Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 16, 1906)
THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, DECEMBER 16, 1006. 40 "Books are the food of youth, the delight of old age; the orna ment of prosperity, the refuge and comfort of adversity; a delight at home, and no hindrance abroad; companions by night, in traveling, in the country' Cicero. I?- v v 4r , ! ACrTMOJ or Half a Rogue, by Harold MacGrath. II lustratinnn by Harrison Fisher. $1.1.0. The Sobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis, Ind. Whence comes this strange, masterful power dominating nearly everything literary that halls from Indiana? Is it In the air? But at any rate it is perfectly safe to assume that any novel issued under the auspices of the IndWna publishing house of the Bobbs-Merrill Company is worth reading ,to the end. The author and books are evidently carefully chosen in advance before the Bobbs-Merrill stamp of approval is set on them. Not one of their novels issued so far this season has apparently missed tire. It is pleasant to chronicle such a happening in this age of chronic kickers. Mr. MacGrath is widely known and esteemed as a most entertaining and polished storyteller, and in "Haif a Rogue" Mr. MacGrath has grip and con summate ability, being- clearly at his best. And this is saying a good deal for the clever author of these successful children of his brain: "The Man on the Box." "The Puppet Crown,' "The Grey Cloak" nnd "Hearts and Masks." Mr. MacGrath has never drawn a young woman of such temperament and delightful spirit as Patty Bennington. Strong originality marks the opening .chapter. Imagine the strength of a plot which makes an actress Impersonate a damsel in distress, unable to pay a $2.10 dinner in a New York City restaurant nil to move the heart of a male diner seated at an adjoining table, the said male diner being a drtmatist-manager from whom the actress wishes to get a jprofessiona! engagement. This is the llrst.view of Richard Warrington, half rogue, and Katherlne Challoner, actress. Hut in the same breath Mr. Warrington is not such a bad fellow after all. He Is human. The tale may be described as picturing interesting masculinity and femininity, ways of the stage, love, politics and labor troubles mixed to taste. John Benning ton, the steel king of Hereulaneum an Industrial city in Upper New York State Is sketched with a boldness and vigor that leaves deep impress on the mind. His employes strike, not because they wish an advance of wages, but at the behest of a walking ablegate who is bribed to declare a strike In the interest of one of Warrington's political enemies. An inventor employed by Bennington re fuses to join the union, and the pretext is seized on to foment trouble. Ben nington asserts his right for an "open shop" and threatens to permanently dis mantle his steel plant if a strike is de clared. "Strike" is the order, and. true to his threat Bennington dismantles his steel works. The love story of Warring ton and Miss Bennington is prettily told, without one trace of twaddle or mawkish sentiment. Anonymous letter-writers are merciless ly ridiculed, the exposure and disciplining of Mrs. Kranklyn-Haldane being a strik ing object lesson. Mr. MacGrath indulges lils love for short, crisp sentences that linger gratefully in the memory; True loneliness only to bo found in (Treat communities. To be without a single friend .! confidant, when thousands of be ins move about you: to seek sympathy in blind eyes that is hSneltness. Women are like extinct volcanoes. They are most to be dreaded when written per fectly harmless. Men's likes and dislikes are cenerally visible. The dog wags his tail, or he warns you away with a growl. There is no mis taking his attitude. The eat purrs and rubs against your leg, and when you reach down to smooth her, an likely as not she gives you a dig for your pains. The two dog-ownurs were unacquainted, but the dogs, one a white and the other a brlndlo bull terrier, bad met before. The white bull made a fare, .love, the brlndle. bared hid strong teeth. How he hated that sleek, white brute! He would have given bis life for one good hold on that broad t hroat. The white dog was thinking, too. that some day when the time came he would clean the tlate. Once he had almost had the tan for his own. Women cry when they are happy and when they are not. Their tears keep a man guessing year in and year out. The Wonder of the Colorado I)eaert, by Gcorso Wharton .lames. Illustrated. Two volumes.' JS. Little, Brown & Co., Bos ton. Painters ami other people of artistic appreciation of the beautiful have raved over the glories of color and prismatic loveliness as reflected from crass and rugged valleys of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. But it has remained for Mr. James to write, an exquisitely constructed prose poem of the wonders of the Colorado desert, of Southern California. He dis cusses the place with gladness and touching- gratitude. for In Its warm and Kenlal solitudes did he not regain his lost health? The desert is glorified in his eyes so much so that his glowing descriptions almost pulse with mystical Oriental feeling. Surely no more .valuable book has ever been published on this particular sub ject than this one. It is beautified in a colored frontispiece. 