The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 27, 1896, Page 21

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27 AN EROTIC SOCIETY NOVEL Disjointed Experiences Strung Together With the Merest Vestige of a Plot “ A WOMAN WITH A RECORD” THE SUGGESTIVE TITLE Caustic Advice to an Authoress Who Misdirects }{er Energies in a Literary Way—She Ruthlessly Slaughters the Gallic Tongue in Her Effort to Appear Frenchy A WOMAN Mrs. WITH A RECORD. A novel— Anderson. o DL w York: G. W. Dii- le by the San Fran- Post street. A nmew work by a new writer is ever the cause of joyful anticipation to a reviewer. He isever on the watch in an effort Yo discover some embryo Dickens, some hidden Georges Sand. Notwithstanding a popular impression to the contrary, a new writer is always sure 10 receive & certain amount of attention from the criti It was, therefore, to be expected that “A Woman With a Record,” a movel by Mrs. Finley Anderson, should be ovened with a feeling of expectancy and the intention of giving it more than a casual glance. The re- sult of reading half a dozen chapters, how- ever, merely served to indicate that the casual glance was all that it merted; for of all the trashy novels which 1t has been our mis- fortune to review during the season this is probably the trashiest. The author of “A Woman With s Recora” is, 50 her publisher, Mr. Dillingham, informs us, 8 scclely woman. She has attempted a de- on of the various component parts of gociety in New York, having a special relation s women. A perusal of the story will v the reader that, T in fiction writing, Mrs. Anderson has chosen an erotic novel as the stage whereon toenect the role of philosopher, moralist, 1, or all of these combined. She has written & book whose construction lipshod character. She bas jotted cown d experiences strung together nerest vestige of a plot and inter- with risque anecdotes. Here and oley there, indeed, 1:ke oases in the desert, we find | & bright saying, an apt illustration, but the | 8T waste of commonplace which separates i i$40,Vast £s to require the uimost exer. +.0{the-weary pilgrim’s powers of endur- TN E The: record possessed by Mrs. Anderson’s 1410ine is 8 tolerably shady ome. This is 8 Baricteristic, however, which she shares with other women of the book. We are led our ~author to believe that the society Women in New York invites wealthy men to ble through whose intormation she can She is not particuiar in the ds she adopts for extracting valuable m these men. er numerous with gentlemen of this kind, the hero- tiring of what she calls “the jealousy, lowness and mountebank farce of society,” es it for Bohemia. rgenial. To quote Mrs. smokes & Nestor, sips & liqueur, plays situation—anything, in fact, rather than be bvored with anything.” But here again the heroine is not alone in her performance of th e antics. The stor; self can only be described asan digestible hotch-potchsuggestive of nothing nor less than a dime mnovel. This is pa arly evident in the names by which M terson christens her charscters. Instance, Lenoir Vaillent, Heloise Neville, Solon Mau: the gentleman with this high-sounding nomen is described, we observe from Mr. ligham’s advance mnotice, as “a fupgus “growih upon the semi-society of two conti- HETST); M Sinclaitr. {Open any page of “A Womean With a Record” Sndysiwill ind an “epigram”—Ouidaesque, Craigieesque or Hungeriordesque, fearfully and swoiiderfully made and painiuliy suggest- “irig-ihe persistent efforts of & dentist in draw- ing-an bdurate tooth. There is nota chapter, scateely 8 page, upon which the broadestof Yrosd. views upon marriage or divoree is not gdyapced.. We are told that “The man who makes. Bis wife’s life interesting merits a re- | “Marriaze is | ward. It is so tare a situation.” the béginning of Woes. Deatn isits ending.’” Then:there arenota few paipabie paraphrases of 'so-called epigrems which we imagine we Tieve seen elsewhere. in; friendship’’; ter, it is:liow she looks’; “The serpeut in Fdén ‘was ‘s man; how else could Eve have Yeen tempted?” “A man’s stories are on ‘otiers, not on himself; & woman often be- tiays her escapades to her dearest friend.” Tha influence of the Ouida school is most ;’trinrked where the writer of the work under review attempts to emphasize the distinctions ween soclety and Bohemia. Here is a para- ‘igraph which might be deemed by readers “Gf up-to-date literature as worthy of having Gtopped from the lips of Lady Dolly herself: “The difference between the smart set and the clever one is that the women of society travel re and speak more languages. They ure better dressed and groomed. pleasures and heartaches are similar. The woman of Bohemia is less self-controiled. She meakes more scenes. She has less veneer and more heart.” As we have said, it is difficult to find a solid | chapter of ‘A Woman Witnh & Record” that is worth reading, but if & choice coald be made it would probabiy be that entitled “Women at the Tape,” which describes the stock sharps and mudhens of New York City. It isin this chapter that Mrs, Anderson makes the nearest epproech to the style of & practiced writer of healthy fiction. She pictures upper Broadway which is lined with branch offices where women trade; she depicts the cozy offices, fur- nishea with all the allurements of well-ap- pointed salons. “All day they watch on the big board the record of the manipulations on the street. Home is neglected. Fashion takes second place. Husband, children, lovers are forgotten in the pursuit of 