THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, JANUARY 5, I90S.
11
MB
wi MIDDLE-AGED gentleman, who
had Southern earmarks. Inscribed
his name and title on the register
Df the Hotel St. Reckless, turned his
hand luggage over to Hops, the head
bellboy, and disappeared in the direc
tion of the men's cafe.
. "'Bout four minutes from now and
t bet that there old guy'U be cuttin'
down the available supply of our pri
vate stock of Bourbon," suggested the
House Detective.
"No, he won't," said the Hotel Clerk;
"if he was from Michigan or New
Hampshire your guess might come
true. But you're putting the reverse
English on the wrong side of your
imagination this time. Our elderly
friend yonder no doubt feels the need
of a little stimulant after his trip up
from Louisville, so he'll be taking a
milk and vichy. If he's inclined to go
to extremes he may tell the barkcep
to make it pretty strong of the milk.
He's a true Southern gentleman."
'Sure he is," said the puzzled House
Detective, "that's wot I Judged from
the first Jump. Wot would he be
wantin' with milk when he could get
the real nine-year-old pink proven
der?" "What would he be wanting with
milk?" echoed the Hotel Clerk. "Don't
you know that a great wave of tem
perance reform is sweeping over the
once Sunny Southland? Yes, sir, Larry,
a great wave of prohibition has reared
Itself to the majestic heights Of the
everlasting pyramids and is now mov
ing onward and upward across the soil
of dear old Dixie with its foam-crested
breakers seeking, like the fretful porc
upine, for whom they may devour, and
Its mighty talons tempering the wind
to the shorn lamb as they penetrate
Immovably Into the verdant soil of the
ever-shifting sea of public opinion,
while its purpose, towering aloft liks
the redwood of the Sierra Slopes, Is
gathering force even an docs the irre
sistible cyclone of the Western prairie,
which stands forth, firm and faithful,
a veritable beacon light throwing the
handwriting on the wall across -the
torrid Bands of the political Sahara and
calling aloud in the clarion voice of
the silent promptings of an awakened
conscience to the storm-tossed mari
ners, laboring through .the morasses of
dpspair which adorn even the sunniest
of human landscapes, that the real
Balm of Gilead may be had at the
above address.
"Or words to that effect. As near as I
"I know
That all the New Years
And the old
-Shall hold for you
Bright cups of gold
Filled high with
Love and plenty.
For 'tis with years
As 'tis with you
There is no old.
There is no new
Love is at sixty
As at twenty!"
-SELECTED.
The Garden of Allah, by Robert HIchens.
Thirty-two illustrations. 12.50. Frederick
A. stokes Company, New York City.
Once, a young man born of a Russian
father end an English mother found him
self In the French country of North Af
rica, and wondered where he could find
the peace that passes all understanding,
forgetting that it is not meant for this
earth. Was it on the desert, in the
crowded city, or on the restless ocean?
His father was a freethinker and hi
mother a Catholic. Religion beckoned
to this young man, and he became a
Tmpplst monk in the monastery of El
Largnl, near Tunis, and took certain
vows one of them celibacy which cut
him off from the world.
For 20 years this monk's soul Blept
within him, but the world watched him
with covetous eye and said: Aha! we
will get him yet. Wnlt." He did not
know the meaning of human love for a
woman, or any of the eternal passionsi
I'.ut one day the devil gripped him hard
and said: "Come, sexless one, from your
glided cage. Be a man. Fleo for knowl
edge to the desert, which Is the Garden
of Allah."
So, poor fool, the monk cut off hi
heard, secured worldly rluthes, and fled
to the desert wastes of Reni-Mora. where
be assumed hla personality of Boris An
drovsky. Now, fate so willed it that' a
Fweet temptation was placed in his way.
Miss Domini Enfllden, an Englishwoman
of aristocratic birth, 33 years old, rich,
and beautiful, proved to be tho web de
signed to catch the monk. "She was a
strong,, active woman, with long limbs
and well-knit muscles, a clever fencer, a
tireless swimmer, a fine horsewoman.
But tonight she felt almost neurotic
like one of the weak or dissipated sister
hood for whom 'rest cures are invented
and by whom bland doctors live." Miss
Enfilden also arrived at Beni-Mora, in
search of a new sensation and principally
to learn how to "understand herself," in
the solitude of the desert.
Ah! why did not a merciful Provi
dence so shape events that these two
souls should not clash? Why were they
not suddenly stricken with illness and
on recovery hurried to points far re
moved? Love Is like the starting of a
fire once it flames, it consumes. And
the woman and the runaway monk met.
He carefully guarded his secret, and
though he begHn as an uncouth boor to
"her, he ended by loving her and she him.
