THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, JULY 26, 100S.
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V E3f- PRESIDENT CLEVELAND
H7 r - ,v . - , 1 " , "irTf AT PR1NCETOR WHEES TJ3E
hlJP - -i i fcSil JEAMUY RESIDED BOR MORE
W v Ir.-iUTHAN A DETCADE -ATTERj
ILJIh - ' v ' 1KSA THEY JjETT,. THE WHITE HOUSE.
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ME5. I30V:R CLEVEIUAND, THE
L-A.TSXj WIDOW OT -A. TORMERj
r LTHOUQH there ts now no ur
J vlving ex-President of the United
State, three women still live
who have afaared the lot of former
rulera of the Xatlon.
The three widows of ex-Fresldents
are Mrs. James A. Garfield, Mrs. Ben
jamin Harrison and Mrs. Grover Cleve
land. It has nearly always been the
case that the widows of Presidents
have outnumbered former holders of
tha office. The strain of caring for the
Nation's affairs seems to bear heavily
on Incumbents of the Chief Magis
tracy, and it is rare Indeed to have
had more than two ex-Fresidents liv
ing at the same time, despite the fart
that the term of office being only four
yeans it would naturally be expected"
more would survive after concluding
terms of office to receive the respect
of their fellow citizens.
Mrs. GarfleKi has Inner survived her
husband, who has now been dead al
most 2 7 years.
Since his death she has lived to see
her son. James Rudolph Garfield, stead
ily advance to a place of prominence
in the Nation's councils until now he
has become a member of the Presi
dent's Cabinet, and in view of his
youth has at least a ripht to hope that
history of the Adams family might be
duplicated, and the son of a President
go to the White House. Particularly
has Mr. Garrleld a rlKht to nurse this
dream In view of the fact that he
comee from Ohio, which has usurped
the one time place of Virginia as a
producer of Chief Executives.
Mrs. Garfield divides her time be
tween three places. She deeply loves
her
old home town of Mentor. Ohio.
which is rich in memories of her young
life. There her children were brought
up; there are a thousand memories of
the statesman stricken down by tha
bullet of Guiteau.
. Mrs. Garfield is also partial to Wash
ington. Deepite the fact that the Cap
ital City saw the off -taking of her hus
band, she has made it a practice to
o thera oftaa to apend the Winter,
BE(DE
MR.
MH JAMS A
NStT BENJAMIN HARRISON
OUTLIVED THEIR HUDANDT
WASHINGTON
THE FIRST WIDOW CT
within sight of his triumphs during
the brief time that he occupied the
tt'hlte House.
Garfield was a comparatively young
man when he received his death wound
in the station of the iPennsylvsnia
Railroad, and Mrs. Garfield often has
expressed the opinion that he might
etill be living had not the hand of the
assassin snapped the life thread.
In Pasadena. CaL, Mrs. Garfield has
a Summer home. There she spends
a larger part of her time in the midst
of idyllic surroundings. She spends
most of her time sewing and reading.
She is a sweet and gracious woman,
gentle and kindly and always ready to
speak of the triumphs of her husband.
Mrs. Benjamin Harrison was not ac
tually a lady of the White House, for
her distinguished husband had retire
from public life before he wed tnt
beautiful Mrs. Mary Pimmlck, the fa
vorite niece of the. first wife of the
President.
She became a member of the Harri
son household prior to his election to
the Presidency, and after his inaugura
tion she took a prominent part in all
the activities of social Washington.
The first wife, Mary Scott Harrison,
was an invalid during a large part of
Mr. Harrison's stay at the White
House, and much of the social duty
devolved upon Mrs. Dlmmlck. She
cared for it with complete success.
When four yeara after his passing
from the White House, Mr. Harrison
announced his purpose to remarry,
there was general pleasure and hearti
est good will was expressed i all over
the country. On February 21'. 1897, a
child was born to the pair. Elizabeth
Harrison.
A woman of rare beauty and charm.
Mrs. Harrison Is naturally very popu
lar, both in Indianapolis, where she
had her home, and in Tuxedo, N. T.,
where she spends much of her time.
