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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 1907)
11 THE SUNDAY OKEGOXIAN, PORTLAND, SEPTE3IBER 15, 1907. "Nobody has any right lo find life uninteresting or unrewarding who sees within the sphere of his own activity a wrong he can help to remedy, or within himself an evil he can hope ta overcome." President Eliot, of Harvard. Che Younger Set. bv Robert W. Chmmbers. SI SO Illustrated. D Appleton Co.. New York City. In "The Fighting Chance." a novel that has had an immense sale over 100,000 copies Mr. Chamber told of the sins and loves of New York-s Idle rich, and selected as his principal characters a young man who inherited with his wealth a taste for liquor, and a girl who In herited a disregard for life's convention alities. People raved over the tale. Now comes Mr. Chambers with 'The Tounger Set." and he possibly duplicates the success he has already achieved. He again describes New Tork's plutocratic Idlers but this time dissects moral lepers, "yellow" society, and divorce. A bold spirited appeal for the sancity of mar riage. "The Y.ounger Set" thrills, and does not puffer in comparison wit., anything that Mr. Chambers has yet given us. It is like a well-bred horse. He makes you think, and uses a surgeoi.'s knife in cutting open sores, and . exhibits a ferocity in striking at the Idiocies of the newly rich. In touching the dlvorve end of. the story, really nothing new Is leanned Mr. Chambers Is even orthodox In his treatment of the question and It looks as If he preferred to be considered commonplace rather' than a shocker of the Barnard Shaw type. Moral teaching Is scrupulously adhered to. Delightful dogs and children are Introduced and bring an atmosphere of Innocent joy with them. "Booth Tarkington recently wrote a etory entitled "His Own People," and curiously enough this heading Is used as the subject matter for the opening chapter in "The Younger Set. i The plot: Captain Philip Belwyn is serving with our army in the Philippines when he meets and thinks he falls In love with Miss Alixe Varian, a beautiful society girl and that describes her ac curately, for she was nothing more. They marry. She Is a bunch of rotlc complaints, Is difficult to live with, and after painful domestic scenes she leaves her husband because she prefers one Jack Ruthven, a living crime In clothes "a thing that has crawled up to your knees to have its ears rubbed." Mrs, Selwyn obtains her freedom in an un contested divorce suit, and promptly be comes Mrs. Jack Ruthven. All the parties Interested return by dif ferent routes to New York City, where action proper begins. Captain Selwyn ' resigns from the army and is a guest at the home of his. eister Mrs. Austin Garard. wife of a wealthy financial magnate. The girl In the case Is Miss Alleen Erroll who lives with the G-arards, her own parents being dead. She Is a person with Ideas, and Is profoundly Interested In archaeology. She and Cap tain Selwyn enjoy horseback rides to gether In the Central Park, along w-ith other patricians, and In the new days that dawn in a guarded fashion Aileen and Selwyn discover th: t they love each other. , She declines to allow him to em brace her. , Mrs. Ruthven and her former husband meet as good friends at society functions, and once she daringly visits, him, alone, one night, at his bachelor apartments. In a dim way she realises the pearl of great price she had lost. Ruthven . Is supposed to be engaged In reputable busi ness but in reality he keeps up great social style as a master gambler at his home where by his skill with cards he wins large sums of money by high play with - rich profligates who pose as his guests. Captain Selwyn continues to regard himself as a martyr, because of the fact that a divorce has occurred In his dis tinguished family, and his general be havior Is that of a saint of the middle ages whose tearful life la governed by the lamentations of the .prophet Jere miah. He Insists that it was his fault that he didn't compel his wife to love him, and thus reasons: No. man I. free to marry twlc. under such conditlona. It' a Jest at decency and a slap in the face of civilization, I'm done for finished. I had my chance and failed. Do you think I consider myaelf free to try attain, with the chance of further bespottlng tny family? All I can do is to go and ain no mure. Yet there la little merit in good conduct if one hides In a hole too small to admit temptation. But If an,y motive ex cept a desire to be a decent citizen swaya a self-flnlshed man toward self-leniency then is he uncardonabl. If h. break, those laws which truly were fashioned lor such as he. . . . My wife, shamed or un ashamed, true to her marriage vowa or false to them, now legally the wife of another, haa never ceased to be my wife. And it is a higher law that corroborate, me higher than you can understand a law written be cause axiomatic; a law governing the very foundation of the social fabric, and on which that fabric is absolutely dependent for It. existence lntaot. Captain Selwyn demonstrates that we again live in days of real, horny-handed heroes, and that the age of Fox's martyrs la not yet passed. Selwyn sud