| Show nona noname me aut author h or of famed nickel novels Is dead luis P was the creator of fabulous frank reade jr by ELMO SCOTT WATSON ate leased by western newspaper union T the R rs pers throughout the A v country printed a brief pro press ss association dispatch which said NEW YORK luls P sen orens arens seventy six years old af often ten called the american jules verne who wrote 1500 dime novels under 27 pseudonyms between 1878 1876 and 1910 died from heart trouble yesterday in kings county hospital who began his extraordinary career at the age of fourteen cr created cat the fabulous frank rondo reade and forecast in notion many modern mechanical developments son af an immigrant cuban tobacco merchant Senn rens got hla his inspiration as a boy from visiting the philadelphia centennial exposition in 1878 1876 at sixteen he was earning a week and at thirty he became president of the frank tousey publication company which published all hla his works thus was revealed for the first time perhaps to thou the air was a cigar shaped balloon that resembled a modern zeppelin suspended below it by slings was tho the hull of a ship complete with a rudder at the stern and a searchlight at the bow thus it was a combined ship of the air and ship of the sen sea or in other words a sort of 1 1 I 1 11 il 1 11 W at 0 4 t to q I 1 I 1 I 1 r S V I 1 f 1 I 1 i 1 I 1 4 I 1 i I 1 I 1 I 1 1 V fi 4 II Z 11 I 1 1 I 1 1 I 1 Y 1 I 1 I 1 A I 1 I I 1 I 1 i el kl I 1 1 I I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 1 I I 1 I 1 11 k ja I 1 1 I 11 I 1 4 i 11 Z r I 1 4 f I 1 t fx N i y 4 I 1 0 7 1 1 4 I 1 N I 1 1 I 1 k 1 I q AM m 11 I 1 k I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 41 r it N ja 1 I 1 Q ko 15 1 I t 1 I 1 va amr J ta I 1 A 4 1 4 1 I 4 P QI g A I 1 r afra P N V va Y m 1 I kj i 1 f rrb 1 arr g I 1 apak va 1 aa 1 ilen mk 1 I 1 1 l i U 1 if X 2 14 NW 41 1 I sa fi t X tk ta 1 g K i 4 e k V 5 1 yitza A I 1 I 1 I 1 k I 1 AND TEAM 1 1 1 1 lr T 1 1 61 15 0 V Q 11 11 aixa lixa st i 01 I 1 as 1 00 1 V 1 I 1 1 1 11 X I 1 I 1 1 7 14 1 4 I 1 M wa 1 1 I 1 I 1 1 1 I 1 I 1 kr aj k ai 1 V I 1 k V 1 tfx 1 1 r t 1 t Z rg I 1 1 it I 1 k z S 11 11 I 1 4 30 A I 1 I 1 I 1 IN kael I 1 4 i I 1 ill 1 I I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 ak I 1 ab t 1 11 ill i V 11 I 1 I 1 1 N it 11 k i 1 11 1 1 14 f 1 1 k k 11 q zt 5 I 1 4 I 1 1 I 1 1 1 4 1 P 11 i I 1 TP I 1 7 I 1 I 1 i U 4 I 1 1 a ap t k 1 P 11 4 A I I 1 I 1 r 1 1 1 44 IV 1 6 4 I 1 1 it 1 11 k I 1 I 1 il I 1 V 1 I 1 ay I 1 1 k f s 1 4 1 I 1 I 1 1 I 1 fl 1 ea A ie I e 1 I 1 I 1 t 14 1 1 11 I 1 11 I 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 N g I 1 4 I 1 1 za 1 1 I 1 I 1 A I 1 I 1 I 1 1 1 I 1 AA I 1 I 1 1 1 sands of americans the identity of one of their favorite authors back in the da dayson ysl of their youth when they tasted of forbidden fruit be re velling in the adventures of fred fearnot young wild west old king brady and especially frank reade jr for this brief obituary item unmask s at last the mysterious tantalizing noname whose imagination conjured up for the use of the ingenious frank a host of mechanical marvels which seemed weirdly improbable then but are commonplace enough today we ore are greatly impressed when mod modern ern science and inventive skill produces a mechanical man to who can speak and give the correct answer to problems propounded to him when the right buttons are pressed but back in 1890 frank reade jr had an electrical man who could do most of those things if henry ford and the other motor car makers had read more of no names nickel novels the course of automobile design might have been for far different