Neither the compilation, verification, nor publication of these newspaper writings of O. Henry would have been possible without the co-operation of Mr. Roy G. Watson, present proprietor and publisher of the Houston _Post_, whose consent for their publication has been generously given; and of Governor William P. Hobby, Colonel R. M. Johnston, and Mr. A. E. Clarkson, all associated with the _Post_ during O. Henry's employment, and to these, whose attestation of authenticity of this work is herewith given, the compiler is grateful. The doing of this work has been a labor of love, and if the result is to add to the luster of O. Henry's name the writer shall have been repaid. No pen is so facile as to add to or detract from the fame of William Sidney Porter. The flame of his genius has been extinguished, but what he wrought in a vast understanding of humanity will ever illuminate American literature. Florence Stratton. April, 1923. O. HENRY ON THE HOUSTON _POST_ _With respect to O. Henry's services, the Houston Post states as follows_: Between musty covers of the _Post_ files from October, 1895, to July, 1896, are cross-sections of life drawn by a master artist; vignettes as perfect and as beautiful as the finest Amsterdam diamond. Only they are comparatively unknown because they have been overshadowed by larger and more brilliant creations of the same master hand. Verses beautiful and appealing; description, touched by wonderful imagery; dialogue, the lines of which sparkle with wit and understanding of human frailties! They make up O. Henry's "Tales of the Town," his "Postscripts and Pencillings," and his "Some Postscripts." Save for the publication for a brief space of _The Rolling Stone_, a rollicking sheet that was issued irregularly over the period of several months, they represent the sum total of O. Henry's newspaper writings. All too brief to suit lovers of O. Henry's work, they nevertheless betray the writer's knack of getting at the heart and mind of his fellow beings. They show him as well acquainted with the newsdealer on the corner as with his favorite hotel clerk; as much at home in talking with a puncher from the Panhandle as in conversing with a drummer from St. Louis. Into them the master of the short story managed to crowd uncanny description, insight into human nature, and the highly dramatic. O. Henry came to the _Post_ at the invitation of its editor and his first column appeared in the _Post_ on October 18th entitled "Tales of the Town." The caption soon changed to "Postscripts and Pencillings" and later still to "Some Postscripts." Some days a column of seven-point! Others only half a column. Still others when "Some Postscripts" failed to appear at all. But always, whatever the quantity, the quality of O. Henry's output remained at high level.