denly discovers a fact of which he was unaware when he married Alixe that a taint of hereditary Insanity existed in her family, and that at times she was not responsible for her own actions. What Is the cold truth? Selwyn glories In being a social martyr, because although he had not Alleen Hrroll the "right" woman "had not entered his life to stir him to action. In other words, he did not really love again. The Ruthvens are also unmated and they separate. Mrs. Ruthven feels the slow but sure throb of insanity In her veins, and It Is at this juncture, although her legal husband had cast her off, that Selwyn at his own expense places her In a private sanitarium. Some days she regains her normal senses, and other days reason flees. How Is Mr. Chambers going to end it all, alter working up his story to such a tremendous climax? Remember he has painted Selwyn -as a martyr and hero. Does he forever keep apart In weeping regret Selwyn and Miss Erroll. because Selwyn s ex-wife is Insane? Not a bit of It. Apparently he shrinks from i-e task or perhaps he is, anxious to somehow finish the novel for he makes Mrs. Ruthven take her own lire. Here Is where the Chambers reasoning is as a sounding brass. Hopelessly bad wines and bad .husbands moral lepers, worms eating out the joy of the world's life- do not usually kill themselves. In real life. They persist In living! You've guessed the remainder haven't you? There is a sweet vision of Saint Philip Selwyn and Miss Erroll, In each other's arms, at last: vter arms clung to his shoulders, higher. tightened around his neck. And from her Hp. in, gave imo ais kw(iiu oui mnu body, guiltless a God gave it. ta have and o hold beyond such incidents a. death and b ' " ' ' -' - ."'-"T ""w-v ' . M I : 'J I : II II I " " ' "- ft ' Ml lb" .?;-'', .1 II ill' III I : Xi'str 1 IS! 111 rv'..rfv:, j mff If r ' ' J v ; 1 W 2 ; h the eternity that no man clinga to. save in i the arm. of such a. .he. Clem. By Edna Kenton. $1. The Century Company, New York City. After bravely proceeding to the 275th page of this amusing society novel, the impression deepens that- nearly all the women In it especially those who use slang might feel much .happier if they had once scrubbed floors. As for the men spoiled darlings as they are, a season at wood-chopping would have Im mensely benefited them. They are a yawning, giggling, gossiping crowd. "Clem" la described as the story of a battle royal between "Mrs. Grundy, and a woman who dared to be herself." At least that's how the publisher's advertise ment reads. Whisper! .Miss Clem Mer rlt, although her mother had been an actor and her father a "horsey" man, is an eminently vulgar young woman and would be utterly Impossible, amongst de cent people, in a social way. Of course, she is physically beautiful but so, In Its way, is an elephant. If the authoress meant to picture Miss Merrit as a gen eral shocker or social terror, she has' suc ceeded marvelously well and her book Is certain to provoke curloBity. It Is just the problem novel to attract what is called "the smart set." One of Miss Mcr rlt's admirers thus flatters her: "She might have been the primeval woman, walking untrodden sands, pressing the springing . earth when the world was young she was so nobly unashamed and so purely human." Love Is blind, you know. When Miss Merrit Is invited to become a member of a house party, Bhe Insists on talking within the hearing of people of both sexes about Intricate details in putting on her clohes. She thinks she is In love with one Reginald Wines, a young Idler who luckily has a rich mother. It is doubtful if he ever could have honestly earned his own living. One of Miss Men-it's semi-public speeches: Reggie .aid we might be late, but I want ed to come the bridge drive. H. .aid it beat anything round here to kingdom come, and I wanted to make sure he hadn't lied. He hadn't. It sure make, other thlnga look like 30 cent. In dirty pennies. Miss Merrit also speaks of an Impas sioned lone speech as a "bully thing" and "that stunt of yours In words." Really, Miss Merrit does so 'many au dacious things that she keeps even the hardened novel reader in mild surprise and he is forced to read the book through with the stern determination to see the horrible end which must await the hero ine. No, she isn't drowned or run down by a motor car. She jilts her boy lover after he shoots himself and then she conveniently accepts the adoration of a more mature lover who ought to have known better.' Matrimony with that woman? Senti ment shrieks. It would be one long; night mare. But the novel will sell. . Such books .generally do. They are "smart." John Kendry's Idea, by Chester Bailey Fer nald. $1.50. The Outing Publishing Com pany. New York City. Altruistic action and sordid desires brightened by poetic sentiment, all go to make up the1 motive of this novel of modern San Francisco life, and the result of the skillful mixture Is decid edly Interesting. Very few novels have such original, unconventional lovemaklng. And that's something In these days of cut-and-dried plots where everything; happens just so. At the same time, Mr. Fer nald haa taken considerable liberties with his subject, and sometimes