1llusive wealth. These ; 1aces are as Monte Carlois to France— the plague spot of & nation. A loser in this place recently declared her intention of taking to the church in the end. How eagerly we offer God the refuse of our lives! When earth falls and human lives and human hopes are dead we turn to heaven for solace. This phase of human nature would indicate that the Great Unknown must hold the potion which gives eternal rest.” In her future work it might be well for the writer of ‘A Woman With a Record” to avoid & too profuse use of French. We submit that 8 liberal employment of that language is only permissible in the case of a translator. A phirase like ‘‘Iam ennui’’ suggests to the critical reader that the person employing the same has had 8 tiff with Ollendorff. We must also coufess that we do not feel particularly inter- ested in the menus served at the tables of the vatious New York hotels, nor are we espe- cially concerned with the merits of New York dressmeakers. Itseems a ity thata well-educated woman can find no other avenue for exhibitiag her talents to the public than that afforded by a novel like “A Woman With a Record.” It is 1o b feared, however, that so long as it 1s con- sidered smart to write stuff of this kind, we shall be inundated with these so-called studies in morals. Why in the name of com- mon sense can it not be impressed upon the minds of literary tyros that a novel should be written only when the author feels that he has & mission to perform, or a story to tell? Of what use to literature, to art, to hvmanity are these ephemeral productions whose only ob- ject seems to be to lay bare the ulcers upon the breast of society? We shall feel that our remarks have been to some purpose if they tend to an abatement of the nuisance. Inany event, we have done our duty when we recom- mend readers of these columns not to leave ke many another be- | of the | This she finds more | Anderson, she “goes | her dog, summons a lover, or creates a | . Mallory, 0.d Moneybags, Harry | Thus: *The ‘worst blows | we. teceivé ere given by the hand we have held | “A woman’s age does not mat- | Their viees, | “A Women With a Record” in the neighbor- hood of the drawing-room or the nursery. EMANUEL ELZAS. TEN GOOD ESSAYS. THE RELATION OF LITERATURE TO LIFE—By ¢ haries Dudley Warner. Harper & Bros. New York. Price $150. For sale by A M. Robertson. Post street, City. The ten bright papers from the pen of the | able essayist, Charles Dudley Warner, here | collected are very appropriately put under the general name of the first essay in the book. All but the first paper have previously been printed in the Atlantic Monthly and the Cen- tury Magszine. They show the influence of literature over social progress, and the writer isa great believer in the powerof lettersin shaping the destinies of the world. He takes the precaution to say early in the first paper that by literature he does not mean all books, but some books. He says that men busy in prac- tical affairs do not realize the important part literature plays in the development of the world, and that they are prone to regard thinkers and writers as comparatively useless beings. He then proceeds cleverly to confute this erroneous idea, and explains how we can only see the truth when we look back over the ages. Then it becomes clear that the great men of letters have been supreme in benefit- ing the world. “The best heritage of genera- tion from generation is the character of great men, but we always owe its transmission to the poet and the writer.” He thinks the world will be more permanently affected by what Goethe said than by what Bismarck did. All the voluminous work of the great Gladstone was probably not equal in lasting beneficent power to the poem, *“In Memo- riam.” Speaking of the force of poetry, even among savages, he mentions that when the Jesuits landed on the Pacific Coastin 1768 they found that the Indians at San Gabriel decked them- selves in flowers and engaged in song contests which lasted three da. There is a timely essay on “Simplicity,” in which he states that all the masterpieces which endure and become part of our lives are | characterized by simplicily. The eye like the mind hates confusion and overcrowding. In ‘Modern Fiction” every lover of good novels will find it interesting to note the observa- tions of this bright, critical mind. In another paper he satirizes the mournful expectations of Mr. Froude’s “Progress.” The importance of using acquisitions is pointed out in “What i Is Your Culture to Me?” and the “Novel and | the Common School” tells of training children to love literature. VIVID DESCRIPTIONS OF WAR. THE LITTLE REGIMENT—B8y Stephen Crane. D. Appleton & Co., York. Price $1. For sale by Wil iam Duxey, Patce Hotel, City. This book deals with episodes of the Ameri- can Civil War, ana as might well be expected from the author of it the eccounts given of the | terrible scenes of warfare are intensely vivid. More real by far than any paintings could do this man’s words make the camping, march- ing, fighting and dying appear before the im- agination. The suthor made himself famous | by writing “Tne Red Badge of Courage,” which hes received high praise for its wonderful de- scriptions. His books have a ring to them like | a battie-cry. In the shifting panorama he puts Lefore our fancy we sce the soldfersaround the bivouac fire, alternately joking good- naturediy, and swearing and grumbling et their orders and their officers. We hear wild and frenzied cheers