Mrs. Cleveland has only lately been
made the widow of a President. The
whole life of this lovable woman, since
her girlhoodj days, radiated around the
utt of the only man the Democrat hfi-ve
iirw
EAMES .A. AEFIELD
succeeded in putting in the White House
In half a century of effort. They were
wedded in the White House during the
first term of the then New Yorker.
For the remaining three years of his
term Mrs. Cleveland presided with a
charm and a dignity that were irresis
tible, and that gave her perhaps more
IN THE LIBRARY AND WORKSHOP
The appearance tt Professor Walter rMl!
Soott'a 'The Psychology of Advertising." an
nounced for June, has been unavoidably de
lay id until next montb.
m m m
Mrs. Delano's "The Awakening of Helena
Rlcliio," which was recently dramatized, had
a performance Juno 2T In Sydney, Australia,
where the novel has been particularly popu
lar. Charles H. Caffln, the dramatic critic and
author of "How to Study Pictures," has re
cently completed "A Child's Guide to Pic
tures. " He ts, now in Ensrland, where he
will egend the Summer enyag-ed In writing
ine Appreciation or tne urama.
Of the recent recommendations for the New
York State library for tentative selection of
the bent books of 1&07, it is interesting to
note that out of IS books published by the
Kaker & Taylor Company, 13 have found
thetr way on this list an average of 72 per
cent of all books published.
Juliet Wllbor Tompkins, the successful short
story writer, whose novel of Western life,
"Dr. KM en." is now in Its fourth edition,
has sailed for Europe, where he Intends to
upend the Summer traveling In Italy and
working on her new novel which will be
published thus Fall.
e
The August Century ts the Midsummer
holiday number, with lO short stories, be
sides new chapters, of increasingly Intense
Interest, of rr. S. Weir Mitchell's "The Red
City." Among the contributors to this
short-story issue are: David Gray, the
"Gallops" man. Irving Pacheller, Charles
D. Stewart and Jack London.
-
Max Pemberton Is a thorough sportsman
and a lover of all outdoor pastimes, is an
enthusltlc golfer, a famous walker, and more
than anything else, he is devoted to motor
ing. On all matters concerning the motor
Mr. Pemberton Is authority, and his "Motor
ist's Notebook,", whirh appears In the Lon
don Sphere, is the meet popular of his maga
slne contributions.
e e
Frederic 8. Isham reports from Rusfda
some Interesting items suggesting the ever
growing activity la American exports. At a
small place near St. Petersburg he heard an
American phonograph; at another out-of-tha
way town an official played the complicat
ed Russian alphabet on an American type
writer. In Moscow shopkeepers ring up ko
pecs on Yankee -made cash registers.
Japan has ordered 3V ropies of "Life of
Japan," by Masuji' Mlyakawa. author of
"Powers of the American People." When it
Is remembered that this work Is written en
tirely in English and Is comparatively ex
pensive t$3 net per copy), it is significant of
the cuiture of the Japanese and his interest
In a comparison between American and na
tive Institutions that he should require so
many copies of this Important work.
"Thou Foot" is the striking title of J.
J. Bell's new novel. It is quite different from
the author's former successes Inasmuch as
Wee McGregor was dialect, and "Thou
Fool" Is a novel of Scotland-English society
people. The fool Is one Robert Barker, a
merchant prince, who conquers everything
except the thing he most desires. The story
is a strong one and will be published Au
gust 10. .
e 1
One of the most successful books of
poetry of the present year is "The Tides
of Spring." by Arthur I'pson. which was
brought out lat Fall in England by Oliver
Jk Boyd, of Edinburgh and London, and
in this country by a Boston house. The
strange love story of Malcolm, son of
Shakespeare's Duncan, and Margaret, sis
ter of Edgar Atheling. of Saxon England.
Is told in delicate, haunting verse.
Ella Higginson'e new book, "Alaska, the
Great Country." la announced. One who
has read the book writes about !t: "Mrs.
Hlgginson has seen Alaska with an eye
open, to all tha Impressions of xomaacs and
thorough popularity than any woman of
the many who have held the title of
"First Lady of the Land."
