The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, December 27, 1908, Section Five, Image 45

The Sunday Oregonian., December 27, 1908, Section Five, Page 7, Image 45

Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR

About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 1908)

Prev Page of 54 Next Prev Issue Next Text PDF JP2 (4.3 MB) Clip/Print Image

Return to Top

Prev Page of 54 Next Prev Issue Next

Newspaper Page Text"Here's to the; books "of the oldeir year, .Those' that are tried and true;, Here's to the'books of the year tocomer Imperishable' few ! '' P. M. M. ft "a xrsMD tv7t "7 " -A- ; " i ' ' ' J't v' . V , , ' f ,ss; r v : ' ; 4f ?. .. , . fyi Lisifi ."- : Arminrl of the Wt. By John Trivena. Mottat. Yard Co.. New Tort City. C'nw-ponies. a ranch, a young woman In khaki, and a wide, sombrero hat. al kali dust and the red sun sinking over a Western prairie? Is that the atmo sphere surrounding this novel? Not a bit like It. A new literary star has arisen, a great realist in the person of Mr. Trevena. with a sweep of pathes and power re minding me stron-jly of Thomas Hardy. "Armlncl nf tne West" nearly grips you as does Tess," but without any of the bitter tragedy of that story. "Armlnel" Is also an Kngllsh novel. In which sterl Irg character play abounds and the Tess In It Is llisa Nona Wistnian. daughter of a clergyman. Here Is the opening scene: Th lan?s of mid-Devon are very muddy In Winter time. Nona mor ao that those which descend Into the old coach-road be tween Okehajnpton and the village of Stlcklepatb. They are like muddy tribu tarla feeding a river. There ts plenty of tranle along tlits road, especially on Satur day, ivhlch is market day In Okehampton: bit the lanes are always lonely. They are dark. too. and the lop-sided oaks which rretcb their crooked branches from one sTone-hdge to the other creak, as the wind from Iartmoor strikes them. It Is that wind which makes them lop-sided. When s'ranrers meet in one of these lanes they run hardly pas without a word of greetinfe. When one stranger is a youns; man and the ether a younr maid, there Is often a cer tain amount of awkwardness; with blushes en one side and bold glances on the other. Sometimes the bold glances are recipro cated, which Is natural enough, tf foolKh and dangerous especially so when the primroses are In hud and there Is warm sunshine falling between the oak branches. Trie lanes which descend Into the Oke hampton road are very lonely, and there are no prying Pauls behind the primroses and young ferns. One of the "characters" of these Devon lanes Is John Zj;jle. but better known as Dartmoor Jack, who went about the country selling oil from a tank hauled by Sarah Jane, a knowing mare. Dart moor Jack.- It Is stated, was under 60 years old. wore big spectacles, and his red face waa childlike with Innocence. He knew no blasphemy, did not drink, and did not run after strange women, al though more than one had made advances to him. "daffy old dear" as they called him. He had no professed religion al though he admitted to have tried them all. to find Methodism "too rorty," the established or Episcopal Church "too old fashioned." and the other sects "all money grab." and ministers In general too much heaven for me and hell for you." Dartmoor Jack's one supreme flower, his Jewel of great price, was his daugh ter Arniincl. a schoolteacher and a sun beam selected by the master from the sky and placed on this dull, old earth to brighten It. It Is Interesting to read how Dartmoor Jack, originally a Cornish man. became an English commoner. He married, but not before his daughter Iarla or Armlncl had been born to him. His wife promptly cloped with a ser geant of artillery, and Jack then In stalled a near-by widow as "mistress" of his house, principally to care for his daughter. It d'es not take long to discover that many of the people Mr. Trevena creates are those of easy virtue, to whom mar riage is a hit of a joke. But the moral lapses of these people make up the Tre vena reaiism. Do you see? If the book folk wcie all spotless and had wings growing over their shoulders, their ad dress wouldn't bo Devon. Kngiand but heaven. The statement Is m.ido on page IS that up to quite recently before a rail road was constructed through mid-Devon that the people were little better than .savages. "There were villages In which a stranger was certain ,to be pelted with sticks and stones; the children were as rough and unruly as the ponies of the moor; the men were so dull as to be unable to learn which was their right hand and which their loft tthey wore straw tied to one leg and hay to tho other, and their employers would guide them by calling "hay or "straw'): the women did not know what constituted vice or virtue. These people lived In half-ruined cottages of cob. Every vil " .J-1 - wit V - -3 wtt ' V ,V. V MA 7)) AT ATA 9 lage had Its witch and every small town Its witch-doctor. The clergy made hard ly an effort to reclaim them." Rev. Stephen Wistman was rector of the living of Tordown, and lived In the Middle Ages but didn't know it. He waa his own Christianity. He was narrow minded, but a great scholar: didn't be lieved in music or dances, and wondered why people kept away from his-church. His wife was the mother of 11 children, each more of a weakling than the preced ing one. All the children born to him died, except two, one being Miss Nona. Her father determined that, Nona should not know "what human passion was." So he reared her In dense ignorance, like a hothouse flower, and his wife's reason left her. As a religious experiment. Rev. Air. 