The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 29, 1901, Page 12

THE SUNDAY CALL e VOLUME of admirably written stories represents the latest work of A. T. Quiller-Couch. These tales, entitled “The Laird's Luck, and Other Fireside Tales,” vary in subject from war with its attendant horrors to the supernatural and its mys- teries. In all of them there is the fine of style to subject which akes the work of Quiller-Couch that of of the art of story telling. the scene is laid in the present ,ast centuries there is the -able representation of the stics displayed by people of a particular period Two Scouts” is a story of the ular campaign, when the forces of ngton were pitted against those Marmont. In the service of the Engl are two scouts, distant kinsmen and both amed McNeill. One is a Scotchman bern and bred, while the other. ()mur of otch descent, is a Spaniard by birtg and training. The methods employed by the wo McNeills in gaining information of ¢ se as their training has been. Scotch McNeill, although working in the heart of the enemy's country, disdains to use more of a disguise than is afforded him by throwing a dark riding cloak over his uniform. The Spanish McNelll, on the other hand, assumes any disguise which will enable him to penetrate the lines of the my. Both men are famous among the French for their success in carrving 1o Wellington information of the plans of the other side. The scouts do not work together. As a consequence of this and of the secret nature of their work the French confuse the identity of the two men and endeavor to punish one for the acts of the other. The contempt felt by each McNeill for the methods of the oth- er, which reveals an irreconcilable differ- cnce in disposition and education, has been described in a manner which lends a great deal of humor to a story of what is in reality a very serious business—the of a spy. e Poteomed Toe™ 15 & weird tale of & gue-in: ¥, which encounters ad- 2l horrors in the depredations which icted upon it by pirates. Some of « aws are at last brought to a well merited end by a priest, who leads them on to drink a delicious cordial cooled by poisoned ice, which he has manufac- tured. It is the sort of story which only a fine =kill in the telling can reconcile one to hearing. ptain Dick and Captain Jack” are | English sea captains who have nter with French frigates during r of a century ago. The way In which these men bring their ships safe it of the meeting and the amusing in- cidents to which this gives rise make up a story to lighten the somberness of those which precede and follow. The opening story, “The Laird’s Luck,” is on a theme outside the experience of . The laird, David Mackensie, Scotchman who is attended by familiar spirit. This being turns all the good luck of the laird to ill luck. Mac- je enters the army, where he bids to earn honor. But the.officious at- jons of his ethereal companion, who sense of either right or Wrong, into his life troubles, whose happy on is impossible because of the un- nature of their occasion. hree Men of Badajos” is another of the Peninsular campaign. This the subject is the effect which the 1 experience of battle had upon a re- from a village in England. This P entering the army begins to feel sure t t he is a coward and to fear at he will lose his self-control when he es into battle. As it turns out, this is st what he does do. When the time for hting arrives he is driven into the thick ble fight, where the noise and th ible sights send him into a frenzy, whose effects last until the day of his prosaic liv me man er Per the story which shows the best workmanship is “Phoebus on Halza- phron,” a charming recitation of what is supposed to be an old legend of the coast of Cornwall. Graul, the King of the land of Lyonnesse, is in dire trouble on ac- count of the sorrows of his people. Not knowing where to turn for help, he prays to some unknown god of goodness of whose existence he is instinctively aware. After a littie Phoebus appears in all the glory of his eternal youth. For several years the divinity helps the people by the brightn of his presence and by the prosperity which he brings upon the land. To woo the people from thelr sorrows the sun god sings to them the heavenly strains which once delighted immortal ears and tells to them the old myths of the classic land where he has ruled. The story of Biton and Cleobis reappears here, related with such delightful quaintness that in spite of its familiarity it will bear quotatign: “In Hellas, in the kingdom of Argos, there lived two brothers—Cleobis and Biton—young men, well to do and of great strength of body, so that each had won a crown in the public games. Now, once when the Argives were keeping a festival of the Goddess Hera their mother had need to be driven to the temple in her chariot, but the oxen did not return from the field in time. The young men, therefore, seeing that the hour was late, put the yoke on their own necks and drew the car in which their mother sat and brought her to the temple, which was 1 five stades away. This they did in sight of the multitude assembled, and the men commended their strength, while the women called her blessed to be the moth- er