The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 23, 1897, Page 25

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, MAY 23, 1897. 23 I %) R book of tales done —he has given them c1ze. Having on many occasion in the past ed himself a c ver the newly made grave of & luckless 1died in the service of making £ understand what & >w an author might ake his fate in his the same 1o us that ave been to him. To be an other kind is extremely s Dot w am ignificance, is about a as any modern piece of ficti la display. N all of our latter-day and the msjority of our latter-day short stories that are intended for book publi for the critics at \aracte It he will go off incon- > circumstance divested of | conditions, the Oriental 1nheritance of endur- ance and lightheartedness, of kindly youth that makes even evil conditions endurable and causes hope to spring eternal in the breast, for their cheering and upbearing. This quality of the race is admirably shown in the volume of tales of the Russian Jew that has just been issued by the Jewish Pub- lication Society. There are stories of fact and folklore, the legends and myths have come down through generatio! Russo-Judean students and story- Many of them are full of the same whimsical, opulent extravagances that characterize the ancient Mogul stories and tales of the East. Some are full of tragedy, and others deal with the witly inventions whereby ihe Jewish student manages to make life endurable and to wheedle subsistence out of & rowning world. Now and then the stories are sad, but through them all ruus the vein of lovalty to | faith and race, of charity toward others nd | | | of beiiefin the ultimate glory of his nation that characterizes the Jew in every age and clime. The Hebrew is essentially an optimist, and by that same token a worker; and these stories of the Russian Jew, which the Rus- cation are writien primarily for review. | 5o “Viowizi, has collected, give us a far ooking the fact that reviewing i | gimerent igea of the type than is to be gath- 's neither essential nor 1mporl-|greq from studying the immigrant as seen at to the simple scheme of putting & ublic to read, this publisher and c; realm of lett bf 1t and are wt mo: c who rule th = taken up n each itdoubtless. is thank- d’s different the fraternal trio and His stories are written Iy for the general people to isintest appeal to & them—at lenst, none which 1 cious of when he wrote spleadid train- ter may have been re- arity. ritten 10 be read—not to be finer sense that describes Mr. storfes. There is no striving after g for particular attention to only plain, simple narrative. reations of his imagination between covers and sending it out for ra fraternity of a- | ke a triangular | honored and unhung | kind of suthorship | tunlike a | Castle Garden. CHARLES EDWIN MARKHAM The following sketch of a weil-known Cali- fornia figure appears in the current issue of public is represented | the Book Buyer (Churles Scribner’s Sons): Few 11y a financial cou- | among Contemporarary priters of verse for h it is permitted to | magazines have so clearly proved their right toa place among the true lyric poets as Charles Edwing Markbam. He has the very rare but much sought capacity for interpreting na- ture in & convincing wav—of giving voice to her more subtile moods. This is only possible 10 one who has lived near her and been under her profound influence apart from the dis- tractions of the crowd. Mr. Markham's early days were spent on & | lonely ranch in California, surrounded by high pine-covered mountains, where his only living companions wers the cattie and sheep he herded for Lis mother. At 14 be came into possession of & copy of Bryant's poems, his first book, with the exception of & grammar and an srithmetic, that he had siudied dili- gently. Two yearslater Moore and Bryant were added to his little library of inspiration. Mr. Markham moved with his mother to San Fran- cisco, where he entered coliege. After gradu- wed slone. And the creations | ation he learned the blacksmith’s trade,and s he work whatever sta- | some of his early poems were composed to the The vehicle of expres- [ musicof the &n e things expressed rise above it ers on & plain. And asto the quality tenths of tall grasses hed style. better a nine: that we find amid th owe; £ rig tory writing rd has impaled this truth , and has let no fancy grass hand in working out his is not one o his t be assumed that the “Pretty Ban- t ressed. Th ilard by one e said of Mr. 