For four years more In private life,
Mrs. Cleveland continued to hold a place
in the affections of the people, andi when
in 1892 the vote of the people carried
Grover Cleveland back into the chair of
Washington, many a Republican found
the pangs of having a Democratic Presi
dent lessened by the fact that his selec
tion returned Mrs. Cleveland to her old
place.
Her triumphs of the first term were
abundantly repeated, and when once more
the pair retired to private life to take
up their home in beautiful "Westlanda,"
their Princeton abode, Mrs. Cleveland re
mained a beautiful fnemory to the Nation
that had genuinely loved her.
Now as a widiow charged with the re
sponsibility of training her family the
old affection, is still there.
Mrs. Cleveland completes a notable
line of White House widows, first and
most Illustrious of which was Martha
Washington, wife of the founder, whose
body lies beside that of the Immortal
George in the simple tomb at Mount
Vernon.
Martha Washington died in 1902, having
survived her illustrious husband by three
years.
Thomas Jefferson outlived his wife U
years, a most remarkable extent of time.
She died in 17S2, while life did not go
from the body of the greatest of Demo
crats until 1S26.
Mrs. Madison lived IS yeara after thef
death of her husband.
John Adams outlived his wife, so did
Andrew Jackson. John Qulncy Adams
died four years before his wife.
Martin Van Buren almost equalled the
record of Jefferson, and lived 43 years
after the passing of his wife.
The first time a pension was ever sug
gested for the widow of an ex-President
was when William H. Harrison died one
month after his inauguration. Prior to
that time there had been only one in
stance of a widow getting any favora
whatever. This was when Dolly Madison
was granted the right to publish in other
countries for her own benefit the manu
script debates on the Constitution.
The death of Harrison peculiarly ap
pealed to the Bentiment of the Nation,
and Mrs. Harrison was voted outright
15,000. Even this sum was not extrava
gant, for she had, to live on it for the 33
yeara she survived her husband.
The second Mrs. Tyler, who married
the President during his stay in office oc
cupied the White House for eight
months.
When the former President died in 1862
it wa9 found that he had left his widow
so poorly provided for that Government
help became imperative. Therefore a
pension of $5000 yearly was granted,
which Mrs. Tyler continued to draw till
her death 27 years later.
Franklin Pierce outlived hl3 wife six
years. Buchanan was a bachelor. Fill
more's second wife outlived him seven
years, but never received Government aid.
In the burst of pity and affection that
followed the off-taking of Lincoln, the
Nation sought a means of doing some
thing for those who had been dear to him.
An outright J25.00O was granted to the
widow, and she was further given a
pension of 50U0 yearly.
Johnson's wife outlived him but one
year. There was no pension in that time.
The distinguished services that Grant
had rendered his country received some
acknowledgement In the shaoe of a J5000
pension for his widow, which was un
doubtedly welcome, since the misfortunes
of the former President in the banking
business had gone far to reduce his never
extensive fortune. '
Mrs. Hayes died before her husband.
Mrs. Garfield received a pension of J5000
a year, which she still continues to draw,
and it is a question if any of the money
that goes from Uncle Sam's Treasury is
paid more cheerfully by the American
people.
Arthur was a widower when he suc
ceeded Garfield. After the death of Har
rison a movement was set afoot to get a
pension for his daughter, but as soon as
his widow learned of the opposition she
insisted that the plan be abandoned
Mrs. McKinley accepted at5000 pension
after the death of her husband, and there
would be no opposition on the part of
Congress to making a settlement on Mrs.
Cleveland, but that being comfortable she
is not likely to need it.
strange beauty that are ,to be found there.
This book is neither a guide-boolc nor a
history, though It might serve either pur
pose better than some more pretentious
works, but rather an unconventional and
picturesque description of the country and
the life of its people."
