Melvin De Lancy Landon.
Melvin De Lancy Landon, “Eli Perkins,” was born at Eaton, New York, September 7, 1839. After a course of preparation in the public schools he entered Union college and graduated in 1861. One week later he received an appointment from the United States treasury, but soon resigned his position to enlist in the Union army to take part in the Civil war. He left the army, in 1864, with the rank of major. Next he became a cotton planter in Arkansas and Louisiana. Later he traveled in Europe and was secretary of the United States legation at St. Petersburg. In 1877 he was married to Emily Louise Smith. He has written copiously for magazines and other publications. But it is his books, Wit, Humor and Pathos, Franco-Prussian War, Wit and Humor of the Age, Kings of Platform and Pulpit, and Thirty Years of Wit, upon which his reputation as a humorist rests.
JOURNALISTS AND WRITERS.
Stephen Bonsal.
A most industrious contributor to magazines and writer of short stories is Stephen Bonsal. He was born in Virginia in 1863, and educated in St. Paul’s school, Concord, New Hampshire. After finishing his studies in this country he went to Gottingen and Heidelberg, Germany. Returning to this country, he entered journalism. In this connection he is best known as representing the New York Herald during the Bulgarian-Servian war. In the service of that newspaper, he also went to Macedonia, Morocco and Cuba. Leaving newspaper work, he next entered the United States diplomatic service and was secretary of legation and chargé d’affaires in Pekin, Madrid, Tokio and Corea from 1890 to 1896. Besides his magazine work, he is the author of several books, including Morocco As It Is and The Real Condition of Cuba.
Richard Harding Davis.
Like many other authors, Richard Harding Davis comes of literary stock, his father being S. Clark Davis, editor of the Philadelphia Public Ledger, and his mother Rebecca Harding Davis, whose works of fiction have brought her a certain amount of public notice. After graduating from the Lehigh university of Pennsylvania, Mr. Davis made a reputation for himself in newspaper circles in his native city. He is a versatile writer and prefers fiction to fact. He first attained prominence through the medium of his Van Bibber Sketches. War correspondent as well as novelist, his life has been filled with stirring incident. Mr. Davis has been charged with egotism by his critics, but every man who is conscious of his individuality is subject to such attacks. Married Cecil Clark, daughter of J. M. Clark, of Chicago, April 4, 1899.