'S m altogeth ter of good English. But that 1 mostly by those who find oss to describe him to an; iety, d the others some es At & when the present instance it goes with- le tales to the public had > me as & reviewer or a critic I to prick with a sharp pen such he gentences here foilowing, ne mayhap should lose the of the creations and see only ders through the screening tie came to leave Last Hops she thing glided tbrough the brush and she ed, for she thought It was a moun- He made a blunder of course, con g offer of assistance, which think of accepting. From & ¢ eaving ntionally eritical poin the character of the whol utences wou'd be considered d, the extreme ingenuo of lers upon amateurish story arrative phrases In the sec- example, aside from the super- <piaining what the girl thought of her terror being obvious), it is she had thought the gliding g else than & mountain lion she “nearly screamed.” The g bear or Wolf would not in the least. Tne two ot of view, rs might be dragged out of | whole and made to look badly er a microscope. seral groundwork of these tales, simpie in expression and broad in material s they ere, & few little overkeyed accentuations of one do not mar, but rather add to the har- mony of the whole. Certainly they serve gently to impress upon you tae characteristic charm of the one, while the abiding charm of e other prevents them from upsetting any general effect. Miliard’s stories are more nearly West- literature than anything else that has ap- ed in California gince Bret Harte wrote re. And they compare with the aversge hort story that is not western, but very much , 8s & woodcut engraving compares with a hali-tone p'ate. CARROLL CARRINGTON. STORIES OF THE RUSSIAN JEW. IN THE PALE—By Henry Tliowizl. Philadel- he Jewish Pub.ication Society, 0f Amer- M. 1 of the modern literature sbout the people sheds e very clear light upon problem of this race’s apparenily mysteri- Dispersed, oppressed, repressed a with contumely, the irrepressible compasses the earth and maintaios ol and racial ideutity under odds which he might be expected o snc- What s the secret of this marvelous vitality; this buoyancy under pressure; this apparent tendency to thrive where another race would long since have dissppeared from the face of the earth? The quesiion is an in- esting one, and it would seem as though & partial suswer to it is o be found fn the character of the Jew as it is revealed in the es of him, mostof them by Jewish writer s t hiave recently seen the light. They present to us not the type under which we heve so long classified the Hebrew. They w us not Fagin, nor Shylock, but s many- sided being—cautious because of need, subser- v oftentimes by reason of oppression, v and wise in the world's ways, yet un. s suffering aud wrongs buosant, rich . hopeful and lighthearted, with s of imagination and a certain sav- ug sense of humor that brings him through wuch eath which a man of different make- up wouldsink. The pure blood of the Jew has retained, inrough long sges snd amid varying his ind cumb. g —well, to come straight to the | inly hese | s that he is | it has been left unsaid. | about going, for some reason or | ng | But as threads in | For a number of years, now, he has been | prominently identified with educational mat- ters in Californis, and he is ai present the | principal of the Tompkins School at Oakiand. There is nothing of the “pale cast of thought” | sbout Mr. Markham. His sturdy figure and strong, sensitive face suggest the man of pur- pose and vigorous mentality. He is now pre- pering a volume of his poems, which has the attractive title ““On Mountain Tops.” OUTDOOR SPORTS. G—For the six months ending March, ‘The Outing Pub.ishing Company, New oUTI 18: The twenty-ninth volume of “Outing,” for the six months ending March, 1897, fully | maintains the high level of excellence estab- ed by its predecessors. It is elezantly printed and serviceably bound and should find a conspicuous place on the bookshelves tion. The contents of this volume are everything that the title-page implies and have been carefully classified under their several head | 80 that the reader will experience no difficuity in finding interesting and instructive articles | upon every conceivabie subject pertaining to | outdoor life written by recognized authorities. | Hunting seems to be one of the inost popular | current topics, if space furnishes a safe criterion, no less than twenty ariicles being devoted there(o in the present volume. There {are also several entertaining articles on | cyeling, equestrianism, fishing, football, golf, | rowing, yachting, et.. while the less technical departments of poetry and fiction have not been neglected. The volume is pfofusely and tastefully illustrated. FAMOUS PERSONAGES. A CHAT ABOUT STORY OF A BOOK: | Snuepard, Bos:on. | This is a delightfal volume of reminiscences of famous personages and supplies many here- | tofore unpublished auecdotes connected with many world-wide celebrities, generals, actors, | authors, poets and orators. Mr. Guild’s method is unique. Having been presented with a volume of “Yesterday with Autnots,” by James T. Flelds, the author of that interest- ing book of sketches, just before the death of | Mr. Fielas, Mr. Guild conceived the idea of | “extra illustrating” the volume by inserting | or binding up with it poriraits, landscapes and other works of art bearing a reference to | its contents. Aud so as a memento of his i friend Mr. Guild extended the one volume to four books, and in this ““Chat About Celebri- ties” hie tells the story of this filustrated copy | of “Yesterdays with Authors,” by relating various Incidents regarding the many person- ages mentioned, as the various portraits are described. LEBRITIES, OR THE By curils Guild. Lee & A LOVE STORY. CAPTAIN MOLLY, & | “Denimon; author ot ihar Hassane” of Sitas’ | “That Wite of Mine,” ““Tell Your Wite,” etc. Mrs. Denison is known throughout the coun- try and Great Eriwin as the author of several | successful novels, among them being *“That | Husband of Mine,” which attained a remark- able circulation a few years since. “Captuin Molly”is in & decidedly different vein from | ber previous work, it being a very strong story of tne affections with many dramatie situa- tions; indeed, it is now being dramatized for early preseniation in New York. The scene is | 1aid among the East-siders of New York, but the characters are not all drawn from tnat classic locality. FOLLY AND REPENTANCE. THE FOOL AND HIS HEART—By F. Noreeys Counell. New York: George M. Richmona & Co. Basil Thimm, the principal character of the tale, starts life & very sensitive and weli- meaning youth, but meeting with disappoint- ment in love seeks to dzown his regret by fol- Jowing & wild lifs in Bohemia. He becomes entangled with & woman whose husband is a brute and Basil kills him in & duel, marrying ber later. Much interest {s added to tne tale by the part played in it by a large-minded priest, who is Basil’s friend, and who leads him back to right living. FOR MOTHERS. NURSERY PRUBLEM~—Edited by Dr. Leroy M. Yale. New York: The vontemporary Pub- ishing Company. This is & new and enlarged edition of a coi- lection of contributions to the columns of “Bs- byhood; The Mother's Nursery Guide” It consists of inquiries addressed by anxious mothers to the medicel editor upon a great variety of subjects and the replies thereto. ~ of all true lovers of sport, travel and recrea- | | i ~ —Z FRANK BAILEY MILLARD. The subject of the above portrait is one of the most r:spected and well- known journalists in San Francisco, whose chief bid for prominznce, howe_vel_', rests on his accomplishments in the literary rather than the merely journalistic field. He was born in Wisconsin in 1859, came to N:vada in 1878, whence, after desultory prospecting in that and neighboring States, he proceeded to California in 1880. He entered the newspaper field here as a compositor on the Alta, and subsequently went to the Chronicle, where first as printer, then as reporter, and later as assistant City editor, he stayed until 1889. He wrote special articles for *“The Call,” and became City editor of this parer, holding the desk until 1893. He has held several responsible positions on the Examiner, including those of night editor and City editor. At present he holds the Sunday editor’s desk. He has written short stories and special articles for many of the magazines and local papers, and a collection of some of the tales has recently been published in a book bearing the title of “A Pretty Bandit,” which is reviewed in this issue of “The Call.” TWO GREAT TREASURES. EYE OF THE SUN—By Fdward 8, Fllls. Chicago and New Yor tand, McNally & Co. Captain Howard, while fighting the S2poys in Indis, becomes the possessor of & very valna- ble diamond called the “Eye of the Sun,” and his son Varnum Howard inherits it. This young manis an athlete, and one nignthe overpowers a very muscular burglar; but, with o sirange freak of generosity, refrains from eitber killing or prosecuting him. The burglar becomes nis friend and servant, and starting for America with this strange body- guard aud the priceless diamond Varnum Howard meets with many adventures. There is & love story mingled with these happen- ings, and Varnum has another treasure, Mariel,whom he considers of more value than all the Drecious stones of Golconda. THROUGH FRENCH EYES. SOUVENIRS D’AMERIQUE ET DE GREC] Par M. Plerre de Coubertin. 