The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 27, 1898, Page 24

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 1898. HAGAR AND ISHMAEL. Sketched From the Original Painting by A. F. Mathews. HE San Francisco Art Association finds that having two exhibitions a year, at which artists- are ex- pected to show only new work, is somewhat impractical, so after thoughtful consideration of the matter it has been decided to have but one general exhibition in the autumn and to substitute for the other a series of exhibitions of individual artists. This will give contributors more time to produce new canvases, thereby mak- sirable matter, while at the same time it will give such artists as desire to hold special exhibitions an opportunity to collect all their work from the va- rious sources, and to so arrange an hang it as to show it to advantage. f-3-3-F-3-F-F.F-3-3-3-3-F-3-F-3-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-3-3-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-3-F-3=3-3=2=F =R =R uR =t og o R o g R ey e e g o 308 206 06 08 1 ¢ The second of the series of these spe- clal exhibitions will be given by Ar- thur F. Mathews. It will open with a reception to members and Invited guests to-morrow evening at the Hop- kins Institute of Art, and will continue for a week. Mr. Mathews is well known as the popular instructor and principal of th'e San Francisco School of Design. His name on any canvas is sufficient to en- 1ist favorable attention. Students and art lovers in general are anticipating a rare treat in the study of so many of his canvases, for he has admittedly achleved the necessary in still life, landscape and the single flgure and has attained to the highest of all—that of figure composition. In conception of his subjects he ex- presses much of the true spirit of the artist and in style he is decorative after the manner of the most progressive school. There is a simplicity of expres- sion and a breadth of handling in his work that commend it to the most critical. It may be said of his pictures that they are drawn and not drawn and painted and not painted, for the method is not apparent. Among the ninety odd numbers which he exhibits are figure compositions of | subjects taken from Bible history, from mythology and from every day life. Heére are many studies of single figures, a number of portraits, a few land- scapes, some still life and some de- signs in outline for mural decorations. Of the first mentioned are “The First orrow,” “The Forbidden Fruit,” “The Annunciation,” “Hagar and Ishmael”’ and “Judith,” any one of which would grace any exhibition anywhere. “The First Sorrow” represents the lifeless fizure of Abel lying obliguely in the foreground of an evening land- scape, with the sorrowing figures of Adam and Eve bending over him. This is Mr. Mathews’ latest canvas, and it does full justice to his genius. The treatment is masterful and the compo- gmnn of line and color very well han- led. Another masterpice is “The Forbid- den Fruit.”” This may be described as an evening woodland scene, in which a sword-bearing angel, a stately winged figure enveloped in iridescent draperies, stands erect, in the middle distance of the picture, and with outstretched arm firmly announces the sad news of the expulsion from Eden to the guilty and grief-stricken couple before him. The figure of Eve, so beautiful in form, color and attitude. reclines gracefully on the ground and clings to the pro- tecting but dejected figure of Adam sit- ting beside her. The picture is wrought with much feeling. It has a soft atmos- phere, and the cclor scheme is espe- cially pleasing. Other canvases. such as ‘“Pandora.” “The Lilies of Midas,” “The Picnicat El Campo.” “The Discovery of San Fran- cisco Bay,” “The Dutch Kitchen,” “A White Rooster,” together with many beautiful studies of which space will not permit a mention, are each in their own way interesting. PICTURES OF THE WEEK ON SPECIAL EXHIBITION o fa3=3-F-3-F-F-F-F-R-3=F-R-2-2- =R =R -t=3=2=0=3-3-3-F-3-F-F-3-3-3-F-F-F-F-F-F-3-F-F-F-3-F-F==F =R =R i i oioied =] Mr. Mathews, whilg not being native born, is decidedly Californian, inas- much as he has lived here since his fifth vear. From early childhood he showed a decided inclination toward art expression, but was entirely self- taught until his twenty-third year. For seven years he did architectural draw- ing in his father’s office, after which he had an opportunity of studying litho- graphing