Upton Sinclair new novel, "The Money
changers," is announced for Fall publica
tion Few readers of "The Metropolis" sus
pected that that book was merely an in
troduction to a. series, a trilogy in fact,
which la intended to be an adequate
presentation of the contemporary business
and social life of Xew, York City. "The
Moneychangers" carries on the characters
of "The Metropolis" in the development of
the main story of the trilogy, a story reach
ing its climax in the history of the
"financial stringency" of 1907.-
A new Tchalkowsky book, called "The Life
and Works" of the composer, has been
brought out by Rosa Newnmrch and. Edwin
Evans. For people who persist In believing
that there was some terrible secret tragedy
in the life of Tschalkowsky to account for
the melancholy of some or his music, it will
be Interesting to learn from Mrs. Newmarch
that one night the composer's eye "fsll on the
volumes of his diary, thereat he was as
s ailed by a sudden terror lest he might die
with no friends at hand and that some one
should pry into these life secrets. Under the
influence of this feeling he Immediately or
dered his Are to be lit and burned every
volume before he went to bed."
e
A high authority on our language in Eng
land, according to the London Book Month
ly, has been pointing out that we are get
tWtg to be very slovenly talkers, that we do
not take the trouble to pronounce our words
correctly, and that one reason for this Is
the dying out of home reading aloud. This
writer says that if people want their chil
dren to speak well and elegantly, there is
no training like reading aloud two or three
evenings a week, and that it Introduces the
children Tery pleasantly to good books. He
ascribes the decadence of reading aloud to
the cheapness of books. When books were
dearer one volume had to Eervs for a com
pany, but now each person may have a vol
ume for himself.
e
In its Issue for this month the Forum
magazine goes back to its original form
of a monthly publication. For the past
six years It has appeared as a quarterly,
but the management has decided that, all
things considered, the Forum will be able
to cover a wider field if it comes out more
frequently. In it new form it admits fic
tion to its pages for the first -time In- the
shape of the first installment, of a serial
story by Joseph Conrad. It will be re
membered that Frederic Taber Cooper has
been for some time the editor of the mag
azine and those who know of Mr. Cooper's
critical activities will not be surprised to
know that the criticism of current litera
ture will be an important feature of each
Issue of the magazine, although politics and
other practical affairs will occupy the space
heretofore given them in the quarterly.
"Medieval Architecture," by Arthur Kings
bury Porter the elaborate work on Gothic
I a rare example of American application to
an idea. For six years Mr. Porter, who is
a young man, has constantly applied him
self to the production of this monumental his
tory of the origin, growth and development
of Gothic architecture, making several Asi
atic and European trips required by the book
since his graduation from Yale and working
on his subject dally for years. He has now
completed this important work, which, with
its bibliography and list of monuments, cov
ers over 600,000 words. There will be upward
of 300 illustrations, many of them taken
specially for this work. There will be a sim
ultaneous publication of the work in Eng
land which will bear the imprint of B. T.
Batsford. of London, the well-known pub
lisher of architectural books.
Dr. Henry van Dyke visited Damascus
while he was revising his poetlo drama,
"The House of Rimmon." so that the color
and setting of this striking literary feature
o tha notion uumbec of Scrlbner's are true
it
:We are, each one of us, but
an omnibus carrying down the
traits of our ancestors '
GEORGE ELIOT.
TS.ICHAJ2D HAJ2V1KG DAYIS
AUTHOR, OF
"VERA THE MEDIUM."'
Vera, the Medium. By Richard Harding'
Davis. Illustrated. Price. 1.50. Charles
Scrlbner's Som, New York City, and the
J. K. Gill Company, Portland.
It seems singularly appropriate since
Portland has passed strict laws for
bidding fortune-tellers for a fee to
reveal the future, or In any way ply
their calling, that there should be is
sued Just now this novel by Mr. Davis,
in which he exposes a "fake" medium,
with a dash of romance added. The
novel is eminently one to read on vaca
tion; for, as a book, the print and
illustrations are excellent, and ther
story itself is told with the true. Davis
sweep. And anyone who has ever read
"Soldiers of Fortune" or "The Bar Sin
ister" knows what this means. "Vera"
is human, amusing, tearful and appeal
ing. Interest starts out with the announce
ment that Stephen Hallowell, million
aire. Is supposed to be dying. His mil
lions had largely been made by dollars
coined from the manufacture and sale
of a coupling-pin, the invention of, his
brother-in-law, Coates, since dead. The
understanding Detween Hallowell and
his brother-in-law was, that for Hal
lowell's trouble in placing the coup-ltng-pln
on the market for five years
the partners would share the profits
equally. Thereafter all rights in the
patent reverted to Hallowell. In the
meantime the inventor and his wife
died, and Hallowell was enough of a
finance-shark to see to it that profits
from the invention began shortly after
the fifth year. Miss Helen Coates, Hal
lawell's niece, insisted that all profits
to the realities. The drama Is In four
acts, two of which will ar.pear next month
and two in September. L. Allen Harker,
the author of the "Paul and Flammetta"
stories, will tell in the fiction number the
amusing adventure of Paul when he be
came acquainted with John Hay's "Pike
County Ballads" and started out to dis
cover the identity of a "whisky skin." F.
