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Show ntlrj'a .li.Wr. in llaKor.1. J, Whtlromb Itlley did hi first literary lit-erary work, In the early seventies, for the Indlnnapolls Journal, under an assumed as-sumed name The first pay he ever received re-ceived for a poem wn a suit of clothes from the late (leorge Harding, of the Indianapolis Herald About U7S Itlley went oast and was welcomed by Holmes, Whlttler nnd Iingfellow The New Kngland newspaper made much of his visit, and when he returned he was a hero "I can remember," said an old Journal man the other day, "when Itlley, with his smooth, bo)lsh face, slender figure, clad In sacerdotal garb, used to come around the ofllce and sit on my desk and dash off nonsense non-sense verses In that same copper-plate ' microscopic handwriting that he uses todsy. 'Llge Halfnrd, now a major in the United Stales army and President Harrison's private setretsry, wa the editor, and It used to be Itlley' chief delight to submit some nf hi most meaningless Jingles to Hslford tor the , editorial page. The major, who never had the slightest sense of humor, spent many a weary hour trying to corapre-1 hend them 'You'd better draw a dla- gram lo go wllh this.' he would say. Then a shout of laughter from the boy would show him that there wa a Joke loose aomewhere, and he would retire Into his ofllce lo avoid It." |