for frank reade jr had a horse made of steel with jointed legs driven by a steam engine inside this animal was attached to a solid tired vehicle in the same location where the auto automakers makers attached an engine covered with a hood of steel four years later frank reade was staging a race around the world for a purse of he was piloting his flying boat which is amazingly like a modern autogiro giro and his opponent in the race was jack wright diving through the seas in his submarine which had a ri ariett ett glass enclosed conning tower in fact frank was a most versatile designer orf of flying machines his monitor of lr U b I 1 1 I 1 arin tj fol 1 l 1 aaita yA V itA I 1 1 m 4 tj j 14 1 eW 4 I 1 I 1 ii jarvix 11 1 1 ewt 1 4 i I 1 1 1 1 I 1 I 1 i 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 1 I 1 f I 1 j I 1 i I 1 A T z i i ill I 1 i I 1 A I 1 I 1 y 11 11 I 1 I 1 4 I 1 4 7 1 1 1 11 11 1 f v V I 1 anast x TIM X 2 X v I 1 5 1 1 I 1 3 fa ev 42 ati t edw 3 W 0 art areg 1 1111 1 1 l it p I 1 I 1 I 1 1 K V 1 iv af r 4 ja 1 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 11 I 1 10 1 W 6 T y I A g W vt tle 1 1 0 Q 5 A 1 V w rw K s vy allx j i N 1 i i t KW V mr SO 2 18 8 T mi 1 iam ill 1 tal it tv A 1 I 1 0 I 1 IR 1111 two twi Yi fitwi yo s i af tad H liBi lUr adam asa V ATty 4 fw 1 h f t A f 11 P A i I 1 i il 4 I 1 t 0 o j ir J 2 W 1 11 1 A A k i ai I 1 inkell AN 1 f yawl 4 Uh q Ht 4 li wm W 4 acy jmj s I 1 0 6 W 1 1 I A V 1 11 IR I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 1 f P 1 R 1 I 1 1 I 1 I 1 1 V 11 1 11 iv i 1 il 14 1 P 1 Z j 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 J 4 i qi 4 k I 1 I 1 W s 11 I 1 ey hilll nm I 1 w I 1 wa I 1 I 1 11 17 t 1 I 1 I 11 I 1 f A 1 T I 1 j 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 ai 51 4 I 1 V 1 y V 11 ier I 1 11 ia tuf 1 1 f S IV I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 1 i I 1 I 1 3 vi 11 1 11 A V Z r I 1 I 1 k 4 1 yi I 1 1 4 I 1 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 4 ao 00 t 1 11 I I 1 1 I 1 taw 4 tc A ra w ni n i ti t 11 i 7 y 11 11 rt 14 I 1 41 1 11 3 j ln j s y 1 1 sv 11 th fe 5 1 I 1 1 N 1 ne ra 1 fei 4 i A I 1 41 1 1 I 1 1 1 t 11 k act e I 1 I X fa I 1 I f v y ex Y N 1 I j vt K 1 6 k iv y 1 1 1 fa 5 4 afi 51 ka 1 11 I 1 1101 tk t 1 1 V T 1 yf C 11 1 1 1 1 1 41 r z 0 1 A vuis r 11 1 lc e I 1 1 TI kf 5 1 u 1 1 1 1 10 1 1 1 1 1 7 I 1 i I 1 I 1 1 IM il il n 1 T I 1 I 1 11 I V it I 1 4 I 1 A 1 1 11 1 IV 11 N 1 I 1 1 4 11 I 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 A 4 I 1 V I 1 11 41 4 1 mk f 1 I 1 11 V 04 1 4 1 I 1 la 11 1 T 1 tl 1 1 1 1 I 40 1 I 1 X 11 1 iio I 1 0 S 11 1 i 11 4 71 7 A sl 1 r 1 f 1111 1 i CT i atit ot it wl k ii ni tim A iza 4 t am F 1 04 1 I 1 forecast of our modern seaplanes sea planes by the next year 1895 frank had had another idea for air travel noname called it 7 rank frank reade jr s greatest flying machine in which he set out for a bit of fighting the terror of the coast the picture on the front cover of As this nickel thriller shows a large biplane driven by two propellers below which Is suspended a land boat with a hull similar to that anthe monitor of the air but equip equipped ped with four wheels on which it could taxi along the ground in land ing or taking off perhaps the most extraordinary na ry invention of this ingenious youth was his clipper of tho the prairie which was a sort of a cross between aawar a war tank and a trailer home on wheels and which frank iwed aeed for fighting the apaches in the far southwest above the cabin or living was an observation platform on which were built two turrets an and d in front of the cabin was mounted a good