Hopkinson Smith has just started on his
twenty-first annual sketching trip to Eu
rope, to be gone until December, and he
will contribute to this eventful number a
story. "Forty Minutes Late." which nar
rates the disturbing adventures of a lec
turer In a desolate New England village in
Winter time.
"The Century of the Child." by Ellen
Key, the Swedish writer, has gone through
more than 20 German editions, has been
published in several European countries, and
Is to be brought out soon In an English
translation. Since Ellen Key severed her
connection with the champions of woman's
emancipation, 12 years ago, by asserting
that the salvation of woman depended upon
a nobler conception of her natural mission
as wife and mother rather than upon at
enlargement of her sphere, she has devoted
herself largely to educational questions, and
her seriousness and sincerity of ethical pur
pose have won for her a large and enthu
siastic following. Some of her ideas are
revolutionary, but in educational questions
she shows originality, and her writings
make a strong appeal to many people. In
the matter of the education of children
she is the foe of mechanical methods, and
recommends a large liberty in the bringing
up of young people.
Percy F. Megargel, the co-author with
Grace Sartwell Mason of the new novel. "The
Car and the Lady," Is known as one of the
most experienced Iong-distanoe motor-drivers
in America in 1904. He drove a two-cylinder
Elmore Pathfinder from New York to St.
Louis and return twice In 1906. He drove
a six-horsepower Oldsmobile from New York
to this city. In 1005-06, he drove the two
cylinder 16-horsepower Reo Mountaineer from
New York to this city, down the coast to
Los Angeles across the Great Desert of CaM
f orn la. Arizona and New Mexico, and back
to New York City, crossing the Rocky Moun
tains in midwinter. Grace S. Mason is a
well-known contributor to htgh-olass journals,
and this collaboration promises to be most
successful. The story is one of active love
and business rivalry between an Italian de
signer and driver of high-grade foreign cars
and a young American manufacturer. The
conflict Is to be decided in favor Of the
winner of this race from New York to this
city, and the competitors put up $50,000 be
tween them. The novel Is one of pro
gressive interest s n d will be issued about
the end of this month.
Mrs. M. D. Frazar. whose "Practical Eu
ropean Guide" Is finding so much favor with
travelers, tells a story In regard to the esti
mate of our people by a low-class London
crowd:
"It was In 1801 when the German Emperor
and his suite, together with other titled per
sons, were on a visit to Queen Victoria.
They were being driven about the city to
see Its notable points and to enjoy the elab
orate decorations. The carriages were, of
course, very handsome, the drivers being In
livery.
"On this same occasian a large party of
wealthy Americans were In London, driving
about in the same way, with the same style
of carriage and drivers. On a sunny after
noon they were driving down the Strand and
turned up toward the Coven t Garden Fruit
and Flower Market. This is a rendezvous Tor
the hucksters, and all the poor wretched
crowds, attracted by a chance to pick up
a bit of decayed fruit. a cry was raised
that the titled visitors were coming, and
in half a minute the carriages were sur
rounded by the people not the enthusiastic,
courteous crowds of Latin countries, but one
in which coarse jokes and criticisms circu
lated freely, and unpleasant faces were
thrust close to those in the carriages.