and spent two years with the firm of Britton & Ray. About this time he jcined a number of other stu- dents in organizing the Art Students’ League, which engaged Mr.Wores as its teacher, but after two weeks’ work Mr. Wores was unexpectedly called to Ja- pan and the students were obliged to work without a teacher. This condition only lasted, five weeks when he left San Francisco for Paris, where he remained for four years and a half. Of this time he spent fifteen months in close study in the Julian Academy under Boulan- ger and Lefebvre, while the remain- der of the time he worked in his own studio devoting much time to the gal- leries and absorbing the art atmos- phere of his environment. During this time he enjoyed the sat- isfaction of exhibiting in the Salon three years in succession, and upon each occasion had fwo pictures, the limited number accepted. In 1887 he exhibited “Imogen in the Cave” and a portrait of Frank Small. In 1888 he exhibited -his ‘“Dutch Kitchen” and “Pandora,” and in 1889 his “Lilies of Midas" and a portrait of a lady were shown. “Pandora” was also exhibited at the Universal Exhibition at Paris In 1889, and “Judith” was one of the two. pie- tures accepted at.the World’s Fair at Chicago, taken from a collection of thirty sent from here by . different artists. An exhibition of Mr. Mathews’ work at this time seems fitting, because he contemplates an early departure for Europe. His present intention is to be gone about fifteen months, during which time he means to locate in some of the art centers for serious study dur- ing the winter months and to travel during the remainder of the time. It is only through such foreign study that our local art is rejuvenated, and for this reason his many friends will wish him much success and will look with interest to the things he will bring back to us. K. M. B. ———e—————— CARRIER PIGEONS FOR THE NAVY. ROFESSOR MARION of the Na- val Academy, who has done more than any other man to urge the organization of a carrier-pigeon service for use In time of war, has received a large order from the Navy Department for a cer- tain form of quill of his invention, which is used in sending messages by pigeons, and preparations are being 8 308 06 908 08 308 9K G o made to put the cote at Key West in commission for service in connectjon with the fleet. For several years the practice ships of the Naval Academy have used car- rier pigeons to communicate with the Navy Department while at sea, and these successful experiments inaugu- rated by Porfessor Marion have de- monstrated the great value of this ser- vice. 3 Ships_on blockade, or scouting duty in the Gulf and around Cuba, may by this means be placed {n telegraphic communication with the Navy Depart- ment without being compelled to feave their stations at sea and run for port to communicate information regarding the movements and designs of an en- emy. These little messengers, which sel- dom fail in thelr duty, will enable a scout to keep in touch with a hostile squadron and make accurate reports of its movements, and at the same time keep the Navy Department informed as to the whereabouts of each of its crui- sers along the coast. » Key West is only ninety miles from Havana, and the cote at Key West, which was established by Lieutenant Harlow, U. S. N., two years ago, will be the center of information in this ser- vice. INDIANS CALL HIM “WHITE BEAVER.” UST now there is considerable in- terest manifested as to who Dr. George Powell is—the man who has taken up the challenge of Baron El Cardo where Senator Mason laid it down. The writer of this article knows Dr. Powell. The Drs. Powell (there are two of them) were first brought to the atten- tion of the public in a manner that has left no doubt that there is not a drop of “Jingo” blood in the Powell family. In the early seventies, when smallpox was raging among the Sioux Indians in North Dakota and Montana, the Gov- ernment asked for volunteers among the medical profession to go to their relief. At that time Dr. Frank Powell had Just finished his studies, preliminary to entering upon his profession, and at once volunteered to go among the In- dians and do what he could for them. He remained among them three years, taking for his pay nothing but the eternal good will of the savages. His personality is striking. He is tall, dark-complexioned, has black wavy hair, is broad-shouldered, black- eyed and has an iron will. He imme- diately made his presence felt