. . . And they were married!
With feverish haste, the ex-monk
urged his bride farther into the desert,
hoping that Its silence would swallow up
his (secret. He became moody and surly
to all. until a French officer recognized
him. Then the miserable man confessed
to Ills wife the deception of which he had
been guilty. Now, If Mrs. Androvsky
had been other than a devout Catholic;
if she had been a Mormon, or belonged
to any other church the chinces are that
she and her husband would probably
have passed the remainder of their lives
as exporters of dates in the Algerian des
ert, and defied what is vaguely known as
the world.
But the monk Is not a brave Luther.
The knell of renunciation strikes, and
with infinite courage the renegate monk
makes a true confession to the woman
lie has wronged and goes back for life
to his monastery, while she and the son
-who ie -born to her retire to an oasis In
the Sahara. ,
So runs the plot of "The Garden of
Allah." which for real poetic beauty and
glowing pictures of a tropic paradise, re
mains the chief novel of years both here
HOTEL OLgRg;T2W0m-W!VE
"CA.SZmLLY ZRYZ27G -
can gather from the accounts of the
mangled survivors, she started in Texas.
Texas, Larry, used to be a state where
a man was apt to catch his death if he
left off his heavy hardware too early in
the Spring. Many a man out there con
tracted a fatal attack by swapping his
Winter-weight Colts for the lighter and
less protective pocket derringer before the
weather and the Spring elections got
settled.
"These times, If a man says 'dash it'
on a train passing through Texas they
drag him off and sentence him to ten
days at a Presbyterian prayer meeting.
If he is caught with poker chips in his
possession they make him eat them, after
which a company of Texas Rangers take
him out behind the T. M. C. A. building
and use him for target practice. So
many counties in Texas have voted in
local option that at this time -the terri
and over the seas. It will surely retain
its proud position In permanent litera
ture, for no one has written of the des
ert as has Robert Hichens. He cannot
surpass his work. Its calm, serious
beauty haunts one its silences e, moods,
strange humor and tempe-st. One mo
ment the reader smiles at Batouch and
Hadj, and then comes the hushed cry
of the "Mueddin" to prayer, three times
renewed: "Oh. thou that art covered,
arise and magnify thy Lord, anad pyrify
thy clothes, and depart from xincleanll
ness." This .story has already run through 14
editions. The present volume ie of the
edition-de-luxe description, and the pho
tographs taken by Mile. Helene Philippe,
who visited the scenes with her camera,
preserve desert color to a remarkable
degree.
Not to have read "The Garden of Al
lah" means that one has missed an ex
quisite treat Its one song lingers:
"No one but God and I
Knows what is in my heart."
The Scarlet Shadow. By. Walter Hurt, trice,
$1.50. Th Appeal to Reason, Glrard.
Kan.
Quite a different novel frbm Haw
thorne's "Scarlet Letter.
"The Scffriet Shadow" tells of recent
industrial troubles In Colorado-Id alio be
tween the Mineowners Association and
the Western Federation of Miners, the
principal' murders related being those of
the 13 men who were blown to pieces by
dynamite at Independence, Colo., In June,
1904. and that. of Frank Steunenherg, for
mer Governor of Idaho,- December SO,
19u5. Lurid and blood-thirsty, the novel
is written from a pronounced Socialistic
standpoint, and one of Its chief achieve
ments is to exalt Eugene V. Debs to an
exceedingly high pinnacle. Here and
there can be detected blase notes, espe
cially when Mr. Hurt describes Denver
newspaper life. But of course he is en
tertaining he Is too experienced a writer
not to inject the necessary spice into
his dish of words.
One of the chief actors in the novel
Tim McFarlane. "manager of the "West
ern division of the Thugerton Detective
Agency," clearly meant for Superintend
ent James McParla'nd, of the Plnkerton
Detective Agency. Other noted people
who figure in the pages are Harry Or
chard, Charles H. Mover, William D.
Haywood, George A. Pettibone, Clarence
Darrow, Bulkeley Wells, Sherman Bell,
etc.
The one man who works overtime ia
Richard Walton, who "had grace in his
every gesture like the rhythm of a per
fect poem.'1 Walton is first Introduced
as the atar reporter of the Chicago
Clarion, "the chief organ of capitalism,"
sent to report the Idaho industrial con
flict. The story finishes at page 416, and
on page 419 Walton, faultlessly attired in
evening dress, takes his own life leaving
behind him a confession in which he
stated that he belonged to the terrorist
wing of the Russian revolutionary party,
and that he alone killed Governor Steu
nenberg. His letter also charged that
the Independence railroad station was
blown up by agents of the Mineowners
Association for the purpose of casting
suspicion upon the Western Federation
of Miners and discrediting that organiza
tion In the public mind. Walton hsd
been the adopted son of a rich railroad
president. Franklin B. Gower, but he
. HXS JTEBTS Or3CCZIE &OL7
tory which still remains damp Is only
about twice as large as the combined
areas of England, Ireland, Scotland, the
Baleric Isles and part of Germany and
Asia Minor.
