The Enchanted Type-writer

John Kendrick Bangs (1862-1922) is without doubt one of the most prolific writers of fantastic novels and stories set in Hades. The three works which comprise his "Hades" series, A Houseboat on the Styx (1895), Pursuit of the Houseboat (1897), and the collection now in your hands, The Enchanted Type-Writer (1899) are acknowledged classics of modern fantasy, precursors to works by Thorne Smith (Topper), Philip Jose Farmer (The Fabulous Riverboat), and many others. Rest assured that The Enchanted Type-Writer stands alone; you do not have to have read the first two novels to enjoy it fully. At the turn of the 20th century, when copyright laws were, shall we say, less rigidly enforced than they probably should have been, Bangs felt free to "borrow" other writers' characters, including two of the most famous?