32 .full page plates, and nearly 300 pen-and-ink sketches by Carl Eytel. Days and nights of years passed in the desert, have enabled Mr. James to write about it easily and natur ally. Ho is enthusiastic about its skies, horizons, sunrises, sunsets, weirdness. BY THE AUTHOR OP THE MAN ON THE BOX m J&T HAROLD mystery, storms, calms, canyons, its life of man and animals. Equally interesting chapters follow of the physical history of the desert. Its climatology, explorers, pathfinders, plant life, irrigation, bandits, and romance of old stagecoach days. One of the spe cially interesting word pictures is that in which the author describes a voyage he recently made down the overflow of the Colorado River to the mysterious Salton Sea a body of rogue water which has at last been largely turned back to its original channel. Mr. James says that the name Colo rado desert was first applied to the re gion by Professor W. P. Blake, when, as geologist of the expedition for deter mining the best railroad route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, he made a comprehensive study of that region. But the name "Colorado" is a singularly misleading one, as many per sons innocently suppose that the desert is located in the state of that name. As a matter of fact, it is confined within the two counties of San Diego and Riverside, Cal., and also wanders beyond the Colo rado River into Arizona and below the boundary line into Mexico. hy does Mr. James love the Colorado Desert? Here are some of his reasons: I go for health, inspiration and work. The desert is God'0 great health-giving laboratory. It is the manufactory of health where are to be found purest sunshine, air and soil. Dis ease flees away in such presence. With the freedom of the wild animals, one sleeps on Mother Earth's bosom and absolutely drawa life and vigor from her maternal founts-r-draws it in through every possible avenue, every pore-of the skin drinking it in with eager avidity. Is not one more really with himself, ideals, dreams and ambitions, with the great ones of the past and future, with the achievements and life of the ages, and better than all, with the source and origin of it all. Cod! There la no knowing of self in the whirl or cities, where everything Is conventional, ficti tious and unnatural. That preacher has not yet appeared on earth who can speak to the human heart as forcibly as the desert speaks. There, truth pure and unadulterated flows into the empty soul, and men become strong as were Moses, Elijah, Jesus and Mahomet, after their desert experience. ( But the other side is candidly told the sandstorms, insects, lack of water, birds of prey. etc. On this subject, how ever. Mr. James' enthusiasm knows no bounds for he Just loves rattlesnakes. To wit: To those who are. able to put aside their fears and inherited prejudices, there is won derful fascination In the beauty and the grace of movement of the rattlesnake. The delicate colors and exquisite way in which nature tints the diamonds soft grays and olives and browns and salmon reds cannot help but ap peal to all true lovers of color harmony. And the grace of movement, the eaisy. noiseless, rndulating elegance of motion are unsurpassed by anything, save an eagle in its soaring. Everyone to his own taste. Boy Wanted, by Nixon Waterman. Illus trated. $1 '-5- Forbes Co., Chicago. Wherever there Is a family of boys, it would be a wise precaution on the part of .parents to place this advice book in the young folks' way. The volume of J06 pages may be described as one of cheerful counsel, for Mr. Waterman is a philosopher who takes a hopeful view of things. His observations are whole some and optimistic, and he casts a halo over home. The pages are most attrac tive, speaking typographically, and they contain wide margins, the latter being filled with well-selected quotations from famous authors. Here is the opening: Ho, my brave youth. There's a boy want ed, and how fortunate you are the very boy. Who wants you? The big, busy, beau tiful world does, and I really do not see how it is going to get on well without you. It has awaited your coming so long and has kept in store so many golden op portunities for you to improve that it will be disappointed if when the proper time arrives you do not smitingly lay hold and do something worth while. Young Folks' Nature Field Book, by J. Alden Loring. Illustrated. $1. Dana Estes & Co.. Boston. ,Have you ever torn yourself from busi ness cares and taken a walk into the nearest city square or near-by country, and vaguely wondered if it could be pos sible to learn the haunts and the habits of animals and flowers, and when one could so measure time that one could visit nature in her best mood? Away with the ordinary dry, natural ii HALF A ROGUE I90C MAC GMATM if history course, and suppose you begin In a delightful way with the children. Here is a little book that will help you. written for the lover of outdoor life, containing a seasonable hint for every calendar day in the year, telling just what time in the successive seasons to look for the different birds, flowers, etc.. and how to recognize and study them. The student will be assisted by numerous excellent illustrations, and al ternate pages are left blank for notes or record of things seen. A yearly re port' so kept cannot fail to be a source of unusual interest. rilots of the Republic, by Archer B. Hul bert. Illustrated. A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago. Here we, have a catalogue of the men who have in . a personal sense led the star of empire across this continent, and the 13 chapters are so graphic that they have all the charm of a novel. In short, the book is just the one for young Amer ica. Historical sketches are given of Washington, Richard Henderson. Rufus Putnam, David Zeisberger, George Rog ers Clark, Henry Clay. Morris and Clin ton, Thomas and Mercer, Lewis and Clark, John Jacob Astor, the