1 vol fr. Hach- ette et Cle., Paris. Under the above titie Baton Pierre de Cou- bertin has recorded his impressions of a visit to America, with especial reference to the Western portion of the continent. A casual glance through the first portion of his book reveals numerous complimentary zeferences to the people of the United States, and a cor- respondingly large number of polite hits at our love of the “tout puissant dollar.” As might have been expected from an educated Gallic visitor, the work is sprightiy avd viva- | “The Jumping Frog,” alark Twa clous. It is dedicated to Professor William M. Sloane,whose monumental ““Life of Napoleon” was recently noticed in these columns. THE BEST TWELVE STORIES. In Junuary last the Critic, so as to judge what was the public taste, called upon its readers to give lists of the twelve stories which they deemed the best. The authors were 10 be Americans. Tue Critic was to act as judge, and two prizes were offered, In the last issue of the Critic the first prize was awarded to the following list, which was sent by J. W. George of St. Louis: “The Man With- out a Country,” Hale; “The Luck of Roaring Camp,” Bret Harte; “The Great Stone Face,” Hawthorne; “The Snow Image,” Hawthorne; “The Gold Bug,” Poe; “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” Poe; “The Lady, or the Tiger ?” Stockton; ‘‘The Le; of Sleepy Hollow,” Irving; “Rip Van Winkle,” Irving; “Marse Chan,” Thomas' Neison Page; “Mar- jorie Daw,” Thomas Bailey Aldrich; “The Re- volt of Mother,” Mary E. Wilkins. The second list of twelve, which was entitled to a prize, was confined to one story by a single author. G. Adams of New York was the recipient of this prize. His list was: “Marjorle Daw,” Aldrich; “Love in O.d Clothes,” Bunner “The Lady, or the Tiger?” Stockton; “A Hum- ble Romance,” Mary E. Wilkins; “The Gold Bug.” Poe; The Birthmark.” Hawthorne; “The Luck of Roaring Camp,” Bret Harte; e Man Hnle; “Mch Lady,” Posson Jone,”” Cable; Without a Country, Thomas Neison Page ‘Gallegher,” Richard Harding Dayis. Tastes vary, but both lists are good onas, Mr. Adams’ is a trifle more modern than the one Mr. George selects. READING PROOFS OF POETRY. Some writer has produced a poem called ‘Sounds From the Sanctum.” It reads prettily and gives rise to the thought that the author never visited the sanctum when business was in full swing. If he had calied about mid- night, for instance, he would have seen two men—one poring over a proof-slip, the other holding tke copy, and the sounds would have been something like this: Proofreader—As flowers without the sun- shine fair—comma—without you—comma—do I—comma—brenthe & dark and dismal mair— Copy-holder—Tounder! not mair—air. Proofreades—I breathe a dark and dismal air—comma—of flowers—comms. Copy-holder—Shoot the comma. Proofreader—'Tis done. As bowers without the sunshine fair—semi-colon—confound slug seven, he mever justifies hislines—No joy in life—comma—no Worms—— Copy-hoider—Warmth. Proofreader—No warmth I share—comma— and health and vigorous flies— Copy-holder—Health and vigor fly. Prootreader—Health and yigor fiy—period. Taat's about the sound of it when the poetry is on deck. ABOUT PROSPECTORS. YELLOW PINE BASIN—By Henry G. Catlin. New York: Georse H. Richmond & Co. This is & story, founded on fact, of the pic- turesque life of the prospector. It tells of the men who went into the wilderness withsa pack -mule, arms, provisions and tools as all that they could call their own with the one all- absorbing idea of finding the precious metals. The characters are sketched bya man who claims to have a long and intimate acquaint- ance with such adventurers. ABOUT WATER WORKS. THE MANUAL OF AMERICAN WATER WORKS, 1897—Edited by M. N. Baker, Ph B. 1he Engineering News Publishing Company, New York. The above, whose title is self-explanatory, gives detafled descriptions of the various ter supply systems of this country and Canada, together with tables of the water rates charged in over 1250 cities and towns. As s work of reterence and to the specialist the mauual cannot fail to be of value. FOR BOYS. THE BRAVEST OF T M ALL—By J. Selwin