and the zip of desdly missiles. We see long lines of blue or gray through mist or smoke, and then amid sheets of flame ‘““men stumbling over the ghastly relics of other assaults.” The whole atmosphere of his tale is lurid. *List his dis- course of war, and you shall hear a fearful battle rendered you in music.” A few quota- tions culled et random will give an idea of his power, but'ere, of conrse, weakened by de- | tachment: “An instant’s picture of a horse in a great convulsive leap of a death wound, and a rider leaning back with & crooked arm and spread fiugers before*his face. On the ground was the crimson of an exploding shell.” “The sober-hued village had been like the cloak which disguises the king of drama. It was now put as'de, and an army, splendid thing of steel and blue, stood forth in the sun- light.” A NEW BCOK BY GERTRUDE ATHERTON. Gertrude Atherton has earned the distine- tion of being almost the only person of letters | who was capable of promoting discussion in America during the election troubles, says the Bookmsn. Her letters to the Daily News and the Daily Chronicle in Lon- | don heve given birth to angry articles in nearly every prominent paper in America, and the day is infrequent when her deprecia- tion of the American is not made the text of some fresh attack. Mrs. Atherton, by the way, dedicates her next book, “Patience Sparhawk and Her Time,” to M. Paul Bourget thus: “To M. Paul Bourget, who alone of all for- eigners has detected in its full significance that the motive power, the cohering force, the ultimate religion of that strange composite, known as ‘The Americany’ ix individual will. Leaving the ultra religious element out of the question, the high, the low, the rich, the poor, the man, the woman of this sec- tion of the Western world, each, consciously or unconsciously, believes in, relies on him- self primarily. In the higher civilization this amounts to intellectual anarchy,and 1ts ten- dency is to make the Amerizans, or, more exactly, the United Statesians, a mnew race in & sense {ar more portentous than in any which has yet been recog- nized. As M. Bourget prophesies destruction, chaos may eventuate. On the other nand, the final result may be a race of harder fiber and larger facilities than any in the history of civ- ilization. That this extraordinary self-de- pendence or independence of certain tradi- tions that govern oider nations is as quintes- sentially & part of the women as of the men of this race I have endeavored Lo illustrate in the following pages.” ANTIQUE A BOOK OF OLD ENGLISH BALLADS. The Macmillan Company, New York. Price $2. For sale by Wililam Doxey, Palace Hotel, City. This “quaint and curious” volume hasan accompaniment of decorative drawings by George Wharton Edwards, in clever.imitation of “‘ye ancient style,” ard an introduction by Hamilon W. Mabie, the resding of which will arouse interest in these famous old stories in verse, which have come down to us without any record of their authors. These old bal- 1ads, Mr. Mabie points out, have a charm pe- culiarly their own which it is fmpossible to imitate. He says that modern poeis have, in several instances, written ballads of striking picturesqueness and power, but as unlike the old ballad as the world of to-day is unlike that of the time when *Chevy Chase” was written. He gives an elaborate and clever explanation ¢f the difference between the old productions anda modern work, without any comparison of them In the sense of better and worse. He says: “It is idle to exalt the wild flower at the expense of the garden flower; each has its fragrance, its beauty, its senti- ment; and the world is wide!”” The immortal ballad of “Chevy Chase” is of course there, and several about Robin Hood. 1896. 21 INDIANS A Human Soul. A wise man walked by the river, And the water spirit’s sigh As she yearned for a soul, it moved him, And he answered thus her ery: « Can you smile when your heart is aching? Remember when others forget? Leugh lightly, while hope is taking Its final farewell of you; yet Meet the world, and strive on to the ending Of life, be it ever so dread; Firm in feith, without 1alter, unbending With never a sigh or a tear?” + All this I can do,” said she, * Can you face your lifeif left lonely, While another has gained his rest, And you have the memory only Of one who was truest and best? Forever to you the world’s brightness Then passes awey for aye; Can pierce through that darkest day.” [From General Miles’ New Book.] FIRING THE PRAIRIE. “All this I can do,” said she. “ Can you pause to do deeds of kindness In the m!dst of your deepest woe? For grief, it must not bring blindness To the trials of others below. ‘You must ever strive on, and your sorrow, Though heavy and sore to bear, Remains till the dawn of that morrow, When pain it is no more there.” ¢ Ali this I can do,” said she. Made answer the wise man slowly: “If this be so, and thou Censt bear grief, yet help the suffering, Thou hast a soul even now.” FLORENCE PEACOCK. Chambers Journal. P Fellow-Travelers. 