To John H. Wigmore
Tacoma, October 25, 1894
MY DEAR WIGMORE,—I have not heard from you for a year. You are in my debt at least one, and I think two, letters. I have sent you an occasional paper, just to let you know I was alive and I am hazarding this letter to the old address. …
My affairs here have not prospered and I am thinking of going somewhere else. … Do you think Japan has anything to offer a man such as myself? Would there be any chance there for a newspaper run by an American? Are there any wealthy Americans there who would be likely to put up a few thousands for such an enterprise? … Life is not the “giddy, reeling dream of love and fame” that it once was, and I have decided on gathering a few essential dollars. Now Japan may not be the place I am looking for, … but unless I am greatly mistaken, a man who is up on American affairs and alive to business opportunities could do well in Japan. But then this is all a guess, and I want you to put me right …
Yours very truly,
FRANKLIN K. LANE