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24 "WINNETKA WEEKLY TALK, SATURDAY, JULY 11, 1925 JAMES WHIT COMB RILEY In Charact er Sketches Editor's Noté--Hoyt King of Wil- mette, one of the best known men in New Trier township by virtue of his many years' service as Township Col- lector, is the author of Character Sketch- es of James Whitcomb Riley which will appear frequently in issues of WILMETTE LIFE. Mr. King comes by his enthusiasm for Riley quite naturally since he is a native of Indiana and the son of one of the poet's most intimate friends. Mr. King's * father was associated with the Indian- apolis Journal--where Riley was a fam- iliar figure for many years--and pur- chased the first volume of the first edi- tion of Riley's poems, a work now in possession of Mr. King. "As a boy I often saw Mr. Riley," says Mr. King, "though I did not know him intimately. I have always prized his works and have made quite an exhaustive study of his career. I hope these brief character sketches may be of interest to other Riley lovers on the north shore." S-- Some years before "The Old Swim- min' Hole," on August 7, 1877, the poem "Leonanie" appeared in the "Ko- komo Dispatch" published by J. C. Henderson. Riley was employed at the time by the "Anderson Democrat" at $10 a week. His verses appeared occasionally and Henderson of Koko- mo liked them. He reprinted one, crediting the Anderson Democrat, and wrote an editorial in praise of the gem from a country paper. Riley wrote and thanked him. Thus they became acquainted. Later Henderson received the poem "Leonanie" from Riley, who proposed that he publish it as one by Edgar Allen Poe. His reason, he stated, was to prove that a work of merit, carrying with it a distinguished name, would be received as such by the literary world, where a work of merit, by an unknown, would not. Henderson entered into the spirit of the thing and published it, as a re- print of a manuscript discovered on the fly leaf of an old Ainsworth Dic- tionary. The whole story was made plausible by complete details. One verse runs like this: "Leonante, angels named her, And they took the light Of the laughing stars and framed her In a smile of white, And they made her hair of gloomy Midnight, and her eyes of bloomy Moonshine, and they brought her to me In the solemn night." When Riley professed to be the au- thor of the widely-accepted Poe poem, he was disbelieved. Riley says later, "I suppose I shall never hear the last of the Poe hoax. Even as it is now, there is nothing for me to do but acknowledge that I wrote it, as I do, but that does not stand, as I once denied being the author. I wrote it, but I did not. I did not write it, but I did, and I am a liar either way you put it." Indianapolis was the home of Riley after Judge Martindale called him there to enter the service of the Indianapolis Journal. He longed for his native town, Greenfield, so much during his boarding house days that he went back every fortnight. He was restless in the rush of Indianapolis and did not get to feel homey there until he was invited to become the permanent guest of Maj. Charles Holstein in his home in Lockerbie street. Frequent excursions carried him to Delphi on Deer Creek and here nature provided him with inspiration. Here he wrote, "On the Banks of Deer Creek is good enough fer me." He slept with Doc Smith in a little room partitioned off from the doctor's office. Doc Smith may have been, in part, the character "Old Doc Sifers," though Sifers is probably a composite of dif- ferent country doctors Riley knew. Here he wrote "Knee Deep in June", published in "Afterwhiles". Onc verse Gasoline and Oils Tires, Tubes, Accessories Hood, General, Goodyear Jobbers for Wadham's Oils Three Stores BRAUN BROTHERS 723 Oak St, Winnetka 1565 621 Main St, Wilmette 3243 Ridge and Wilmette Aves. Wilmette 290 runs like this, in the words of a resident of the local community : "KNEE DEEP IN JUNE" Tell you what I like the best Long about knee deep in June, Bout the time strawberries melts On the vine--some afternoon Like to jes git out and rest, And not work at nothin' else. Orchard's where I'd ruther be-- Needn't fence it in fer me-- Jes the blue sky overhead, And the whole airth underneath Sorto so's a man kin breathe Like he ort, and kindo has Elbow room to keerlessly - Sprawl out len'thways on the grass . Where the shadders thick and soft As the kivvers on the bed Mother fixes in the loft Allus, when they's company! Miss Margaret Prindeville of Chica- go, was the week-end guest of the Misses Hallinan of 840 Ash street. EXPLORER USES EXIDE BATTERY Called Necessity for Explora- tion Purposes When MacMillan and his party left June 20, from Wiscasset, Maine, headed for the Arctic regions, he took with him as a valuable part of his equipment several storage batteries, according to Jack Slown of Motors Service, local dealers. j : These storage batteries, which, in- cidentally, are Exides, will enable members of the MacMillan Arctic Ex- pedition not only to maintain com- munication with the rest of the world through their radio but will provide them with many of the conveniences and comforts of our civilization, says Mr. Slown. ; : Besides the Bowdoin, which carries a set of Exides used for lighting and radio operation, the ship Peary, the new member of the expedition, and the three airplanes are Exide equipped. The Exides on the airplanes will fur- nish current for ignition and radio. Storage batteries will also be used in the operation of the delicate scientific instruments which MacMillan takes with him. These storage batteries will help MacMillan to "listen in" to the civilized world while he is cut off from it by distance and wails of ice. They will enable him to send those vivid and dramatic stories of the trip which added to the general interest of his last ex- pedition, to Baffin Land. Upon his return from his last trip, MacMillan said that storage batteries were practically indispensable in mod- ern polar explorations and that a great deal of the success of his trip was due to the battery equipment. WANT ADS AND DECORATING [FF YOU HAVE ANY PAINTING OR decorating to be done, it will pay you to get in touch with E. M. Brandt. Best references. Phone Glencoe 971. 29TN4-tfc 29 PAINTING KENNELS 32 SALE--WHITE AND BLACK cheap. 716 Ridge Ave, 32LT41-1tc FOR puppies; Wilmette. \ NW a NOW~--A Stairway that -Disappearsinthe Ceiling Use your attic. Presto stairs show the way. Presto is a real stairway. Solid, substantial, easy to use. It takes no room. Slides up into the ceiling. A touch of the hand oper- ates it. Costs little. Easily installed in old or new houses. Write or phone for full information about this great building improvement. Farley & Loetscher Mfg. Co. Local Office: 4621 Malden Ave, Phone: Sunnyside 6128 GN\9 N Mary M. Rertoling Judge of the Juver..le Court of Cook County A Ms an all around newspaper few can compare with the Herald and Examiner for home read- ing. It contains something for every member mily. I like its obvious intent to help moral agencies make and keep Chicago clean. "Mr. Brisbane's editorials are a store-house of in- formation--terse, brilliant, able; covering the sort of every-day topics to which all citizens should give thought."