1 fain would have thee stay, Old Year, For, oh, my heart is sore! This night we say farewetl, Old Year, Fsrewell for evermore— How can I let thee pass, Old Year, The threshold of my Goor? For when thou farest forth, O1d Year, Thou wilt not go alone; But only I shall see, O1d Year, Upon the threshold stone The footprints in the snow, O1d Year, Trod deep beside thy own! There’s one that journeys forth, 014 Year, With thee across the snow— That hand in band with thee, Old Year, Out at my door will go— But only I shall know, Ol Year, But only I shall know! And New Year’s snow will fall, 01a Year, And drift my threshold o’er; And New Year’s suns will rise, Old Year, And shine upon my floor— Y The feet that pass this night, Old Year, Go forth for evermore! MARY A. M. MARKS in Temple Bar. and the Beggar Maid,” and the ever-fascinat- ing tale of Fair Rosamond has such & pieading picture of the poor girl kneeling before those “‘dragon eyes of augered Eleanor” asgreatly adds to the impression always made by the ballad, that this was one of those rare cases in which frailty was sweeter far than the virtue which denounced it. The Scottish song of “Waly, Waly, Love Be Bonny’’ has a picture of a maiden with her head bowed upon her knees, and the serpent has his forked tongue close to her face and she is thinking: But baa I wist, before I kist, That love had been sae ill to win. MEDICAL. THE, JLLS OF INDIGESTION—Their Canses and Their Cures. By Herman Partsch, M.D. Cumbernsauld_Compauy, North serkeley, Cal Price $5. For sals by Wiliam Doxey, Palace Hotel. Dr. Herman Partsch of Berkeley has in this book of 340 pages given us his best thought on the subject of the resson and the remedy oi one of the most prevalent forms of human suffering. He has had twenty-five years of experimental study of disorders of digestion and his interest 1n the study has been made keen by the fact that he has himself beena great sufferer from this vexatious ill, which is not only painful but paralyzing to the work- ing powers of the mind. He iearned how to cure himself acd has perfect confidence that all cases can be cured by proper treatment. The patient will be pleased to learn that this proper treatment does not consist in drug- ging, nor in the employment of expensive doctors, nor even in any painful amoant of heroic self-denial. He is a great believerina varied diet and lays the blame of much of the stomach’s ills to monotonous bills of fare. No matter how good and how well cooked the food it will not do to be put upon the stomach with continuous repetiiion. The lesson of healthy living he condenses into thisparadox: “The regular way to live is to live irregu- larly.” Hesays that generally a dyspeptic will not reform, or wi 1 not remain reformed, unless he understands ss far as possible the reason for the changes urged upon him. The observant reader will note with curious in- terest the doctor’s use of the word “reform” in this statement. It seems to imply that he re- gards dyspepsia as a sort of vice like dram drinking, which a man should post himself about the evils of ana quit it. Indeed the doc- tor considers there is no more doubt about building up a good digestive power when a rational method is pursued than there is about the certainty of building a house wnen a prop- erly instructed man undertakes the job. WASHINGION'S YQUTH. A VIRGINIA CAVALIER-By Mollie Elltott Seawell. Harper & Brothers, New York. Price $1 59. For sale by A. M. Robertson, Pos: street, Ci Even if George Washington had died in early manhood without the great halo of fame about his name the story of his adventurous and noble youth would have made an exceed- ingly 1nteresting book, ald when added to this attraction we have the curiosity to know about the youth of one of the greatest.hereos of history, the volume telling it should surely tind a wide circle of readers. The Virginia cavalier is none other than the father of his country, and the motto on the first page of the book is “Nature made Wash. ington great, but he made himself virtuous.’ There are a large number of good illustra tions and the frontispiece represents Lord Fairfax delivering a sword to the future conqueror and charging him never to draw it in an unworthy cause. George's stay at Greenwood Court is related, and the attack on the house by Indians, when the boy got his first experience im fighting. The history of his receiving & warrant as mid- shipman on board H. M. S. Bellona and how he gave it up in deference to his mother’s wishes is told. His long tramp through the wilderness to the Ohio River makes one of the best features of the tale, and the closing chap- ter is apout his participation in the campaign against the French and Indians led by Brad- aock. ADVENTURES AT SEA. MASTER ARDICK, BUCCANEER—-By F. H. Costel.o. D. Appleion & (o, New York. Price 50 cents. For sale by Willlam Doxey, Palace Hotel, City. The mere name of buccaneer is enough to attract those readers who love stories of wild adventure. Bold snd buccaneerzare two words which alliterate and affiliate so well that they keep a strong bond ef association in our mem- ories. This book is a good story of its class. It mainly deals with the narration of thrilling incidenis, and makes no pretensions to any- thing else. There are exciting chascs acros: the ses, mutinies and terrific fights, captures and escapes. But Master Ardick is no wicked pirate, as the title applied to his name might impiy. He finds himself part of the crew of a buccaneer vessel after a series of perilous events which came into his life more as by the decree of fate than any exercise of his free will. The style is quaint, and an imitation ot old-fashioned narration. SCIPI0O AFRICANUS. UNCLE £CIPIO-By Mrs. J. H Walworth. New York: R. . Fenne & Co. Price $i 25. Uncle Seipio 1s a good old negro of the South- ern plantation, who is well liked by all who about old Southern families living on Mississ- ippi plantations after the war. There isa well-drawn character of a