"From Texas the wave worked north
and east. Georgia went dry the first of
the year, and already has all the symp
toms of the Great American Desert.
Oklahoma has voted out the Demon Rum,
thus compelling the white populace to re
sort to the favorite beverage of the Five
Civilized Tribes carmine writing fluid,
with pepper sauce and chewing tobacco
stirred In. I'm ashamed to tell you what
the uncivilized tribes fancy In the way of
a beverage. In Alabama the Legislature
has said the liquor traffic must go and it
is in large towns like Montgomery and
Birmingham it's going line. Saloon
towns in Tennessee are so far apart that
a Tennessee gejtleman often has to
travel two hundred miles before break
fast for his cocktail. Many Carolina com
really was a proletariat, and the son of
a man who was hanged in Pennsylvania
as otie of the notorious "Molly Magulres."
In speaking of his real father, Walton
wrote :
"He was hanged before I was born,
and I came into the. world with the
shadow of the scaffold falling across my
cradle. This shadow fell also upon my
soul and never was lifted."
The acquittal of Haywood Is mentioned.
In chapter 13 a scene Is enacted in which
Harry Orchard agrees with Detective Mc
Farlane for a sum of money to confess to
the murder of Governor Steunenberg, im
plicating Jack SImpkins and others, and
to declare that he had been hired to do
it by the Western Federation of Miners.
Page 75 has a panegyric on newspaper
reporters, which is amusing, and the
"bouquet" finishes with this thought:
Enslaved, improvident, elate.
He greets the embarrassed gods, nor fears
To grasp the Iron hand of Fate
Or match with. Destiny for beers!
The Soot of the lftth Century; His Religion
and His Ufe, by the late Dr. John Watson.
A. c. Armstrong A Son, New York City.
This comes critically yet reverent
ly from one who was a world-wide
representative Scot of his generation,
better known to the reading; world as
Ian Maclaren. If any one had the
right to appreciate the shortcomings
and long-goings of the nation indi
cated, he was the man.
Many incidents are told about Scot
tish writers and divines, and the whole
book forms pleasant and Instructive
reading.
This about a muscular, country
clergyman:
He announced hta Intention one Sabbath
of holding a diet of catechising in the
house of a certain small laird who was
distinguished for his ferocity and evil liv
ing. When he arrived at the door the own
er asked him what he came for. "I come,"
said the minister, "to discharge my duty to
God, to your coneclence and to my own."
"I care nothing for any of the three;
out of my house, or m turn you out."
trlt you can," said the minister, and then
the minister had what may be called a
preliminary "diet" with the laird, who
w very powerful men. When the diet
was over the landlord had all he wanted to
eat, for he was lying on the floor with a
rope round hie hands and feet. As the
minister pleasantly remarked, "he was now
bound over to' keep the peace, and then
with bis captive before him, the minister
called In the people of the district and
taught them the "'Shorter Catechism,"
from the oldest to the youngest, no man
refusing. It is encouraging to know that
the laird became a decided Christian, but It
Is difficult to see what alternative he had
under the preaching of his parish minister.
One chapter is given to the life of
William Carstares, Presbyterian, whom
Dr. Watson calls "the greatest ecclesi
astic of the Scots Kirk." Of this
worthy is told a story to show the
good nature with which he contended
against the Church of England:
One day an Episcopal clergyman, who was
very keen and Irreconcilable, received an In
vitation to call upon Carstares. When he
came into his room the principal was in a
towering rage an unusual thing for him
because his tailor had made a suit of clothes
which would not fit him. He flung them
peevishly about the room, and, at last,
studying as It were for the first time the
figure of his visitor, declared they were his
very alee, and asked the curate to accept
them, if only as an atonement for this fit
of Irritation. He did not tell his visitor with
the threadbare clothes that be had instruct
1 J X V Iff
-TZECE5 "
munities have a aw which prohibits a
man fr.om drinking his bottled goods
within one hundred yards of the place
where he bought it. Hfe knows when he
gets to the yard limit by the number of
prominent citizens asleep on the ground,
with their heads in their own laps, it
being that kind of bottled goods. It is
predicted that ere long a barroom in
Mississippi--will be as scarce as a colored
Republican who can get his vote counted
and that's the rarest thing in the world,
in Mississippi
"And now the hydrant-headed monster
of Prohibition has hit Kentucky, the
home since time immemorial of most of
the stuff that Is manufactured by the dis
tilleries of Illinois and Pennsylvania,
County after county in Kentucky has
gone dry until now in the whole of the
historic Bluegress state there are only
about 3000 places where you can get It
legally and only about 80,000 where you
can get it otherwise.
ed his tailor to make that suit for him, and
when the curate returned the next morning
to restore the ten pounda he had found in
one of the pockets, Carstares assured him
that when he took the coat he had a right
to have everything that was In it.
