'.(1.!. Pit. SV'VA?'" HW j '.TVi.?t J . iiaSSitSliS 'Kfi'i " e ? I If' 'ATW BiPWIIB?PHlfiMffi lTft 'M MfiP rr ' v rvm v ". st nA'rWlltl 9? . WM? kf JU JkVJkJ t'. 'i DEAD1V00D DICK AND HIS PALS OF GORY FAME A V S i w4'V 'j?:- W NOW STAND VINDICATED BEFORE E YES OF hYORL RKSKM Frfltf the Storm -Battered Woodshed te the Hushed Splendor of New Yerk Public Library Is Quite a Leap, but Devotion of Dr. F. P. O'Brien Has Made It Possible HAS COLLECTED WORKS OF BEADLE AND ADAMS AFTER 32 YEARS ' SEARCH And New That Enthralling, Forbidden Dime Nevel of Boyhood Days Has Been Lifted Frem Obscurity of Cern- silk Cigarette Cache and Stamped With Approval mHE dime novel stands vindicated before the world! That enthralling, delicleusly forbidden mentor of boyhood has been lifted from the obscurity of the corn-silk cigarette cache, stamped with the approval of men of letters, and established upon the proud eminence of authentic literary merit. It is a far cry from the woodshed te the hushed splendor of the New Yerk Public Library; it is an amazing transition from the ignominious exile of parental disapproval te the acclaim of critics. The return of Dcadwoed Dick, Big Feet Wallace, Idaho Dan, Old Bull's Eye and all the storied company of deathless heroes which thrilled the Juvenile breast of yesterday is no less a real triumph than that of Julius Caesar when he and his swarthy legions swung down the Via Sacra with the spoils of Asia in their train. The outward manifestation of the dime novel's conquest ever bigotry and piejudice is te be found in the bronze and margle exhibition room of the New Yeik Public Library, where, guarded from dust and decay by innumerable glass cases, arc 1480 little paper-covered books, com prising all that was best of this unique and altogether noteworthy phase of our national literature. They represent the devotion and geneiesity of Dr. Frank P. O'Brien, of '118 West Forty-seventh street, New Yerk, the donor. When Dr. O'Brien arrived in this country from Ireland, at the age of I nine, he had six pence the sum total of his savings and the limit of his financial resources. His first act ashore was te have this changed te ' American currency; his second was j the purchase of an alluring volume dealing with the romantic adven tures of Mustang Sam, the King of the PInins. Since that time, thirty-two years age, Dr. O'Brien has devoted his en tire spare time te the collection of the publications of the immortal firm of Beadle and Adams, the pioneers and sole dispensers of the true dime novel. The results of his labor of love, in the course of which he vis ited twenty-ftve States and con ducted numerous individual re searches, has been presented te and accepted by the library. Woodrew Wilsen Called Literature Excellent A mat n of horror broke from the lips of the maiden, and then her over taxed hiain pare trail and she hung a lifiless wcinht across the stumpy right arm of the outlaw. Dr. O'Brien's 'contention that the dime novel is endowed with true lit rary merit has net lacked tlie con firmation of scholars. Ne less n per sonage than Woodrew Wilten, when turprUed In the net of perusing one te Its thrilling conclusion, replied thnt he was milling literature of undoubted excellence. Abraham Lincoln nlways said that Mrs. Victer's "Mnum Guinea" was vastly superior te "Fncle Tem's Cab in" as exposition of slave conditions before the Civil War, and yet that volume -praised by tin1 creator of ene if the must perfect composition in the l'ngllsh language cost ten cents and was religiously banished by nil thought ful parents. Only recently