"One old woman, her eyes blood-shot,
and her hair hanging In wisps around
her face, pressed nearer and nearer, and took
s sTood careful look. .
accruing from the sale of the Coates
Hallowell coupling--pln should belong
solely to her, and threatens to pro
ceed leg-ally against her uncle.
Judge Gaylor heade a band of con
spirators who persuade Mr. Hallowell
to leave his millions in trust for a
mythical Hallowell Institute, the said
institute 'largely being the conspira
tors' pockets. The conspirators, at the
time the story opena, have partly In
duced old Mr. Hallowell ' to believe in
spiritualism, and by means of a medium
that the spirit of hii dead sister, Mrs.
Catharine Coates. may be Induced to
Indicate what disposition should be
made of the Hallowell money.
Vera Is cognizant of Oaylor's plan to
rob Hallowell, and seconds his endeav
ors with professional composure. Her
two co-workers in the mind-reading
business are Professor Paul Vance, and
his wife, Mabel. The Vances are thus
Introduced:
For the last six weeks as head liners at
one of the vaudeville theaters, and as en
tertalners at private houses, under the firm
name of "The vances," they had been giv
ing an exhibition of code and cipher sig
naling. They called It mind-reading..
During the day, at the bouse of Vanes
and his wife, the girl, as vera, the Ms
dlum," furnished to all comers memories
of the past or news of the future. In their
profession, In all Its branches, tha man and
the girl were past masters. They knew it
from the A B C of the dream-book to the
post-graduate work of projecting from a
cabinet the spirits of the dead.
As the occasion offered and paid best,
they were mind-readers, clairvoyants, ma
terializing mediums, test mediums. From
them a pack of cards, a crystal globe, the
lines of the human hand, held no secret a
They found lost articles, cast horoscopes,
gave advice in affairs of the heart, of busi
ness and speculation, uttered warnings of
journeys over seas, and against a smooth
shaven stranger. They even stooped to
foretell earthquakes, or caused to drop
fluttering from the celling a letter straight
from the. Himalayas.
Vera had entered the New York home
of the Vances from the country town
of Geneva, N. T., and from the first
had brought business and money to
the precious pair. At 21 years old Vera
was "tall, wonderfully graceful,, and of
the most enchanting loveliness." Many
of the men who called on her profes
sionally returned the day following, and
each begged the beautiful priestess of
the occult to fly with him, to live with
him. to marry him.
"When this happened Vera would
touch a button, and 'Mannie O'Day,
who admitted visitors, and, later, in the
hall searched their .hats and umbrellas
for initials, came on the run and threw
the infatuated one out upon a cold and
unfeeling sidewalk."
Before Vera had quite influenced Mr.
Hallowell, the plot had attracted the
attention of Mr. Wlnthrop, the Dis
trict Attorney of New York. Part of
the portrait of tlis young lawyer Is
supposed to be that of District At
torney Jerome.
When Mr. Wlnthrop discovers Vera
in the act of persuading Mr. Hallowell
that she Is "calling" the spirit of his
sister Catharine, the young District At
torney thinks he has met the girl be
fore; and on page 72 a dramatic scene
Is enacted where the girl admits that
years previously she had been arrested
for stealing a cloak, and that Wln
throp had been the lawyer who had
secured her acquittal. This had been
Wlnthrop' "first case," and he had ar
gued that the girl ought to be set free,
because she stole the cloak to get
money to take her where she had been
promised work.
"And, please, there's the money I owe
you, and and I thank you and gfood
bye," said Vera, running from him
towards the door.
"Stop," cried Winthrop, "when can I
see you again r
"You'll be sorrr," aald the girl.
From this moment, a really pretty
and unusual romance follows. ' Wln
throp awakens in Veras heart the de
sire to be honest and abandon her life
of mummery. CJnce in calling on Vera
he was puzzled at the something which
"had filled this unknown, tawdry room
with beauty, and given It the happiness
of a home."
Pity the book that doesn't have its
supreme moment, and that moment
comes when Miss Coates publicly de
nounces Vera as a thief. Away down
in Vera's heart deepens the conviction
that she really Is a priestess and a
seer, and, defying Winthrop, she en
acts the part of a medium before old
Mr; Hallowell. The scene Is thrilling.