among the Sioux. He established strict sani- tary and quarantine laws, enforcing them at the mouth of hi§ revolver when necessary. In a short time he had ti Indians absolutely under his control and he governed and ruled them witk such an iron hand, albeit with so mich com- passion and kindness that When he left them, after years of ceasgess toll, the Indians bestowed uponjam the highest honor they could bestfw upon a white man. This was the pge: tion to him of a white beavyr A white beaver is a rarity, andthe In- dians of that day did, and do t, look upon a white beaver as a mesenger from the “Great Spirit.” Consefuently a white beaver skin was amorng their most treasured possessions. The Indians assembled and the white beaver robe was placed upon Dn, Pow- ell's shoulders by the chief’megicine- man of the tribe, and he was thén and there christened *“White Beaven’ and to this day he remains “White Begver, and is more often addressed by that title than by his own name. ] His brother George had In the wean- time been studying medicine, and when he wa# graduated he joined Frank, who had meantime connected himself swith the United States army. The brothers were with Buffalo Bill forsev- eral years on the plains, acting as scouts, guides and physicians. And it was during these years of active serv- fce that they learned the skillful use of that greatest of all weapons, ‘he revolver. Tiring finally of a wandering life, they settled at La Crosse, Wis., where they still have a lucrative practice. It ‘was in this little city on the Mississippi River that the write® made their ac- vaintance. In a room adjoining their office the Drs. Powell keep in pistol practice. It is a long, narrow apart- meht and the rear end is heavily padded. Any old thing on the padded wall does for them to shoot at, and when they get tired of shooting at tack- heads, old bullet-holes and other small objects they stretch strings across from wall to wail and cut them with bullets and apparently without taking aim. The Drs. Powell are prominent and worthy citizens of their city and “White Beaver” has several times served as Mayor of La Crosse. He is the idol of the poorer and working classes. and when they have no available candidate “White Beaver” is invariably brought out and invariably elected. Dr. George Powell, who has come to Senator Mason’s relief, is somewhat shorter than his brother Frank. He stands about 5 feet 8 Inches, weighs about 165 pounds, has steely blue eyes, which darken as anger aris brown hair, which hangs to his waist and is soft and silky. He is of a kindly dls- position and will go to any trouble to serve a friend or a person in distress. Whether Senator Mason is his friend or not I do not know. But one thing T do know. If Baron El-Cardo were to represent Spain on the one side and Dr. George Powell were to represent America on the other, there is not the slightest doubt in my mind that Uncle Sam would come out winner in the first round. A. P. NIXON. ———— There are said to be 300 or more persons in London earning a living as “pavement artists"'—that is. by drawing pictures on the pavement and collecting pennies from the crowds that gather. The ranks of this artistic fraternity now boast several lady artists, who, well educated and of considerable skill with the pencil, have adopted this “‘pro: ion” as a means of supporting themselves. ¢ 2 o RICHARD LI (AT 1 I TN N ESTHETE AND ECCENLRIC g R R R -E-R-F-F-F-F=FoF-F-F-F=1=FFoRop-T=F-F=R-FoF =g =F-F=Roguget=tc R R R R R - R R R R R - R -2 o1 =] e 23 o o p=d bed o ped X DESPAIRING DEMOCRACY. | SIBLE WORLD DIS- | BATAN'S IN 1 PLAYED—By W. T. Stead. New York: R. T. Fenno & Co. For sale at Doxey's, | Palace Hotel, City. | WITTY Frenchman once remarked that Mr. Stead’s cable address should be registered as *God, London.” There is a good deal of Gallic e travagance in the idea, but it expres more clearly than any otherphrase the omnisclence of the clever founder of the Review of Reviews. Mr. Stead, as a Lon- don journalist, first came prominently | into notlce some twelve years ago, when | he startled the English-speaking world with a boldly written expose of vice In | London. The truth was set forth in his Maiden Tribute, and everybody knew it, but still the truth was a little too strong for the Nonconformist conscience. So Stead, as a first-class misdemeanant, was | sent to live comfortably in jail for a| year, and when he came out his carceri | | { was made. His conception