Tait. New York: The Esdale Press. Price $1. A short, well-told and_well-illustrated story | of animal life put in something of an allegori- cal form. The beasts are made to speak and some lessons for bumans are thereby very neatly conveyed. One of the best things in the tale s a_description of an encounter be- tween the old lion and an immense snake, in which & stag comes to the rescue and 1s awarded the paim as “bravest of them all.” MRS. ATHERTON ON HER WORK. The following characteristic letter has been received at THE CALL office from Mrs. Gertrude Atherton, whose latest work, ‘‘Patience Sparhawk and Her Times,” was recently reviewed in these columns: I have read your lament over me with much interest. MERRYHILL COTTAGE, BUSHEY, HERTS, ENGLAND, May 7, 1897. I will not agre= with you that 1 have gone to the dogs because I elect to study life outside of California for a change; nor, as the first date of copyright will prove, did 1 write ‘‘Patience?? in obedience to a prevailing taste. markets some time after had not sent out a herald. as they had passed under my observation, particularly as to sensationalism. A year and a half before, when I began the book, the type of novel which ruled the It occurred to me to portray certain phases of the United States exactly I have always maintained that our literature did not represent us—for we are the most sensational, heterogeneous and chaotic race on earth, and our novels would lead the outsider to believe that our veins were packed with weak tea, and our skulls with the philosophy of the ages. The writing of this book gave me no pleasure whatever and I usually take a very keen pleasure in my work; nevertheless, I claim that it is the most truthful American novel that has been written, and the proof of it is that it has met with angry— in many cases insulting—disapproval from aimost the entire United States press. tions, and these reviews, curiously enough, have besn the only ones written in a temperate spirit. Now, as to my writing of California. What is the us of writing stories which no one will read? There have been two or three excep- 1 made exactly $12 on the book edition of “The Doomswoman”; and the Lippincotts were so disappointed in the sale of the magazine in which it first appeared that they did not feel justified in bringing it out between boards. As for ‘““Before the Gringo Came,” Ido not belisve a hundred copies of the book were sold, and the stories were refused by nearly every magazine in the United States. The Cosmopolitan, under Mr. Howells’ editorship, and Lippincott’s, published two or three of the little ones; the rest I had to send to England. The people in the Eastetn States care nothing for California. That is the brutal truth. (They have no time to think of anything but themselves.) As for California itself, if it be true that “‘all residents of the State possess the highest sense of admiration” for my “earlier efforts,” they have taken a peculiar way of showing it. Not only do they refuse to buy my books which treat of California subjects, but their press, when not abusing me, studiously ignores me. I have no way of judging the character of Californians who do not air their sentiments in print and I have no quarrel with them for not spending their money on what does not interest them. But my experience of the San Francisco press has extended over nine years and if there is anything pettier on this planet I have been fortunate enough to escape it. There have been sporadic and notable exceptlons, but I am dealing with a prevailing spirit. The only books that 1 have so far written that I care a rap about are ““The Doomswoman”’ and “‘Before the Gringo Came.” Whether I achieved all I wished to achieve or not their appearance was a signa! event in California history. Yet they are, when a summary of California literature is made by the ambitious hacks of the press, never mentioned, and it is doubtful if they are on the shelves of ten California libraries. Nevertheless I have written another California novel and am at work upon still another. Whether I retlirn to the early history of the State depends upon whether I ever make up my mind to return to the State itself. 