Vera had been tUd in the cabinet, in
the orthodox way, and was success
fully Impersonating the spirit of Mrs.
Coates, when she breaks down and con
fesses that she is an Impostor: The ap
peal coming from Wlnthrop to lead a
new life, had borne fruit.
And "Vera and ' Wlnthrop. The end
is surprising and of the breathless
variety.
My Life and My Leotnrss, By Lamar Fon
taine. Price, $3. The Neale Publishing
Company, New York City.
They tell a story of an Irish soldier who
gave so much proof of being a fighter,
that on his being suspended by a rope
connected with a ring in the ceiling,
bullets dropped from hia body to the
floor!
Such a soldier of fortune must have
been Lamar Fontaine, ex -Con federate.
whose life story reads like pages from the
enchanted "Arabian Nights," He was
nearly shot to pieces In his various fights,
but gives evidence that he is alive to tell
the tale. Witty and anecdotal, the story
of his wanderings have a charm that in
stinctively draws you. Just as a cheerful
fireplace in Winter attracts the tired
traveler. What a pity that Fontaine is
such a man of blood. His book con
tains 361 pages, and at the top of each
page sxcept that containing the heading
of each chapter appears the legend: "My
Ltfe and My Lectures. There Is no
chancs of getting away from tflat "my."
It pursues you like the glare of a head
light and adds to the general picture of
Fontaine's egotism. His experiences uni- :
formly hark back to the personal pronoun
1. He tells little of real patriotism, and ;
writes as one who gloried in being his
country's rebel.
But think of the man's career: Born
in Texas, in a tent, October 10, 1S29, when (
he was 10 years old he was captured by
Oomanche Indians, living as one of them :
for nearly five years. At 15 years of age,
he went to sea and got acquainted with
China, Egypt. India. Palestine, South
America: sailed as far north as the 79th
parallel and as far south as the 76th. He
crossed the desert of Sahara on camel
back, from Fes to the valley of the Nile.
then down the Nile to the Delta; traversed
350 miles of the Great Chinese Wall and
explored the Amazon with Lieutenant
Herndon and the Holy Land with Lieu
tenant Lynch; surveyed the Great Andean
Plateau from Cuzco to the foot of Lake
Titicaca; and was a member of Prince
Gortschokoff'a Kloski Cossack body-guard
in the Siege of Sevastopol, during th
Crimean War. In 1861, at the age of 31,
he returned to America and enlisted in '
Company A of the Tenth Mississippi In- 1
fantry, and later he belonged to Company
K, Eighteenth Mississippi Infantry, and
Company I of the Second Virginia.
CaValry. He." was wounded 67 times and
lay in an iron frame, suspended from
the celling, for 21 days, that his broken
bones might knit and heal. And he went
on lighting.
Fontaine must have been, according to
his book, one of the great sharpshooters
of the world. He takes a savage delight
in telling of. the Federal soldiers at whom
he took aim and killed, especially if they
wece foreign born. On pages 127 and 128.
he relates how at Waterloo Bridge, in
August 1862, before Generals "Stonewall"
Jackson and Robert . Lee, he shot, and
presumably killed, with his rifle 60 Fed
eral soldiers, in less than 60 minutes of
time. On page 111 he writes: "Our
cavalry shot the hirelings as they would
mad dogs, as 90 per cent of them could
not speak or understand English." Else
where he exhibits . this animal desire to
kill:
When I came in contact with thosevast
hordes of foreign hirelings who entered the
Federal army during the Confederate war,
for gold alone, and not from patriotism or
love of country, I felt It a solemn, a God
given duty, a privilege to kill them; and
I thanked my Creator that he had given
me steady hands and good eyes to hold and
direct my missiles of death, for they were
only fit to feed the buzzards of our South
land. They had sold their very souls for
gold, and I took delight in piling their car
casses In mounds to .feed the fowls of the
air. '
It Is not my intention to review Major
Fontaine's further adventures throughout
the remainder of the Civil War, because
that would be telling a well-told tale.
