Eureka Reporter | 1905-12-08 | Page 7 | Inspiration for the Writing of Ben Hur

inspirit In on for the wr ting of ben hur salt lake city few people know that it was the famous agnostic hob ert G ingersoll v ho caused the writ ing of gen lew wallace s novel ben hur it came about through a chance meeting of the two famous men in a railroad journey when christianity became the subject of their talk gen wallace had always been a man of strong religious inclinations indeed his splendid description of the appear once of the star of bethlehem to the wise men of the desert had been writ ten before this chance acquaintance the arguments and claims of the great infidel were too much for the doughty general his senses were charmed with the eloquence and poetical pre sen tation of the causes of agnosticism but he was by no means convinced of its truth the discussion made him deeply reflective and led him to make a careful and exhaustive study of the life of christ the result of this re search and gen wallaces answer to ingersoll was ben hur this work has been more widely read than any printed volume save the sacred book of scriptures the announcement Is made that ben hur Is to be staged at the salt lake theater salt lake city utah it Is to nil the entire week of de cember 25 to 30 with special matinees on christmas day wednesday and saturday