1 have been tempted to write this to you because your article, although severe, was friendly. You can use your own preference about publishing it. Yours very truly, GERTRUDE ATHERTON. - HERE AND THERE. Thers are 1425 characters in the twenty- four books that Dickens wrote. F. Marion Crawford, the novelist, has en- tered into a contract with Msjor J. B. Pond to deliver next season 100 lectures upon Italian art together with readings from his own novels. Joel Chandler Harris rays that his Uncle Remus is & composite of three or four old Brer Rabbit stories are for the most part plan- tation tales. R. F. Fenno & Co. will publish May 1 Ouida’s new novel, ‘“The Masserenes.” The second edition of this book has already been ex- hausted in England and the third edition has been weil subscribed for. And now comes Editor Elbert Hubbard of the sprightly Philistine, and maketh proci mation 1n this wise: “De Lark trowed up de Sponge on April First; an’ de Bauble, dat allus was a Fool Ting, have done de same.” The fourteenth edition of William Le Queux’s “Great War in England in 1897 is about to be issued by F. V. White & Co. Mr. Le Queux 18 sunning himself at Nice, and employing his leisure on his new story, the scene of which is laid chiefly at Monte Carlo. The following appears in a Hull newspaper: ““Wanted—Siugle young man, accustomed to household duties, plain cooking and cleaning; permanent employment; highest character indespensable. Address, ete.” 18 this & Tesult of the servant “famine’? The Literary Index is the titlo of a new monthly whose second title is “a ready refer- ence index to current literature.” Itfs edited by Franklin Thomas and published by K. W. Black from the Claxton building, Chicago. The Index begins with the April issue and contains & short title-listof the books of the month, contents of the April magazines, brief descriptive notes of the leading books, liter- ary gossip, notes of the magazines of the previ- ous month and editorial note: and won a suit against his Frencl publishers some months ago to compel «hem to give him an accounting. His example inspired his fellow-novelist the Madrid lower court has pronounced in his favor. Asin Bourgevs case there isno ques- tion of violation of contract, but the piea is that an author has a right to know from actual ments render just how nis booksare selling. The author is well known who objected to the length of the pagesof his forthcoming book when the galley proofs were sent to him. Word now comes from a cusfomer who re- turned a copy of a book with uncut edges be- cause she “finas that it is not completed, and can fearcely be called a book, as the leaves are mostly closed.” She closes her letter to the bookseller with: “I sincerely hope that you will have it finished and return it to me. I bought it for a friend who is ill, but I was ashamed to present it in that form.” Nansen, whose “Farthest North” is in such demand that the Messrs. Harper & Brothers have issued a second edition, has been talking before the Royal ueographicel Society. He said that to reach the pole was merely a ques- tion ot dogs. That if he nad had 200 dogs he would have gone there. The dogs would have served for locomotion and food. The Fram, be also said, was a very good ship, but that with his expericnce he could build & betier craft. It would be & long trip to reach the pole—a matter of five years. Henry Frowde is preparing a number of new prayer-books and bibles in commemoration of Queen Victoria’s long reign. The “Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Prayer-Book” wili be in four sizes, embellished by two portraits of the Queen, one taken when she was young, the othier a recent photograph. The bibles are in four sizes, and also contain portraits of Queen Victoria. The Joint Hymusl Commlttee of the Presbyterian Churches of Scotland has unanimously appointed Heary Frowde, of the Oxford University Press, to publish the new hymnal. Whay should people, say literary ones, not be fastidious about their food? Remember what the great Dr. Johnson smd: “Some peo- ple have a foolish way of not minding or pre- terding not to mind what they eat. For my part 1 mind my belly very studiously and very carefully, for I look upon it that ne who does not mind his belly will hardly mind anything else.” We are afratd, however, with the great lexicograpner it was more quan. tity than quality as to ten. Mrs, Thrale’s urn must have held many gallons. Dr. John- son could have lowered the level of a flood of Bohea. The highest price ever paid for a single volume was tendered by a number of wealthy Jewish merchants of Venice to Pope Julius 11 for a very anclent Hebrew Bible. It was then believed to be an original copy of the Scptua- gint version made from the Hebrew into Greek in 277 B. C., careful copies of the Hebrew text having been prepared at that