Of old-time sermons:
Tne sermons had grown very much since
the 16th century and were of interminable
len-gth and corresponding weariness. When
a man got a text, he would hardly let It ro,
but continued from week to week upon the
same subject. He was also in the custom
of giving out a huge catalogue of heads. I
myself counted 72 in one sermon of
Erskine's.
When Things Were Ioiog. By C. A. Steele.
Charles H- Kerr & Co., Chicago.
A dream of the coming Co-operative
Commonwealth of America under Social
ist auspices is here pictured, the first
Chapter describing the Honorable Will
iam Tempest, of New York City, getting
the influence of Roman punch.
Chapter two gravely heralds the dawn
of Socialistic supremacy, the invention of
flying machines, submarine boats, etc.
Revolution, but mostly of a peaceful
kind, breaks out In this country and
throughout Europe, and money and bonds
lose their value. This country is known
as Altruria and the first President of
the new commonwealth is Mr. Tempest,
temporary headquarters of the new gov
ernment having been established in City
Hall, New York.
On page 246 the new Portland, Or., is
described: '
Portland has been regenerated. On. the
old site has sprung up as if by the magi
clan's wand Sv- dream city which many de
clare tha loveliest In all Altruria. If not on
earth. . . The whole Willamette Val
ley and the country to the south have
shared in the general metamorphosis, and
where as they formerly had the worst
roads In the world, bar none they now
have many thousand miles of superior high-'
ways and boulevards in a word, they live
instead of merely existing to pay taxes.
Socialism's' beautiful dream goes on to
the extent of 279 pages, when the reader
is astonished to suddenly learn that Mr.
Tempest had fallen asleep and that all
that had happened was an idle vision.
The plot shows vivacity and ingenuity
coupled with descriptive power, but the
style is hurried and cheap.
The Confessions, and Autobiography of
Harry Orchard. By "himself." Illus
trated. The McClure Company, New York
City. -
If a man who had lived In some far
off country were to suddenly visit this
one and for the first time see this at
tractive looking volume with it pretty
green cover and name in virgin-white
letters, he would be pardoned If he did
not connect Harry Orchard with blood
stained crime.
Commencing with "My Early Life in
Ontario" to "My Reason for Writing
This Book." Orchard's story whether
one believes it or not Is a most re
markable one and forms a striking
study in criminology. What he has
written In theee 255 pages recently ap
peared -serially in magazine form. He
says that his chief reason for taking
the world Into his confidence, when he
confesses his participation In so many
murders, is "that it will be the means
of stopping thto kind of work forever."
J. M, QUENTIN.
IX IXBIjAM AND WORKSHOP.
For early publication there Is being pre
pared a new edition of Anne Warner's Latest
humorous story, "The Rejuvenation of Aunt
Mary." -Its principal feature will be a eeriea
of illustrations from photographs of the
dramatic version of the story In which May
Robe on Is now starring.
V
' "The Automoblllst Abroad, by Francis
Milton Page A Co.). strikes an European
atmosphere that Is alluring, and Is singu
larly free from much of the slang that
marks too many auto stories. Mr. Milton
has not reached the sublime heights of "A
Six Cylinder Courtship" the beat auto yarn
of the year but his book is worth while
for all that. . .
Barly th Is month th Putnam w 1 11
publish a new volume from the pen of Eli
Metchnlkoff under the title of "The Pro
longation of Human Life." The book will
expound In the light of recent knowledge
the contention of the author that human
life Is- not only unnaturally short, but also
unnaturally burdened With physical and
mental disabilities.
A programme unusually rich in attract
ive features has been prepared for the
Youth's Companion for 108. Serial stories
will be contributed by writers of established
repute and more than 100 short stories will
be given In addition. Authoritative writers
are to present a series of articles illustrat
ing the progress of science and evolution
during the past 80 years.