It Is difficult to follow him In his poetio flights. But this fault If It be one can be forgiven in the person of the accomplished author of "The Cat and the Cherub." "John Kendry's Idea" Is the attempt of a young millionaire philanthropist of that name to take one Ethel Marr out of crude surrounding and give her a higher culture. And again the "Idea" means something more: Once In describing poetically, of course the lovemaklng of John and his Ethel, Mr. Fernald writes: They came along hand in hand to th. last level atretch of the trail where they saw over the broad distance. Flowers looked up to- them; birds started from their feet. Beyona lay tne woria. "You you are the idea.' he held bar. "Ah, no. you you." He pointed far to where the sun glinted on th. window, of the city. "We win b. the idea." Enough has been quoted to show the point of the story. It begins on a mountain-top and after twisting and twining as If reluctant to leave the scene, ends on a mountain-top where the heroine Is. shot by one Arthur Paulter, cigarette-fiend and bad man generally. Throughout the book the' commanding figures of various coun terfeltere arise, especially a wise Chi naman named Chan Kow, who In his way Is a bit of a bookish philosopher. Once he argues: "After death they will not ask you what Kino, or motions you tnaae with your hands. in the temple; they will not be put off by a showing of candle, and. Incense contribu tion.; they will go down' Into your deepest essence ana ywur secrex Heart. COnluce, Je.u. Darwin. I think you will find all In one I cannot explain. But aim.tirae. when I am alone, when my eye. look at these walla and do not see .them and my eara do not hear, then it vomea Into my feeling Into my soul through some , un "It'a al something like my Idea." .aid "It's all something like my Idea," said ft-.nary. And so on, sweetened to taste. The more one reads about John Kendry, his frenzied talk and asbestos love, the more one Is Inclined to long for a hero that Is more enduring. But then Kendry is a combination of millionaire, Socialist, lover and altruist. He keepe you- guessing. Good Night. By Kleanor Gate.. Illustrated. 80 cent.. Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.. New York City. A confused pile of booke Ilea on the reviewing table some good, some in differently bad but from the number comes the charming revelation of a parrot which was very human In its wickedness and Its love. The scene is California. The little book is a re print, but the telling of the story bears the stamp of a master: "Good night" is the- one diamond amid a beach of sand, and one of the really pleasant, dainty recollections of a life time. P-ace It In the hands of a child, you care for. -and its lesson will live after your influence la forgotten. A Voyage With Captain Dynamite. '-By Charles Edward Rich. SI. A. & S. Barnes & Co.. New York City, and the J. K. Gill Company, Portland. Imagine a story about three- boys caught in a squall In their sailboat off the Masschusetts coast run down by the ship of a Cuban filibuster and carried off to Cuba, where they exT perience a taste of fighting and take part In other thrilling adventures. That's the tale in a nutshell told in "A Voyage With Captain Dynamite." It has all the elements to make a healthy youngster take notice. J. M. Q. The Cenwrahip of the Church of Rome and its Influence Upon the Production and Distribution of Literature. In Two Volume.. 1DOT. BY GEORGE HAVEN PUTNAM. A casual reader of history and litera ture looking through these volumes will be surprised to learn, what a casual reader Is not likely to know, that In the first year of the Enlightened 20th century, the then ruling Pope, Leo XIII. Issued an "Index Prohibltorum" In which he forbid the reading of the writings of Baliac. of certain books by Dainas and Flnelon, Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," Oliver Goldsmith's "History of England," Hallam's "Middle Ages," Victor Hugo's "Les Miserable," Locke's "Es says," Mill's "Principles of Political EconoinV," Montaigue's "Essays," Renan'e works. Rousseau's writings George Sand's stories, Trtne's "History of English Literature," the New Testament (four different editions). Draper's "History of the Conflict Between Science and Religion," Swedenborg's works, Whate- ley's "Elements of Logic." and scores of other productions of scholars and noted writers.- We are accustomed to feel kindly towards modern Popes,' now that in the progress of modern civilixation they have become Innocuous as opponents of science and liberty of thought, and one s surprise at learning that they . still fulminate anathemas against books has no further effect than to amuse us. One learns from Mr. Putnam's volumes. that the first "Index Prohibltorum was Issued, with the approval of, the Roman Church, by Henry VIII, the King of Eng land, who cut off his wlve's heads when he tired of them, and , whom Dickens describes as "a disgrace to human na ture." If the Pope did refuse Henry divorces, he would dhow the Pope that he was a good Catholic by prohibiting the reading by his people of England of Martin Luther's writings and of all other heretical works.' And", from Henry's day to the