'Wistman forced Nona to become a novice in the Convent of the Sisters of the Cross, but Nona was a weed and didn't blossom. Suddenly, Brian Challacombe. a young aristocrat, leaps into the story and starts action. Nona knows him but not wisely, and her life Is ruined. .Brian loves Ar minel. whom he marries under an as sumed name, but when she discovers his guilt toward Nona she leaves hlra. All this Is described with refreshing, orig inal candor. Of course, young Mrs. Chal lacombe does not institute proceedings for divorce remember, the story Is writ ten about England. So she calls him monkey," talks - poetic, delicious prose and ultimately forgives him. Miss Challacombe. Brian's rich aunt, dislikes Armlnel because the latter is "a common person," and nd "lady." But Arminel ' wins her in the last chapter: Miss Challacombe bad to stop: had to return: had to bend over the lounge and confront tuos eyes. "What Is It. child?" she said. I have something to tell you. Etnd over, p'.ease. close to my mouth." Miss challacombe struggled: decided to refuse, and obeyed. "I am going to have a baby." whispered Armlnel. now. Miss Challacombe. It's going to be such a pretty one.- and I want you to be fairy godmother. You'll love It?" Yes. darling:" Miss challacombe waa sniping In a ridiculous fashion. Then Armlr.el put up her arms and fast ened them round the stubborn old Isdy's neck. Won't yon love the little mother, too?" sbe -whispered. Reservoirs. By James Plx Schuyler. Illus trated. Price. . John Wiley Sons, New York City. A second edition, revised, enlarged and otherwise improved of a deservedly es teemed book on "Reservoirs, for Irriga tion. Water Power and Domestic Water Supply." An account-is given of various types of dams and the methods, plans and cost of their construction, and also miscellaneous data upon the available water supply ' for Irrigation In various sections of arid America; distribution, ap plication and use of water; rainfall and runoff from various watersheds; evap oration from reservoirs; effect of silt upon the useful life of reservoirs: average cost of reservoirs per unit of capacity, etc. Mr. Schuyler is a member of the Amer ican Society of Civil Engineers; member Institution of Civil Engineers. London; member Franklin Institute, and corre Coast: member Engineers and Archi tects' Association of Southern California; member Technical Society of the Pacific spondlng member National Geographic Socletv. It is slated that over 60 per cent of all' the illustrations in the book are new and that nearly as great a propor tion of the reading matter is rewritten or new. The pages amount to 573. and the whole will prove or especial value to the engineering profession.. The Book of Ceorgtaa Verse. Chosen and edited by William Stanley Braithwaite. Brentano's." Ne"w York City. Within the limits of 1311 pages ap pear selections from the best work- of those British poets born under the four George Kings, verse which marks the rise and development of a distinct po litical epoch, and the book should be h welcome addition to any library. The four books which form the series aim to cover the entire range of Brit ish poetry, from the publication of "Tottel's Miscellany," 15.".". to tho end of the Victorian epoch. Just past. The present volume Is the third of that series, the others being, first, "The Book of Elizabethan Verse": second. "Book of Restoration Verse," and fourth. "Book of Victorian Verse." It Is worth notinfr that Mr. Bralthwaito uses wisely tho term "British" verse. Instead of writing "English." for he gives selections of English, Scotch and Irish poetry. He has avoided all for mality and has succeeded In giving coherency and representation. Many dear old poems, which have hitherto heen consigned to the forgotten dust of generations, emerge in a new dress and take honored place in the ealaxy of stars. To Americans the book must possess more than a mere sentimental Interest, since tt Is from the gold mine of verse, with its home In the British Isles, that we jret the foundation of our educa tion in the English language. Thomas Moore. Sir Walter Scott, Lady Naolne, Walter Savage Landor, William Coo per. Robert Bums. Lord Byron. William Blnke. Thomas Campbell. Thomas Chat terton. Samuel Taylor. Coleridge. David Garrlck. Oliver Goldsmith. James Hogg. John Keats. Charles Lamb. Percy Bvsshe Shelley, Robert TarnaliilT. Will lam Wordsworth and others the list is a brilliant one. There are a glossary. Index of authors and Index to titles and first line of poems. The Other Americans, by Arthur Ruhl. Illustrated. Charles Scrlbnefs Sons. New York City. Curious pictures of life come to us from this record of Soutli American people, and the impression deepens that we need to read or travel much to endeavor to know what these near neighbors of ours really are. Here Is an amusing letter written to the sporting editor of a South American newspaper about a football game: " -Senor Sporting Boy. Miestimado amlgo.' the letter began. That which Is past is psst. 