of the Review of Re- views was brilliant in the extreme, and his success amazed the doubters who | looked askance at the magazine when it was started. On this side of the Atlan- e, too, under the guidance of Dr. Albert | Shaw, the Review of Reviews has met | with equal favor. All this we owe direct- | ly to Stead, but unfortunately for his personal popularity in the States, he has taken upon himself the role of an Amer- ican Savonarola, and in his free-handed trenchant style, is preaching a little too strongly about our sins. Everybody remembers the little alle- gory published some four years ago, rep- resenting the position which Christ would occupy If he came to Chicago. The seething mass of vice and corruption ‘which has accumulated in the great City by the Lakes was ruthlessly exposed to public view, and naturally the Chicago- ans did not like It at all. To-day it is the turn of New York, and the triumph of the Democratic party at the recent elections for the Mayoralty of New York has given the author his opportunity. The book was written before the result of the election was known, but the ex~ posure of the Tammany Hall methods galns added importance because of the return of this faction to power. The volume ‘opens with a rather pic- turesque sketch of New York, as seen from the bay at night, Bartholdi's colos- sal monument of Liberty illumining the gateway of the sea, and welcoming all comers to the land of Liberty. Then Stead, having created a very pretty pic- ture, goes on to destroy the fllusion. He has got hold of a report of the Lexow Commission of inquiry into the condition of New York, which sat during 1894 and 1895, and nearly the whole of the book is made up of extracts from these bulky volumes. s It is not very pleasant reading certain- 1y, for every form of corruption of which a corrupt police force could be guilty is exposed. Witness after witness testified how the police openly fattened upon the keepers of gambling saloons and disor- derly houses, how every form of vice was licensed and could be carried on with im- punity as long as the captain of the pre- cinct was sufficiently bribed. Disclosures of this kind are Stead’s metier, and, as in the case of the Chicago book, he does not fail to emphasize all the more brutal and revolting features of. the case. These charges, of course, are familiar to all American readers, and no end s to be gained by reviving them here. More interesting, because less repulsive, 18 the sketch of the origin of the great political organization known as Tamma- ny. St. Tammany, the only native Amer- ican who has ever been canonized, was, according to the legend, a Delaware In- dian, who, long before the days of Euro- pedn occupation, lived with his tribe In New Jersey. He achieved his celebrity through a terrible conflict which he had with the devil. It was a regular pitchea battle, and, though lammany suffered severely, he refused to yield up any por- | tion of his dominions to the evil one. The fight went on for months, and so severs were the struggles of the combatants | that whole forests were thrown down and prairie land, which remains to this ay, created. The devil barely escaped, St. Tammany crossed the river to New York, where he established his home. Thus, out of this fragmentary legend St. Tammany rose to an assured position in the ranks of the Revolutionary Army. Having no patron saint of their own, St. Tammany served the Americans as a kind of modern St. George, and the 12th of May, Tammany’s birthday, was cele- brated with wigwams, liberty poles, toma- hawks and many other things in regular Indian fashion. The ranks of the army of Pennsylvania nourished this great po- litical society, which about the beginning of the century established its home in | New York. It is said to be the oldest | purely self-constituted political organiza- | tion in the world. It began with the re- public, being organized within a fortnight | of the inauguration of the first President, | and In spite of all internal factions which | have raged, remains, according to Mr. | Stead, “To this day the strongest, the best disciplined and the most feared po- litical organization in the world.” A saloon-keeper, who for twenty years | was a captain of Tammany, revealed to | Mr. Stead what he describes as the secret | of the organization's strength. | “If you get into trouble Tammany will | help you out. If you are out of a job | Tammany will see that you have the first | chance of whatever is going. 