Thank you for visiting SNEWPapers!
Sign up free
Story
February 10, 1908
The Daily Tribune
Florence, Fremont County, Colorado
What is this article about?
Anecdotes from Edward Everett Hale's Harvard college days, including primitive bathing, gardening for refreshment, and class day festivities. He shares advice on seizing public speaking opportunities and persistently submitting writings to magazines, leading to his success as an author.
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
EDWARD EVERETT HALE
GRASPED OPPORTUNITIES
Dr. Hale likes to talk of his college days. When the doctor was at Harvard, the only bathing facilities consisted of a few primitive shower-baths in the old gymnasium, writes Lyman Beecher-Stowe, in the Circle for February. Dr. Hale remarked, with a humorous twinkle in his eyes, "In spite of these heavy odds, we took baths every 10 days." By special permission of the faculty, he cultivated in the college yard, not far from his room, a small vegetable garden. When he needed freshening up after hard studying, he would work in his garden, thus receiving from it not only fresh vegetables, but fresh strength. With greatest pride, however, he tells of the class day festivities at the time of his graduation with dancing on the green in the college yard.
At one time Dr. Hale was giving the writer some advice, emphasized by personal experience, when he said, "When I started out in life I seized every opportunity to speak in public from dedications of pigsties to the most notable occasions, and that is, I believe, the only way to become even a passable public speaker." He went on to say that in his writing he early made up his mind that he would not fail for lack of persistency at any rate. Consequently, he drew up a list, arranged in order of preference, of all the magazines in America in which he would be willing to have anything of his appear. He added humorously that this list included practically every magazine of which he had ever heard. When he had finished a manuscript, he sent it to the first magazine on the list, and if returned, he sent to the second, then to the third, then the fourth, and so on until the list was exhausted. After this he gave it a rest ranging, as chance dictated, from a few weeks to as many months. At the end of this period he would take it out, read it over, revise it, and send it anew on its travels. If it completed the circuit again without success, he consigned it to eternal oblivion. Probably this seldom happened. That such should have been the method of a man who later became the author of a story ranked among the 12 best stories ever written in the English language should be illuminating to young writers who are "faint yet pursuing."
GRASPED OPPORTUNITIES
Dr. Hale likes to talk of his college days. When the doctor was at Harvard, the only bathing facilities consisted of a few primitive shower-baths in the old gymnasium, writes Lyman Beecher-Stowe, in the Circle for February. Dr. Hale remarked, with a humorous twinkle in his eyes, "In spite of these heavy odds, we took baths every 10 days." By special permission of the faculty, he cultivated in the college yard, not far from his room, a small vegetable garden. When he needed freshening up after hard studying, he would work in his garden, thus receiving from it not only fresh vegetables, but fresh strength. With greatest pride, however, he tells of the class day festivities at the time of his graduation with dancing on the green in the college yard.
At one time Dr. Hale was giving the writer some advice, emphasized by personal experience, when he said, "When I started out in life I seized every opportunity to speak in public from dedications of pigsties to the most notable occasions, and that is, I believe, the only way to become even a passable public speaker." He went on to say that in his writing he early made up his mind that he would not fail for lack of persistency at any rate. Consequently, he drew up a list, arranged in order of preference, of all the magazines in America in which he would be willing to have anything of his appear. He added humorously that this list included practically every magazine of which he had ever heard. When he had finished a manuscript, he sent it to the first magazine on the list, and if returned, he sent to the second, then to the third, then the fourth, and so on until the list was exhausted. After this he gave it a rest ranging, as chance dictated, from a few weeks to as many months. At the end of this period he would take it out, read it over, revise it, and send it anew on its travels. If it completed the circuit again without success, he consigned it to eternal oblivion. Probably this seldom happened. That such should have been the method of a man who later became the author of a story ranked among the 12 best stories ever written in the English language should be illuminating to young writers who are "faint yet pursuing."
What sub-type of article is it?
Biography
What themes does it cover?
Moral Virtue
Triumph
What keywords are associated?
Edward Everett Hale
Harvard College
Public Speaking
Writing Persistence
College Anecdotes
What entities or persons were involved?
Edward Everett Hale
Lyman Beecher Stowe
Where did it happen?
Harvard College Yard
Story Details
Key Persons
Edward Everett Hale
Lyman Beecher Stowe
Location
Harvard College Yard
Event Date
College Days At Harvard
Story Details
Edward Everett Hale recounts his Harvard experiences with primitive bathing, gardening for strength, and graduation festivities. He advises seizing public speaking opportunities and persistently submitting writings to magazines until accepted, leading to his literary success.