'We have suffered. In truth, a shame ful defeat; yet what we are to blame for we ought perhaps to accept silently. There are however, undoubtedly certain thinss which might well be brouitht to the atten tion of the honorable directorate of the Association de Football do Santingo.' WhHt should have been. It seems, a great inter city match became merely a mere chnnce for the portcnos (or "people of thei gate.' as the Valparalsons are called) to give us on our own grounds a proof of their u perior discipline and orsanizatlon.' The Santiago team had been well trained. The selection of players made by Its captain, rwn GulUermo del Canto. wa maenlflcent. The public were confident. The great day dawned propitiously. But at the last ce ment It appeared that one player was missing!. The public protested, the captain searched. Tho portenos embarrassing thought 'observed this lack of discipline. They had preferred to leave behind such gcod players as Morrison aad Mackenzie merely because they had missed one day's practice at Vina del Mar: The csme be gan, but what had happened? Why were Voiles, Rogers. Hamel. etc.. who. two days before had spoken gaily of the intercity as of a coming victory, not now the same? The cause seemed inexplicable. It was this. The substituted goal-keeper did not guar antee security. There waa weakness In that most responsible position. In that point do transcendental linportancla en la defensia de un team. The result but why leeep up humiliation? To all the world now it is told, only too eloquently. In the score." " Here are concluding extracts! showing the author's graphic style: This Africanism has tinged religion and language, and contributed, undoubtedly, with the climate and environment, to pro duce that mingling of melancholy, super stition, and sensibility, now gloomily savage, now acutely sentimental to the point of be ing morbid, which Is common In Brazilian literature aad poetry. Even without It peo ple could not live under the brooding In fluence of such a land without getting some thing of its sombre mystery and creepy beauty into their blood. There Is a passage In Senhor Garca Aranha'a novel, "Chanaan." so full of this Brazilian feeling that It is worth quoting, even In a shambling transla tion, and aside from the fact that It Illus trates the sort or thing that makes a writer famous in Brazil. Everybody was talking about "Chanaan" which is the Portuguese for "Canaan" when I was in Bio. and It was still so new that the distinguished Academician, its author, could be Induced to read selections to appreciative listoners after dinner without the slightest difficulty. The most famous, of these was the one about the "vagalumes" of fireflies. The poor, young girl. Marls, deserted by her faithless lover at the moment she needed him most, had wandered for several days, jeered at and turned away from one door after another, until, overpowered with bodily fatigue and morbid Imagining, she came at nightfall to a forest. Its gloomy depths attracted her. hunted animal that she felt herself to be, even while she shivered at the look of it: Within the shadowy Interior came and went enormous butterflies, azure and dark gray, in Incessant glistening flight. Ex hausted, Maria sank down, without tho courage to enter, without the strength to flee, fascinated by" that sombre and melan choly world. Her hands, limp and trem bling, let fall the little bundle of clothes. Faint, friendless, frightened. wrapped in the darkness of night, she shrank between the great roots of a tree, and with dilated eyes, ears alert, listened to the murmur and whisper of things. . . . The darkness deepened. Issuing forth from the tangled verdure like the Impalp able, vaporous breath of the earth Itself. To her perturbed imagination it seemed as though all nature were trying to overpower her and crush out her breath. The shadows grew darker. Great swollen clouds rolled down the sky toward the abyss of the hcrizon. In the open, in the vague glimmer of twilight, all things took the form of monsters. The mountains, rising menacingly, assumed terrifying shapes. The paths, spreading into Infinite distance, ani mated themselves into infinite serpents. The solitary trees moaned in the wind like fantastic mourners about the corpse of na ture. The night-birds began to sing their mournful songs. Maria tried to run away, but her worn-out limbs would not respond to the Impulse of fear, and she sank down, hcpeless. Oar Wasteful Nation. By Rudolf Cronan Illustrated. Price, fl. Mitchell Kenner- ley. New York City. Thoughtful Americans are already atlrrcd with the meaning of that great congress which met at Washington, D. C last May. when President Roosevelt and the Governors of states considered the waste of our National resources in forest, water, soil and minerals. This is also the subject Mr. Cronan takes up, but In addition he also discusses our game, fur and great marine animals, our birds, fishes, public lands and privileges, and the waste of human lives In railroad and mining accidents. He calculates that during last year. 61G.295 persons were either killed, maimed or injured In "ac cidents" in this country nearly twice as many as were killed and wounded in the Russo-Japanese War. He also shows that the one great American malady Is that mad. unreasonable haste that In volves carelessness, recklessness, selfish ness, stupidity and brutality. Such facts as are here so skillfully pre sented differ materially from the asser tions of our self-satisfied epread eagle orators who only speak to please the. gallery. How to Appreciate Prints. By Frank Wettenkampf. Illustrated. Price. J 1.00. Moffat. Yard & Co, New York