°'i9i9 J Bailey, In Memoriam: Olive Thome Miller. 165 



an unknown writer? she asked. Let her give what it wanted — 

 attractively put information on matters of fact. Then when her 

 reputation was established, people might be glad to listen to her 

 views of life. 



Philosophically accepting the suggestion, she calmly burned up 

 her accumulated "sentiments and opinions," and set about writing 

 what she termed "sugar-coated pills of knowledge" for children. 

 The first, the facts of china-making in the guise of a story, she 

 sent to a religious weekly which had a children's page, and to her 

 surprise and delight received a check for it — her first — two 

 dollars! This was apparently in 1870, and for twelve years, she 

 worked in what she terms that "Gradgrind field" in which during 

 that period she published some three hundred and seventy-five 

 articles in religious weeklies, 'Our Young Folks,' 'The Youth's 

 Companion,' 'The Independent,' 'St. Nicholas,' 'The Chicago 

 Tribune,' 'Harper's,' 'Scribner's,' and other papers and magazines, 

 on subjects ranging from the manufacture of various familiar 

 articles, as needles, thread, and china to sea cucumbers, spiders, 

 monkeys, and oyster farms; and during those twelve years, in 

 addition she published five books, the best known of which were 

 perhaps 'Little Folks in Feathers and Fur,' 1873, 'Queer Pets at 

 Marcy's,' 1880, and 'Little People of Asia,' 1882. 



About this time, having lived in Chicago nearly twenty years, 

 the Millers, with their two sons and two daughters, moved to 

 Brooklyn, where they lived until Mr. Miller's death. Not long 

 after settling in Brooklyn, when she had spent twelve years mainly 

 on miscellaneous juvenile work, Mrs. Miller was visited by a friend 

 who gave her a new subject, completely changing the course of her 

 life. The friend was none less than Mrs. Sara A. Hubbard, whom 

 she had known as a book reviewer in Chicago, but who was also an 

 enthusiastic bird woman — later an Associate of the A. O. U. — and 

 whose greatest desire in coming to New York had been to see the 

 birds. 



As Mrs. Miller naively remarks, "of course 1 could do no less 

 than to take her to our park, where were birds in plenty." And 

 here, in Prospect Park when she was nearly fifty years old — 

 incredible as it seems in view of her later work — Mrs. Miller 

 got her first introduction to birds. "1 knew absolutely nothing 



