An Adventure with a Genius: Recollections of Joseph PulitzerIreland, Alleyne
General
An Adventure with a Genius: Recollections of Joseph Pulitzer
Ireland, Alleyne
Pulitzer, Joseph, 1847-1911
The principal sources of information on these topics were the literary
supplement of the London Times, the Literary Digest, and the literary,
dramatic, and musical columns of the Athenaeum, The Spectator, and the
Saturday Review.
These had to be "prepared," to use J. P.'s phrase, which meant that they
were read over rapidly once and then gone over again with some
concentration so that the more important articles could be marked for
actual reading, the other portions being dealt with conversationally,
everything being boiled down to its essence before it reached Mr.
Pulitzer's ear.
As it was getting late, and as I knew that Thwaites would be on tap
early in the morning, for J. P. usually breakfasted before nine, and the
"victim" was supposed to have had his own breakfast by eight, I left the
villa and went back to the yacht.
As he said good-night, Thwaites gave me a copy of The Daily Telegraph
and advised me to read it carefully, as J. P. might ask me for the day's
news during the drive we were to take the following morning.
Before going to sleep I glanced through The Daily Telegraph and came
across an article which gave me an idea for establishing my reputation
for memory. It was a note about the death duties which had been
collected in England during 1910, and it gave a list of about twenty
estates on which large sums had been paid. The list included the names
of the deceased and also the amounts on which probate duty had been
paid. I decided to commit these names and figures to memory and to take
an occasion the next day to reel them off to J. P.
Punctually at eleven o'clock I presented myself at the villa to find, to
my dismay, J. P. seated in his automobile in a towering rage. What sort
of consideration had I for him to keep him waiting for half an hour!
I protested that eleven o'clock was the hour of the appointment. I was
absolutely wrong, he said, half-past-ten was the time, and he remembered
perfectly naming that hour, because he wanted a long drive and he had an
engagement with Mr. Paterson at noon.
"I'm awfully sorry," I began, "if I misunderstood you, but really..."
He dismissed the matter abruptly by saying, "For God's sake, don't argue
about it. Get in and sit next to me so that I can hear you talk."
As soon as we had got clear of the village, and were spinning along at a
good rate on the Corniche road, which circles the Bay of Monaco, high on
the mountain side, Mr. Pulitzer began to put me through my paces.
"Now, Mr. Ireland," he began, "you will understand that if any
arrangement is to be concluded between us I must explore your brain,
your character, your tastes, your sympathies, your prejudices, your
temper; I must find out if you have tact, patience, a sense of humor,
the gift of condensing information, and, above all, a respect, a love, a
passion for accuracy."
I began to speak, but he interrupted me before I had got six words out
of my mouth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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