the dime novel found n added champion lu Irvin Cobb, whose ',mpaseueil defense of that tmioh-iiiallgned institution pointed out the indubitable, fact that there was no tnlnt of sck nppenl within its virile Vases, that the pieblem is banned and that overripe sentiment Is conspicuous by Its absence. "An abundance of action, yes," snld Sir. Cobb m effect, "but all Reed, clean, rapid action; and what, after till, U balf se Interesting as action?" "Down!" eiird lien Abe, in a ter rible veire. "Down, and feed the volcano fires!" Abe, the Hunilibiick cDstreyer; Black Sam, the l'ralile Thunderbolt that was a geed one! and there was Itcdpnth the Avenger, or the Fair Huntress of the Tmpplng (around, and, of course, the king of them nil. the great Dead er. O'Brien Leng Recognized h-001- l)M: the -''- ei the eml- !;. 4t, n:... Jr..l "When l mid cneugii money i weum ante of the Dime Nevel cn .,ir mid im- in .. stock of the latest Belated as has been the lecognllien novels and bring them home, and bide due the dime nrvel the proper place I them. After a while I had se ninny ylilili it should long age lmvn assumed that I couldn't hide them any mere, n lltciature has been clear te Dr. ami then I had mi Interview in the O'Brien ecr lnce lie first scanned the i woodshed that I remember jet." Rrliinln ' mures nf Ci.llferiibi .Ie nml , He naused. while bis expression in- Miistaiu .Sam. I dlcated ideally that his mind ranged aaaa ' '' " '"'?' aaaaaamX m ScfHI .te. lllf v3 fcw 'sMtSfikl fK? ' '" v.Hl fill MawwBw mJMI WXMt mrmi Ml BltlB ha flan P5p J! . MS' Lhi'. , W:-LLW I MmhfMlllllllltisl lAMXMmsttJlsJiiJfl Ji titfilM nJnlflBn mmtm:-.;- '.'. N-. J' t- v JM f ?BQ lHiWft INliafMCi!l I O'Brien, of I , .'Ji l&Si&Sg-ZZZ. ai'SaSri? jBflEinf 110& MKSi&H m a HhwTLSI new Yerk, who I :..mM .' - Lr.r.i"r-" li'iKli rP W'l,H11!UTmmmfJF I lectien of dime J ,Sffi-ffi;aJ?-i'Sr &ttZ'.fr&J&i&i KJLi it Hi I aiinilpi Til i ITT m i NMIrWi ! novels in New P-"iir sy BMimmKi?0 vpbiicfiiiiip 5y? fP74rav WfeASSaffTrSHBI I 1 Qfa$ffih$'sK JmXWJffi ""L ,vU A Edward W. Wheeler, originator Z-Zjtffe'- Wf 'alsr 'mmSkmmm:. -'.'?vai I 1 cw '7MWiw ti... pioneer. pSmSm- 'J&W&r ifflBLm,:'. 'W'lWi 1 ZL. mihlmMmmwk1 But pioneer's initiative took a dif- tyffflSm ,- -"v 'stPaHlHe5(ara6j I yeJmsm&wmi - n&MfMxWi ferP,,t t,mi wl,h eun Vastus, no ' ''3Jk4Hev' ' "" EyimkiTSaXSlxh .lSBimriKBSL. - st Vv.wZ'iiK wS-iiSffisKf I ceueclveil the idea of marking flour r7)MBWWi?s ' ' SBKisrss'smexrBmmmsMS.i irr r t rr imm .- 7..,J . .. qbm j 'hnzs with nuie iflam mWif t !1Bwl''$i I CTJ)?wsKiSRlM"SgS WKWMm&mVMmmmfMmW Wmm?&4WWJflinkftcri .$V,IThtTte EM' TK "n'' pulling with tweezers, nmputntien "7" --"- I-."...,,.... UlSiKglagr "iJgWSKEiMTO tWJafiSW'iw'O Wf 1L.M JHi I BB'BLW- SSl.f I of the nose, enrs and legs, ami eevcr-! ." ' " '"""'" '" ru the ncrye w&sssmganmawi 'mixtMmmmn. msmsas&Lm wm kim.,aM !!' sr m m nnee of the neei W0Sf MMl VK Vl Erastus Beadle, mmeMivSmmmmM ' WSMHiBHHijilil9jl Vel r " rruimiwixiHVii-a4DiBeu4j, k ,, wMKfSSSRSaK45B 'iM.x. (.,. i..u.HKnreT. rTvHt thivJi.. t? 1 1V KMtSKV-eJfijSI .fJJ VJ'Viww " tr-K.?!?. Irt. , . I ." y'l n.. m., r HH )U) GRIZZLY AJ ' KAB " tftHUi At -- tr ?. v v."v VW t i5 , m. iRi n i -M 5s! )LD GRIZZLY ADAMS, th bk&h tamsh ay dh. fkanr: fewull. wpii w i nm w , wt." -i.t , 4i U4can.jaini nt . vrjr w. "There vas Picayune Pete; Spitfire "My name," he confided with a Saul, King of the Uustleis j Iren-uriiied ! chuckle, "was te have been Fearless vthen I was n bev." he said, "I "fld the most Insatiable appetite for books about the West. There was a glamour about Buffalo Bill particularly 'hat has net worn off lu all these jears. 