1t is a great power, is Tammany. Whether it is | with the police or in the court, or in the City Hall, you will find Tammany men- everywhere, dnd they all stick together. There is nothing sticks so tight as Tam- many."” So much for Tammany. San Francisco | people will turn more eagerly to the lat- | ter pages of the book, where the charter which has just created Greater New York | is discussed. Mr. Stead has his, doubts | about the endurance of this new form of | autocratic government, and points out | that, between 1846 and 159, New York had | no less than eleven charters, or an aver- age of one every four years. As long as the minority party in the city can com- mand the votes of the majority of the State Legislature, this state of constant change is likely to continue, and even the creation of a Czar Mayor does not guar- antee finality. | Here is Mr. Stead’s candid opinion of the charter, given, as will be seen, with some hesitation: “Even now I shrink from expressing ‘an opinion, lest it should be misconstrued as implying any claim on my part to sit in judgment on those | who are saddled with the responsibility of governing New York. But when doc- | tors differ the people decide, and when lo- cal experts are at hopeless variance as to the merits or demerits of the charter, it may perhaps be permitted to a British on- looker, even at a distance of 3000 miles, to put on record the way in which the char- | ter strikes him. If this should not be de- nied me I may say at once that the char- ter seems to have written on its face thor- oughgoing distrust of the people. The as- pect of the charter is black with despair. It is far worse as an expression of demo- cratic despair than the Bréoklyn char- ter, for the Brooklyn charter at least trusted the Czar Mayor, whereas the New York charter shrihks even from doing that.” EMANUEL ELZAS. REMINISCENCES OF WILLIAM WET- MORE STORY—By Mary E. Phillips. Chicago and New York: Rand, Mec- Nally & Co. Willlam Doxey, San Francisco. Not often does the New World furnish artistic celebrities to the Old, but in the case of Willlam Wetmore Story America may claim the glory of having borne a son whose fame was European, a creator who was the pride of his adopted land, Italy. Story’s world-wide reputation has o < f=3 o left its mark upon his century, his sculp- tured poems have won lasting fame for his motheriand, his prose and verse have made his name a household word on at least two continents. But beneath the sculptor and the author lay a personality so attractive that, to those who came in contact with it, the man was even dearer than the artist. W. W. ch in his affections as in his art, his life as a scuiptor began and ended with enduring monuments to the two lives— father and wife—which had most closely influenced his own. It is, therefore, very fitting that we should have a volume of Reminiscences wherein those who have hitherto only applauded the artist should learn to appreciate the human side of his character. The “Reminiscences” are gathered from many sources, the tributes of affection and csteem are from more than one na- tionality, and they enable us to form a pretty clear idea of the life, aims and idiosyncrasies of Willlam Wetmore Story, from his childhood'’s days in old Salem to his last hours in Vallambrosa. The son of Judge Story, himself of almost world- vide legal repute, Willilam Wetmore was destined to follow in his father's steps, and out of deference to that father's wishes he sedulously studied the uncon- | genial law, giving promise of a brilliant career. But the artist nature was strong within him and its promptings were not to be resisted. For some years he toyed with the chisel while pursuing the law; and the trustees of Mount Auburn Ceme- tery finally settled his future for him by giving the order for a marble statue of his father. The son felt that to qualify for such work he must first study abroad. Against his mother's wish, but supported by his brilliant and devoted wife, he left America for Europe at the age of 29, and though remaining an American at heart, Italy was his home for forty-five years. The volume before us contains an ex- haustive list, with clear descriptions, of the artist’s works, and quotations from his verse; but its chief interest perhaps lies in the glimpses it gives us of W. W. Story’s intimate intercourse with many of the famous men and women of hia time. His friendship with the Brownings