present time the Roman church has uttered denuncia tions against books, notwithstanding that Its attempted prohibitions have often had the effect to advertise the books condemned and to Increase the number of their readers. Following the burning of Luther s books in Rome 70 editions of one of his works were published in Germany and 4000 copies of ono of them were sold In five days. Flftythree Indexes have been Issued In the past Ave centuries. Twenty-six were promulgated in the lsth century 10 In the 17th; nine in the 18th; seven in the 19th, and so far in the 23th there has been one. Who knows but that by another century they will not only cease altogether, but that cattle drals will ' be turned Into libraries and be filled with books for all the world to read, without restriction, no man assuming to dictate to another what he shall read? This 20th century will not stand for an assumed authority which denounces writings of John Milton, one of the purest . and bravest souls that ever lived. And what shall be said of an index expurgatorus Issued - by Pope Paul IV, which permitted obscene stories in Boccacio's "Decamerone," only objecting to those tales In which monks or nuns were introduced, o changing the tales so that .the monks became magicians ana tne nuns noDi ladies? Paul's warfare was not against bad morals. Well, it all confirms, what most of us have learned in these modern time that inquisitions and popes bulls and preacher's protests cannot stay th advance or Knowledge. vve uav reached a period in the world's his tory when the people not only want to know the truth. but they want to Judge for themselves what Is the truth The church nas always Deen a roi lower, not a leader, in the march o progress-. Mr. Putnam's volumes are interest ing as showing what literature has had to contend with, and, we may add. what religion has had to contend witti, because of the bigotry and nar rowmindedness of Its professional cus todians and expounders. The author's treatment of his theme is not that of a polemic-, but of a gen lal scholar and literateur. In no page does he show partisan feeling or in dulee in criticism. He gives a plain unvarnished history of the policy of which he treats and lets it speak for itself. His theme is well suited to be treated by a great publisher, the de scendant of a great publisher, for it affords opportunity for the portrayal of the difficulties against which pub- Ushers have haa to contend since the art of printing was invented. JOS. B. MARVIN. IX LIBRARY AND WORKSHOP. There 1 a poetic beauty rarely met with In rjrose In Robert Hichens' novels. He idealizes desert life. Hi. mo.t notable -accesses in Action are "The Garden of Alla" and "Barbary Sheep." Althourh her new novel. "The Tents of Wickedness," which -will be published thla Fall, deald with life In New lorn, Mrs. Miriam Coles Harris, the venerable author of "Rutledge." ha. made her residence for a number of yeara past in France. Frederick Mistral, whose memoir, are to appear thi. Fall. ha. been a winner of the Nobel nrlze. which, with a .lngular devotion to the cause to which he ha. given up his life, he be.towed on the foundation of museum In -Aries. President Roosevelt ha. for a long time been an admirer of the Provencal poet, and a correspondence ha. been carried on between them. . It 1. a curiou. list of 100 of the best novel, that the Newark. N J., public library official, have complied. Who, for instance, with all due respect to Mr. Tark- lna-ton. would Incorporate "Tne trentiemnn from Indiana" In such a list? "Kenelm Chlllmgly" la Included and .nothing of Caudet's. Henrv James and not G. P. Hlchen. and not Benson. Stanley Weyman ond not Smollett or FUedins. Cervante. or Le Sage. It i. a strange list. The Western World, of San Francisco, new magazine, has at last made the eye. r.f its friends s:lad bv Issuing a cover worth looking et. one of the best covers of the Rri heine- that attached to the magazine f August 81. .Before tiiat date tnere were j cover' eo baa that, mcrciiuiiy. iney oiTB-ht to have been smeared all over witn black Ink. The editorial comment reflect ing Pan Francisco DOlitical condition. 1. refresTiinglv Independent in tone and well written. The general llteraary bill of fare declflely worm wmie. ine western World fUla a. want. The literary critic of the London By tanrier records, with an enthusiasm, com ments a' New York correspondent, eurely ! Iiiarlfind bv the occasion, the Invention of nmw word A nuhllshlnir firm recently re quested him to print a "laudagrapn" or one of Its books. We sympathize with hla enlovment of thla engaging little mon ster. As he says, "puff" is little terse and brutal, and "notice" Is rather formal and unimaginative. On the other hand. he writer in the Bystander aoes wen noint out that "laudairraph" has a con- e aamnagrapn. i nere is ooiiiriiinns wonderful about the Influence of the dog days of the human intellect. A new volume of William J. Hopkins Sandman stories" will be published soon. In them the "sandman" will ten "snip stories of the dav. when the East India trade wa at lta height. Each story begin. with tne same paragraph "Once upon lni. there was a wide river tbat ran into thA