THE LITERARY INTERESTS OF CHICAGO 387
Chicago. His work attracted the attention, not only of western readers, but also of the literary critics, who pronounced it to be poetry that had the quality of real literature. But Mr. Taylor had none of the executive ability required for the business of editing 1 and publishing a periodical of any kind ; hence the short life of the Lady's Western Magazine.
In contrast with the direction of the foregoing magazines, the strict attention to business in the management of the Gem of the Prairie, a paper devoted to literary miscellany and information, stands out most sharply. Founded before them, it lived after them. It endured as the Gem of the Prairie for nearly eight years, which was longer than any other early periodical of pre- dominantly literary turn continued to exist. "To Please Be Ours " was the motto of the publishers through changing owner- ships. The proprietors on January I, 1848, John E. Wheeler and Thomas A. Stewart, said editorially:
We mean to, and we believe we do, give the people who buy our literary wares their money's worth, and therefore we do not pay them so poor a com- pliment as to call them patrons.
Nevertheless, they expressed themselves as " not satisfied with mere pecuniary compensation," and mentioned those " more subtle ties connecting with the World of the Highest." This connection was striven for in departments called " The Muse," " The Story," "Miscellany," "Variety," and "Local Matters." Bushnell and Taylor were among the more able contributors. Many contribu- tions came from those whose chief interest in life evidently was something other than letters. Not a few stories were selected from the magazines of the East and of England. The depart- ment called " Miscellany" was typical of the channels for literary flow provided by all kinds of newspapers and periodicals in the era of American journalism prior to that of specialization. It contained bits of prose and verse culled miscellaneously and thrown together in a kind of literary salad. This combining of appeals to the desire for aesthetic pleasure through the use of stories, poems, and literary miscellany, and to the desire for knowledge through general information and local news, was an evidence of business sagacity on the part of the publishers.