A large audience no doubt awaits the
new and cheaper biography of the famous
bishop of Massachusetts which Dr. Alex
ander V. G. Allen has prepared under the
title of "Phillips Brooks". The book Is
based upon the three-volume life by the
same author, which won such wide recog
nition when it was published seven years
"Think of it, Larry. Kentucky going
Prohibition! Kentucky at one fell swoop
wiping out the source of countless ro
mances and poems and chivalrous deeds,
not to mention quite a few successful
feuds. Think of Colonel Watterson,
seated in the heart of an arid common
wealth surrounded by 10,000 acres of
mint all going to waste and unable to
concentrate his mind on an editorial upon
the beauties of the Fiery Southern Cross
for thinking of the Big Dipper! Think of
Colonel Jack Chlnn reduced to the horrid
necessity of asking for chocolate soda
and performing a silent rendition of 'I
Just Can't- Make My Eyes Behave,' In
the new Lexington branch of Good Old
Doctor A. Wink's Kansas pharmacy.
Think of Colonel O. F. C. Taylor work
ing 'Lips That Touch Liquor Shall Never
Touch Our'n' on worsted mottoes for the
former jug-trade."
"Wot's comln over them Southerners,,
anyway?" asked the House Detective.
ago. While much material has naturally
teen eliminated. Dr. Allen has successfully
preserved the essential traits of his portrait,
and to a newer generation the present vol
ume Is likely to be of more effective serv
ice than Its more bulky predecessor.
Joseph Conrad Is working on a new novel
that he expects to finish about the middle of
this month. It is a sea story, to be entitled
"Chance," and the author describes It as
"a discursive sort of thing; by no means
wha the reviewers call a well-told story."
At the same time he la draughting a story
called "The Duel," with a military theme.
Special Illustrations In color are the fea
ture of an edition of Jane Austen's "North
anger Abbey." Issued by Dent in London
and Dutton In New York. In their series
of English Idylls. The artist Is C. E.
Brock, well known for similar work in
bringing the scenes and characters of vari
ous English novelties to life, and In this
present instance he has fairly outdone him
self. "
Frank Danby, whose "Pigs in Clover1 and
"Baccarat" will be remembered by novel
readers as the sensation of the hour not
many ye are ago, has written a story called
'The Heart of a Child," which la to be
published early this month. It Is said
to te the real story of a young girl of the
people, who because of her beauty rises by
way of the stage to the position of peer's
wife.
If It were only for Its wealth of Illustra
tions, Margaret Boyd Carpenter's "The
Child In Art" should be sure of a wide
audience. There are 51 pictures embodying
the conceptions of artists from classical
times to modern days and including some
of the most notable pictures In which chil
dren figure. But the text Is as entertain
ing as the Illustrations, for It traces In an
Interesting manner of how the child came
to take Its place in art.
As contradicting the general Impression
that it Is only novels which reach the class
of the best selling books Thomas Y. Crowell
A Co. point out that the essays and sermons
of Dr. J. R. Miller have circulated in this
country and England to the extent of over
1.0O0.O00 copies; that Anna R. B. Lindsay's
"What Is Worth While" has attained In 10
years a circulation of 250,000 copies, and
that a new edition of Ralph Waldo Trine's
"In Tune With the Infinite" completes the
100,000 record or that work.
V. Marion Crawford has written for the
current number of the Century the true
story of Beatrice Cenci. which he calls "a
great love-drama, less noble, 'but even more
human, and surely far more awful than the
"Bride of Lammermoor,' " basing the cor
rected version In part on recently acquired
letters and documents, which prove that the
facts, as far as they can really be known,
"are broader, less sentimental, more na
tural, and more dramatic than the legends
that have grown upon them and fed on
them, almost smothering them out of sight."
The record of book popularity at the
Washington, "D. C, Public Library during
one week: In nonflctlon, the call wax for
James "Programatusm" and Tubois "Psy
chic Treatment of Nervous Disorders." In
fiction, the demand was for Carey's "Angel
of Forgiveness" and "Wharton's "Fruit of
the Tree." Among the juvenile books, An
derson's "Fairy Tales' and Defoe's "Robin
son Crusoe" were the most asked for.
Among other subjects of popular Interest
during the week were economics, In which
field the call was for Allen's "Efficient
Democracy and Bretano's "Relations of
Labor to the Law of Today." In pedagogy,
there were calls for Arnold's "Way in arks
for Teachers' and Dutton's "School Man
agement." "Memoirs of Monsieur Claude gives In
sight Into political bribery of France's Sec
ond Empire. Claude was chief of police of
Paris under Napoleon III and he describes
the elaborate system of spies with which the
Emperor surrounded himself. Their head
quarters was the chamber noire, at the
Tulleries. Claude says; "The informers,
plotters, or bravi, who came to get their
pay In this secret room for services rendered
had a singular way of presenting an order
for the sum due. They breathed on the
glass of the door of the chamber noire, and
then wrote their names on the mist left
there, together with the sum to be paid.