ocean, and beside It was a little city. And In that city was a wharf where great hies came from far countries. Ana a nar row Toad led down a very steep hill to that wharf, and anybody that wanted to go to the wharf had to go down the steep hill on the narrow road, for there wasn't any other way." This appesva to be a method thirf will offer especial fascination to chil dren. There ha. been in London a revival of interest In matter, nertaining to Gambetta, nterest which ha. recentlv been heightened by an article by Francis Laur. descriptive of the secret visit paid by sjamDetia to marck in 1878, In order to bring about an understanding between France ana Ger many. This discussion ha. lent timeliness to the announcement by John Lane of i book hv I.aur: "The Heart of Gambetta. in whinh the atorv of tne autnor a love m- falr with the mysterious "Mme. I L." i given, together with an account of Gam betta. discreet negotiation, with the man whom Tie rolled "that monster. uismarcK. ' Laur. who was brought up by George Sand, was an intimate iriena or uismsrci ior some years. Among the curiosity-compelling book, of th. nnmina M,nn will be "The Letter, of Queen Victoria." on whlth A. C. Benson and Lord Esher have been at work so long. K.v., Kfnre haa the correspondence Of British sovereign been published officially. The book will proDaoiy appear nri muiim. in three volumes, tne period covered Dy u selected letters being that from 1S'!7 to 18BI. Th. . et volume contains the correspond ence of the Queen tin tne age or neany 25. There the reader has an opportunlty of seeing her a. a Princess, as a young r-).An ..aiiaH to nlct s. . husband of her own tholce. and. later, In the difficulties of tv,e miniinderRtandlng with, and tempo rary antipathy to Sir Robert Peel, while the rountrv was surterina num. tii aginim,. and Industrial trouble perhaps best known to the present generation from Disraeli-. novels. Tn vl recent nrtlile in an Ensiiah periodi cal, Andrew Lang takes friendly Issue with Mr. Howells over tne opinions or tne vet eran American concerning the kind of char- rtern now nnnnlftr in nction. .Alinouirn dillerlng. In a friendly way, from some of Mr. Howells' Judgments. Mr. Lang ex- nrpnu frank and cordial admiration xo mm. "wo man nas written more in mo hicher critlpism of modern novels than Mr. Howells." ne aeciares. --hi KnnwiFQKe wi them Is cosmopolitan: Spanish, Italian, French. Russian, and. I dare say. tinmen. Romaic and Portuguese novels are an ia. miiin. to him while, if there Is a rjromls- lr.r vounir 'flctlonlst.' " he humorously adds. 'among the bamoyeaes or .BRimff. iyif- Howells. is the man to lend him an ap plauding pair of hands." And he genially i-.frs to the fact that he and Mr. Howell. are literary brethren, because the degree of Lltt.D. was conferred on both of them by Oxford University a few day. ago. WW 'Th American whom Cooper painted In his nana la th. American In the malting.' writes Brander Mattnew. in Tne Atlantic Monthly for September; "and it i. the earlier makers of America that h ha. de cided with Sympathetic sincerity tne sol dier, the sailor, the settler, the backwoods man, sturdy type, all of them, that gave no false Impression of u. to the best of the world And In thtla portraying tne men who made Dossible the Nation a. we know It today, he performed a splendid service to the country he loved nevoutediy. Ann his service to our literature is equally obvi ous. He wrote the first American historical novel, which remain, to thi. day one of tne heat. He wa. the first to venture a .tory of the sea; and no one of the writers who have followed in hi. wane na. yet equalled hi. earlier attempt. He wa. the flrat to tell tales of the frontier, of the backwoods and of the prairie. He stands forth even now the foremost representative in nction of the United States as a whole for Haw thorne, a more delicate artist in romance. is of his section all compact, and his genius lacked fit nourishment when Its tentacles did not cling to the stony New England of hla birth. Well might Bryant assert that the glory which CoopeT 'Justly won was re flected on his country, of whose literary in dependence he wa. tne pioneer. Stanley tVeyman, the novelist, who has found, for a literary man, congenial treat near Ruthin, occasionally allow. . his een.e of duty to overcome his strong love for retirement, and his aversion to nguring In nubile life. say. the Manchester ouaro ian. On one of these occasions he not only attended a meeting at Rhyl, caueo Dy tjoi onel Cornwallls-West to oonsider the pro. visions of consumptive sanatoria for Den- blgshlre, but gave the meeting a little chap ter of autobiography. Seventeen or 18 year. ro. Mr. Weyman told the meeting, h. him self suffered from a form of phthisis, which. If It had been allowed to go on, would no doubt have Droved fatal. He was setft ahroad. and returned at the end of seven or eight month, perfectly cured. Among hi. companion, at that time were a few men in the advanced stages of the disease, and some of them he still number, among his friends. They spent about two years abroad, and returned strong and healthy. Mr. Weyman strongly advocated in hi. aneech the Drovlsion of