/), Stephai Afamtt, J. P. Anthoiiii, John Suxlt. Frank Soult; John S. Hittell, Mrs S. A. Douner, and othorti. The earliest Calitoniian ningaziue was 77/<- Piontc'r, which was issued during the year of 1S54, and made one fine volume. It was edited and managed by Ferdinand Ewer, a man of consid- erable power in those days, ami a central figure in the literature o{ that time. r'or this monthly. Pollock, Pluvnix and others wrote the contents, including poems by John Swett ^now Superintendent of Schools in San Krancisco\ Stephen Massett, J. P. Anthony (after- ward of the Sacramento C/fi/ofi), Frank Soule, and prose articles by Mrs. S. A. Douner, J. S. Hittell and unknown writers who took refuge in initials. But the chief features of the P/o/itrr are " Thoughts Toward a New Epic," by ICdward Pollock — a magnificent essay, worthy of notice to-day — and a strange phantasy by Ferdinand Ewer himself, entitled, " The l\\"entful Nights of August 20th and 21st" —being a peep into the mystery of what befalls after death. This phantasy is celebrated as having attracted the attention ot the ICast at the time, and having made a great stir among spiritualistic circles, the members of which arose t/i //lasse and welcomed Mr. Ewer to their ranks. Then he came forward and quietly responded that he had no tacts to base the story upon — that it all arose in his own brain. Tin'. i*ionj':i';k maoazinjc. ^'=> This may be considered the first of tliose wonfler-stories, wliicli seem to spring into growtli so naturally in our climate, and which formed, afterward, the fields chosen by W. H. II. Khodes (Caxtonj, in wliich to make himself famous and to-day is re])re- sented by their prototypes, Robert Dtuican Milne, Ambrose liierce and William C. Morrow, who ])resent the choicest flowering of tlie literary orchid. Mr. Ivwer afterward became an Ivpiscopal clergyman and returned Ivist, but his volume of the / 'ioneer st'\U remains on the book-shelves of the libraries to charm and delight the seeker for glimpses into the lieart of the.se misty days. In view of the criticism so often made of the lack of local coloring in our early literature, the following jjoem from its pages is (juoted, written evidently by Pollock, showing that these writers brought their skies and plants and hills and customs with them, and were deaf and dund) and blind to California's charms, for the very good reason that their hearts and minds still remained in the cold, cold ICast, though their ])]iysical bodies were in the land of the west. LINKS II V K. A. r, WItlTTK.S I.V TIIK Tltol'ICH IlllHl.sa A Vi ' Y AOK TOCA IJ KOI'.NI A . The oloiidH are darkenirig Norllierii Hkies, Yet tliCHC are all Hereuc, 'JMu; HnowH in Northern vall(!yK lies, Wliil<; trojiic s1ioi(;h are green. J5ut radiance tiiitH those lar-od'hiilK, No Hurnrner can heatow, For there tlie liglit of rnemory dwellH On all we love heiovv. I watch yon point of BteadlaHl liglit Declining in the 8ea, Yon pf)lar star, that night hy night, Ih iooi1;K1MN A> n It has been s;iid, lately, of i.vrl;iin authors, how tlilTerently they write from thowa> tlK\ talk ami act ; otic is in tUnihl as to which is the ical man ov wcunan. l"'ci\liiian(l e'.iilw I i>;hl ICwcr is a case in innnt. His cclchratcil story, " The h'vcntt'ul Nii;hts of Aui^ust Jist and jjil," so singu- laily tree iVotn the ordinary ma- Iciialism i^t" such tales, is the ic\ CISC ot' the manner ot" the man as exemplilieil in his chosen course in life. For material em- Mcms, s\ n\hols atul sii;ns au- ^^^ I'xalted with strani;c sii^tiiticancc \ • ' ^ '^<^,:Ati!.',