proud, conscien- tious, financially ruined man, who is unable to adapt himself to the new conditions. The author is a Southerner by adoption, and isthus able to give a clear insight into the condition of the country just after the war, when so many tamilies were broken up. Here are some thoughts frora the book: *“AsIstarted back I found mrself questioning if we at the North who fought and suffered, but conquered and came back to unharmed homes, could quite take in yet what that fight had been to these vanquished brothers of ours. Was there one unscarred home, one unscourged heart, to be found throughout the length and breadth of thisland? Asone man they sacrificed, and as one man they suffered.” MOTHER AND SON. FRANCES WALDEAUX—By Rebecca Harding Davis. Harper & Brothers, New York. Price §1 ¥or sale by A. M. Robertson, Post street, City. This is the Story of an aristocratic widow with an idolized son, who breaks her heart by letting his heart be ensnared by the wiles of an adventuress with undesirable manners and a shady past. Then there is the old siory of marry in haste and repent at leisure. The mother points to the girl and dramatically demands of her son that he choose between wife and mother. The boy quotes, “Those whom God hath joined together.” The mother replies, “You have known her for three weeks. 1gave you life. I have been your slave every hour since you were born. I have lived but for you. Which of us has God joined to- gether 27 “Mother,"” replies her darling son, “you’re damnably unreasonable I’ ‘The mother broods over the rash marriage of her son until her mind becomes unbalanced and she attempts to murder the boy's wife by poison. The tale ends happily, for the unde- sirable wife dies and the headstrong boy be- comes a prosaic and weelthy stockbroker. The fun of the book is in the incident of the ridiculously barefaced mercenariness of the courtship of a titled foreigner, who makesa mere episode in the story, but it is an enter- taining episode. QUAKERS AND INDIANS. THE WAM FfUM BELT: or, THE FAIREST PAGE oF HisTORY—By Hezekiah Butterworth. D. Appleton & Co., New York. Price 81 50. For sale by Willlam Doxey, Palace Hotel, City. This pretty tale of colonial lifeis founded upon the historic fact that good Quakers exer- | cised such a strongly beneficent influence that Indians within the reach of it became good. The, success of Penn’s Indian policy gives am- ple evidence that evenin the case of thesavage rea man, with all his natural instinets of cruel revenge, the poet’s assertion hoids good that it men will be noble the nobleness that lies in other men, sleeping but never dead, will rise to meet their own. A prominent place in the story s given to the treaty of Shackamaxon, which has been called ‘‘the fairest page in American history,” “the only treaty never sworn to and never broken.” The Indians beld this treaty iuviolate until trespasses were heaped upon them by the white men and finally forced retaliation. For more than thirty yesrs after Penn’s death his influence still held sway over Indian councils; impeiling them to try to maintain pence by patiently bearing provocation. If ali white men had been as noble as Penn, the saying need never have become current that “the only good In- dian is a dead Indian.” A NOVEL BY CONAN DOYLE. RODNEY STONE—By A. Conan Doyle. D. Ap- leton Fco. For sale by Doxey, Palace Hotel ice . The story of Rodney Stone 18 far below the level of those which made its author famous and secured for him a wide circle of readers on both sides ot the ocean. It bears all the marks of & book written solely ior the pur- pose of supplying the demand for more stories by Conan Doyle. The plot is extravagantand the details of the mystery involved in it are too improbable to be interesting. Fortunately for Mr. Doyle’'s 1eputation the work has some merits outside of the absurd plot and the unskiliful manner in which it is developed. These merits are the style in which the story is written and the descrip- tions given of certain phases of life in Eng- land during the closing yesrs of thelast cen- tury. Theclass of people tc whom most at- tention is paid in the story is that of prize- fighters, and the author holds that they were b7 no means tne worst Englishmen of their day. He writes with enthusiasm of Jackson, Mendoza, Belcher aud other champions of the time, and the best scene in the book is that of a prize-fight. Pugilism offers a new fleld for novel writers and now that it has been en- tered by Mr. Doyle others will be inclined to follow and we may look for a deluge of ro- mances of the ring. 3 A LOVE STORY. THE QUEST OF THE GOLDEN GIRL—By Richard 16 Galllenne. John Lane: The Bodley Head. London and New York. For sale by Willlam Doxey, Palace Hotel, City. Quite a good story is this of a quest which was in the end rewarded with a rich requital, though the golden girl who was found at last ‘was not wealthy nor did she become the seek- er's wife. The talestarts out with a descrip- tion of an old house and its bachelor and how There is a good version of “Kirng Cophetua | become acquainted with bim. The story isl the loneliness in which a sister’s marriage left it sends the owner forth upon a pilgrim- age. Then follows an indictment of spring, in which the bachelor .asserts that the lie by which it was leading him was spring’s oldest, common est Hie—the iying promise of the per- fect woman, the quite impossible she. He says it is sadly true that we alwsys find the golden girl in our first love and lose her inour