sanatoria in every coonty, and .uggested that phthisical cases should, like those of fever ana smallpox, be Isolated In the Intereata both of the pa tient, themselves and of the public. Mr. Weyman must have gone abroad on the very eve of his literary career, ior nia nrot ro mance, "The House of the Wolf." only ap-. peered In 1&90- e In speaking of approaching book, which re oon to reach us from American au thors. The Bookman say.: Among American writers Mr. Howells 1. to De represented this Autumn by a novel with the striking but somewhat cumbersome title of "Between the Dark and the Bayllght." Winston rh,,rohiir new novel, as wa. to be ex pected, will not be ready for publication before next June. From F. Hopkinson Rvnith -we are to have an Autumn book with the alluring name of "The Romance of an Old'Fashioned Gentleman." A book, of short atorlcs by Tliomai Nelson Page, to appear soon, Is "Under the Crust." Then there are' Mrs. Wharton'. "The Fruit of the Tree." and Henry Van Dyke'. "Day. Off.' After a long absence Irving Bachellor is to reapper In the field with "Eben Holden'. T.,t T-tnvn Afishlng." From Gertrude Ath- erton we are to have. "Th. Ancestors." and from Hamlin Garland "Money Magic. George Barr McCutcheon'. "The Daughter of Anderson Crew" is said to be In an en tirely new vein. There is to be published a new book by Stewart Edward White en titled "Arizona Nights," and also a new edition of "The Blazed Trail." From O. Henry we are to have a new volume, "The Heart of the West;" from Myra Kelly, 1 J I T WAS night, and the stars were shin ing. Little Mother arose and, though exceedingly sleepy, . bent over the cot upon which the youngest, the darling of the household, lay sleeping. She cov ered her gently, with a mother's tender solicitude, and was turning away to lie down again, when the brilliancy of the. starlight, shining through the open win- dows of their beautiful home in Irving- ton; recalled her to herself, and drove all sleep from her eyes. The comet! It had been the all-absorbing topic the night before at the dinner table. Only two more mornings were left, so said the papers, In which to view this strange monster from the vast unknown, and then it would vanish for several weeks. Rushing to her . dressing table, she eagerly opened her watch; "Yes, ,yes, how lovely!" The best time to see it was 3 o'clock A. M.. and it was now half past 2. She would steal forth and be the first of the family to view this aerial visitor, so eloquently spoken of .by the papers, "hanging like a Jewel in the sky." She remembered that several other members of the household, the boys who slept In the tent especially, had spoken of setting the alarm clock that they might rise at an unearthly hour also. Hastily donning a wxapper, she sought a window which commanded a fine view of the eastern sky.- A beautiful sight presented itself before her gaze. The palest suggestion of dawn was there. A gray, fleecy bank or cloud lay ngnuy along the horizon. The moon over across the heavens In the southwest shone large "Wards of Liberty." and from George Mad den Martin, "Latltia, Nursery Corps, U. S. A." Owen Wlster 1. to be represented by 'Mother," a lov. .tory or New tors, ana also by a book of historical nature entitled "The seven Ages or vvasnington. ine new book by the- author of "The Garden of a Commuter'e Wife" la to be called "Tale, of the Months," and Jack London is to have two new books. ' iove or jL.ne ana jay Life In the Under World." Marlon Craw ford's novel for the season 1. "ArethUEa.- and later in the year will appear the first volume of his "History or Rome In tne Mlddl. Ages," th. Important work on which he is collaborating with Professor Tomas etti. The nueatlon arise.. Why doe. th wielder of the pen go away from his own haunts at all? Why aoes tie witn ouna tana .irivo, Summer after Summer, to disappear from the public eye, only to find' himself dragged back within the range of that mighty organ by cable, telephone or wireless; Here a distinction la in oraer, uurmi m a- " York Evening Post. Marlon Crawford and Jack London are really Imperfect examples of th. type, because their travel, are largely undertaken In the legitimate pursuit of exotic copy. But why does Mr. Jones con ceal himself In the Maine woods to write his novel, "The Earners." dealing with the life of New Jersey glass factory em ployes? Why does Mis. Robinson go to Alaska to cornplete the "Chronicles of Samfintha." the scene of which 1. laid near Dedham. Mass.? Why doe. Henry Wads worth Taylor leave Pittsburg for the Adi rondack.' to work on hi. long-awaited .tory. Thou Shalt Not," treating of the divorce problem? It cannot be Just the desire to b. alone with one's work that sends the literary .craftsman into exile or back to nature, since It 1. demonstrable that many an apartment In New York is mor. safe against unwelcome intrusion, than a bun galow by the sea. Whoever Invented the tradition that "nature" 1. a friend to hard work, is responsible for much wasted ef fort? Nature 1. never o quiet as the four walls of a room are with the window, closed. Nature is always fidgeting, gossip ing, chirping, buzzing and moaning, chaf ing her leaves against each other, making