PHOTOGRAPH BY PACH BROS.
RICHARD HARDING DAVIS]
_Richard Harding Davis_
THREE
In 1890 there appeared in _Scribner’s Magazine_ a short story entitled“Gallegher.” It gave an account of a smart young office boy employed onone of the newspapers, who succeeded in “beating the town” by bringinghome a big, sporting story to his paper. It was held at once as one ofthe best newspaper tales ever printed. When the name of the author,Richard Harding Davis, was mentioned, the reading public recognized himas the son of Rebecca Harding Davis, a fiction writer of establishedreputation. Davis’ fifty-two years of life were full of color and manlyachievement. He was a novelist, short story writer, war correspondent,editor and playwright. He began as newspaper reporter, a pursuit mostnatural, for his father, L. Clarke Davis, was a brilliant journalistand editor.
Richard Harding Davis was born in Philadelphia in 1864, and attendedthe Episcopal Academy and afterwards Lehigh and Johns-HopkinsUniversities. In his college days he was weak in mathematics, butstrong in all that made life full, joyous and vital. He entered eagerlyinto sports and wrote stories for the Lehigh magazines.
In 1887 he began newspaper work on the Philadelphia _Record_, alsooccasionally contributing to the _Press_ and other Philadelphia papers.His first big assignment was in connection with the Johnstown Flood in1889. It was in the _Press_ office that Davis discovered the originalGallegher--the office boy who was immortalized in Davis’ famous story,just as the mongrel dog was vindicated in Davis’ later story “The BarSinister.” In 1889 he made a trip to London as correspondent to thePhiladelphia _Telegraph_, and while there wrote of the Whitechapelmurders in a way that attracted attention. He got his first job in NewYork in this way. In London he came to know Arthur Brisbane, who wasthen English correspondent of the New York _Sun_, and afterward editorof the _Evening Sun_. On his return to America he sought a newspaperjob in New York, and Brisbane took him on the _Evening Sun_. Hisfirst experience was strikingly characteristic. A bunco man accostedhim near the ferry. Davis gave him some marked money, then had himarrested and walked him boldly into the _Evening Sun_ office, showedhim up for the crook he was--and then wrote him up in the form of anews story for the paper. Aside from his regular assignments as areporter, Davis busied himself with pictures of various types of NewYork life. Among these the most famous were the Van Bibber stories, inwhich Davis presented types of New York society. In 1891 Davis wentto _Harper’s Weekly_ and remained there for three years as managingeditor. Then he became a free lance. It was not necessary for himto “hold down a job.” All magazines and book publishers were eagerfor his work. His first engagement as war correspondent was on thebattlefields of the Greco-Turkish War. He was a prominent figure amongnewspaper correspondents in all the great wars that followed. He madea genuine sensation by his war letters written from Cuba during theSpanish-American War of 1898. In that war Davis formed a friendshipwith Theodore Roosevelt that remained firm through life.
In 1898, with the publication of “Soldiers of Fortune” in _Scribner’sMagazine_, the reputation of Davis as a novelist became established,and, thereafter, the fiction that flowed from his pen found an eagerand growing audience. His extensive travels enabled him to set hisstories in widely varied scenes. “Soldiers of Fortune” told ofrevolution and political intrigue in a South American republic. Thatalso was the vein and atmosphere of “Captain Macklin” and later of “TheWhite Mice.” In “The Exiles” he invaded Morocco for his backgroundand characters. Later, in “The King’s Jackal,” he laid his scenes inTangier. “Ranson’s Folly” is a story of American army life--afterwardsdramatized, as was “Soldiers of Fortune.” “Princess Aline” is aromantic story of the “Graustark” kind. Besides fiction, Davis wrotemany books of adventure and travel impression, such as “Rulers of theMediterranean,” “Three Gringos in Venezuela,” “The West from a CarWindow,” “A Year from a Reporter’s Note Book,” “The Congo and Coasts ofAfrica.” His later books, based on war correspondence, include “Withthe French,” “Somewhere in France,” and “With the Allies.”
We have named scarcely half the titles of Davis’ work. He was busyalways with his pen, and, as one of his fellow craftsmen in literatureobserved, he “never penned a dull line.” In all his stories he left arecord of his sturdy Americanism and his passionate devotion to a justcause, wherever he found it.
He died suddenly of heart disease on April 12, 1916. The loss toliterature was great and was keenly felt in a history-making timelike this that demands an eloquent chronicler. Davis will always beremembered as one of the most buoyant, brave, heroic and industriousworkers in the field of American literature, a man who saw life fullyand clearly, and who reflected it truly, in healthy, ringing, inspiringtones.
The Mentor: Makers of American Fiction, Vol. 6, Num. 14, Serial No. 162, September 1, 1918 Page 4
