Heart to Heart Talks

HURRAH FOR THE HE-STUFF!

TO THE EDITOR

I failed to get the June 19 number of the ALL-STORY. I enclose ten cents for it. Donʼt fail to send it as I want to read all of ‟House of the Hawk.ˮ I havenʼt seen anything of Fred Jackson lately. Can it be that he has gone to Europe to fight, or is he down with the measles, as I was a few weeks ago?

I hope so.

It is an awful thing to wish onto him, but for Heavenʼs sake anything to keep him quiet awhile. On the other hand, letʼs have plenty of E. K. Means, George Allan England, E. R. Burroughs, and Brother Giesy. They write he-stuff anyway. Iʼll bet Fred is the old maid daughter of Mary Jane Holmes in disguise. Why, even Maryland Allen writes better man-yarns than he does.

The more power to her!

ELMER F. HAYNES.

Lewis, Kansas.

ABOUT GIESY AND SMITH

TO THE EDITOR

I do not think the criticism of Peterson concerning Giesy is justifiable under the circumstances, for the story plainly shows that White Kate was to get the best of the Hawk by the age-long, world-old lure of sex, by which the woman-magnet from prehistoric time to the present always con-

506

quers mere man by the multiplicity of her fleshly charms. Hence, it was necessary for Giesy to exhibit her to the reader in just the way he did. Of course, one might object that he put it on too thick, but that is a matter of taste, not of morality.

As an astrological student. however, I feel more inclined to criticise the astrological detective, Semi-Dual, for in these stories of Giesy and Smith more is assumed for astrology and its certainty in bringing about the detection of whatever criminals Semi-Dual goes after than astrology is legitimately entitled to. But I noticed Giesy and Smith save their faces by making the hero do mediumistic stunts when he cannot find out things through his so-called knowledge of the stars.

Hence, Semi-Dual is somewhat of an astropsychic detective.

The mediumistic detective is not a new character in fiction. But the combination of astrology with psychic power is somewhat new, although there is a tendency on the part of these writers to overwork the astrological end of it in the astropsychic partnership that goes to make up the individuality called Semi-Dual. However, the stories are interesting and keep the readers calling for more; and that, I suppose, is the main thing. Many of us critics could not do as well.

I wonder how many readers of the ALL-STORY think that the hyphenated word ‟Semi-Dualˮ means ‟half-and-half,ˮ and my interpretation of his character, for I have read all of the Semi-Dual stories, is that he is half a medium and half an astrologer.

Wishing your magazine all success in the story world, I remain,

JOHN A. MORRIS.

712 San Fernando Building,
Los Angeles, California.

507

SOURCE: Haynes, Elmer E. “Hurrah for the He-Stuff!” (p. 506); Morris, John A.: ‟About Giesy and Smithˮ (pp. 506-507); in “Heart to Heart Talks” (letters column, pp. 504-507), All-Story Weekly, vol. 49, no. 3, September 18, 1915.

See also by J. U. Giesy:

“The Blue Bomb” [White Kate], The Cavalier, November 8, November 15, November 22, 1913.

“House of the Hawk” (in 4 parts), All-Story Weekly, June 12, June 19, June 26, July 3, 1915.

Haynes produced the Esperanto translation “En 2112” of “In 2112” by J. U. Giesy & J. B. Smith in The Cavalier, vol. 18, no. 4, August 10, 1912, p. 745-747; back-translated into English as “In 2112” by Forrest J. Ackerman, International Science Fiction, No. 2, June 1968 (New York: Galaxy Publishing Corporation), pp. 93-97. Morris’s letter to the editor following this evaluates some of Giesy’s other work. For links to all the English originals and Esperanto translations in The Cavalier and more information, see:

The Cavalier: Covers & Contents

J. U. Giesy (John Ulrich, 1877-1948) & His Collaborators

Esperanto in The Scrap Book, April - June 1907
(with 2 articles by D. O. S. Lowell)

“In 2112” (1912) by J. U. Giesy & J. B. Smith

“En 2112” (1912) by J. U. Giesy & J. B. Smith,
translated into Esperanto by Elmer E. Haynes, M.D.

“In 2112,” by J. U. Giesy & J. B. Smith,
translated from Esperanto by Forrest J. Ackerman

“Farewell to Esperanto”
by Bob Davis, the Editor
(The Cavalier, 15 Feb 1913)

“Esperanto—A Closed Incident”
by the Editor [Bob Davis],
with images of the entire letter column
“Heart to Heart Talks”

Esperanto in early science fiction to 1930 by Everet F. Bleiler

J. U. Giesy (John Ulrich, 1877-1948) & His Collaborators

Esperanto & Interlinguistics Study Guide / Retgvidilo pri Esperanto & Interlingvistiko

Philosophical and Universal Languages, 1600-1800, and Related Themes: Selected Bibliography

Sciencfikcio & Utopia Literaturo en Esperanto / Science Fiction & Utopian Literature in Esperanto:
Gvidilo / A Guide

Science Fiction & Utopia Research Resources: A Selective Work in Progress

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