City. Mr. Weltenkampf is curator of the print department of the New York Public Li brary, and in this artistically written book of MO pages he gives a personal talk on etchings, engravings and other prints, jid also provides a finger-post pointing to a wide range of Innocent, Interesting pleasures. The list of contents: "Taste for Prints," "Jitchlng." "Line Engraving on Metal," "Stipple and Other Dot Methods," "Mez zotint," "Aquatint and Other Tint Meth ods." "Wood Engraving," "Lithographs," "Photo-Mechanical Processes," "Color Prints," "Collecting." "The Making of Prints." "Care of Prints." "The Subject Interest" and "Some Specialties." Naturally, such a book is finely illus trated. Picture of Old Chinatown. By Arnold Genthe. and text by Will Irwin. Moffat, Yard o.. New York City, and the J. " K. GUI Company, Portland. Mr. Genthe toiled for eight years tak ing snap shots with his camera in the Chinatown of the San Francisco that was before the upheaval or tremblor of April 23, 1306- Then, crashl the gen eral picture went Into the oblivion of ruin. - - A sort of public request came, when San Franciscans found their breath, that Mr. Gonthe's pictures be published In a book, and here they are, with a descrip tive and reminiscent text furnished by Will Irwin. Chinese, men, women and children, are pictured in various atti tudes, all graceful and , interesting. Mr. Irwin's story is graphic and filled to the brim with human Interest. The lit tle book, printed on thick cream paper and extending only to 57 pages. Is an unusually high-class, worthy souvenir o old San Francisco's Chinatown. Woodsmen of the West. By M. Allerdale Grainger. Illustrated. Edward Arnold. London, and Longmans, Green t t-o.. New York City. ' It would have been more appropriate to have chosen as a title for this story, "Logging in the Woods." instead of the one on the book cover. Mr. Grainger has written a stirring, every-day but rudely drawn word picture of logging Ufo In British Columbia, and It Is easy to concede the accuracy of the statements made. Thev are written by a man who cvidenflv knows the business, wno has "been there." It is a record of personal experience, often amusing and largely interesting. Here Js the odd conclusion: "Farewell to loggers and my youth. MINISTEll OF THE I'XITED J STATES TO HAITI. II. W. Karslss. WASHINGTON. D -. 26. (Special.) II. W. Furniss Is the Minieter of the United States to Hayti, who handled the dli-lomatij interests of' this country with credit during the recent revolution Jn Hayti. Farewell to it all marriage is better. And now, I must go and search the kitch en floor of the cottage next to Mrs. Potts, in which will be Lyall avenue, outside the city limits of Victoria, B. C." The Heart i of a Geisha. By Mrs. Hugh r i a.r i . jin.ru ... ... - Sons, New York City, and the J. K. Gill v.ompany, Portland. With frontispiece by Ludwig Holberg and each page there' are 165 of them elaborately decorated by R. Weir Crouch, this tragically but eloquently told love story of a Japanese geisha's life makes a suitable gift book. The geisha is Shinaye San and her patriot-lover Tatsu Marinaga. The historical period de scribed is when the Shogun is the real ruler of Japan, before the IJmperor came Into his own. Shinaye San helps her lover to "escape from Kyoto to Europe, where he learns legislation, and a well told, romantic story follows. ; The Girl and the Motor. By Hilda Ward. Illustrated. Price. SI. The Gas Engine Publishing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. A gift edition of a modest little book, suitable for girl friends who think they can operate a motorboat or automobile. It is the experience of one bright girl who bought a small motorboat and later a 20-horsepower auto and managed them herself! She relates her novel adventures, the most Interesting of which Is where she actually worked at repairs when the engines broke down. There's some ro mance, too, the principal assistant being a master mechanic who conven iently happens to be around. The book Is dear at $1. Songs Every One Should Know. Edited by Clifton Johnson. Price. 00 cents. Ameri can Book Company, New York City. Two hundred favorite songs, calculated to stimulate among children a love of good music. Nearly every variety of song Is included except hymns, so that no ecclesiastical taste need be offended. The music, of course, is written in the staff notation, and many of the tunes SUCCESSOR TO JUDGE WIL FLEV AT SHANGHAI, CHINA. IT I s 2 feu. Judge Kufua H. Thayer. WASHINGTON. D. C, Dec. 26. (Special.) Judge Rufus H. Thayer has been chosen by the President to take the place at Shanghai just resigned by L. H. Wilfley, ' of Missouri. Judge Wllfley was the first American ent to preside over the new court In China, and he promptly made himself unpopular by his rigid enforcement of the rules of practice. Charges were made asainst him. but were disproved. After meeting them success fully, he resigned. provide the four vocal parts, so that the book can be used both at the school and home. It Is a pleasure to see In the cellectlon so many National and folk songs. William the Conqueror. By Frank Merry Stenton. G. P. Putnam's Sons. New York City. Mr. Stanton, who is a late scholar of Keble College, Oxford, and a recognized ::: ffi J " f " -$4 I ftn-st-a-'-'-- --' - - - f I II. W. Kornlss. historian, writes in an original, com- rorting way to prove uui n . the Illegitimate son of Robert of