Reading this novel check, the cashier of his
majesty paid the money, the creditor wiped
off the mist with the sleeve of his coat, and
no trace remained of the paseage of the spy,
who was never, at the Tulleries. a personage
of low order."
James Riley, author of "Christy of Rath
glln," has many interesting reminiscences
of his boyhood in the old country. Among
bis earliest recollections is that of Mickey
Linn's school. Mickey had a round, bullet
shaped bead, and a most savage expression.
It was a rule of the school that scholars
must study aloud. "I don'f see the lips
goln" he would say. "Now let yes all at
the leaons. Say It out! Spell It out! Shout
tt out I" Then through the pandemonium
that reigned could be distinguished, "Who
made the wurruld-T" "What's an Island?"
and "Tin times one ls frequently varied
by the whaling and resultant walling of
some unlucky urchin. Mr. Riley's descrip
tions of Ireland and her people are given
at first-hand, and with the pen of a master,
and give weight and value to this enter
taining novel. f
.
A brief appreciation of Abraham Lincoln
by Robert O. Ingersoll, firs copyrighted in
1804, is now Issued as a reprint by John
Lane Company. It exhibits the famous ora
tor's -vigorous, direct and forcible style at
its best, and It offers In brief compass an
exposition of Lincoln the man of thought
"They'll quit talking about the Late War
next."
"Not as bad as that, I guess, said
the Hotel Clerk. "But you must remem
ber, Larry, it's been a time of great re
form waves everywhere. The President
started the movement, I think, by re
forming our ten-dollar coins. One day
last Spring when he was casually trying
his teeth on some gold pieces and drop
uing the fragments on the White House
floor, he was struck by the design on the
back side of one of them. 'This foolish
bird that's lying on its back all stretched
but is no eagle," said the President. 'It's
either a soft-shell crab or a clay pigeon.
"So he called in a committee of the
geniuses from the supervising architect's
staff that design all those stone smoke
houses, called Government buildings,
which dot our common country, and they
all went to work and chose a sculptor
and now we've got something on our gold
coins that looks like a winged kalso-
and Lincoln the man of action. ''Lincoln
was not a type we are told. "He stands
alone no ancestors, no fellows, and no suc
cessors. He had the advantage of living in
a new country, of social equality, of per
sonal freedom, of seeing In the horizon of
his future the perpetual star of hope. He
preserved his individuality and his self
respect. He knew and he mingled with men
of every kind; and, after all, men are the
best books. He became acquainted with
the ambitions and hopes of the heart, the
means used to accomplish ends, the springs
of action and the seeds of thought. He
was familiar with nature, with actual
things, with common facts."
David Grayson's "Adventures In Content
ment," to be published at an early date, re
mind some readers while is was appearing
in magazine form of the extraordinary boo.
"A Journey to Nature," by J. P. M-, which
made a notable Impression when It was
published some years ago. The heroes of
the two books have some things In common.
Both had tried city life; both had grown
weary of the stress and strain, the wear
and tear of the city scramble; both found
Inexpressible relief and satisfaction In the
return to the fields, plowed land the sights
and sounds of the country. J. P. M. was
past GO when he broke the bonds of the
town; David Grayson was nearer 3X Their
farms appear to have been in different
States. J. P. M.'s within 40 miles of New
York; David Grayson's apparently remoter
from the city.
'
At a recent book exhibition in London,
the opening address was delivered by Fred
eric Harrison, and in the midst he gave
voice to an opinion of reviewing that is both
caustic and humorous. "It is no use to rely
on what the critics say. They will not tell
you much. I am rathei an old hand at
criticism and reviewing, and I never care
a straw what they say I know it is all non
sense. The thing Is to select your books for
yourself, but how can you choose your books
unless you see them and get hold of them?
An old proverb used to say, 'Don't buy a
pig in a poke.' I say 'Don't buy a book In a
poke.' people are in the habit of saying 'I
ran across such and such a book, but that
is an odd proceeding. If you want a horse
or a motor-car or a wife you take a very
good look at them before you Invest. I say
take a good look at books before you lay
out your money." Note: Should the public
about to buy any book of Mr. Harrison,
judge that book by the chary method he
Indicates?
" e
At a recent dinner of the "Institute of
Journalists in Tendon, H. G. Wells denied
that any just distinction can be made be
tween literature and journalism, except that
the one claims Immortality and the other
does not. "Some books last longer than
others." he said, "and some topics last for
centuries and centuries, but I do not believe
that any books last for all time. . To this
extent agreement may be had with Mr.