promoter pf Astoria, Marcus Whitman and others. The portraits of famous Americans are unusually good. J. M. Q. . IX LIBRARY AND WORKSHOP A new epic poem by Joaquin Miller will soon appear. lie title Is "Ilght." and it deals in Imaginative and fantastic fashion with the Klondike and Klondike life. , This talk about there "being no money in literature" is open to question. A first edi tion copy of Edgar Allan Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue" has just sold for ?JtH)U. The new Century "Bible for Young People" has the same text, an arrangement of the King James version, that was used in "The Bible for Young People." It is, however, only half the price of the earlier and more elaborate edition, though retaining its more valuable features, Including trie 24 full-page repr6ductlons of famous paintings of old masters. Volume one of the two-volume edition of the "Collected Poetical Works of W. B. Yats" is announced. The second volume. containing Mr. Yeats dramas in verse, has been delayed and will not appear until next Spring. The first volume contains his "1V rical Poems." According to the author's own words, he has brought together in this nen edition "for the first time all of my poetry X have any liking for." Although S years old. Donald G. Mitchell, or "Ik Marvel," as he Is best known, is hale and hearty and continues to enjoy life at Kdgewood. on the outskirts of New Haven, Conn., which has been his home for nearly AO years. He spends most of his time in his library, with its open fire. Its low easy chairs and broad window seats, and daily reads several newspapers, and a few current mag azines will always be found on his library table. The literary supplement of the. London Daily Mail has reached its fourth weekly number, with every evidence of stability and popularity. It consists of' four pages of or dinary newspaper size, and the book-publishers are ao liberal that their advertising predominates over the reading matter on every page but the first. The current Issue has for Us leader a review of Horace Trau bel's "With Walt Whitman in Camden." with a few supplementary words upon Bliss Terry's critical life of the poet. Both of Mrs. Frances Hodgson" Burnett's new books of fairy tales, "Queen Silver Bell" and "Racketty-Packetty House," went Into second large editions before Issue. "Queen Silver Bell" contains an introduction to the series in "The Troubles of Queen Silver Bell" beside the tale of "How Winnie Hatched the Little Rooks"; and "Racketty Packetty House" Is a story complete in the one volume, each book having 20 full pages In color by Harrison Cady. Other books in the "Queen Silver Bell" series are under preparation. Frederic Harrison, the author of "The Choice of Books," "now arranges in order." as he tells us in his preface, "some remin iscences of some of the famous men . and women he has known, the great books he has studied, and the splendid memories of nature and art, which he will cherish to the last." This statement from an essayist like Mr. Harrison, whose associations have been with the greatest and best of the world and that world London as well as with much that was notable outside of it. Im plies a feast for the observant reader. - - - Among the attractive holiday books of fered this season is a handsome two-volume. large-type edition of Lamb's "Talea From Shakespeare." These volumes contain 20 full-page' photogravures reproduced from the rare 1806 folio edition of Boydells illustra tions and bear the Imprint of Brentano's. Behind the cloth, gilt, photogravure and text of these volumes, the lovers of Lamb will see the picture of the devoted brother and sister working side by side. closely united by common tastes and sympathies, laboring together under a family shadow that was never lifted. Mr. Viereck's work, "A Game at Love and Other Plays," is one of the distinct lit erary productions of this year. As sum marized by one critic: "Mr. Vlereck has dealt boldly, yet subtly, with . problems of modernity. His book reveals strong psy chological and satirical gifts, as well as a rpeclal aptitude for the dramatic form which, if indications are not deceptive, is bound to finally replace the novel. His characters talk Nietzsche and delight In emotional gymnastics, but under each of these little plays lies a great, vital, eter nally human truth." Morgan Shepard, of San Francisco, whose publications were distributed from that city prior to the late disastrous fire, has trans ferred his house to 2-5 Fourth avenue. New York. Though all plates, stock and manu scripts were lost, Mr. Shepard has secured duplicates of the most desirable matter and is now expeditiously replacing items heretofore appearing in his catalogues. This 'change of a working location made by Mr. Shepard is due to the fact that facilities for the production of work along exacting lines -nill be -for some time impossible to secure in San Francisco. . Imagine an author meeting his hero face to face in real life. It really happened the olhr day when Sewell Ford, the author of "Shorty McOabe," met William Muldoon, "Professor of Physical Culture," in the cafe cf the Holland House, New York. Though Professor Muldoon it popularly supposed' to be the original of "Shorty McOabe," he and Mr. Ford had not met until they were in troduced on this occasion. It was an em barrassing moment for the .author until Mr. Muldoon turned to him and said: "Mr. Ford, I've read your book and enjoyed it im mensely. I should like to meet the original of Shorty." Tt Is satisfactory to near that Howard Overing Sturgls' "All That Was Possible" is to appear in Fronch and - German