was long and close, and in a quoted let- ter he gives a very touching description of Casa Guidi after “the glory of all and that which sanctified all” was no longer to be seen seated in her low armchair. ‘We have also a pathetic letter from Mrs. Browning herself, telling of hours spent infthe Storys’ home by the death- bed of their loved eldest boy. Many other familiar names appear on the page: Thackeray, whose ‘“Rose and Ring” was specially composed for Little Edith Story; Mrs. Beecher Stowe, whose enthusiasm for Sojourner Truth inspired the famous statue of the Lybian Sybil; Walter Sav- age Landor, Margaret Fuller, Harriet Hosmer Severn, Hawthorne, were all dear personal friends on Italian soil; Lowell and Motley were intellectual links with America; and the Story receptions in the Palazzo Barberini at Rome drew together such diverse types that the Italians called their foreign sculptor “Il simpa- tico Americano.” It is noteworthy that the exhibition of Story’'s statues—the Cleopatra and the Lybian Sybil—in Lon- don, 1862, was entirely due to the liberal- ity of Pio Nono. “Sculptors profess much admiration for my writings,” the artist used to say; ‘“‘poets amiably admit that my great talent lies in my sculpture.” But there were many who considered him, as a sculptor, at the head of the modern school, gifted with an originality of con- ception which he perfected by untiring labor.. And if, as a poet, he does not rank with the highest, he certainly takes a foremost, place in the second ranks: " Come to my arms, my hero, The shadows of twilight grow, And the tiger's anclent flerceness In my veins begins to flow. Come, as you came in the desert, &re we were women and men, | puis into the mouth of | whose bracele &l | a tiger before s Story lived as | When the tiger passions were in us, And love as you loved me then. | Such are the words that the sculptor his Cleopatra, | “bar with a purple stain her arms,” and it is small wonder | that, thus dreaming of one wWho had been e was a woman, he gave to the world a passionate Cleopatra such | as had not yet been embodied in stone. | | But he Bad ma another mood, tender, | | pathetic. sorrowful, even Jjoyful; and? | among his finest inspirations was the Io | Victis, with its final appeal: | Speak, History; who are Life’s Victors? Un- ’ | | roll thy long annals and say, Are they those whom the world called the victors—who won | the success of a day? The Martyrs or Nero? | The Spartans who fell at Thermopylae's tryst, | | Or the Persians and Xerxes? His judges, or | Socrates? FPilate or Christ? | Those who wish further details of W. | W. Story’s works, in marble, verse and ! prose, must be referred to the “Reminis- | cences,” which are full of interesting | matter, but it is greatly to be regretted that the matter has not fallen into more skillful hands. An abler pen than Miss | | Phillips’ would have produced a fascinat- ing biography out of materials which, in their present form, are but a fragrant potpourri. MORE KLONDIKE LITERATURE. | PLACER MINING—A hand-book for Klondike and other miners and pros- | pectors. Scranton, Pa.: The Colliery | Engineer Company. | A MILE OF GOLD—By Willilam M. Stan- | 1 Chicago: Laird & Lee. NER'S GUIDE MAP—San Francisco: . R. Willis. There is no end to the publication of books about the Klondike and the Yukon River. Every day brings its fresh issues and if gold is to be got by the aid of printed pages the Dawson digger of to- day has a chance never before given to adventurous men. The first of this triplet of books, all of which may be had at Doxey’s, is of a severely practical nature, and issued by experienced mining people. It tells in de- tail the best way of reaching the dig- gings, and, when you get there, the best method of winning gold from the frozen soll. The volume is well printed, of handy size for the pocket and is embel- lisked with a useful map. The next volurie is of an eptirely dif- ferent character. It is an attempt to weave a romance around the hardships and difficulties encountered in these Arc- tic regions. The author, it is stated on the title page, recently returned from the Klondike with $112,000 in dust and nug- gets and $16,000,000 in claims. There is a cheerful vagueness about the latter por- tion of this statement which is quite re- freshing in these prosaic, matter-of-fact days, and we trust Mr. Stanley may real- ize on his claims in full. Still it 1s hard to see what connection the author’s suc- cess