Ilies mois and Artelle. the tanner's daugh ter, had not conquered at Hastings in the year 10C6, and that some other invader would have swept away the weak, quar reling Saxons. So tt -happened to be the Norman. An admirable presentation 13 made ,of William's character and of the constitutional and social changes which followed his advent on English soil. Camp-Flres on ncsert and Lava. By Wil liam T. Hornaduy. Illustrated. Price. tS. Charles Scrlbner"a Sons, New York City. Not only an important book from Its scientific value, but because It sheds first light on nearly inaccessible deserts In Southern Arizona and Northwestern Mexico and preaches the joy of an out door life far away from hot-house civ ilization. Dr. Hornaday, In brief, tells of- an exploration party he led through the Arizona deserts from Tucson to the then unknown region surrounding Plna cute. The book is interestingly written and elaborately illustrated. Plenty of adventure Is also described. The Lincoln Slory-ralentiar. 109-1909. Il lustrated. Price. $1. The Biddle Press. Philadelphia. Mainly written by Wayne Whipple from his 700-page "Story Life of Lin coln," and Is a calendar designed to be suspended from tho wall, showing In convenient form the . remarkable career of the greatest of our American Presidents. There is a sheet for each week, with a Lincoln sketch, in which tun, pathos, patriotism and eloquence 'are skillfully mingled. The calendar ought to give inspiration in everyplace of business. It's American. Psychoma. By Helen Rhodes. Elizabeth Towne. Holyoke, Ma?s. Mrs. Rhodes has also discovered what Dr. Maurlco Burke calls "cosmic con sciousness," and defines psychoma as the diagnosis of the soul. She writes beau tifullv of soul-sleep, the spiritual life, transmutation, subconscious mind, control of the breath with liberating exercises, law of suggestion, and generally matters relating to our brethren of the new thought. But. it is a pity that Mrs. Rhodes spells "through" as "thru." The Gentle Grafter. By O. Henry. The Mc dure Companj-. New York City. A reprint of 14 not 13 of O. Henry's, inimitable tales, the most of which have already appeared in maga zines, where they have been joyously welcomed as being up to tho standard work of the Guy de Maupassant of America. Ail the tales are bright, and reflect an unusual knowledge of swift city life and human nature, generally. Justice and liberty. By G. Lowes Dickin son. The McClure Company, New York City. a nnKHoal dialogue between Henry- Martin, a professor, Charles Stuart, a banker, and Sir John Harington, "a gen tleman of leisure." Has all the wit and wide information which distinguished the same author's previous success. "Let ters From a Chinese Official." , The Wonder Book of Magnetism. By Dr. Edwin J. Houston. Price. S1..'.0. Fred erick A. Stokes Company. New York City. -D-tnn-a ctiiifnHir hoiTiA to voune read ers, especially boys, the marvels of na ture and laws governing tuem. nB"" batteries and currents, lodestones. the compass, auroral lights, the telephono graph or talking newspaper and other wonders are all reviewed. . .. u.Tnii -Waldo Trine. price. 00 cents. Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., New York city. Comforting thoughts on the gospel of wholesome living, and which should ho the good angels of all young people whose character is just to'- tv JOSEPH M. QUENTIN. IN LIBRARY AND WORKSHOP An. Important new volume from the pen of Paul Sabatier. entitled "Modernism, la announced by the Scribners. t. .nAl that the subject selected by the English department for the John Hubbard Curtis prize at Yale this year Is .-itieai F.ssav on the Novels of William DeMorgan." the award for which will be S100 in cash. John La Farge's "The Higher Life. In Art" will be the first of the McClure Com pany's volumes to bo published by Double day Page & Co. under the arrangement whereby the latter firm assumed the Mc Clure book list. One of our Consuls In England suggests the opening In London of an agency in v. i .. w v . ATiri nonsuited and bought American books on American subjects. He says that he is very onen Information which can be found only - la American books of reference. Madonnas of our ordinary story books suggest blue skies, sunshine and Italy or Palestine. But why not a Northern Ma donna? She Is pictured oa this book page, the portrait being taken from Mrs. Ella Higginson's book on "Alaska." reviewed in The Oregonian or December 13. So Donald Grant Mitchell, better known by his nom de plue of Ik Marvel, has passed away In his 84th year. He will be remembered best for his "Reveries of a Bachelor" and "Dream Life.". His literary associations had been with Washington Irving. Hawthorne and other stars or a n-arvelous New England galaxy. During a sojourn in Italy Dickens wrote "The chimes." at which time he wrote to his friend Maclise, of the Mediterranean's blue and of the hedges covered with pink roses. One morning he was startled by a tremendous clashing of chimes, a veritable sea of sound, and two days later wrote: "We have heard the chimes at midnight!" Vegetarian Cookery," by Florence George, author of "King Edward's Cookery Book," is out. From hex new vegetarian book Miss George does not exclude all ani mal food, since eggs, butter, milk and cheese form a large part of her dishes. The various chapters deal with soups, sauces, pastes. p!e3. curries. stews, salads, etc.. the author furnishing under each head