A short time ago he dashed off two or three verses on a Midway dancer, called something like "Papinta," that had a rhythm and a lilt and swinging grace to it that were fascinating and truly admirable. The poem was delicate, airy and sprite-like, and one could almost see the form of the dancer and hear the castanets and guitars while reading the musical lines. But the amount of verse he writes daily will not permit of such a high average, and the moral of it all is that, while he is succeeding as a journalist and an interesting writer upon the day's topics, his future as a poet is not being benefited by his overproduction of poetry at present. * * * * * The late Eugene Field might in time have become a poet of considerable ability, but there is little question that his newspaper labors were too onerous to allow of a thorough development of his poetic powers. The verses he wrote have always been popular because they were simple and musical, and addressed themselves to an almost universal sympathy for children, and his poems, charming and lovable as they were, stopped short of being great. It was the subject and the sentiment, rather than the literary proficiency of his poetical work, that made him so widely known. A poem to be great and long-remembered must be erected in the same way that a house is built. The foundation, the superstructure, the architectural proportions, the ornament and finish must be the result of care and labor, or else it abideth not. Judge Albion W. Tourgee, whose opinions on matters literary deserve respect, however it be concerning his political proclivities, advises poetic as well as other literary aspirants to always work in a room with an open fire--not for the sake of the fire, but in order that he may burn five sheets for every one he sends to the printer. W. S. Porter. (_Houston Daily Post_, Sunday morning, November 24, 1895.) Part Three: Newspaper Poetry Topical Verse (Dramatis Personae: One singer, one baritone horn, one bass drum.) There was a man in our town, And he was very lazy; He made his wife do everything, Till she was almost crazy. Although he was a Christian man, He made her come upstairs And wake him up to say "Amen!" When she had said his prayers. One night before he went to sleep He made her kneel and pray And when she finished, wake him up; Then this good man did say: "Oh, Lord, please answer my wife's prayer." And then to sleep he fell. The Lord did, and the man awoke To find himself in ----. _Baritone horns_ "Ta-ta-rum." _Bass Drums_ "Boom." (_Houston Daily Post_, Sunday morning, May 17, 1896.) Cape Jessamines