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SEEING THINGS
AT NIGHT
BY
HEYWOOD BROUN
[Illustration: colophon]
NEW YORK
HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY
1921
COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY
HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY, INC.
PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. BY
THE QUINN & BODEN COMPANY
RAHWAY, N. J.
TO
HEYWOOD BROUN, 3RD
Introduction
The first difficulty was the title. It was felt that _Seeing Things at
Night_ might suggest theatrical essays to the exclusion of anything
else. That was not the author's intention. He meant to suggest rather
newspaper articles of any sort done more or less on the spur of the
moment for next day's consumption. There was also some question as to
the order in which the various "pieces" should be arranged. The author
was tempted to follow the example of Adolf Wolff, a free verse poet who
published a volume some years ago called _Songs, Sighs and Curses_, and
explained in a foreword, "When asked in what sequence he would arrange
his poems, Wolff threw the manuscripts in the air, saying 'Let Fate
decide.' They now appear in the order in which they were picked up from
the floor."
Broun, however, feared that some of his essays might crash through the
floor like the mistakes of a cannonball juggler and that others would
prove so lacking in weight when put to the test that it would be
necessary to pluck them from the ceiling rather than the floor. The
arrangement, therefore, is premeditated though haphazard. In respect to
his age the author also wishes to explain that the character, H. 3rd,
who appears from time to time is his son and not his grandson. He also
wishes to acknowledge the courtesy of _The New York Tribune_, _Vanity
Fair_, _McCall's_, _Collier's Weekly_ and _The Nation_ in permitting him
to reprint various articles which first appeared in their pages.