recipes for vegetarian dishes. The Hetchy-Hetchy Valley In I he To semite National Park to which wider at tention has been attracted recently through the grant by the present Administration to the city of San Francisco of extenslye por tions of the great Yosemite National Park lor use at a water-supply will be the sub ject of description and discussion by John Muir In the January Century. It is a val ley of rare beauty, and the California naturalist declares, ought toe preserved. Seumus Jfacmanus Is one of the dis tinguished visitors to America at present. He Is knotvn In Donegal, Ireland, as "the fa!ry-man." as he has at his command an Inexhaustible supply of fairy and folk lore legend and tradition, which he tells with a fascinating broguo and most con tagious enthusiasm. He dresses In the ancient Gaelic dress a green kilt and Jacket with silver buttons and wears .the costume well. ... Eastern correspondents seem to agree that since Hawthorne,, no novel, except Miss Johnston's "Lewis Rand." has shown such creative Imagination coupled with such finished literary art. At present it Is said to stand at the head of the best-selling books In this country. Vivian Carter pronounces It "a book to be put next to Thackeray., of whose "Virginians" It Is often reminiscent. This book will do much to add to Miss Johnston's reputation as one of the fore most novelists, not only of America, but of the English-speaking race. Frederick R- Burton has received letters criticising the ending of his novel. "Strong heart." and now hi" publishers, G. W. Dillingham & Co.. offer S50 for the best 200-word criticism on the matter, decision to be made by a committee of distinguished literary men. The successful criticism will be published with the author's name and address. Contest to close December 24, naymeat January 1. 1809. I should say that this is shrewd advertising on Mr. Burton's part at comparatively little expense. Note: From now on. sales of "Strongheart" will increase. . . ' W'. J. Locke, the author of "Simple Sep timus" Is a tall, fair Englishman who thinks Washington. D. C, . beautiful city and "the strenuous man in the White House." a striking personality. Mr. locks was first an architect, and has enjoyed examining the public buildings of Wash ington in company with an American archi tect. One of his chance remarks, which remind the listener of the characters In the author's "books, is: "I don't play golf or bridge therefore I have time to enjoy my self." rrofessor George McLean Harper. of Princeton University, after a year abroad, during which he has been working upon his life and critical study of Staine-Beuve. the great French critic, for Llppincott's French Men of Letters series, has now collected all his material for the work and Is now returning to this country. He Is revising and rewriting the book at Princeton during the Winter and It will probably bo Issued during the early part of January. It Is based In great part upon original research and will no doubt be one of the most Im portant books of Its season. e "The Wlnterfeast," a new Icelandic drama by Charles Rann Kennedy, whoso fame "The Servant In the House" so sud denly established, will be published by the Harpers in a few days, immediately follow ing Its production on the stage. The two plays will provide a sufficiently interesting contrast. While "The Servant In the House" Is a modern drama set in present day Kngiand. "The Wlnterfeast" is a story of the nth century, with Vikings for heroes, governed by the stern passions of the North. The personal symbolism In the "Servant" in which Christ is visibly pre sented as a perfect brother of man. turns HERE IS A SIXGER WHO RE t CITES HIS SONGS. 'V Dr. Ludwig: Wullncr. NEW TORK, Dec. 26. (Spe cial.) A singer without a voice seems anomalous. Dr. Ludwig. Wullner, who has come to this country to show us how to in terpret German lieder, Is known as "voiceless," but this means merely ' that Dr. Wullner re cites rather than sings. Others have attempted recitals of po ems with orchestral accompa niment. BIspham attempted tiiis style of entertainment some years ago, with rather Indif ferent success. It remained for Dr. Wullner to show Amer ican audiences how the beauti ful songs of the greatest Ger man composers could be Inter preted by a voice which did not follow the rnelod-. Dr. Wullner's voice is rich, sonor ous, essentially musical. But it Is his intelligence which gives life to hisMnterpretation of the works of the German writers. He has created unbounded en thusiasm whenever he has ap peared in New York, and musi cians acclaim him one of the world's, greatest artists. Impersonal in "The Wlnterfeast." The new drama will seek to show the devastating in fluence of & lie. Miss Jessie Hodge Millard, head of the children's department of the Portland Pub lic Library, has an instructive article in the current number of "The School and Home" on the subject, "Christmas Booke." Parents' and guard" ians ara often puzzled what sort of holiday gifts as books will really Interest children, because style In such changes from year to year. Miss Millard shows that she has an admirable knowledge of her subject, and ehe goes over in detail a list of favorites that appeals to all tastes, books new and what one might call old. Her style of writing is Illuminative and easily understood. Here Is one thoug'utrul criticism on Her rick's story-attack on the complacent view of