her waves boom against the rocks. It 1. a question whether any really great books have been written close to her heart. A priestly swindle in Thibet is exposed in the recently Issued "Das Kloster Kum bum in Tibet," written by Lieutenant Wll helm Fllshner. of Prussia: Kumbum 1. celebrated, .ays the New York Bun. not only as the birthplace and home of the re former Tsongkapa, the founder of th. Buddhist lamaaterie., but .till mor. be cause among its temple. and colleges stand, the miraculous- tree that is said every year to reproauce upon - its leaves either the image of Buddha or the magic formulas of Buddhism in sacred Tibetan characters. Many explorers, from Hue to Gabet to Prejevalsky. Rockhlll and 6ven Hedin, have visited the cloister, told of its wonders and described th. holy tree; but I a ENTHUSIASM OF AN EAST SIDE FAMILY rAT 3 A.M. VITH A00PPECTION IN AN B ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATION and radiant. Little Mother was filled 1 with wildest enthusiasm. A voice sound ed from the couch in the same room upon which Auntie lay. "I have looked and looked, but It is not visible. It's too cloudy." Little Mother had better eyes, since) Auntie was near-sighted. She looked out carefully and searchingly. She saw dimly the . constellation of Orion, another star near by. too, glowing bright and full! Beautiful sight! She remem bered the chart, and the location of the comet, near Orion. Suddenly a long, faint ray of. light caught her eye. There in the sky shone a pale, scintillating line, now dim. now bright, now entirely obscured, as the clouds flitted over it. Could it be the comet? Little Mother, well remembered the great comet of '82, and how it illu mined the entire sky night after night No other stars Just there were visible. What a shame -the clouds hid it so! Auntie rose, and with the help of the glass it seemed more near. A daughter was called, the enthusiastic member, and together the .three gazed with exclama tions of astonishment and delight" "How grand!" 1 "How glorious to think "we really see it even faintly!" "Just think, ten million times the size of the sun!" "How it seems to fade and then come out again." "Now we sea It better." "Give me that glass!" etc., etc. Little Mother thought of the rest of the family, unselfish little Mother, always thinking of others! They must not miss the goodly sight, so she stole below to father quietly sleeping. "Wake, dear, don't you want to see the comet?" But all she heard from him was a deep sigh, then a smothered ejaculation, "Oh, 'what a fine catch," and she knew that the kind goddess of sleep had waved her wand, dismissing courts and Juries, dusty, law book and office and in dreams he was -wandering knee deep in cool moun tain streams and rod in hand was pulling out the speckled beauties. thi. 1. the first exhaustive monograph upon this celebrated place. Fllchner could see nothing remarkable about the leaves, and many of the Buddhist priests do not always take them very seriously. The author says that the mystery is nothing more than a plain swindle. The belief in the mysterious Imprint, on the leave, is encouraged and cultivated purely as a business matter. Gr.at throng, of pilgrims come to Kara bum to buy the holy leaves and the trade in them 4s so profitable -that the general belief In the marvel 1. stimulated in every possible way. It 1. different, however, with the inscrip tion, on the bark or th. smooth barkless parts of th. tree stems. The miraculous writing, are there without any doubt, and they are almost entirely repetitions of the Tibetan prayer, "Om manl -padme hum." There Is not a space the size of a hand on the tree trunks without these inscriptions. These plainly visible signs have been used very . adroitly to strengthen the popular faith in the sanctity of the tree. The au thor say. that th. writing, were applied with the aid of red or violet inks and that the color, are reinforced with pencils when ever they grow dim. The third tree Is in' an inner court. It is the holiest of the three and 1. said to have sprung from a hair of the great reformer. Tsongkapa. No European has ever been permitted to see it,, but the author obtained convincing evidence of it. existence, t To th. current issue of The Theatre Mag azine, Mm.. Tucholsky. with whom Helena Hodjeska studied English when she first came to America, contribute, a series of in teresting reminiscences of Slenklewlcz, the famous Polish novelist, who visited Cali fornia In 18TT. Bhe writes: "The Polish colony In Southern California had failed, and Madame Modjeska had come to ban Francisco to study English with me, and to eek a debut on the American stage. Slenklewlcz had also drifted north.' The promised land had not yielded what they hoped to find, eo they Jcfurneyed to the city of the Golden Gate and demanded ad mittance. All the world heard of Mod Je.ka's welcome, but no on. remembers the young author who wa. then writing short .tories, contributing to a Warsaw pa per, and at work upon a play for Modjeska the scene laid in AVierica. The locale may account for the play, being neither trans lat.d nor produced, as everything Amer ican seemed uttery unsympathelc to him. He disliked th. country, wa. cynical ef our custom., manner, (or lack of manners), and he was the one member of that re markable foreign colony . who never ac quired even th. commonplace phra.es of English. Upon one occasion he sought aid from a text of English Self-taught, and bowing low over my hand, graciously in quired. 