Wells the value of a book cannot be Judged
merely according to the time it oontinues
to be read. The first appeal of every au
thor must be to his own generation, com
ments a writer in the London Daily News,
anl that generation has as much right to
judge whether he Is worthy or unworthy as
any succeeding generation. If his contem
poraries embrace him and posterity de
nounces him. that, he may well say. Is not
because posterity is wiser, but because it
lacks just that quality to which he ap
pealed In his contemporaries. If he has
profoundly affected one generation alone,
then he has profoundly affected the history
of the race.
In his trans-Atlantic letter to the New
York Evening Post, Andrew Lang advises
all people who like literary anecdotes of
the mid-Victorian age the age of Carlyle,
Thackeray and Dickens to read In the cur
rent issue of Blackwood's Magailne the
reminiscences of the late professor Masson,
taken down from his dictation by his daugh
ter. Misa Flora Masson. "The opening Is
unpromising." he says; "we seem to receive
the usual list of names, some of them for
gotten; some like that of Douglas Jerrold,
belonging to authors now little read, though
remembered for their good sayings. But
presently we come to Thackeray, and Pro
fessor Masson's anecdotes confirm his repu
tation for kindness and generosity. One of
them gave me a great inclination to cry
in pure affection and admiration for a man
whom I never saw. Professor Masson, in
these old days, was a young journalist, the
first editor of Macmillan's Magailne. He held
for many years the chair of English litera
ture in Edinburgh University; he was the
biographer of Milton, and. In old age, was
the editor of the Register of the Privy
Council of Scotland, adding prefaces not
only useful but amusing."
In Sir George Trevelyan's "Marginal
Notes by Lord Macau lay" it is stated that
Macaulay marked books as he read them.
"Lord Rosebery, on -being presented with a
paper-knife at Glasgow the other day,
pledged himself that 'during his lifetime
It should never cut sn unworthy book.'
Perhaps he keeps other paper-knives for
tasting. Macaulay read everything, and
marked the unworthy books as copiously as
tha worthy. If the book was trivial trash
he would scarify tt for his amusement as
Unmercifully as In the famous essay on
James Montgomery. One of his victims
was Miss Anna Seward. 'What can she
mean?' "What language is that? "Was ever
such pedantry found In company with such
ignorance?' Such are some of his margi
nalia in the 'Letters of the blameless. If
pretentious, Swan of Lichfield.' Macaulay
was never Implacable when a woman was
concerned -even a woman who could de
scribe a country house as an Edenlc villa
In a bloomy garden.' Macaulay read on to
the end. and found .at last a passage of
simple pathos which enabled htm to write
mlner. Dr. Long, the well-known natur
faker, was sitting in his cosy library kill
ing timber wolves when he first saw on
of the new tenners. "And this here angel
whltewasher with the overalls and the
hair on its toes Is what that person
Roosevelt calls an eagle," he remarked
to Ernest Seton-Thompson-Thompson-Se-ton-And-Repeat,
who was lying in am
bush behind the instand waiting for
bull moose to creep out of the 'Mis-Mos'
volume of the encyclopedia. And the two
of them laid down the trusty fountain
pens with which they had been destroy
ing the big game and burst into wild
peals of demoniac laughter.
"It's only been a few weeks since we
ourselves were reforming the New York
Sunday. It was & hot reform while it
lasted, being conducted by a few of those
esteemed parties who believe in making
earth so unattractive that everybody' 11 be
converted so they can go somewhere else
when .they die. 'The present way of ob
serving the Sabbath doesn't suit us at
all," said these gentlemen. 'The idea of
4,000,000 ordinary persons trying to over
ride the express, desires of SO or 90 of
us!- It's a crying shame." And accord
ingly they cried about it until they got a
Judge to say that in his humble opinion
Mclntyre & Heath and a troupe of per
forming walruses did not constitute &
Sacred concert for Sunday afternoon In
the strict sense of the word; and so just
for that we had a couple of Sundays here
In New York that were like Philadelphia
is the rest of the week. For two whole
Sundays there were nothing open In this
great city except all the saloons and the
faces of Its yawning inhabitants.
"After which the 8unday reform wave
passed out to sea and was next seen try
ing to effect a landing on the coast of
Massachusetts. A reform wave, Larry.
Is apt to be liko a runaway horse. It tries
to get away from something it don't like
and it destroys everything else down the
street before it butts Its brains out against
the sides of an armory.
"Even Bob Evans caught the reform
fever. He's off now to the Pacific ac
companied by several of our boys and
some few specimens of our portable
ships, to reform the impression which
appears to be so current among our Jap
anese allies that the available strength
of the United States Navy consists of
fleet of decrepit gravy boats and cracked
china soap dishes, with maybe a worm
eaten life preserver here and there."