second; but further on in the book he some- what contradicts this by saying paradoxically that while itis true the sweetest kiss is the first kiss of the first woman we love, itis equally true that the first kiss of the last woman we love is the sweetest. In the ending of the book the secker of the golden girl re- marks in happy mood: ‘‘As one little sprig of lavender will perfume a queen’s wardrobe, so will a short year of love keep sweetalong life.” USEFUL GIFT BOOKS. ORATORS: WORDS, THEIR 5 AND ABU HOURS WIIH MEN AND BOOKS—By Willam Matthcws, Li D. Published by Scoit, Foresman & Co., Chicago. For sale by the Whitaker & Ray Company. Frice §5. ! The set of works under the above titles form one of the best presents that could be given to any one at this holiday season. They are ex- haustive, well printed and substantially bound. Sold only in sets. From the same publishers we receive Son-s of Yesterday by B. F. Taylor, which is a volume of charming verse and can also be recommended as a suit- able giftbook. Price $2 50. THE DELUGE OF BOOKS. ORATORY AND USE AND ABUS. The enormous output of books in late years surprises every one; few facts are more famil- iar, few are more commonly remarked, and few arouse such confusion of mind as to where they come from, why they exist and how they find buyers and readers. In the year 1895 no fewer than 5580 new books were published in England, besides 935 new editlons of old books. In asingle mouth the New York Times has received more than 400 books for review. The output is indeed so large that one might be tempted to infer that the proportion of books published to manuscripts offered for publication is becoming every year much larger than it formerly was. But the factap- pears to be that this proportion, instead of changing in that way, is changing in the other direction. With all the increase in pub- lications there has also been an increase In writing. Frederick Macmillan, at a recent dinner in London, stated that his house in one year had accepted only twenty-two books out of 315 that were submitted; while A. Chatto, in a published interview, aflirmed that his house accepted an average of only about thir- teen for every 500 submitted. Surrounded as we have been by a flood, we have therefore to thank the publishers that we ere not in the midstof adeluges Assum- ing that Mr. Macmillan’s ratio is the r&tio of all puplishers, and provided all submitted manu- seripts had been published, but excluding the unknown factor that the same manuscript was often submitted to several publishers, we should have had instead of 5580 new books, 72,540; while the same computation, with Mr. Chatto's figures as & guide, would have given us 212,040 books, or nearly 700 for each day of the yeer, cxclusive of Sundays. The causes of this increase in the number of books are not far to seek. Cheapness of pro- duction—cheaper composition, cheaper paper, cheaper binding—is & great one, but agrea te is the increase in the number of those who read. Popular education here shows some of the results of its work. But who shall say why 313 persons should continue to write books when only 22 can have them accepted, or why 500 should write them when only 13 can hope for acceptance? 1s this also due to the spread of popular education and the resultant ambi- tion to write? The ability to write has become a common accomplishment; thatis, the ability to write what is fairly grammatical. Scores of persons who write books which they hope to see pub- lished probably do not realize that something more than correct sentences is necessary. Provided they have a subject, with some knowledge of it, all that remains necessary, from their standpoint, is to write correctly. They do not know that correct writing no more makes & good writer than correct use of mechanics’ tools make an architect. No mere grammarian ever was an artist in words; in- deed, the greatest artists in words have some- times not been grammarians at all. The future probably holds for us little hope that the number of books will decline; on the contrary, they are more likely to increase in number with the years. But we need not de- spair; despair remains only for the librarians— for Mr. Spofford and Dr. Billings. The great public wiil be protected, for the good books will live, and the bad one will surely die—and the death will be a naturalone. There were millions of houses in the ancient world, but only one Parthenon. Italy has had millions of buiidings, but the Parthenon, St. Mark’s and St. Peter’s still stand, as they will stand for some ages longer. We may get our 5000 or 10,000 books each year, but it will still remain true that not more than one really great book can be produced in & century or'so. Europe waited several centuries to get her Dante, her Shakespeare, her Moliere, her Cervantes. Meanwhile, with the second great ones came whole regiments of lesser men, who had their brief reward, and then went each his silent way, book in hand, into the unknown beyond. BY THE GENERAL OF THE ARMY Gommander Nelson A. Miles and His Inter- esting Book of Military Adventures IT. IS A MAGNIFICENTLY ILLUSTRATED VOLUME The Literary Flood of the Holidays Still On, and Books of History TJravel, Fiction and Biography dostle Each Other on the Road to the Review Table MILITARY - RECOLLECTIONS OF GENERAL NELSON A. MILES. The Werner Company: Chicago and New York. The general of the United States army has given us in this Jarge, handsome and splen- didly illustrated volume a narration of the