transla tions. The novel is a rarely good one, and excels at the point where most English nov els are weak and slovenly excels, that Is, In its plot, which is deftly developed, worked up to a climax, and led on to a so lution with the nicest skill, and with due dispatch. Beside Its merit on the score of structural skill. It makes one acquainted with a group of interesting people, all of nature's stamp, and, further calls serious attention to the lamentable workings of our social scheme when- it pursues with a cruel and relentless fate the woman who has once turned down the wrong lane in life. Dr. Joseph Spencer Kennard, it would seem, has launched his book, "Italian Ro mance Writers," at the "proper psycholog ical moment. ' A glance through the Fall announcements of the Knglish as well as the foreign booksellers shows the Italian hand appearing again and again. Conveniently arranged. Dr. Kennard's book has the merit of conveying to the busy person, who can give It only a curscry reading, a very fair idea of the work of the Italian writers now In the public eye. Those who can give the book a leisurely reading will be well repaid by acquiring a comprehensive knowledge of modern Italian authors from Manzoni and D' Annunzio. and will be mentally enriched by the-consistent criticisms of this scholarly mind. ' Hefnrich Seidl. whose death In his B."ith year is reported . to the Athenaeum from Grosslichterfelde, Berlin, was a writer of singular charm, whose fame was spread be yond his own country. He was born in Mecklemhurg, ancT the success of his first books induced him to give up his pursuit of the profession of engineering in favor of literature. He pictured the Hfe of the mid dle classes with a quiet humor that was all his own, and many of his characters have become famous In Germany. His best-known books are probably "Leberecht Huhnchrn." "Neues von Leberecht Huhnchen und An dern Sonde-rlingen." and "Leberecht Huhn chen als Gross vat er." He also wrote "A us der Heimat," "Wintermarchen,"' "Rosen- konig." etc., and. published several volumes of poetry, "Glockenspiel" and "Kindcr liedcr." By no means the least attractive of the Mosher books for the present season is an index that gives an alphabetical summary of the contents of "The Bibelot" from its beginnings in 1895 to the close of the pres ent year. It is bound in boards of blue-gray and white, presenting to the eye the famil iarly attractive Bibelot wrappers, and of fering in its contents a varied view of the literary curios so- admirably selected by Mr. Moaher to make up the pages of his unique monthly magazine. Here are selections from auch poets as Swinburne and Morris, Omar and Fiona Maclcod, Ernest Uowson and Amy Iee; prose from Symonds. Maurice Hewlett, Stevenson, Dickens, HazMtt, Oscar Wilde; and here search for many an out-of-the-way literary titbit will be again and again rew-irded. The possession of this index will be dcEired by all who have treas ured upon their shelves the numbers of "The Bibelot" that have regularly appeared during 12 years past. The novelist. Burton E. Stevenson, whose "Affairs of Ktate" was published lately, is librarian of the public library at C'hillicothe. O.. and was recently elected president of the Ohio Library Association. Mr. Stevenson was born at Chillicothe in 1S72. He entered Princeton with the class of '0-4 ; after fin ishing his junior there, he took up news paper work at Chillicothe, serving as re porter and city editor, till 1809, when he became a librarian. It is only since his ap pointment as librarian that Mr. Stevenson has had leisure for continuous literary work, but during his boyhood days at Chiilirothe he equipped a press of his own and began the publication of a monthly magazine which he continued without a break for seven years, railing his paper first the Boys' Own and then Light. At Princeton ho helped to foot his bills by setting type in the Princeton printing office and by acting -as. university correspondent for the New York Tribune and other papers. There appears to be considerable of the romantic, surrounding the writing of "Tne Viper of Milan," a novel that has followed up its instant London popularity by an ap pearance upon the shelves of American bookshops. Its author is Miss Marjorle Bow en, and her publishers say that she- was far away from London, on the continent, when her novel was published. On her return to London, her first intimation that her book was attracting attention was the discovery of a persistent journalist's visiting card, asking for an interview the name evening. Below this was a pile of correspondence of formidable dimensions, containing scores of press clippings, several begging letters, two or three offers from publishers for her next book, and several from newspaper editors, anxious for short stories. Miss Bo wen, who is said to be less than 20 years of age, com pleted "The Viper of Milan" before her 18th birthday. Although she comes of a literary family, it was her wish to become an artist, and she has studied art in Paris and London. "A good sklppable book" Is the beading given in the London Daily Mall to a col umn review by Ford iMadox HuelTer of "Some Reminiscences of William Michael Rossettl." And there is some truth In its flippancy, although if a book be skippabie It must also contain much of value inter spersed among Its trivialities. This extract about Landor betrays a little personal trait that is certainly worth recording: "On the following morning I found (him), seated at the table - with his writing materials. He wore a loose cap, around which various flies were weaving their disquieting dance. Lan der's aspect was mildly composed, but when some one made a passing observation about the flies he responded with an utterance in which one could easily recognize the orig inal of Dickens Mr. Bo'ythorn. 