date for the use of the seventy translators. The offer to Julfus was £20,000, which, considering the difference of value of money then and now, would in our day represent the princely sum of $600,000. Julius was at that time greatly pressed for money to maintain the Holy League, which the Pope had organized against France, but, in spite of his lack of funds, he declined the offer. A correspondent writes to express her won- der that nobody has yet noticed the curious applicability to the case of Cecil Rhodes of the follow1ng passages from Ibsen’s “John Gabriel Borkman’ Borkman—When they see that they can't get on without me—when they come to me and crawl at my feet and beseech me 10 take tho retns again. . Borkman—Think of me, Who could have created milifons! All the mines 1 would have controlied! New veins wiihout end. . . . Iwould have or- ganized 1t all—I alone! Foldal—There wns nothing in the world you would have shrunk from. Borkman—The grest aims 1 had in Iife, . . . 1 wanted 10 have at my command ail the sources of power in this country. . . . I waned to gather 1t all 1nto my hands, to make myself mas- ter of it all, and s0 to promote the well-being of maay, many thousand: “The Bookman” {s enjoying & first-class copper-bottomed, ironclad, double-sheathed row with the “Chap Book,” as witness the following: A great many readers send us samples of the errors which they have de.ected in the pages of cur contemporaries, and these little notes we cenerally do not print. But the following query is 80 delightfully paif as (0 induce us toemba:m it for posterity: “1 notice In & back number of the “Chap Book” an article which ascribes (be composition of the Apocalypse to St. Pau). Tt I8 not surprising to find such ignorance in a publication like the “Chap turprising? Well, hardiy! What else could any one exp:ci to find there? The New York “Literary Journal scores | one. negroes whom he knew as a boy, and that his | Paul Bourget, it will be remembered, brought | aldos to a similar course, and | inspection of sccounts, not merely from state- | LITERARY NOTES. The B ronte Museum at Haworth has been formaily opened, Clement Shorter delivering an address entitled “Some More New Light on the Brontes.” “The Brontes in Fact and Fiction” is the name of still another book on the family announced for early publication in | London. It is by the Rev. Angus Mackay. It is stated thatin the new novel on which | John Oliver Hobbes is engaged she bas intro- duced severai prominent politiclans among the chief characters. Lord Beaconsfield plays & conspicuous part in the story, which is en- titled “A School for Saints.” The novel is longer than “The Gods, Some Mortals and Lord Wickenham.” Another voiume is announced by the Mae-. millan Company in the uniform series of the works of Friedrich Nietzsche. Two \olumes have been published, as fotlows: Volume XI, | containing “The Case of Wagner,” “The Twi- light Idols” and “Nieizsche Contra Wagner,” and volume IX “Thus Spake Zarathustra.” The new.volume is entitled the “Genealogy of Morals” and is justly considered scarcely less remarkable than the author's great prose poem of Zarathustra. “The Outgoing Turk: Impressions of a Journey Through the Western Balkans” is the title of an important book by H. C. Thomson, author of “The Chitral Campaign,” which 18 to be publisned shortly by D. Appleton & Co. Mr. Thomson nas traveied over 800 miles through Bosnia and Herzegovina, and he pre- sents a graphic picture of the effect of twenty years of Christian control. He also discusses the problems offered by Armeniaand Greece aud the attitude of Russia. Teachers of natural science will find in Mrs. | Wrignt's “Citizen Bird’” a delightful book for young people, written especially for those who are making a beginning in the study of | bird DLfe. It will be fully illustrated with drawings irom nature. Lovers of Mrs. Wright's larger and more technical work on birds will not necd to be told of the interest- ing style of the new work, and for those who have not yet read “Birderaft” the association | of Dr. Elliott Coues’ name with that of Mrs. Wright on tae title-page will speak for its accuracy and scientific value. The Macmillan Company announces for early publication a book with the name “Life | Histories of American Insects.” There is no book precisely iike this in the field and the au- thor of this one is exceptionally well qualified | by previous experience both as an observer and as an author. The work is by Clarence | 3L Weed, professor of zoology