'Good morning! How ft your heels?. I possessed certain facility In guessing at meanings, but hi. ungrammatlcal concern for that particular part of my anatomy baf fled me. He thereupon produced the text, and pointed to the tine. 'Good morning! How is your health?' But how could he know that each letter was not pronounced? 8he. left him to his rest Returning to the fascinating spectacle, she leaned far out of the window and heard from the tent below the sound of the alarm clock. The boys were wakening. She hastened to the door of the tent to tell them not to delay lest morning should dim the glorl- ous sight. 'One boy didn't "care for 20 comets." he was sleepy, but the other cared more for science and rose. The long, pale radiance seemed to grow brighter through its soft veil of haie. -and as she returned the delight of those at the window seemed beyond words. - "Now it is coming out." "Nowthat glass if you please." "Let me look!" "If the clouds would only entirely 11ft"- "Btill we see it." "Yes; that's something." "Just think, this is the first time these eyes ever'beheld a comet." This last from the enthusiastic mem ber. The elder daughter now Joined the group, also filled with interest and thinking she saw the nucleus or head very dimly through the clouds. "How Bweet!" "How magnificent. A heavy tread was heard upon the stair. The six-foot eldest son, looking at least seven feet In-the bath robe In which-her had swathed his form, suddenly appeared upon the scene. "Where is- your old comet, anyhow?" ' ' "There, there, don't you see?" '-" "No!" "Goodness! Where are your eyes?"-- "Stupid thing!" "There it's coming brighter again." "Give him the glass." "Look low against me horizon. ' "Don't you see?" "Huh! That thing! That's Mr. Ad ams' flag pole! It's painted whitte." Dead silence, broken by derisive laugh ter from the son. Then the enthusiastic member seized the glasses with a scorn-" ful "Nonsense! Inmposslble! No yes" as. conviction gradually dawned upon her. The "head" is the golden fish shimmering , through the dark, and the "radiance and cloud-like veil" Is tne nickering of the electric light. "Well, I never!" she exclaimed, and ' all retired for forty winks before sufl-up. The sibilant pres. our graph. . . wa. a. near as h. could ex-tongue-between-th.-teeta dir.-' "In appearance young Slenklewlscs wa. -attractive .and time ha. dealt kindly, for . his pictures today are excellent likenesses of the man I knew almost 30 year, ago.-' Hi. on. keen enjoyment wa. th. theater.-, and he often .at with us In the box placed, at Modjeska'. disposal by .the managers of the Baldwin Theater John McCullough and Barton Hill. Wa were all tremen dously interested in handsome Charles' Coghlan; then in the heyday of success and giving brilliant performances. Hi. Ham let had aroused controversy, for he gave us an original and really mad prinee of Denmark. Modjeska and I were enthusias tic, but Slenklewlcz refuse to shara our feelings. However, he -showed certain in terest, for, turning to madam., he said ' In Polish. 'Tell her I will make her a pic- " ture of her Ideal Hamlet." The result did . bear resemblance to the original, ar.d f"r . that I kept it. Modjeska's triumph fol- -lowed, and the young compatriot sent: &' detailed account to th. Warsaw paper. Word, could not expres. the .eneation of that memorable night, yet tilenklewlcs' again aearched the English Self-taught and. . according to hir description, th. crowd in the foyer was heard to rapturously exclaim.' How nice!" 'How pretty!" Today. In th. zenith of success, gienkiewicz finds Amer- lea his foster-mother country after all. For tune deals strangely, and on. wonders whether he would have reached the height, had he allowed us to truly adopt him a we did Modjeska." NEW BOOKS RECEIVED. "Schmidt," by Lloyd Osboorne; "Arimanta and the Automobile." by Cnarles Btf' Loomis; "Dawn," by Katharine Holland Brown; "Allee Same," by Frances -Ayiur Mathews, and "In the Deep of th. 6now," by Charles G. D- Robert.. Each 50 ents. Crowell Company, New York. "Gospel Development, a Study the Ori gin and Growth of the Four Gospels." by Rev. Caleb Theophilus Ward, 2. Synoptic Publishing Company, Brooklyn. "The Citizen's Fart In Government." by Ellhu Root, being a recent lecture d.llverd at Yale University. $1. Scrlbn.r's, New York. - "Ikey' Letters to His Father," by George V. Hobert. 75 cent.. G. W. Dillingham Com pany, New York. "How to Tell the Bird, from th. Flow er.." by Robert William. Wood. Paul Elder & Co.. New York. "Mother Goose's Puszle Pt-t'- . Bachelor's Guide to Matrimony." and "Thro" the Rye." each SO cents. Henry Altemus Company. Philadelphia. - - "The Rome Express," by Arthur Grif fith.. $1.25; "The Morning Glory Club," by George A. Kyle, $1.25. and "The Chronicle, of Martin Hewitt. Detective," by Arthur Morrison, Si. 50. Page, Boston, and the J. K. Gisi Company. Portland.'