'Yes, said the author of the 'Hellenics' and of the 'Im aginary Conversations' In a tone of resolved conviction, 'I have considered the matter and I find that, of the many vile nuisances on the face of the earth, flies are the most intolerable.' , Frederick Trevor Hill, whose "Lincoln the Lawyer" is devoted to a phase of the great American's life hitherto almost entirely neg lected, is a native of Brooklyn and a grad uate of Yale and of Columbia Law School. Besides his legal practice, he has found time to write "Ministers of Balzac" (with S. P. Griffin), "The Case and Exceptions." "The Care of Estates," "The Minority," "The Web," "The Accomplice" and many magazine articles. "Lincoln the Lawyer" Is the fruit of sev eral years' interest in and work on the sub ject. Tn his reading of Lincoln literature, Mr. Hilt was Impressed again and again with incidents seeming to indicate Lincoln's high legal qualities. Examining Lincoln records further, he was surprised to discover "how little had been published concerning the 23 years of Lincoln's active practice. Mr. Hill immediately started to gather material from first hand, and met with gratifying success. Judge Lawrence Wel don, at the time the last surviving lawyer cm i AiinFT it iMTirr t-t ON THE outskirts of Washington, D. C, there stands a group of buildings which, seen from afar, remind the casual observer of the villa of a prince. Surrounded by majestic trees, green lawns and potted palms with driveways and paths gracefully laid out. the beauty of this particular spot is known far and near. It is also one of the favorite driving places of the successive Presidents of the Unit ed States. But, while many know of the place on account of Its artistic appearance, comparatively few can state the real object of its existence, for It represents much more than these delights of the eye. It is the site of Gallaudet College, the Government institution for the higher education of the deaf and dumb. Before dwelling at length upon the work of this institution, it may be of interest to notice briefly the early ef forts to educate this peculiar variety of the human race. The object and worth of this institution of learning will then be more fully understood. Hundreds of years ago the Roman poet, Lucretius, wrote: To instruct "the deaf no art could ever reach; No care Improve them and no wisdom teach. And this strangely absurd conclusion was accepted by the people of his time. A great majority of deaf children born to them were either cast into the sea or else beheaded. Then the birth of a deaf child was a disgrace to the par ents and the greatest misfortune in the world. Today while normal people look upon the event as unfortunate, still, with our educational, facilities, gained through the experience and sacrifice of interested men, there Is the satisfac tion of seeing such children grow up strong men and women, battling suc cessfully in the world along with oth ers who are in full possession of all five senses. Beginning of Education. But for many years it was believed that these persons were inexorably shut off from social intercourse with normal people, and the idea of restoring them or of making their unhappy lives brighter and useful seems not to have been regarded as a possibility. They were denied, when allowed to grow up, the right to buy or sell, or to make a will if they had succeeded in amass ing any property. Besides this, free-dom-in any other form was almost ab solutely unknown to them. This dreadful state of affairs continued apparently uninterrupted until the ap pearance of a good Spanish monk. Pedro Ponce, who died in 1584. His successful teaching of a deaf-mute caused wide spread interest, and from that time on those that were so unfortunate as to be born minus the sense of hearing were In structed and lifted up to that plane o'f living characteristic of an enlightened people. As time went on. better results in the uplifting of the deaf and dumb were had through the efforts of intluential men of means. The results of the labors of the Abbe d l'Epre in France, and of Heinecke in Germany were so satisfactory that In stitutions for their instruction were soon established throughout the world. . America's First School. In 181" the tirst school for the deaf In America was founded at Hartford, Conn., by the Rev. Dr. Thomas Hopkins Gal laudet. The venture proved successful, and in time similar schools were estab lished in almost every state in the Union, and for these the total sum of J12.803.S98 was expended. All of these schools are. with a few exceptions, supported entirely who had tramped the old Eighth Circuit I with Lincoln, furnished much valuable ma- terial. General Orendorff, president of the I Illinois Historical Society, permitted Mr. ' Hill the use of many valuable papers; and j Mayor William Lambert's tine collection of j Lim-olniana, was drawn upon, fortunately, j before Its destruction by fire. Meanwhile, Mr. win traveiea over tne oia bightn cir cuit, meeting and talking with men who had been Lincoln's clients or associated with him in his practice, and collecting much valuable material. ' With the publication of the very first chapters of the new study of Lincoln, In The Century, Mr. Hill began to receive In teresting letters and communications touch ing Lincoln's career many of them proving rarely helpful and valuable, tn many cases, important documents in Lincoln's