sized cannon it if the red devils davils escaped destruction st by the shots from this cannon they could be impaled upon a sharp ram like projection from the front of the clipper IF this ram was also u useful in getting a supply of fresh meat for frank and his friends for the picture on the cover of this particular volume indicates that it was used also for impaling buffalo I 1 incidentally the clipper was propelled by steam on cater pillar trend tread wheels which andl indicates that our modern caterpillar tractors are old stuff accor according ding to edmund pearson in his dime novels or following an old trail iti in popular literature published by little brown and company in 1929 the frank tousey firm rm of which was president in addition to the frank reade weekly also issued work and win with its hero fred fearnot the wild west weekly with young wild west and his sweetheart arletta arietta secret service with old king brady and young king drady brady and pluck and luck the old king brady stories he says are attributed to francis worcester doughty who curiously was the author of works on numismatics and archeology archaeology arche pearson does not give the authorship thor ship of the other frank tousey publications but it is not unlikely that who was the noname of the frank reade jr yarns also wrote most of the others under one of the 27 pseudonyms mentioned in the obituary story quoted at the beginning of this article I 1 4 4 1 3 rl I 1 I 1 11 fi F 1717 T 1 7 F le k 1 1 I 1 1 4 A 5 W 1 ij 1 A ii t s pa U i T 11 T Z 11 1 1 12 1 W 1 14 I 1 tic 7 11 J 1 1 l lt s j 0 o ii I 1 I 1 I 1 i 1 aa I 1 i 1 1 I 1 I 1 1 1 1 I 1 i 1 1 I I 1 11 j I 1 t 5 I 1 11 akl I 1 1 I 1 I I 1 V I 1 I 1 7 j I 1 I 1 I 1 k W M ill I 1 I 1 1101 I 1 ivl 11 1 1 I 1 1 ke I 1 I 1 11 I 1 11 11 f 11 I 1 i ZI 1 i f I 1 I 1 1 I 1 4 I 1 pk I 1 1 W A I 1 I 1 1111 W I 1 1 1 I 1 A 1 11 1 1 rl 6 11 tk V F av v RV 1 py I 1 t 13 I 1 fw 11 1111 4 vv za n v 1 I 1 iego 1 I 1 yai t m m IV tt aka t W W 1 1 i ft J i 7 f mg 1 W iff 1 l i 1 ai r Z j tg ak nr 41 tv t ft v vi n i jg j g k t f akk zv abw pi ak n t Z t I 1 sf I 1 isi fy t t I 1 i ia i gnp i P f V t I 1 In andt A sc 1 l dT tv tk wac 1 T W r I 1 11 I 1 1 ANIN I 1 I 1 aa I 1 1 I 01 f A Z P A jt j I 1 f iian 1 1 1 tj rt it WK ti t 1 I 1 k I 1 N jj i 0 k 11 r 1 15 4 4 1 I 1 1 1 ai I 1 0 tw jl i 1 1 ap 1 1 1 I 1 g 4 1 1 I 11 1 I i 4 I 1 I 1 r A P 1 N f f I I 1 1 rc 1 11 I 1 1 j 11 I 1 4 0 11 I 1 ii va v I 1 11 S i i 11 W I 1 1 I 1 z k 1 I I 1 I 1 t 1 11 i 4 I 1 j 11 1 k i 1 I 1 I 1 41 1 ai I 1 t Z V I 1 1 at 4 w p 15 71 i j 1 1 X Z 1 1 I 1 1 il X i t 4 il I 1 I 1 cpr 11 1 W aa p k Q it vv 1 I 1 I 1 t aill t L i 1 4 r 0 I 1 k ax 1 4 f 1 1 1 1 P M W zt i 1 jwj adu I 1 I 1 11 i AM f 1 1 I 1 1 ar 1 d 4 t M n i 4 11 I 1 1 R 7 7 q 11 k 1 I 1 11 X T 1 01 4 X I 1 r I 1 A 1 4 1 1 ti I t i OR 1 1 I 1 V I 1 F at 11 I 1 1 ap 11 qs I 1 I 1 V 0 14 W I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 V I 1 taja I 1 P X 4 ten years ago there died in orlando fla fin a man whose writ ing career paralleled that of luts luis P Sc norena arens and tho the other writers of the nickel libraries and boys weeklies but whose literary product differed greatly from theirs ile he was kirk munroe and during fe period from 1890 1090 to 1010 1910 one of tho the biggest events of the year tor for young america was the appearance appe pe arance of a new book which had come from his industrious pen munroe was a descendant of col william munroe who was a an n orderly 0 sergeant in the minute min ute men of lexington mass when they fired the opening guns of the revolution he was born on april 15 1850 at prairie du chien wis