of such sons. But she, overjoved at deed and its remown, entered the temple, and standing before the image of Hera prayed the goddess to grant her two scns, Cleobis and Biton, the greatest boon which could fall to man. After she had and they had sacrificed and eaten the feast the young men sat down in the temple and fell asleep and never woke again, but so made an end with life. In this wise the blessing of Hera came to them: and the men of Argos caused statues to be made of them and set up at Delphi for a memorial of their piety and its reward.” “Midsummer Fires,” “D’'Arfet’'s Venge- ance” and “Margery of Lawhibbet” makec up the remainder of the book. The first is a story of a husband’s trust in his wife and the reward it brought to him. The hero of the second tale is an Eng- lishman of the fifteenth century, who spends years of time and toil to bring about the punishment of a man and woman whom he hates, but who, at the last, foregoes the accomplishment of this life work because of a scruple of con- science. Margery of Lawhibbet is a noble Eng- lish girl of the time of the Civil War. At the cost of her own suffering she saves the honor of her brother when he is about to play traitor to the cause of the King. (Published by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. Price $150.) — The First Men in the Moon. In the latest book of Mr. H. G. Wells he takes his reader on a long journey through space, and shows him enough of the MErvesE <~ ‘“s moon to make him wish that the story swere longer than 1t is. Mr. Wells is so expert in combining scientific facts and possibilities with fic- tion into an interesting romance that it is sometimes difficult for the average reader to detect the point where one leaves off and the other begins. In the present story, “The First Men in the Moon,” the moon is the scene of the prin- eipal events. So much speculation has gone on about present and past conditions of that pre- sumedly dead orb, that when we hear that human life exists beneath its sur- face' and vegetable life above ground at certain seasons, we are naturally pre- pared to hear some such tale of wonder as that which Mr. Wells has prepared for our delectation. An interesting tale it is, in spite of the fact that here, as in most of Mr. Wells' stories of improbable events, there is a strong element of the weird and the grotesque which causes a shudder as well as a smile. The first men to go to the moon, ac- cording to our historian, are two Eng- lishmen, who travel from the earth to the moon in a steel sphere invented by one of them, Mr. Cavor. Cavor is a sci- entist who discovers a substance which he calls “cavorite.” This substance is found to possess the power of overcoming the attraction of gravitation. Conse- quently, when it is placed between any particular object and the earth, this ob- Ject, as it has then no specific gravity, has a tendency to rise in the air. Cavor, assisted by a friend, Mr. Bed- ford, constructs a steel sphere which has on the outer surface an enameling . of ‘cavorite. The sphere is furnished with a suply of solidified air, food and every- thing else necessary to support in comfort Cavor and Bedford when they go on a Jjourney they plan. When all is in readi- ness the sphere is set loose from earth and goes floating off rapidly into space. By opening windows placed in different ‘parts of the sphere it can be made sub- Jject to the law of gravitation and be at- tracted toward a particular object. Cavor decides to visit the moon and sails in i direction. The description of the land- ing on the moon just before the breaking of the lunar day, the approach of light and the transformation it effects in turn- ing a dead world into one quickened by life is one of the best things in the book. Cavor and Bedford alight from sphere and begin their investigations of the new world. They soon lose sight of the sphere, and before they can recover it they are captured by the Selenites, as they dub the inhabitants of the moon. These creatures are in form closely al- lied to insects, but in power of mind they have advanced to a point beyond that attained by man. Bedford and Cavor are carried by these creatures to the underground world where they live. The Englishmen have a glimpse of the wonders of the Selenite civilization before they make their es- cape to the surface of the moon. When they are once again there they separate and start upon a search for the sphere. Bedford is lucky enough to find it. He sets out again to see if he can discover Cavor. This he falls to do, but he finds a note from Cavor saying that he has again been captured by the Selenites. A the lunar night is almost at hand Bed- ford is compelled to go back alone to the sphere. He intends to revisit the earth and there find the resources necessary to effect the rescue of Cavor. Bedford docs make his way to the earth, but soon after reaching it he loses the sphere beyond hope of recovery. So Cavor is left to his fate alone in the moon. Something is heard of Cavor again, however, as he finds means to telegraph to the earth something more of his discoverles there. His reports are fragmentary, but they give in clear outline the salient features of the peculiar life