Like many people in broken health Mr. Pulitzer had a very variable appetite.  Sometimes nothing could tempt his palate, sometimes he ate voraciously; but at all times the greatest care had to be exercised in regard to his diet.  Not only did he suffer constantly from acute dyspepsia, but also from diabetes, which varied in sympathy with his general state of health.

He took very little alcohol, and that only in the form of light wines, such as claret or hock, seldom more than a single small glass at lunch and at dinner.  Whenever he found a vintage which specially appealed to him he would tell the butler to send a case or two to some old friend in America, to some member of his family or to one of the staff of The World.

After lunch Mr. Pulitzer always retired to his cabin for a siesta.  I use the word siesta, but as a matter of fact it is quite inadequate to describe the peculiar function for which I have chosen it as a label.  What took place on these occasions was this:  Mr. Pulitzer lay down on his bed, sometimes in pyjamas, but more often with only his coat and boots removed, and one of the secretaries, usually the German secretary, sat down in an armchair at the bedside with a pile of books at his elbow.

At a word from Mr. Pulitzer the secretary began to read in a clear, incisive voice some historical work, novel or play.  After a few minutes Mr. Pulitzer would say “Softly,” and the secretary’s voice was lowered until, though it was still audible, it assumed a monotonous and soothing quality.  After a while the order came, “Quite softly.”  At this point the reader ceased to form his words and commenced to murmur indistinctly, giving an effect such as might be produced by a person reading aloud in an adjoining room, but with the connecting door closed.

If, after ten minutes of this murmuring, J. P. remained motionless it was to be assumed that he was asleep; and the secretary’s duty was to go on murmuring until Mr. Pulitzer awoke and told him to stop or to commence actual reading again.  This murmuring might last for two hours, and it was a very difficult art to acquire, for at the slightest change in the pitch of the voice, at a sneeze, or a cough, Mr. Pulitzer would wake with a start, and an unpleasant quarter of an hour followed.

This murmuring was not, however, without its consolations to the murmurer, for as soon as the actual reading stopped he could take up a novel or magazine and, leaving his vocal organs to carry on the work, concentrate his mind upon the preparation of material against some future session.

The siesta over, the afternoon was taken up with much the same kind of work as had filled the morning.  By six o’clock Mr. Pulitzer was ready to sit in the library for an hour before he dressed for dinner.  This time was generally devoted to novels, plays and light literature of various kinds.  J. P. often assured me that no man had ever been able to read a novel or a play to him satisfactorily without having first gone over it carefully at least twice; and on more than one occasion I was furnished with very good evidence that even this double preparation was not always a guarantee of success.