Cable, George Washington

George Washington (1844-), an Amercan author. He was born in New Orleans. When he was fourteen years old his father died. The boy was obliged to leave school to support his mother and sisters. In 1863 he enlisted in the Confederate army and proved himself a heroic soldier. After the war he returned to New Orleans, where he was occupied as a clerk, a surveyor, and a writer on the New Orleans Picayune. But Cable became deeply interested in the Creoles. He made himself a familiar friend in certain of the old French homes of Louisiana where a poetic instinct, coupled with family pride, had kept alive a host of old tales and traditions. Here he gathered materials for the short stories and sketches of Creole life which he began to send to Scribner's Magazine. These stories were collected in book form in 1879, under the title Old Creole Days. None of his later writings have equaled these tales in popularity. For some years Cable has resided at Northampton, Massachusetts. He is known as a lecturer, as well as a writer. He has been interested, also, in organizing a system of home study clubs. The stories of Old Creole Days are Cable's masterpieces. Next to these, stand the Grandissimes and Dr. Sevier. Madame Delphine and Bonavcnture may be mentioned also. Cable's style is smooth and graceful, often poetical. His stories are dramatic, full of delicate humor and pathos. In the use of dialect he is a master.

With the conscience of a historian and the eye of a poet, he presents the scenes and characters with which his own life was intimately associated; he paints the reality of a quaint and picturesque life with the fascinating tints of ideal coloring. --Abernethy.