and entomol- ogy in the New Hampshire College of Agricul- ture and Mechanic Arts, entomologist ot the New Hampshire Experiment Station, and as- sociate editor of the American Naturalist. The German Emperor has just published the whole of the military correspondence and memoranda of his grandfather, the Emperor William I, including his latest proposals re- specting the defensive power of the country, which have been printed verbatim from his late Majesty’s MS. These papers are pub- lished with elucidatory notes, and It is be- lieved at Berlin that they will tend greatly to raise the first German Emperor in the opine ion of Europe, judging him from an intellec- tual point of view and as a tactician. The Dodge Book and Stationery Company of San Francisco has announced for immediate publication a new revisad edition of their re. print of the “Rubaiyat of Omer Kheyyam,” which had such a large sale last year. The new edition will be bound In soft fiber paper cov- ers and printed on fine imported deckle edge paper. Price 25¢. The interest in this famous Persian poem has greatly increased during the past few years, and Omar Khayyam clubs are being formed in various parts of this country and England. It was this fact that led to the issuing of the poem in the new edi- tion. Mrs. John Sherwood, whose sutobiography the Harpers are soon to publish, is one of the most interesiing of living American women. She has long occupied a prominent social posi- tion in New York, and both in this country and ' in Europe, where she has traveled ex- tenstvely, she has met nearly every one of dis- tinction during considerably more tnan the pdst quarter of a century. In recent years Mrs. Sherwood has devoted much of her time to charitable work. After the panic of 1893 she organized the Kind Word Society, which has secured situations in the country for thousands of girls. Some new announcements of D. Apple- {ton & Co. are “Woman and the Re- public,” by Helen Kendrick Johnson; “Beauty and Art,” by Adam Heaton; “The Story of Germ Life,” a new yolume in the Usefui Story series, by Professor H. W. Conn; “Some Un- recognized Laws of Nature,” by I. Singer and L. H. Berens; ‘‘England,” by Frances E. Cooke, and “Germany,” by Kate F. Krocker—two | volumes in a new series cailed History for Young Readers; *‘Fierceheart, the Soldier,” a historical romance, by J. C. Snaith, suthor of “Mistress Dorothy Marvin”; “Nulma,” an Australian romance, by Mrs. Campbell-Praed; ana_“The Folly of Pen Harrington,” a novel Dby Julian Sturgis. - Miss Jeanette L. Gilderof the New York Critic, who contrfbutes & column of “Ameri- can Book Notes” tothe London Daily Mal, writes as follows: ‘Mr. Anthony Hope's ‘Phroso’ is making a success over here, as all of his stories have done. It has been pub- lished in book form by the . A. Stokes Com- pany, who have advertised it in rather sn amusing way. The title has suggested to more than one person a patent modicine rather than a novel, and the publishe:s have advertised it as though it were the former. For instance, ‘Teke PHROSO for the biues,’ and so on. Of course only a light and airy novel could be edvertised in this manner. Publishers are about the only advertisers who stick to old lines in their manner of advertis- ing. The most they do fs to put in an illustra- { tion or & decorative border. but sensotional advertising of books, thank goodness! has not yet come.” Dr. Robertson Nicoll, who has been el'citing facts as 10 the rate at which books are read, makes some interesting statements on the subject in the British Weekly. The vast majority of his corres pondents read an_ordinary story at the rate of from 8000 to 9000 words in half an hour. Some fall considerably below this, as low as 4000 words in half an hour. Others go slightly above it, but in no case has hie had more than 12,000 words mentioned. Dr. Nie- oll made various personal experimenis, and found that he could read where there was no occasion for halting sbout 20.000 words in nalf an hour. Atthat rate, of course, & vast amount of reading conld soon be got through, but few -we imagine could go on reading atsuch a speed with very much adyantagé to themselves. There isno doubt agreat artin reading even novels, but the wise rule would seem to be fewer and better books and more careful pernsal. Itis possible, of course, to train one’s seli to read very raptdly, but what then becomes of the marking, learning and inwardly digesting, which ought surely to be theaim of a considerable proportion of all reading.