Major Fontaine Is more interesting as a
philosopher, scientist and studont. He
believes that it was upon this North
American shore, at the North Pole, that
the first germs of life sprang into exist
ence, and that as the earth cooled, plant
and animal life grew and prospered, and
followed tha cooling earth down toward
the equator.
It is suggested that after the creation
of fishes, birds and beasts, that man came
in the sixth era man of a low order of
intellect, but a shade above the monkey
tribe, with the long dolichokeoholic heads,
prognathus jaws and small brain capacity,
dark-skinned and woolly-haired, capable
of standing a very hot climate. After
them, Fontaine goes on to say. in that
far Northern region in the eighth era
of the Mosaic account, came the later In
telligent man, fair-skinned, with mesoke
phalic head, orthognathus or upright jaws,
straight slender bones with duties to per
form. And it was into this man created
on the eighth day, after the finishing of
hl work on the seventh, that uort
breathed Into his nostrils the breath of
life and that man became a living bouI.
People lived before Adam and Eve.
"When the blood of Abel cried out for
vengeance, God heard the cry and sent
Cain a vagabond and wanderer far out
Into the land of Nod to the eastward -of
Eden, among these prognathus-jawed and
do 1 ich ok ephalic-headed men and women
of the sixth-day creation." Fallen from
his high estate, Cain married one or more
of these women who gave birth to a
miscegenated son, Enoch. Many of this
miscegenated race Intermarried and be
got a new race entirely, this race of half
breeds spreading rapidly over the earth.
' Our author, therefore, believes that
God created the black and white race,
but not the yellow, red, brown and tan:
and he advanc?s the idea that the act of
miscegenation of the races brought about
the destruction of the world, as shown
In the Bible, and will surely do so again.
He thinks that the mound-builders of
America were negroes, and worked under
the supervision of white men or white
masters, who directed and governed them.
The Book of Fish and Fishing. By Louts
Rhead. Illustrated. Price, S1.50. Charles
Scrlbner's Sons. New York City, and the
J. K. GUI Company, Portland.
Mr. Rhead, I am told by one competent
authority, is one of the best known fish
ermen In this country,, and for over 25
years he has made painstaking studies
of the most approved methods to lure
fishes, ajid also of the habits of fishes.
The book under review consists of 306
pages, and is an encyclopedia of facts
showing the easiest and best ways, how
to catch, where to go to catch fish, and
how to get the best sport. Mr. Rhead
admits that among game fishes the sal
mon is supreme, and he pays our Colum
bia River Salmon a deserved compliment.
"It is over 50 yean eince the 'Jock Scott
and 'silver doctor salmon flies were in
vented. Nothing In flies has been made
aince to equal them," says our author,
who. by the way. has drawn liberally on
standard authorities for some of his con
clusions. For a frontispiece, the volume is beau
tified by this quotation from Henry Van
Dyke:
Only an idle little stream.
Whose amber waters softly gleam.
Where I may wade, through woodland
shade.
And cast the fly. and loaf, and dream.
Chinese Fables and Folk Stories. By Mary
Hayes Davis and Rev. Chow-Leung. Illus
trated. Price. 40 cents. American Book
Company. New York City.
These 37 Stories of Chinese life and char
acter introduce us to an unsuspected field
of fiction, and the translators have clev
erry preserved the different phases of
Oriental character and habits of thought.
Several of the most admired stories are
thousands of years old, and reading them
in this admrable collection one recog
nises here and there old favorites which
some people fondly Imagine originated in
our English tongue. The best story told
in the book is "How the Moon Became
Beautiful." The interesting illustrations
are from drawings by native artists, and
the whole is Intended for supplementary
use in the third and fourth years . of
school. '
The Power Supreme, By Francis C. Nicho
las. R. E. Les Company, Boston.
Tells of primal conditions in the re
moter portions of South America, in
which political and ecclesiastical condi
tons are mirrored to the sound of con
stant turmoil, ending in battle and revo
lution. A half-breed Indian named Joa
quin, who fought in revolutions bordering
On the Caribbean Sea from Central Amer
ica down to Columbia, and Venezuela, tells
the principal stories. All who like plenty
of frenzied acton will find it in this novel,
J. M. QUENTIN.