writing were forwarded Mr. Hill, wlt-h generous per mission to make use thereof all gratifying evidence of the wide and growing interest In Abraham Lincoln. A new magazine. "The Village, devoted to the interpretation of actual life in Amer ican villages and published tn Hyde Park, Mass.. and New York City, has been re ceived. It Is printed on thick, creamy pa per anfl can also boast of superior type and illustration. The message it brings is that the great object in life is to pro mote happiness; that to be happy is to live, and that to live wholesomely is to be happy. It will surely heln on the renewed movement toward fffeal life In small com munities. One suggestion the newcomer gives Is worth its weight in gold that the Ideal and inexpensive house of the future is to be made of cement, from inter changeable moulds. The strange and the curious aspects of science naturally appeal more directly to the populace than the straightforward, dry-as-dust research to be found in textbooks and scholarly essays. Recognizing this trait In human nature and utilizing tt as a threshold to tempt the reading public througli the doorway of knowledge, pub lishers offer book after book whose purpose is to amuse and instruct at one and the same time. The latest series of this sort deals with the romantic element In scientific discovery and Invention, and its six latest volumes from various expert hands deal severally with "The Romance of Plant Life." "The Romance of Animal Arts and Crafts." "The Romance of Early Explora tion." "The Romance of Polar Exploration," "The Romance of Missionary Heroism" and "Adventures on Great Rivers." These books accomplish their purpose in effective, dra matic and sometimes sensational style, and abundant illustration makes them all the more vigorously and picturesquely enjoy able. The "Saint" ha sbeen received with ' such extraordinary favor at home and abroad that Senator Fogazzaro's American publishers are preparing to offer the public in translation two more romances of the greatest of mod ern Italian novelists. This month, the first of these, "The Patriot." will make its ap pearance, and this will be shortly followed by "The Sinner." The two last-named ro mances, together with "The Saint," form a trilogy of stories in each of which some of the same characters play their parts. The hero of "The Patriot," the father of "the Saint." is Don Franco Matron!, who devotes btmself to the cause of freeing Italy from the Austrian yoke. This novel, with all the gracious literary charm, and all the warmth and delicacy of sentiment, that belong to TiMUfrolTV T7Hf7PR in uiz-urri rrvT T " TTT"KT AMPl TiTM aAI SCHOLARS' DEGREES or In part by the different states, and they form a part of the public school sys tem. In IHflG there were under instruc tion over 12,000 children. In the United States today there are fully 40.000 deaf mutes, most of whom are cducaed. and are leading useful lives. In 1S64 the education of the deaf and dumb became so far advanced that Dr. Rdward M. Gallaudet. youngest son of the founder of the Hartford school, re solved to establish a college for the high er education of this class of people at Washington, and extend to them the ad vantages afforded their more fortunate hearing brothers and sisters. The at tempt was no easy task, for his reason ing with Congress met with Ihe strongest Kind of opposition that prejudice is capa ble of Inspiring in man. He did not lose heart, however, and the stronger the op position, the more aggressive he became, until finally his earnestness of purpose appealed to their better natures, and they yielded. In 1SC5 both branches of Con gress passed an act extending to the col. lege the power to "confer such degrees tn the arts and sciences as are usually given in colleges." This document was boine to the White House for President Lin coln's signature by the late John Hay. who recalled the incident a few years ago when he was orator of the day at an annual graduation exercise of the col lege. Kive Hundred Students. Since then about 200 deaf men and wo men have successfully pursued the colle giate course- offered there and received degrees. Besides these more than SU0 have received instruction therein ranging from one year to three, but which did not en title them to receive diplomas. One of these graduates Is the deaf son of ex United States Senator Washburn, of Minnesota, who received the degree of bachelor or arts. He Is now located in New York City and is a most successful artist. The course of study is the same as that offered in our best colleges for the hear ing. All recitations and lectures are con ducted by means of finger spelling and signs. The professors, who are hearing men. with but two exceptions, aro quite fluent in this silent language of the deaf. They are learned men, graduates of such universities as Yale, Harvard. Brown, Johns Hopkins, Ann Arbor, Trinity, etc. Two of them are deaf, as has been stated, and they took their degrees from their alma mater. Last year, in recognition of their work and contributions to literature, they were honored with the degree of Litt. D. Intellectual Entertainment. The students maintain several societies and clubs. Chief among them are a lit erary society, Greek letter (Kappa Gam ma) society, dramatic and athletic clubs. The plays rendered are conducted in pan tomime, which is really painting pictures! In the air by a series of motions of the arms and body. They are almost real istic, and even the great crowds of hear ing people who pay admission to these plays can usually follow them minutely. In many instances, where the scenes are dramatic