where his father and mother both new englanders were living in a mission he was educated in the common schools of appleton wis and later in the schools a at i cambridge mass where his parents returned for a brief time 0 to the frontier when he was sixteen he persuaded his father to allow him to spend his vacation in kansas city mo which was then a frontier tier town he reached that place just os as a surveying party under gen W J palmer was preparing to explore the vast region west of kansas city by making himself useful about tho the camp of this exploring and surveying party young yo ung munroe secured a job as a tape man thereafter for nearly a year tho the boy traveled travale d and camped through gh the wilds he saw much of colorado arizona new mexico and california ile he was waa engaged in numerous skirmishes with hostile indians was WO wounded frequently went hungry and thirsty and suffered in tho the biting cold of those western plains and mountains once he was the guest of kit carson at fort garland colo he associated with pioneers soldiers western bad men and indians he was well acquainted with buffalo bill cody in california he found a job cis as a transit man and after ho he had saved sufficient money he took P passage tor for south america where he fie traveled extensively before returning to cambridge 1 11 I 1 A I 1 ill I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 f I 1 kl 10 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 r I 1 r f tersa Ter sf 61 once home he entered harvard taking an engineering course but this proved rather slow and he left college at the end of his first year he was then nineteen once more he went west to kansas city but this time he was not so q successful in finding work the labor of surveying was temporarily pora rily y suspended and he came back east A star reporter then was to occur the incident that largely determined his future career his familiarity with the big horn country where custers force had just been killed gave him a chance to land a job as a reporter on the new york sun here he found a congenial field for his talents he soon moved to the new york times and there he became a star reporter A brilliant career in journalism was fairly opening before him when again he was diverted into another field harpers started a magazine called harpers young people designed for the youth of the nation and the editorship of this magazine was offered to munroe at a salary of 30 a week eek a bout about one third of the pay he had been bee n receiving nevertheless he a accepted C d this offer and began his lu duties ulles the magazine was immediately med lately successful munroe two years after he had been made editor began to write stories for boys his first book Wal kulla was published in 1886 from that time on his books multiplied with amazing rapidity until in all he had published 35 volumes us after publishing the first few of these books munroe gave up tip his editorial duties to devote himself entirely to bating w alting he had married miss mary barr daughter of amelia barr the novelist and a contributor to the magazine and together they traveled extensively both for pleasure cleasur e and to collect the material for f 0 r stories after the death of his wife he moved to coconut grove fla a suburb of miami a place which chich h he e had visited as a youth in a canoe canoa and had become one of the pioneers and founders of that community before miami was a town ho he lived iu fit seclusion in coconut grove for many years and in hi 1924 married again this time ime t to miss mabel stearns steams daughter of william F stearns steams of amherst mass |
