KIPLING’S DEATH.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13167, 28 January 1936, Page 3

KIPLING’S DEATH.

NOTABLE CAREER ENDS. Rudyard Kipling, whose death has just occurred, one at the most famous figures of our time, was born on December 30. 1865. says the Post. He was the son of John Lockwood Kipling, an artist of considerable ability, and a man who from 1875 to 1893 was c irator of the Lahore Museum. The Kipling connections, indeed, are outstanding. Four Macdonald sisters married Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Sir Edward Poynter (later president of the Royal Academy). Mr Alfred Baldwin (who became the father of Mr Stanley Baldwin), and Mr John Lockwood Kipling, father of the distinguished author Young Kipling was educated at the United Services College, Westward Ho, Devon (which is the scene of the story “Stalky and Co.”), and returned to India, where, at the age of seventeen, he became sub-editor at the Lahore “Civil and Military Gazette. In 1886. in his twentyfirst. year, he brought out t-lie “Departmental Ditties” which have since become famous, and the following year published “Plain Tales from the Hills,” which was mainly collected from stories he had written lor his own journal. During the next few years he was busy writing the little volumes which, published in V heeler’s Railway Library at Allahabad. have since become the prized possessions of collectors ot hi.s works. They were “Soldiers riiroc, “The Story of the Gadsbys, ’ “In Black and White,” “UnDeodars.” “The Phantom Kickshaw, and “We Willie WinThese were, in effect, a continuation of “Plain Tales.* All were written before be was twenty-four. They revealed a now mastery of fiction. and though uneven in quality, manner '(1 and jerky, they brought something .fresh into English literature. a variety oi character and vigour of approach which carried the author’s name round the world to bis homeland. ACCLAIMED IN ENGLAND. t or* though he was quickly accepted in ’ India, it remained) for'England to elevqte him to the pedestal lie occupied >bi the late Victorian age. He tia&velled round the world, visited Chum, Japan and America, and arrived in England in 1889 to re- < eivp homage. The travel sketc hes he wrote at this time were afterwards collected in From Sea to Sea,*' - and i lirther set oi-Indian tales, of the first ’’quality, written for ‘ Macmillans .■ Magazine. was issued as “Life s Handicap. In the same year lie tried bis first long story, “The Light- That Failed,’’ lint it has not been regarded as one of his best works. Subsequently the author's delight iu I. is trade made him incline towards a play on words and use of technicalities which irritated the reader, and Tie became more sententious in his 'lmperialism. He had also worked in the field of verse with considerable success. Ho contributed to the “National Observer,” edited by W. E. Henley, a series of poems which Mere collected as the “Barrack Room Ballads;

vital verse written in soldier si an. and gaining tor their author a nov reputation. The ballads of the --Bolt var” and * ‘Camperdowa," also re vealed a vein which he was to ex ploit in later books, the poetry o the machine. In D9S, Kipling "pan several visits to South Africa ant became possessed of an Imperialisn which has been deplored by many ol his admirers because of its effect on his work. Before finally making hihonie in England he lived for several years in the United States, and married Jfiss Caroline Starr Baleslier. sister of the Wolcott B.destier to whem he dedicated “Barrack Room Ballads."’ LATER WRITINGS. His later works included ‘‘Manx Inventions, which reintroduced that Mulvaaey whom so many of his countrymen had learned to admire. “The Jungle Book” and “The Jungle Book.’* which, with their tab's ot beasts, have been the delight of boys of all ages ever since. Some consider these books his finest work. “Captains Courageous,” a story of deep-sea fishing, came next. ;nd “The Seven Seas,” one of his most successful volumes of verse, was shortly followed by “Stalky and Co.,’ not to have read which was. two decades ago. a mark of an insufficient boyhood education. Up to 1911 lie continued very productive, bringing out. among other things, the charming hooks of historv rewritten in the form of stories for children. “Rewards and Fairies’ and “Puck of Pook s Hill,” the famous Tvim,” beloved of all AngloIndians. the “Just-So Stories.” also I* ’r children. “The Five Nations, which included a statement of his later political views and of his reaction from them in what is possibly his best-known poem. “Rooes- .. "huh he brought out in “The Times" during the celebration ot Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, “Actions and Reactions” (more stones), and “A Fleet in Being, an account of a cruise in a man-o’-Tlie most notable of his war books was "The Irish Guards in the Great \\ ar. which be published a do. ado ago. In 1926 he brought out “Debits and Credits.” and in 1928 A Book of Words,” m which he collected speeches/ and addresses delivered over twenty years. In DOT In- was awarded the Nozel Prize for literature. Though a man of great energy he was small and rather slightly built, a frame to which the veHXs added little. A few years ago he was still described as “rather slight.” and as loud of luisk walks in Sussex. His step was still springy and his animated voice was accompanied" b\ quick, nervous gestures, the general impression he gave being ... eager boyishness. His only son was kilTed in the Groat War.