marriage, found In "Together": "What Is the moral of -Together'? Is It not to marry, for if you do -i particularly If you are a woman), in 99 cases out of 100 you will select the wrong person; for It is impossible to know, until it Is too late, whether you have chosen wisely or not? While one can not but admit the cleverness of the book, isn't it unpleasant to have one uncongenial couple after another trotted out and their unmoral natures dilated upon? And It would almost eeem that in order not to ap pear too extreme, in the end tho author tries to leave the Impression that Isabella Lane has undergone a change of feeling toward her husband and that they will live happy ever after. But isn't it too late to create such an Illusion? One feels that such a thing cannot be: that Isabelle Is only In the grip of a mood. There are only I Books Added to Library The following new books may be ex amined at the Public Library during this week and will be ready for circulation Mon day, January 4. BIOGRAPHY. Channlng Autobiography and diary of Elizabeth parsons Chanuing. 1!)07. Eddy Mary Baker G. Eddy; by. Arthur Brisbane. 190S. . Lull Ravmond Lull, first missionary to the Moslams: byS. M-'..1;., -BOOKS IN FOREIGN LAMJLAGiS. ubln Das heutlge Marokko. Barrle Den lllle praest. Bohlau Ralsmadelgescmcnten. Bourget I-e disciple. Defoe Robinson Crusoe's llv og liaen delser. Eider Klhrwedder. Gran Norges Daemring: La Rochefoucauld Maximes. Maupassant Les dimanches d un bour geois de Paris. DESCRIPTION AND TRAVEL. Koebel Modern Argentina, the El Do rado of today. 1007. Sewall The log book of the captains clerk; adventures In the China seas. lVDo. Waddington Chateau and country life in France. 190S. FICTION. j,ateS The Intoxicated 'ghost and other stories. Bell Tales of Greyhouse. MacGowan Judith of the Cumberland Panders The forest playfellow. White The rlverman. P,rjlson Mariam; a romance of Persia. HISTORY. Murray Imperial outposts, from a stra tegical and commercial aspect; with special references to the Japanese alliance. 10O7. O'Donnell Causes of present discontent in India. 1908. LITERATURE. Faguet A literary history of France. 19Morley Critical miscellanies, v. 4. 1888. PHILOSOPHY. Di-hop Seventy years young. 1907. KaUlSKJ i:.i""- ceptlon of history; tr. by J. B. Askew. 19" RELIGION. v-yj-tisLaos of North Slam. 1903. Lelghton Jesus Christ and the civiliza tion of today. 1907. Underwood Tba call of Korea. 1908. three really fine Deonle in the story (tho de lightful Colonel. Alice and Steve Johnston), and two Of them die. If this Is a true picture of life today, what a commentary on life:" In his new book, "France In ttie Twen tieth Centurv." Just published, the auth" paints a picture of the life of the French, people of today, taking for his sr.bjecf "The French Woman," "Church and Staiej "The Drama," "Marriage." "Sitciallf-ir.. "Moralitv" and "The Revolutionary Spirit." Another'book. published at the same time, has to do with Louis Napoleon, the author F. H. Cheetham. narrating the career of the latter up to the time of his election to the presidency of the French Republic anil de't-i'ling the story of his adventures until 1S4S. . - After all. and after all. Since ever the world began. Just two have lived and two have died In lowly meln. In lordly pride. The rogue and the honest man. After all. and after all. 1 he classes are but two; And both are rich and both are poor. And both still know, as they knew before. The things which they ought to do. After all. and after all, Escape It we never can; Only the choice of one have we. And you must be and I must be A rogue or an honest man. John Randolph Stidman. in Appleton's. This week heralds the arrival of a long expected book - of Imn'irtuiu-e, "The Mys tery of the Plnckney Draught." This is not. as its title might, at lirst view, snem to indicate, a novel, but, according to its sub title, "A Ptudy In Constitutional History." The author, the Hon. Charles C. Nott. ex Chlef Justice of the Vnited States Court of Claims, has mado a ntudy of a mooted point in the history of the Constitution of the Vnited States how much of the work of Charles Plnckney, of South Carolina, Is em .bodied in that document. Tt is known that Plnckney presented a draught of a consti tution which was referred to the committee of the whole. This draught disappeared and many years after Plnckney sent what he culled a copy of It to John yuinry Adams, then Secretary of State. If this document is really Identical with the paner which Plnckney laid before the convention, then Pinckney made a greater contribution to the provisions of the Constitution than any other man. The book fully discusses and endeavors to arrive at a detlnte con clusion as to this odd point In constitu tional authorship. The authoriship of the. Immortal baseball poem. "Casey at the Bat," has long been In dispute, and Is about to be determined. Ju dicially, btyi conclusively, at any rate, says Harper's Weekly. It was wrttlten by Kr nest Lawrence Thayer, a Harvard graduate of the class of ISS.'t. and during his collece period an editor of the Lampoon. Thaer was a contemporary of Wiiliam Hearst, anil, having a newspaper propensity, went to San Francisco and took service on a newspaper there. For that paper he wrote his cele brated lyric. For a while the lyric lan guished in comparative obscurity, but pres ently, after a lapse of time computed by historians to be two years, the last ei;ht verses