'von today the ery thought of him makes my bleed tingle. 'I used te lend the Beadle Series In " my spare time, my average being M n Week. Kemeiiihci'. the iilnr v-cli'lit i"1.'1 no novel of tiuisc In lL'one scenes. "I was obdurate In mv iinsslen for dime novels," he continued, "and noth ing could niiike me glve them up, se we Anally reached an airangement that al lowed me te keep the books, but net te bit up late reading them. "However, that wasn't until nfter I rnn away. Yeu see, 1 was tilled with ii longing te go out and live the wild free life of the boundless West, llllM U'lIU III ""'Ii tine print that it was the euulwi. also with a desire te get even with my wit of a ;'.U0pagc novel today. (paieuts for demlng me my greatest '1 often sat up lu bed until .'! or l.seuice of onjejiiii'iit. e deck in the morning, leading the hit- "Se I inn iumij "-j-theie was a ile ?" one. I can icmenibcr them new: elded twinkle In bis eje nira-"and i can even icniember the nlets idLsomei stinted in a general westerly direction Of them." He leaned bnck In his cluilr, closed nl eyes and ticked them off ea bis angers ; I figured en linking en the plains in u day or se, and stuitlng right in shoot sheet ing Indiana at the right band of Pawnee Jee. Frank, the Terrer of the Iledskins! "Well, I had eighty cents, but the ticket agent informed me I didn't have lulte enough te buy a ticket with. Ac cordingly, I helped myself te n place in a vacant box car, "I fell asleep, and was awakened Inter te find that the train had started ' and thnt I was locked In. I was In there about ten minutes when the train , stepped mid presently tne deer was sun open and a huge, lew-brewed person with a pccullui'b brutal countenance eame and kicked me out." "Held, ii en H-eundrcl! One step beyond that line and you are a dead man! 1 have heard of your insults te this lady, and I yiva you fair n-aming that thtir repetition will re sult' in your timely end." "That cured me," bald Dr. O'Brien. "I was se hiimlllnicd at this experience that I had no further henrt for the West. Fearless Frank, ticfoie whom the ItedsUins iiiiall, kicked out of a ...,.i lmvn iv lit fi lirnkcmtui ! iiiih ,' "1 went Heme, utterly iiejeeteu, nut t chl)l ,, . the welcome 1 icceivcd been revived',.".'. hc "l'nt n"- known as "lhe me. Then it was that I was allowed lh'" Acngcri.' We met in an ancient te keep my dime iieels," cellar, deep undeigieund leiieuth an old Dr. O'Brien paused significantly. heuse that had been condemned nnd i inimrniu i ii-ribi huh uiiiiiK mil lliiilillei fop mmm-. prlutllll be carved himself from hardwood. With these he toured the country, marking the farmers' flour bags and making money, until he decided te enter the printing trade, which he proceeded te learn with characteristic thoroughness. By 1S52 he owned his. own printing shop. After a few preliminary experiments with ten -cent handbooks, all of which have been preserved in Dr. O'Brien's collection, he launched his great Idea In KSCiO. The geed fortune which nt- tweczers. nmputntien tcmlcd the vent,lre wns Phenomenal, and legs, nml eevcr-' " 'C' " i'"a'" '" try the nerve in dm of ili.fnctinn ' f any man, but Memawk -Ye did net 7Mdii, jecfn as ne icm trirt erc jieu't'nns odds. "Yeu ficiuW" hisied. "Yeu think te draw from me lemc sipn of despair, but you tctll fail." With a proud gesture he drew him self erect and looked the heiehng savages jull in the eye. The Chil War proved a been Indeed for the heuse of Beadle & Ce., for the dleit!ng and inepenslve dime novels met the needs