most thrilling and interesting events of his military career. He has becen very generous in his mention of his companions in arms, and has given such a vivid account of the hard- ships and perils which they endured in the arduous camprigns as will tend to make thelr accomplishments be held in grateful remem- brance by their fellow-countrymen. The book embraces a brief review of the Civil War, but is mainly devoted to General Miles’ Indian campaigns. They are the comments of a close observer with special opportunities for obtain- ing a comprehensive view on the exploration, development and progress of our great West- ern empire. The pictures are by Frederick Remington and other eminent artists. The first chapter in the book contains ebser- vations on colonial life and character, and tells the effect that the history of New England nad on the youthful mind of the author. It was this which caused him to decide to devote his life to a military career. General Miles spent six years in campaign- ing against the Indians and his relation of this fighting and accounts of the Indian life and character will be the chief interesting fea- ture of the book to most readers. We can prooably get here a truer and more vivid ac- count of Red Cloud and Sitting Bull and other famous Indian chiefs than can be found elsewhere. Even 1f we already know much about them it is entertaining to have a great soldier’s opinion of them. Some of the trans- lations of the speeches made by these brave leaders show a wonderful eloquence and ele- vation of mind and they seem masters of the art of condensation in expression. Itis note- worthy that this upright and capable soldier, after all his ample opportunities for judging, gives it as his opinion that the prevalent no- tion of the Indian being incapable of the bet- ter impulses of kumanity and unworthy of admission to the brotherhood of man isa greaterror. He has much that is good to say of the red man, and shows their great ability as diplomatists, statesmen and Warriors. JUVENILE BOOKS. CHRISTINE'S CAREER—By Pauline King. D. Appleton & Co., New York. Price $150." For saie by Willlam Doxey, Palace Hotel, City. Bound in an odd cover of pea green and sil- ver, this book contains much interesting read- ing for young girls. There are a number of good illustrations and the paper and printing are excellent. Christine was & girl of very sweet disposition, and in the merry games and frolics as well as in the disagreements and quarrels of her set of playmates she always brought the charm and good influence of a bright and lovable nature. SOME SAY, AND NEIGHBORS IN CYRUS— By Laura E. Richards. Boston: Estes & Lau- riat. Price 50 cents. A new volume 1n the tamous *Captain Jan- uary” series, of which nearly 200,000 yolumes bave already been sold. For years the author has charmed an ever-increasing circle of readers with her characteristic prose idyls of New England life, and these two excellent stories written in the author’s usual graceful manner are sure of the hearty approval of all who pass & pleasant hour in reading them. THE WINDFALL—By William O. Stoddard. _D. ‘Appleton & Co., New York. Price $150. Fo: sale by William Doxey, Palace Hotel, City. This story for boys of adventures both under and above ground deals with accidents in mines and with great floods and snowstorms which call for deeas of heroism in rescue work which are nobiy responded to. There are half a dozen good illustrations of the most excit- ing events in the story. AND OTHER FAIRY TALES—By Evelyn Siarp. John Lane: The Bodley Head, New York and London. Price $160. For sale by Willlam Doxey, Palace Hotel, City. Wymps, it seems, are not fairies, although they have found their way into & book of fairy tales. One of the wymps to whom we are in- troduced slides to the earth on a sunbeam and takes a seat on & saltcellar on the table of the King’s banquet, and being jealous of the fairies, wno had more consideration there, he bestows upon the Prince the evil gift of telling everybody just what he thought of them. His resulting rudeness is borne with patiently till he tells the Queen her hair is turning gray. Then her Majesty says, “The dear fellow can- not be right in his head; he must have a doctor.” MIDSHIPMAN FARRAGUT—By James Barnes. D. Appleton & Co., New York. Price $1. For sale by Willlam Doxey, Palace Hotel, City. This semi-historical story of the precocious youth of Admiral Farragut will be of interest and probable profit to boys. Most of the inci- dents in the tale are true happenings, and alt but one of the characters are Listorical. Far- ragut is represented as having possessed won- derful fortitude and knowledge at a very early age. The book is well illustrated with views of ships and the se DRAMATIZING A NOVEL. The impression is rather prevalent just now that any novelist can amass wealth by drama- tizing one of his own stories. Paul M. Potter, who dramatized “Trilby,” discussed the sub- ject the other day, speaking as one with au- thority: “This ides that any novel can be drama- tized, even by an accomplished playwright, i3 sheer nonsanse,” said Mr. Potter. *Not one novel in a hundred thousand is suitable for the stage, and I regard the accident of ‘Trilby’ and the ‘Prisoner of Zenda’' coming together in the same year one thatis not likely to hap- pen again in our generation. Ask yourself how many famous plavs ever came jfrom novels and you will realize the truth of what Isay.” The dramatization of stories, Mr. Potter added, is entirely a French art. The