Eugene Field, A Study In Heredity And Contradictions

lorado the most indefatigable merry-maker that ever turned night into day, a past-master in the art of mimicry, the most inveterate practical joker that ever violated the proprieties of

newspaper functions being altogether subordinate to services as a railroad ally and political organ. The late O.H. Rothacker, one of the ablest and most versatile writers in the country, was at the head of its editorial staff, and Fred J.V. Skiff, now head of the Field Columbi

ery much what San Francisco was under the influence of the gold rush of the early fifties, only complicated with the struggles of rival railway companies. All the politics, railway, and mining interests of the newly created state centred in Denver. The city was alive with the throbbing energy of strife and speculation over mines

w himself into the bohemian life of Denver with the abandon of a youth of twenty. It is almost inconceivable where Field found the time and strength for the whirl of work and play in which there was no let up during his two years' stay in Denver. His duties as managing editor of the Tribune would have taxed the energies and resources of the strongest man, for he did

contributor. He had not been in the city many months before he began the occasional publication of those skits which, under the title of "The Tribune Primer," were gathered into his first

winter of 1882. The whole number did not exceed fifty. I quit writing them

, of Denver, in an introductory note to a few of the sketches omitted from the original "Tribune Primer

for copy which his happy-go-lucky manner of working had not produced. We may perhaps picture him engaged in what was always nearest and dearest to his heart, the amusement of his children, and perhaps reading to

ORTER O

peaceful. He is a reporter and he is swearing. What makes him swear? Because he has to work on Sunday? O

ernor and his action Field three times used the old primer method-with illustrations after the fashion of John Phoenix-and the success of these little sarcasms u

he same rule of thumb that would be applicable to ninety-nine out of a hundred reasonable publishers. But Field was a rule unto himself, and he could be counted on to be the one hundredth and unique individual where the other ninety-and-nine were orthodox and conventional. The fact that only seven or eight copies of the original Primer are known to book collectors t

y, which were supplied to the favored few at "Special Rates." This was just such a freak as would have occurred to Field, a

ties, and responsibilities of journalism may be gleaned from the fol

REPO

wer and he is now interviewing a Man. But where is the M

ERCHé

in the Society Department of newspapers. A Recherché Affair is an Affair where the Society Editor is invited to the

TEAM

enty Years Old. The Press prints Papers. It can Print Nine Hundred papera an Hour. It takes One Hour and Forty Minutes

events and every-day affairs in the innocent simplicity of the nursery. But the vast majority of these Primer paragraphs wer

y, and a darning needle in his tail. If you will Pat the

f in Baxter's Saints' Rest. Here are a precious pair of paragraphs, each calculated to bring the joy that takes its meals s

ASTY

makes the teeth black, and spoils the Parlor Carpet. Go Quick and Throw the Horrid Stuff Away. Put it in th

MUCI

Papa's Slippers. Then when Papa comes Home it will be a Question w

ketches themselves, but between the lines, where he will find much of the teasing spirit that kept his whole household wondering what he would do next. In these sketches will be found frequent references to the Bugaboo, a creation of his f

obgoblin, as it appeared in the

WFUL

s an awf

ere Red and

e Long and Sh

prowling 'ro

irl was Tu

ight Cap o

eard her Pl

t Take the

took awa

Room was D

irl was Scar

Dare to Draw

t once th

g down the C

upon the

d the Girl u

Blood and Scr

Girl cried

er up and O

ty, Naught

n when in B

hem Take aw

the Awfu

nd Fly awa

1894. The sex of the victim is different, and the spirit of the incorrigible western tease gives way to the spiri

hate to

warm an' snug an' whe

ppy Dreams!" and ta

all alone an' seei

black as ink, an' othe

difference when you're

vitally poetic ideas that ever occurred to Eugene Field. And yet he deliberately disclaimed it in the moment of its conception and laid it, like a little foundling, at the door of Madame Modjeska. The expatriation of the Polish actress, between whom and Field there existed a singularly warm and enduring friendship, formed the basis for

WAND

in height, fa

nd a

tening ear th

of ocean see

of ocean see

hell upon the

ho ca

opped by some to

ast when oceans

nal had orda

not? Far from

ong i

wful mysterie

stless sea, pr

choes of th

ell upon the

of th

leagues and

, wandering

e! sing, O my

the summer of 1893, when the latter, speaking of his work in Denver, and of "The Tribune Primer" as the most conspicuous thing he did there, said: "The other thing which rose above the level of my or

ka. They were copied far and wide over Modjeska's name. Modjeska took

esting autograph copies of "The Wanderer," or the honor of her signature to a clipping of it neatly pasted in the autograph hunter's album. Nor were autograph hunters the only ones imposed on by the signature to "The Wanderer." In August, 1883, Professor David Swing, writing in the Weekly Magazine, gave it as his opinion that the alleged Modjeska poem was indeed written by Modjeska, and concluded: "The conversation and tone of her thoughts as expresse

wn, in "A Little Book of Western Verse," was the verse-reading public satisfi