of the seldlerR for quick entertnitime it in their spine moments. Millions were sold, and the public de manded mere. The period of Western which followed the war was marked also by a o'lepeildlin.' Western c mice The official rur"e of the society, pro nounced only upon trniters, was se com cem com piehenslve in scope ns te include sug gestions for the disposal of the victim, net enlv in the immediate future, but in the life hereafter, together with his relatives, ancestors, posterity and well wishers. "We would all gnther there nnd rend," sold the doctor, "until the brother or sister of one of the members came te the tower (the ground-level ' opening) nnd informed the Seneschal that supper waited nnd please send Bebby right home. Sickening Thud as Bedy Struck the Rocks Belew Quick as a fiaih his trusty nlle lfii)ii( in Im kUnuldi r There was ripuist, a trild yill from the bared famn of Indian I'ete, and the in. tit;n( trapper lingered by the ta eiMiW edge yet a moment eie. he heard the dull, sickening thud as the body stiuek the recki belnie. Kven as n young man Dr. O'Brien was imbued with u sense of the impor imper tame of the dime novel from n literary point of view. The basic idea of the dime novel, Dr. O'Mileu contends, was a stroke of gen ius in itself. "Fiaitus Bcitdle. the originator nnd first publisher of the dime novel," he eiijs, "lilt upon the Idea of getting out a dollar nnd a half novel for ten cents. That in itself was n stioke of genius, mid also enough te bring down upon him the wriitli of the ether publishers The traditional hostility At lest, the Mrnnzcr. moved ipnsm of pain, gave vent te his Wei in manner n iilclnresniin. nnd no 1 niiHtnknblr flavored with the alkalis l,n Wnuf li,if 1,1a .ntltrfi ltnt ftHUI : i ':.:"". "T'r";.r T3r. . iiu leiiyvr remain in ueuui. w- Vl "Excuse me," said Dr. 0'Hrl&" "lull, could It be Hint von nr ttMJ.Vr, Incrnhnm who Is one of the valued ceaVJLTj trlhuters te the Beadle novels?" K'Jrjt "Yeu called the turn, Dec," rtt; iiin.i fim ..tiwii iTiti tim iiiinuirnprrv.',Mjj "Colonel Iiigrnhiiiii was the real bleiJiTjgl rapher of Cedy." sas Dr. 0'Brle,i?$ "nnd was censidcrcil tne roremosc biij therlty en matters pertninlng te tha life and personality of thnt great man.' "Yeu Are Dealing With a Man Net a Defenseless Weman" "De net move!" ordered Majer i Harrington, from let wan clenched teeth, "My revolver m of your heart, and at the sli'htest evidence of treachery t will use it. Yeu are dealing uith a man, nnieuet A tceak and defenceless woman!" With wir like that of a teild least. Cactus Jee slunk into the night. Like all things which become both chenp and plentiful the dime novel, having bad its dny, wns threatened, with the lack of n loving hniul te pro pre serve it. Familiarity, that prolific breeder of contempt, smothered any impulse which the public nt large may have felt te save It. Had it net been' for Dr. O'Brien it would deubtlesa within a few jeurs have been impossible te make any collection of dime novel even nppieximating completion. It was sometimes neiesvary te ndver tlsc widely for j'crtain rare velumee, nnd 1k found it impossible te pursue lil investigations without carrying en an extensive correspondence, net only with former writers whose works nppcared uniler the Beadle banner, but with re mote antiquarians and book dcnlers In all sections of the country, of whom ha knows hundreds. Search Most Successful When He Explored Attics "But my senrch was met successful when I confined my attention te nttlca," sas the doctor. "Most of my finds, and they were el up in the hundreds, were