or touching, tears are brought into the eyes of those who had never be fore beheld the wonderful portrayal of a play In pantomime by the deaf and dumb. Often great men connected with the Gov ernment go over to the college to lecture before their societies. These lectures are translated Into signs for their benefit by one of the professors, -both speakers oc cupying the floor at the same time. Great at Football. In athletics the students are by no means inferior to those of other colleges. Think for a moment of a football or track team from a college consisting of but 75 students, all deaf, downing opposing teams from hearing universities with an I enrollment of more than 2000 students! "The Saint," makes a more direct and poig nant human appeal than the latter bonk. It is an impassioned story of lovers who break the barriers of aristocratic prejudice that oppose their marriage. And through It burns the bright flame or patriotism that makes a soldier of the young lover and hus band. An underlying motive of "The Pa triot" is tiie struggle between the unbeliev ing wife and the deeply religious husband a painful situation brought, home to the read er not by tong contentious tirades, but by a few burning words here, a few delicate touches there, that indicate the gulf that separates the unfortunate, pair, who. though their devotion to each other is complete, are divided by opposing views that wreck what would otherwi.se be the peaceful hap piness of their lives. In "The Sinner." the second chronological ly In the trilogy, one reads' the dramatic and touching story" of Plero Maironl, whom we are later to know as "the Saint" In the last of these three related romances. Plero, an artist and dreamer, his wife being enn ' fined in a lunatic asylum, falls In love with the beautiful Jeanne Dessalle, whom readers of "The Saint" will not have forgotten, and becomes her lover, until, after the Inter view with his wife at her deathbed, he turns from the passion that had .bewitched him to give himself to prayer and mortification. . In the "Life and Letters of Leslie Ste phen." edited by Frederic W. Maitland. it is related that on two occasions, in 1st;:; and I8ISS. Mr. Stephen visited this country, and consequently many pages of especially en livening interest reward the reader who does not hesitate to give the book the thor ough and careful consideration It deserves, t'pon his first visit he was a bachelor. Upon his second, Mr. Stephen was accompanied by the wife he had married in the Interim. She was Thackeray's youngest daughter, and this fact widened the already wide cir cle of his 'American acquaintance. The let ters of his first visit reveal the surprise invariably felt by the educated Englishman of a generation or more aso over the qual ity of our Intellectual civilization. Upon the Second visit, much of this, of course, hud vanished. His first Impresslo'n of America was gained during the turmoil of our civil conflict, and mucn space In his letters is de voted to the controversy and Its various as pects as they appealed to an Englishman. Nevertheless they give a broad view of America and American people apart from the Influences of the passing political mo ment. The first thing that Impressed him upon his arrival in Boston was the "ex tremely foreign appearance"' of the people. "I don't mean." he says, "that they looked like Frenchmen or any inferior foreigners, but they looked most Interestingly Yankee. They all looked sallow and thin." Later he saw many men whom he could not have told from Englishmen; yet he scarcely saw one "fat and fresh-colored Individual." and he felt himself "almost fat among these lean creatures." When Mr. Stephen came to meet and visit the "Cambridge people, in cluding Lowell, Holmes, Dana, and others." he found them to be. In his complacent phrase, "very pleasant, well-educated men. like the best class of our Cambridge men." He adds that - "they are all men of some literary name In a small way." and that "they aro so much like Englishmen that I really cannot see the difference." One of the most striking things about them was their fondness for "talking about English manners and customs and celebrities In a very pleasant spirit." Lowell appealed to him as "one of the very pleasantest men" he had ever mot. and during a Sunday stay at Elmwood they got on so well together STIIDRNT.S 4'W Yet this is what has been done repeatedly. The Gallaudet College football team can bonst of having beaten Johns Hopkins University, University of Virginia. Uni versity of Maryland, George Washington University, Georgetown University, Villa Nova College, anil stood well against I-a-fayette and the Carlisle Indians. In play ing such a game as football all of the signals are given on the tips of the quarterback's fingers, in true mute Ptylc. with a rapidity that is little less than marvelous. Several fine banners, trophies, medals, cups. el;., have been captured from time to time by these deaf students In open competition with the hearing stu dents, and as evidence of their grit these prizes are now on exhibition at the college as an inducement for future generations. The students also maintain a maga zine known in the college world as the Buff and Blue. All contributions, con sisting of original essays. stories, poems, jokes, etc., are from the pens of these deaf students. The magazine is of a high literary standard and com pares favorably with those that are published in our best universities. Nu merous favorable comments on the sub ject matter are made by various pub lications, and these are always kept on file as an extra inducement to the