"Wasn't there some talk about reform
In' the financial system here a little bit
ago?" asked the House Detective..
"Yes," said the Hotel Clerk, "there was,
but after looking over the remains, the
general consensus of opinion appears to
be that the financial system doesn't need
reforming so much as it needs an au
topsy." (Copyright, 1907. II. H. McClure Co.)
In the margin, "Why could she not always
write thus? There Is, too, gusto, and
often a touch of humor, about the great
man's criticisms which take away the sting
even from the severest of them. There is
no malice such as appears In some of tho?e
marginal notes by Freeman upon Froude
which Herbert Paul has printed.' "The
greater part of the marginal notes, select
ed and arranged by Sir George Trevelyan,
Is taken from Macaulay's copies of the
classics of English, Latin and Greek litera
ture. Macaulay's admiration of Shakespeare
was unbounded. In the first act of 'Jullui
Caesar he writes: 'These two or three
pages are worth the whole French drama
ten times over. When King Lear breaks
forth into the terrible apostrophe, 0, let
not women's weapons, waterdrops. Stain my
man's cheeks! he writes, 'Where Is there
anything like this In the world?"
It Is quite futile for the public, says a
writer In Harper's Weekly, that circle of it
which really desires good books, to wring
Its hands and wail over the depravity of
the publisher. If only it would extend Its
circle by forming great associations for the
demand and pursuit of better reading if it
would have a vast anti-novel organization,
with rules never to buy or to read a current
novel until It had survived a decade and
still held Interest, or never to buy a book tt
would not vow to read through twice, or if
it would found a "society for the support
of the minor poets" then indeed a useful
deed would be done, and tne world really
served. If, again, these select few who
really care about books would be as careful
in the selection of the books they give
away as they are about the books they
buy to own, some good would result.
Meanwhile, the publisher has another diffi
culty to contend with, which is the difficulty
of distribution. A good book, it is taken
for granted in the beginning, is not going
to sell very widely; the amount, therefore,
that is spent upon advertising it has to be
much more closely calculated than the
amount spent on advertising a sensational
novel. To get the worthy book before the
eyes of the man that reads just that partic
ular kind of worthy-book is a new and often
Insuperable complication. There are people
In the world, for example, who read essays
of a more or less serious nature, who ac
tually very much prefer them to a vapid
story, and yet, scattered as they are among
the no vet-readers, like needles in a haystack,
how are they to be picked out by the pub
lisher as he sits at his desk?
Well done.- the Pacific Monthly for Jan
uary the New Year has begun well with,
you! An attractive cover greets the eye, a
design by S. H. Reisenberg, picturing a
Navajo warrior beating a war drum. Joaquin
Miller writes entertainingly on "Tales of
Bad Men and Frontiersmen." and says that
a truer title would perhaps be "Infamous
Gun-Fighters of Califonia., Whatever the
title, the stirring word pictures are "iere of
wild days of the long ago, and what Mr.
Miller says Is well worth while to us of the
younger generation. W. F. Bailey writes
instructively on "The Story of the Central
Pacific," and John Fleming Wilson con
tinues his history-marking serial, "The Last
Stand of the Argonauts." The most amus
ing contribution is Agnes Dean Cameron's
presentation of "English as She Is Ameri
canized," In which the dominant note is
succinct slang, chiefly Western. In passing,
it may be noted that the article makes
many references to the wealth of Seattle
slang. The whole number possess value for
Pacific Coast readers, and outsiders as welL
,
New books received: "Fifty-two Memory
Hymns," selected by Bishop Henry White
Warren, 50 cents; and "Studies in the Early
Church, by C. H. Morgan, T. E. Taylor
and S. Earl Taylor, 75 cents (Jennings
Graham, Cincinnati).
Japanese spinning companies number 43,
all of which are working. The monthly out
put of yarn Is about KO.000 bales, using 37,
A0O.O00 pounds of raw cotton, consisting of
16.r-O0.000 pounds' of Indian, 10.000,000
pounds of American. 0,500,000 pounds of
Chinese and 1,500,000 pounds of other
growths.
Jay Cooke
The Financier of tie Clvfl War
. Through his genius as
a financier and his con-'
fidence in the patriot
ism of his fellow coun
trymen, Jay Cooke
saved the Union.
HI. Life HUtorr 1 Tiro Tolmne. b
ELLIS PAXSON OBERBOLTZER
J tut pabllsbod. Ail ttaolueUen, S7 not.
StORffE W. JACOBS 1 C8.. Prnuamt. hiuKirau.