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Stephen Crane: Muckraker
 

JOSEPH KATZ
 

S THE years put Stephen Crane's death further into the
past and the centennial of his birth nearer the present,
certain chapters in his life lose their mystery while
others generate new puzzles. One incident that should begin to
resonate with questions has its start in May, 1894, with a commis¬
sion for Crane from S. S. McClure. Ten years earlier McClure
had started one of the earliest successful newspaper syndicates.
As its success grew to the point where it provided few challenges
for him, McClure restlessly turned towards magazine publishing
for an opportunity to exercise his innovational talents. In June,
1893, McClure's Magazine made its first appearance on the news¬
stands at the shockingly low price of fifteen cents; its second
issue was even more absurdly priced at ten cents. "More good
reading than any otiier magazine—the price \\'\\\ be ten cents— and
the publishers will make money," was S. S. McClure's promise,
and he kept all three parts of it. Enter Stephen Crane bearing the
seeds of irony.

No one seems to know precisely when Crane first met McClure,
but a letter from Llamlin Garland suggests that on an early visit
he was kept "standing for an hour" in the office "pen for culprits."
Then Crane brought him the manuscript of a Civil AVar story,