fu ture editors of the paper to try and outdo their predecessors. Technical Training. The art, electrical and laboratory de partments' are excellently equipped. Students working In these departments are given a thorough training, second to none in the country. The laboratory In particular affords excellent advan tages to those contemplating chemistry as their future profession. A good many students, upon complet ing their course, take to writing. Some are editors, poets. teachers. lawyers, professors, ministers, bucterlologlats. surveyors, and, in fact, there is liardly a profession in which some graduate of the college is not engaged. Of the poets turned out by the college, tile majority are semi-mutes, i. e., tiiose that lost their hearing at an early age. but who still retain the power of speech. and remember what melody sig nifies. One young student, now a pro fessor in the college, while sitting alone, in his room one evening and reflecting sadly on the time when he once could hear, wrote out a beautiful poem, which has touched the hearts of thoae who have read and understood it. This Is the poem: .. Seml-mutos They are like one who shuts his ejes to dream Of some bright vista In his fading past; And suddenly the faces that were lost In long forgetf ulncss before him seem The uplifted brow, the love-lit cjes, who beam Could ever o'er his soul a radiance east. Numberless vharms that long ago have asked The homage of his fresh young life's esteem. For sometimes, from the slltnce that they bear Well up the tones that erst-fnrmed half their Joys. A strain of music floats to the dull car. Or low, melodious murmur of a voice. Till all the chords of harmony vibrant are With unconsciousness of deeply slumb'ring pow'r. Pupils who have finished the pre scribed course of study in the. various state schools and who pass the entrance examinations to the college are per mitted to enroll themselves. The great state institution for the deaf at Salem has sent several pupils to the college, in recent years. If they complete the prescribed course in the arts or sci ences, they will receive their degrees. After that they may be able to return to Oregon and help along the great work of educating their fellow unfor tunates. WINKIKLD S. HL'NUK. I that thev did not separate until after two 1 very pleasant days. Among his otuer ! American friends was Holmes, "a very ! Jolly, chirpy little tnan. whose prinripiil i fault Ii that when he has once got started in talking. I douht If even Faweclt could get a word in " All In all. at Boston. Mr. I Stephen was "in the best and most Kngllxh I part of the country. Perhaps I shall find l tlilnoi ML-or a I en on." ne adds rather needlessly, and In a mood that Implies a search for the worse rather than the better." History Is full of names of novelists who would rather have been puets, und lyrics who would rather have been dramatists, but who only succeeded, when they tried M enter these fields. In being dreary, says ih-e Literary Digest. Gertrude Atherton con fesses In "The Coniiuf ror" that she started the book as a biogruphy of Alexander Ham ilton, hut had to give up her plan and make a novel of It. She would rather have been a biographer, but had to be a novelist. Now she has been asked what work she would like most of all to have written, and she declares that she would like best to have penned "The Federal- 1st." a work which some might think was not written precisely in the ilrrtruda Atherton manner. Several other author are asked bv the same magazine to name the works they wish they had written. Winston Churchill would ratter have written somki of Kipling's eorllei short stories about IndU "than anything else In fiction." Hnotli TarU Ington could think of several thousand books that he should most like to have written, but being pinned down to oie chooses "The Egoist." adding teat no ono could understand his reasons except a sym pathetic reader of "The F.golst." and h "would require no explanation." Meredith Nicholas expends nls "meanest envy and covetousness" upon Thackeray for his achievement of "Henry .Esmond"; Harold MacOrath votes for "The Three Musketeers." selecting from a thousand ane one reasons what Is to him the chief, that he should then "have been the author of the most gal- lant hero in fiction D'Artagnun." , Two women remain: One of these, Agnes C. Laut, chooses, "without a moment's hes itation." "the old Norwegian and other Northern sagas." The reply of Vary K. Wilklns Freeman contains even more of the element of surprise. Sue Is puzzled to tnako a selection from "Lorna Doone." "l.es Mlser ahles." "Pan Michel." "Anna Kawnina," also one or two of Thomas Hardy's, "The Scarlet Letter," "Vanity Fair." and "The Rise of Silas Lapham." She finally selects "Les Miserables." because "it Is romantic, emotional, tragic, poetical, dramatic, and, more than all, calculated to benefit human ity, by the ereatlon of a hero which Is sec ond to none but the Christ Jean Valjcan." NKW BOOKS KKCKIVKU. In Forest Land, by Douglas Malloeh. (Amer ican Lumberman office. Chicago.) The Nature Lovers' Treasury, edited by Carrie Thompson Lowell. Illustrated. $1.L'0. (Dana-Ewtes.) Gifts and Givers, by Margaret Collier Gra ham. (Morgan, Shapard Co., N. Y.) Billy Whiskers' Friends, by Francs Trego Montgomery. Illustrated. $t. tBrewer, Barse Company. Chicago.! At the Court of the Maharaja, by Louis Tracv. $1.15. (American News Com pany. ) Letters on Evangelism, by Edwin H. Hughes. 5 cents. I Jermlngs-Oraham.) Fir Humphrey Davy said It was as rea sonable to talk of ventilating London with windmills as to light the big city with gas.