French know how to pick out one central incident in a story and make atl the other incidents sub- sidiary to that. “Until a man learns this trick,” said Mr. Potter, “he cannot dramatize & novel.” LITERARY NOTES. The Daily Tatler, Stone & Kimball’s brilliant and novel literary newspaper, has ceased to exist, after a lively career of thirteen days. Mr. Kimball has said, however, that the pub- lication may be resumed next year. Israel Zangwill has severed his connection as literary essavist of the Pall Mail Maga. zine, but will continue to write for the Cos- mopolitan. A fragment by Robert Louis Stevenson, enti- tled “A Mountain Town in France,” has re- cently been found, and will be published im- mediately by John Lane. It is an account of asojourn at Le Monastierin the fall of 1878, ana was intended the upening chapters of “Travels with a Dorkey in the Cevennes,” but never used. Paul Bourget has been spendiug the summer in Ireland. He is writing a novel teliing of the adventures of a French family who were banished from Fragce and czme to live on the banks of Lake Killarney. In McClure's Magazine for January, Lida Rose McCabe will tell the story of the cele- WYMPS: jtion had seen. brated ‘Martha Washington Case’’—a case which engaged a number of lawyers of nae tional renown; which charged a group of men of the highest business and social standing with causing the burning of a steamboat and the consequent loss of sixteen lives, in order to coilect a large sum of insurance; and which, in its day, was a sensation ot the first magnitude. The article will be illustrated. ‘The sumptuous edition of all Mr. Rudyard Kipling’s works which Messrs. Scribner are to publish is aiready in the press. Mr. Kipling, for this edition, has, according to the Book- man, eatirely rearranged his stories, and, among other changes, ‘‘In the Rukh,” will be placed in its proper position at the end of “The Second Jungle Book.” Messrs, Scribner pro- pose to call the edition “The Outward Bound.” The paper on which the books are to be printed will ali be watermarked with Mr. Kipling’s initials. Admirers of Dr. Martineau’s charming English style, and no less delighttul, gracious and sympathetic reasoning on ethical themes, will heartily welcome the little book which the Macmillan Company is publishing under the title “Faith the Beginning, Self-Surrender the Fulfillment of the Spiritual Ltfe,” by James Martineau, D.D., D.C.L. The chapters in the book are entitled : Faith the Rootot Knowledge and of Love; The Lapse of Time and the Law of Obligation; Thou Art my Strength; The Claims of Christian Enterprise. The same house will begin next year the publication of an entirely new edition of the writings of America’s great historian, Francis Parkman. It will inctude more than 100 full« page portraits and plates, from original paint- ings and rare prints, together with a number of pictures made especially tor the works by noted artists. Messrs. R. H. Russell & Son of New York announce the publication of “Dr. Jameson’s Raiders,” by Richard Harding Davis. Mr. Davis attended the Jameson trials and was given access to many papers, manifestos and proclamations by the reform committee that no one outside of their own’ organiza His acquaintance with Dr. Jumeson and his officers enabled him to write his account of the raid from de- scriptions given him by the men who made it, and he has, therefore, been able to present the only accurate story of their famous dash into the Transvaal, beginning with Jameson’s ad- dress to the troopers and detailing every mile of the ride up lo the surrender. The price will be 50 cents. Dean Farrar’s long promised book on “The Bible; Its Meaning and Supremacy,” is now announced as being ‘“in the press” by the Messrs. Longmans, who state that the author, «“while supporting the unique grandeur and inestimable value of the Scriptures, points out the dangerous errors which have sprung from their misinterpretation and from humanly invented tbeories as to the nature of their in- spiration.” “Current Ristory” for the third quarter of the current year hasbeen issued, and as usual is an interesting and complete condensed history of the leading events of the world. As a book of reference it is one of the most useful Kul;}hhed.-finreuon, Cox & Co., Buffalo, An Island of Chalk. The English island of Thanet (formerly part of the county of Kent) is almost wholly composed of chalk. The island is ten miles in length and about five in breadth and has more chalk exposed on its surface than any other spot of equal area on the globe. British geologists say that there are not less than 42,000,000,000 tons of chalk “in sight’’ on Thanet and that it would take 10,000 men and 5000 horses and carts 20,000 years to move if, providing it were dug up ready to ‘be carted away.—The St. Louis Republic. ————————— Palmistry has been practiced in the East from time immemorable. The palme« isters claim that several allusions in the book of Job indicate a knowledge of this art. NEW TO-DAY. A Rare Opportunity FOR THIS WEEK ONLY{ —WE WILL GIVE A— SPECIAL DISCOUNT OF 15 PER CENT —ON ALL— PIANO AND BANQUET LAMPS, ONYXTABLES and BRIC-A-BRAC IN OUR ARTROOM. Wi, inck 6 818-820 MARKET ST. GENUINE ROXBURY BRUSSELS CARPET, 175G A YARD, . SEWED AND LAID. SHIREK & SHIREK, 747 Market Street, Tel. 5391. Opp. Grant Ave. N, e most certain and safe Pain Remedy. Instantly Telleves and soon cures all Colds, Hoarseness, Sore ‘Abroat, Bronchitis, Congesiions and In e tions 5Uc per boitle, Sold by Druggisis