in mining has with his ability as a writer. In this case the gulf seems too wide to be spanned, even by a geolden bridge. The Miners’ Guide Map is clearly print- ed in colors, and shows on a large scale the whole of the Alaskan gold fields. It is bound In convenient form ' for ‘he pocket, together with a dlary, in which the incidents of the journey may be noted. STORIES OF ADVENTURE. DR. JONES' PICNIC—By 8. E. Chapman. San Francisco: The Whitaker & Ray Company. Price, $1. DON LUIS' WIFE—By Lillian Hinman Shuey. Boston: Lamson, Wolffe & Co. Price, $1 25; for sale at Doxey’s. The novel of adventure increases won- derfully in number. Here are two more stories of fantastic doings, though in widely differing climes., The scene of Dr. Jones’ picnic is the North Pole, and the author, with a few strokes of his pen and a profuse exercise of imagination, easily surmounts all the difficulties surrounding aerial navigation, which sclentists, after lifelong study, have been unable to solve. It is but a mere trifie for Dr. Jones to build a huge aluminum globe and voyage comfortably with his family to the North Pole. Unfortunately the author’s literary attainments are not on a par with his im- aginative faculties, consequently the tale suffers much in the telling. Miss Shuey's story of Don Luis and his ‘wife is more subdued in tone, it is veiled in the glamor of luxurious tropical life, for the scene is laid in the West Indies. RICHARD LE Richard Le Gallienne is at present visiting the United States on a lectur- ing tour, and during his stay will doubtless have much to say in the way of instituting comparisons between the methods of American literary lights and As will be seen from his photograph, Mr. His personal habits, as fecorded by para- graphers, are those of an esthete and an eccentric. He it is who s popularly reported as riding a bicycle attired In a blouse and knickers of black silk, the latter being ruffled in the most approved feminine manner. Mr. Le Gallienne has attracted the attention of readers all the world over from his paraphrase of the “Rubiyat,” which, however, is considered puerile when placed /by the side of Fitzgerald's standard translation from the Persian. Another of Mr. Gallienne’s feats was the issue some time ago of a book bearing the gitle, “If After its publication he decided to change the title If successive It may safely be prophesied that he will have no those of England and the Continent. Le Gallienne is ye. a young man. 1 were God.” editions were called for. need to change it on this account. GALLIENNE. Le The tale will be interesting for American women, since it professes to give a true account of the experiences of a New Eng- land malden who marries a wealthy planter of San Domingo. ON STREET CLEANING. STREET CLEANING—By George E. Waring Jr. New York: Doubleday & McClure Company. For sale at Doxey’s. Magazine readers will doubtless be fa- miliar with Mr. Waring's heroic attempt to clean the streets of New York. As a Commissioner of Street Cleaning under Mayor Strong he was empowered to com- pletely recrganize the department, and found himself face to face with a task which put to shame Hercules' contract for the sanitation of the Augean stables. However, being entirely freed from po- litical influences, Mr. Waring succeeded admirably, and as the photographs in this volume show us, brought New York from the degradation of filth and slovenly mismanagement to the highest level of modern sanitation. There is room for such a man in San Francisco. A SOUTHERN GENIUS. IGERNE AND OTHER WRITINGS—By Arthur Handly Marks. New York: The De Vinne Press. For sale by Doxey. It is a pathetic story of a young South- |ary and poetical tastes, and despite the ern genfus, whose life was cut short be- fore his literary gifts had time to bear full fruit . In a sympathetic memoir, Bishop Gallor tells us the history of young Marks, who died in 1892 at the early age of 28. From his earliest youth the boy had displayed very marked lter- shortness of his life has left, in the sub- stantial volume before us, considerable proof of his talent. The sketches are mostly brief, dealing with incidents in the author's career as a consular official, but they are remark- ably clear-cut and truthful. The articles descriptive of London life show accurate powers of observation, and there is real pathos in the reminiscences of James Russell Lowell and Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. FOR THOUGHTFUL