made in the nntique horsehair trunks and the old -fashioned chests of drnwers which nestle beneath the eaves of nine out of ten American homes. "Sometimes, when my researches had iinlntnil some nartlciilarly desirable vel ume In such a place, the difficulty would arise of the refusal of the owner te part with it for sentimental reaens. "Mere than once I have been held up for several years by tills sort of thing, when I could net find another copy else where." Seme of the novels, especially the Western ones, have risen in value from ten cents te many dollars- They vary in price from .10 te !?2 new, necerdlnB te the difficulty in getting them. "The (Jrizly Adams is worth $62 new, and In a short time will be price' less. The California Jee volumes are valuable, tee." The character whose exploits form the central theme of the latter work was u historical character. Dr. O'Brien savs, about whom mystery and a cer tain quality of unique intrepidity hare woven a veil of legend and romance "It is definitely known that he fought in the Civil War under an assumed name," the doctor says, "and that his deeds were of the rert te gain him fre quent mention. lie Is known te have captured a Confederate battery single handed. "The secret of his Identity hai never been solved. He is the Man In the Iren Mask of nineteenth centary America, a dashing, liicturcsque figure who carried bis life in his hand and seemed te at tach no importance whatever te It. "He Hashed up and down the Stete of California like a fiery meteor, and wheiever he went there was sure te be action nnd excitement." New Yerk Itself, citadel of com merce nnd stronghold of the matter-of-fact, was levied upon by the Imagina tive novelists of the Beadle school for situations unrivaled in the domain of tlie ilinin novel. I Leng before O. Henry enme out of the Seuth te touch its prosaic towers nnd bastions with his magic wand, the dime novel hnd Invested Manhattan with n mantle of delightfully misterl- ens mkentiire and intrigue which, while' paralleled perhaps by actual conditions today, was iieveiu et me uiamniiy nor ner tllil quality which new forces Itself upon the attention. ... In the pnges of Beadle's Dime Norel library moved a world of secret plot and counter-plot, mysterious smug glers, subterranean passages, riverside caves nnd faces at the window at night. 1 And through It all a thread of In frangible optimism that assured the i breathless leader that right, though. temporarily defeated by the villain, would triumph in tin' end and that the tmal paragiaph would find that dcsple- i able individual luvaililrig his last. ' What devet 'e of paper-back litem i ture, be his locks white as miew and 1 Is memory clouded with the mists of lime, ion forget that ineffable thrill which scampered up nnd down his spine when he sat far Inte the nlclit reading ".link Haikawav in New Yeik. or The Adventuu-s of the Travelers' Club"? Beadle Novelist Toek Heroes te Seuth America piinslen in the dime novel industry And still farther afield inngcd tha bounding Imagination of the Beadle novelist. He took his heroes te Seuth Aiiwm ii-n uliie lire.'ilh-tnkini? nrli-en. expansion teres transpired en the Argentine pnm- pns. Hi- immured Ins dauntless chnr- ncictv In the slough or the 1'lerlna K ei glade. vlun ihev combated II..