of it were copied Into the New Yorlt Sun. and the poem started on its way to be come a National possession. Either Thayer did not put his name to it in the Ilrst place or the name became detached, for authors for It sprang up. a-s It became popular, un til as many poets claimed it as cities claimed Homer. One of them was so per sistent that we believe Mr. Thayer has taken legal action somewhere to establish the rightfulness of his own claim. There sre many shudy paths nf author ship besides that of anonymity. The shadiest of them all Is. of course, that which an author treads In company with his "ghost." remarks the New York Times. Every one knows that tho name of ghost has been given to those unhappy Individuals who write for a consideration what other and far better known authors sign and sell. That the keeping of ghosts must be a very common form of Indulgence among writeis is proved by the fact that In the las-t few years I have run across at least half a dozen struggling authors who have told me In confidence that they have been invited to turn ghost. Another of tho secrets ct authorship consists in an absolute reversal of the process of ghost keeping. This is the writing by ons author of work pub lished under several names. This Is far less dishonorable than the other: Indeed, it Is perhaps not dishonorable at all. There are at present several authors to my knowl edge who. really well known under one name, write also under one and sometimes several others. I have even heard of an author who by his own unaided pen pro vides the entire Actional output of a certain moderately flourishing publisher. It must be a curious sensation to have to pause after writing a story to scratch one's bead and wonder to which of one's personalities it would most appropriately be attributed, and whether It should be signed let us say "John Smith" or "William Robinson'' or "Angelina St. Claire." Will H. Low-s new book,. "A Clironb'le of Friendships." Is remarkable for the light It sheds on the friendship which existed be tween the author and Robert Louis Steven son. Here Is one extract describing a conversation between Low and Stevenson, lust before the lattar's departure for the South Seas: Louis broke the silence, speak ing at first as though to himself. "England Is over there: well, I bear her no grudse, though she has cast me out. I cannot live there and" turning to me almost fiercely -Lou, I wish to live! Life is better than art; to' do things is better thnn to Imagine thein ves, or to describe them. And, find knows. I have not lived all these last years. No one knows, no one can know, the tedium of It. I've supported It as I could I don't think that I am apt to whimper but to b. even as I am now. is not to live. Yes. that's what art In good for, for without my work I suppose I would have given up long ago, without my work and my friends and nil those about me. I am not forgetting them, for witli all the courage I could summon I would not be here today if all their loving care had not added to my courage and made It my duty to them to light it out. There's - England over there and I've left it perhaps I may never go back and there on the other side of this big continent is another sea rolling In. I loved the Pacific In the days when I was at Monterey, and perhaps now It will love me a little. I am going to meet It; ever since I was a boy the South Seas have laid a spell on me. and though you have seen me all these weeks low enough In my mind. I begin to feel a dawn of hope. ... In a better climate on the Pacific surely a better life awaits Shedd Islam and the oriental churches. 1908. Van Sommer & Zwemtr Our Moslem sis ters. Ed. 2. 10"7. Watson Egypt and the Christian cru sade. 1907. Zwemer The Moslem doctrine of God. 190.".. Zwemer and others, eds. The Mohamme dan world of today. F.d. 2. 1900. sociology:. Darwin Municipal ownership. 1907. Fuller Govern live nt by the people: the laws and customs regulating tho election vstem and the formation and control of political parties in the United States. l'JUS. Ross soi-ial psychology? 190S. Weld Private freight cars and Americas railways. 1908. USEFUL ARTS. Bergh Safe building construction. ions. Starbuck Mechanical drawing for plum bers. 190G. Whipple Typhoid fever; its causation, transmission and prevention. 190S. Bach Die wasserradt-r. '2 v. Baker Dictionary of engraving. inns. Carnegie Institution of Washington Handbook of learned societies and institu tions in America. 1908. Lake rlaeid conference on home eco nomics, proceedings. 1SlP'.l-lii7. Los Angeles Chamber of commerce. Re port of the citizens' relief committee, for the relief of sufferers from the earthquake and fire. lOS. . Mercks index; an encyclopedia for the chemist, pharmacist and physician. 1907. National conference on state and local taxation State and local taxation; first National conference. 190.S. Rhead Studies In plant form: Intended to demonstrate the method of deriving ornamental 'auggestlor. from natural growths, i no:;. San Francisco Charter of the city and county. 190S. Pan Francisco Auditor, Annual finan cial statement of tho city and county. 1UI18. T square club (Philadelphia) American competition; comp. and ed. by A. B. Lacey. 1907. Tennyson Works: ed. by Hallam, Lord Tennvson. 5 v. 190t. Zwemer The Moslem world. 19"?. BOOKS ADDED TO JUVENILE DEPART MENT. Janvier In the Sargnsse sea. National rhymes for the nursery. Williams How it works.