USE. THE MODERN READER'S BI New York: The Macmilian Company, HELPFUL THOUGHTS—-By E. D. Van der Leith. Carson; Dunn & Lemmon. DATE BOOK—By Edmund Routledge. New York: George Routledge & Sofi:. This issue of the Modern Reader’s Bible includes St. Matthew and St. Mark and the General Epistles. The volume is of ings of Christ in a graphic, consecutive manner. ““Helpful Thoughts™ i{s a compilation of the best passages in Robert Browning's “The Ring and Book.” A remarkable feature about this pretty little booklet 13 that from beginning to end it is the work of Nevada hands, pictures and all. Edmund Routledge’s date book gives a chronological list of leading events from the creation. of the world down to the year 1897. Tf will be useful to the student. All these volumes are for sale at Doxey's. Mr. Doxey has now in press the first of a series of booklets which he proposes to issue under the caption of “The Lark Classies.” This will be The Rubafyat of Omar Khayyam. It will give Fitzgerald's text— first and fourth editions—with notes, tgd in addition will publish the following, LY Porter Garnett. who, with Mr. Gelet Bur=~ gess, edited the lively little Lark of fam- ous memory. A GLOSE UPON THE 1ZTH RUBAI OF OMAR KHAYYAM. A Book of Verses underneath the Bough, A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread—and Thou Beside me singing in the Wilderness— O, Wilderness were Paradise enow! Oft have the footsteps of my Soul been led By thee, sweet Omar, far from hum of toil To where the Chenar trees their plumage spread And tangly wild grape-vines coll; Where distant flelds, scarce glimpsed in Nooa content, 3 Are lush with Plough, Where trills the Nightingale beneath the Tent Of Heaven, uttering her soft lament; There have I sat with Thee and conned ere now A book of Verses underneath the Bough. the thickest verdure quick unon the When from the City’s raucous din new-freed, 1 quaff thy Wisdom from the clearing Cup Of Rubaltyat, then, even as I read, 1 seem with Thee in Persian groves to sup On Bread of Yezdakhast and Shiraz Wine, That lifts the Net of Care from off the Brow. . These Words, that tongue the Spirit of the Vine, Speak from the Vell, and lo! the volce I8 Thine: Then is my Wish—would Fate that Wish ow— A Jug of Wine, a Loat of Bread—and Thou. Volume II of this series will be Kip= ling’s *‘Barrack-room Ballads and GUther * and tais will be followed by “Departmental Ditties.” New books to be shortly published by Messrs. Harper & Brothers are the fol- lowing: The first volume of the Bio- graphical Edition of Thackerays Com- plete Works, with additional material and hitherto unpublished Letters, Sketches and Drawings; “Social Pictorial Satire,” Reminiscences and Appreciations of Eng- lish Illustrators of the past generation, by George du Maurier; “Thirty Strange Stories,” and “The Invisible Man,” by H. G. Well4, author of “The War of the Worlds,” ete.; “Through the Gold Fields of Alaska to Bering Straits,” by Harry de ‘Windt; “Ghosts 1 Have Met, and Some Others,” by John Kendrick Bangs; “Four for a Fortune,” by Albert Lee; “Gods of Our Fathers,” a Study of Saxon Mythol- ogy, by Herman l. Stern; “Silence, and Other Stories,” by Mary E. Wilkins; “In the Sargasso Sea,” by Thomas A. Jan- vier; ““The Hundred, and Other Stories,” by Gertrude Hall; “A Manual of Experi- ments in Physics,” by Professor Joseph S. Ames, and “A Constitutional History of the American People,” by Professor Francis Newton Thorpe. A. M. Robertson, publisher, of this city, has issued a handy edition of Dante Ali- ghieri’s “La Vita Nuova,” from the trans- lation of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The book Is tastefully printed on rou . paper in clear type, and is of a convenlent size for the pocket. The issue is particularly timely at the present, in view of lectures that are being delivered dealing with the works of the Italian poet. Mr. Robertson is evidently one of those publishers .who believes in taking time by the forelock, for we are informed that the book was set up, printed and bound in the shoxf space of thirty-six hours. b “ In a recent newspaper interview An- thony Hope expressed his preference for *“The God in the Car” among all his books. A new edition of this novel has handy size and the modern literary style into which the language of the Bible has been converted brings before us the go- just been issued by Messrs. D. Appleton & Co., uniform with Mr. Hope's ““Chronl~ cles of Count Antonio.”