- ... .1 . ft .. . i.i, I . I I Klil'O's, jiiii-ii' Hill ii rill i ",i. ... , V.. "' , ,V'"-'suak.s. Indians and cimimstnnces. He took them upon the deep and engaged them with feio.ieus nnd altogether un pillielple.l pirates. Ner weie the Beadle publications confined te novels, in addition a num ber of speclali.. d journals, such ns the "Debater," 'Housewife's Manual" nnd "Ladles' Letter Wiiter," were published The hi m Issued n song book, whiih is of paitl'-iibir valmi in that it pies'iits a compilation of bal lads of -i livgeiie dav, mini) of which have i empletcl) pis-,.,1 be) elid the ken of our present generation. It Is te In' eli-1'niil that sfiitlmci In Itllllll (l,-lilll I III I All, Iwnl In. i lli. ii. ti. Colonel l'tentiss Ingiaham, who died dim., novel, as witness: "IMcln mm tee Fervues et anions linn ers. I guides and Indian lighters in order te I satisfy the public demand for the West- em atmosphere. Beadle himself made i r.n eunsie tour of the region bevend the Mississippi, eb.erving for hlni'vlf the life and habits of the citienry nnd the conditions major which they "lived. i Of the nbove cebbrllies tun weie personal friends of Dr O'Unen. With Buffalo Mill he maintained a m.iie or less legular correspondence, begun In the purstiiiiuv of his quest for uilvn,,.- Items of the Beiidle lolkuieii, ami continued in th. lrleniMup w re- suited. hi tiiui. wu an old and vulmd filcn of Dr. O'Bilen's, The maimer of thulr meeting is little less romantic than rf ii front portion of the American public, he "nise tales hi. -h emanated se piefuselv thinks, had its origin in this bias of ""d gruivfiill) fnun the Cel. I's mind, this," he said. "Well, en the occasions when my father outwitted me I re gretted it even mera keenly. "The boys in our neighborhood had a The 1)111 ne.se of t li Is. club was le oil. tain and lead dime novels. There was a password, usually the name of one of our heroes, which was. changed every da.v Alse thcie was nn oath nml a curse," Tills Intel, sling pledge of fen It) is se bloedtlilrst) tb.it mil) its le-s gory de tails ate suitable for icpie.luctl.iii, but among these latter might be mentioned rival puiuishcis, winch in turn was founded upon cotnmereinl motives, Beadle Was Bern in N. Y.; Came Frem Ancient Line I'instus B.'.i.lle, was horn in Tiers. town, Y, September 11, S'J1 H i-tiiiie of an ancient line whose men leught the I't'cuili, the Indians and the the full permission b.v the tllillllcaut of i lti-lltsb. while the women mi.1.,,,1 .1,,, .1... ii.; , .,. ... , , 1 ; ,, . i , , , . . . "'-- n- ii-i in- i-iniiii i.tii m in, .l"-':;". '"'VI, 1 "'?.E ,0?tc.".. " '?? -Un. , & that their distinct cjelcs of - " " -"s.nv. ....iiunii, iuv-iuiv.ua nut-, i-is hub iru-- pioneer ; some time una touched. i-Mie mi) n liiin.ls.inie, lueev strun2er. wuiiing a long, flew lug mustache nnd an air 'inn. king of open pliic. s. mtere.l Dr O'lilieu's ellu e fur plef. ssleiuil neat nn ut The doctor vv i- tiiied with vague, halt -tunned nebiil.ii of iiuiuer) Tin "iiee et th. ji.it it iii vmis lumil'i.i' and ,u net faniiliar, b. was teriaiu that le had new I befei. met the man, ami lei no ceiiiu net snaue en the ininri'H- llfe Fi.tler Don't Diluk Any Mere," "She' Wept Her Life Awav," "Slln Wlia Cleik iii ii Cjindy Stere," "Dear Father, Come Down With the Stamps,'' "Bught. Bil-'ht Wine" "The Cracks man's Cluiiit," "Chaige tint Clin Cheer II)." "See 'riini Mv Ne... Is Kept ,, Bed. I'lie ltat Ciitelii'i'M Daughter" 1 1. 1 it vv nn.- iiu re mug" uii.1,1 . l- ei a similar u mire. I Iii ii iiu lih the ilua unit m ii ii i .mil i me i, en. una Miuiuiimj tin dtim In luirliil hii Hewie knife the vi urn lung fiilini. Tha bid flu nli i d eik. mil burial itself in I J'iutn's nick, the while a tcrri death shruk rent the air. i IM fl l! 1 S ) . U r t M ..q ."V J5 f :,&
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers