A STORY OF KIPLING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20384, 12 October 1929, Page 8 (Supplement)

A STORY OF KIPLING.

THE REJECTED MANUSCRIPT.

Tho story of an American newspaper editor who, forty years ago, rejected an articlo by Budyard Kipling was recalled last, month by Mr.'B. Davis, in the. New York Sun. In 1889 Cassius Coe, a. reporter on the San Francisco Examiner, took to tho Sunday editor of that journal an article about" two columns m length. '1 his contribution," said Mr. Coe, "is tho work of a young Englishman, recently arrived. Ho asks 10 dollars a column and insists that not a sentence or paragraph or stnglo punctuation be altcicd in the. slightest particular." After a careful reading, the Sunday editor announced that mild modifications were necessary beforo the material could bo made acceptable. "This copy contains statements," said he, " that would bo detrimental to all concerned. If the writer will revise . . . ." "No revision is possible," ventured Mr. Coe. " Ho desires that it. bo accepted as it is. or returned." "His wish shall be gratified," said the editor. I icject the manuscript." Tho author of the article, which dealt with the men, manners and peculiarities of tho denizens of the Pacific Coast, was Kudvard Kipling. The editor who said " Nothing doing." or words to that effect, was Mr. V. L. H. Noble, afterward heralded throughout the Englishspeaking world as " the man who turned down Kipling." Mr. Noblo Tolls the Story.

Mr. Davis proceeds:—"After forty years, snug in his cozy bungalow, and surrounded by a choice library, together with all the comforts of civilisation, I find Tltidvard's nemesis on the banks of the Kcntiebunk River in the State of Maine. During all the intervening years the pemiv-a-liners have taken intermittent whacks at. him and kept alive the terrible indictment. Every so often the skeleton is dragged forth and the bones made to rattle round the world. Even so, the fart remains that while Mr. Noble was the first American editor to reject Kipling, he was also the man who flung Kudvnrd's banner to n brcczo winch wafted his fame across the continent. " The manuscript which T declined in San Francisco," said Sir. Noble, reaching for a copy of " American Notes, "was a loose-joined collection of tions such as ar« frequently written by first visitors to the United States. Dickens gave us a sample; so did Thackeray, and numerous others. _ Kipling, absolutelv unknown at the time, wrote about Californinn judges shooting one another on the street corners; of brass cuspidors; roughnecks bearing arms in the open; diamond-decked and discourteous hotel clerks: over-dressed women and jingoes generally. . _. "The article included some rather flippant paragraphs aimed at religion, was these obvious and impolitic passages to which I made objection and wanted to tone down. Mr. foe's assurance that the author would brook no revision whatever resulted in the return of the article, later published as a chapter in his 'American Notes.' " Ilere is the book. You will find the matter prettv much softened and the religious references eliminated. " Plain Tales from the Hills." " But mv association with Kipling did not end there. Several nights later, in coin pa nv of General W. Tf. L. Barnes. I dropped intn the Bohemian Club and was introduced to a swarthy young man. wearing thick glasses and a heavy black moustache. I did not catch his name but, joined in with a few kindred spirits about the fireplace. Our visitor established himself as a good listener ami did not. once interrupt tho conversation. When the partv broke up bo placed on the centre table a small book in which he had written his name. Modestly he announced, that it was for the club libexamined tho volume. It. was the Bombav edition of 'Plain Tales from the Hills In- T'udvard Kipling, which still meant nothing* to me. However. T sat flown and began to read. Not until the small hours did T cease reading. ihe stories electrified me. 'lheir vigour and charm overwhelmed. Only a man of irenius could have written them. Mo this dav, L regret that I did not fyteal the void me, as it. was probably destroyed, in the Sail Francisco fire. " The following day T sought out young \fr Kipling and arranged to republish sever.-*I; of the tales in tho Sunday supplement. of the Examiner. The response was immediate and his fame spread. Tt. was not- long thereafter that, the name of Kipling became national. T need not. dwell upon his mounting popularity or his preeminence as a teller of tales. That concluded my association with tho man [ whom for forty years T been charged with having turned down."