Page:The Brass Check (Sinclair 1919).djvu/112

 I had paid all the bills which were properly rendered; but after four years had passed, and I had sold the farm and wiped the matter off my books, I received for the first time a bill for thirty-eight dollars worth of fertilizer. Naturally I refused to pay this bill; so I was sued—and the "New York Times," having me down and desiring to trample further on my face, obtained the news and published it in connection with my divorce-scandal.

Nor was that all. The day after this item was published, there appeared in the "New York World" a column of humor about me, one part of which I quote. Please take the trouble to read it carefully, because it illustrates a significant point.

The following statement, with several long-hand corrections, was received by the "World" yesterday:

"With regard to the report that I am being sued for thirty-eight dollars worth of fertilizer I might mention that I am being sued for something I never purchased or received. The dealer has admitted in writing that he did not send me the bill until four years after the alleged purchase. I like to get my bills a little sooner than that.

Upton Sinclair.

"Please put the above in the form of an interview."

Now this was funny, was it not? It was a complete exposition of an ass; reading it, you would be perfectly sure you were dealing with an ass—unless possibly with a crook. The "Chicago Evening Post" took the latter view. It quoted the tell-tale sentence with the comment: "Other papers fell for 'Interviews,' but it was evidently one of the 'World's' busy days, when not even a cub-reporter could be spared for rewrite." On the basis of this, the "Post" went on to expose me as a cold and calculating notoriety-hunter.

Now what is the truth about the statement in the "New York World"? Here it is:

Three times in the course of that day the "World" had sent a reporter to seek me out. Would I not say something about the report of my intention to file my suit in Delaware instead of in New York? Would I not say something about the fact that a man had called up the "New York World" on the telephone, and announced himself as the co-respondent in my divorce case, on his way to have a fist-fight with me? Finally, the third time, would I not at least say something about this suit for thirty-eight dollars worth of fertilizer?

I saw no reason why I should not state the facts in this