of the moon people. Cavor’s disappearance from sight, or rather from hearing, comes all too soon to satisfy the curiosity of the reader as to the peculiar race of Selenites, with their intellect and their ugliness. (Pub- lished by the Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis.) Annie Deane. “Annie Deane,” by A. F. Slade, is a novel out of the common. The story told is of the struggles toward a f{fue re- pentance for sin committed in youth by a poor, embittered, girl. Annie Deane leads the thoughtless life of a child until rhe finds that sin committed even in ig- norance brings in its train consequences which cannot be escaped. When she is little more than a child she is made to see that the world considers her life a ruined one. Relying on the promptings of what is really a noble nature, she re- fuses to accept the harsh verdict of the world. Deploring her sin, and yet seek- ing to hide it, she bravely takes up a struggle for a material independence which will allow her to atone for her past by making it productive not of the evil it promises, but of good to herself and others. After years of work in a menial capacity she lives to see herself respected, and to know that the very wrong which she committed she has made work for ultimate good. The book is a plea for a wider working of the principles of Christianity in the judgment of the world upon women who err. In the character of Annie the author has put forth a strong case in support of the right of women to demand of the world permission to win by right living reversal of a judgment once passed upon them. (Published by Brentano's, New York.) Because of Conscience. One of the latest of the historical nov- els is “Because of Conscience,” by Amy E. Blanchard. It is called “a novel relat- ing to the adventures of certain Hugue- nots in old New York.” It follows in the main the adventures of a conventionally charming heroine who turns Huguenot while a very young girl in France and flees to America in the dress of a boy, ac- companied by Michelle, her old nurse. They are in search of the little heroine’s father, who had previously escaped from his native France, being likewise a Huguenot. The book is full of hairbreadth escapes and fairly well sustained interest. It is stereotyped in plot and style. The heroine has numerous persistent lovers, one of whom resorts to ingenious measures to kidnap her. He is the bold, bad villain of the plot, a Catholic Frenchman. The lover whom Alaine loves in return is the stolid young Dutchman who rescues her upon one occasion from the black-browed and black-hearted Dupont: Poetic justice Is generously distributed when the young Dutchman rescues the father of Alaine, making it highly ap- propriate that she marry the rescuer. The villain dies conveniently and those that deserve it live happy ever after. However, although the book is in no wise original, it is brisk in narrative and quick in dialogue. It runs very little to description, but there are here and there touches of picturing that give an attract- ive coloring to the whole. The scene where Francois, the villain, and Ver- planck, the favorite lover, fight in the woods is a falr example of the frequent thrills of the narrative. Verplanck is try- ing to make off with Alaine, is stopped by the - Francois, and finally succeeds in lassoing him with a slender leathern rope. “Franceis bowed himself and fiercely tore at the slender deerskin thongs, and at last, running backward, was able to slacken the cord and to wriggle himself out of its hold. A moment more and his pistol was ready in his hand. Alaine fore- saw his intention, and before he could fire she sprang before her deliverer, who had sunk upon his knees and was lean- ing heavily against a tree, all his strength gone from t last effort. ‘Monsieur,’ cried the girl, ‘it is an American custom, you say, to use a woman as a shield. Monsieur Verplanck has proved that it is false, and that it is but the makeshift of a coward. Yet, because you have shown me how powerful a shield a woman can be I stand here.’ She gave a quick glance at the fainting figure before which she stood; then she lifted her head high and faced Francois. ‘I defy you, Monsieur, she sald. “He rushed at her, blind with rage. ‘I will kill you before vou shall escape me," he cried.” . (Published by J. B. Lippincott Com- pany, Philadelphia.® Price, $150.) Dreperty and Trusts. Under' the titles, ‘“‘Democracy Trusts” and “People and Property,” there have been published two addresses of Edwin B. Jennings, who has achieved considerable repute as a writer on eco- nomic topics, and wno was a delegate from New York to the National Anti- Trust Conference held at Chicago in 1900. Neither of the volumes undertakes any thing like a careful study of the subject discussed. Mr. Jennings has decided views on the trust issue and expresses and perience that her last work, “The Chil- dren’s Health,” cannot fail to receive a warm welcome. In the present volume she does not pretend to give a treatise on health and hygiene from the standpoint of disease treatment, but rather the pre- vention of disease by the proper regula- tion of life. She has succeeded admirabiy and very closely approximated her idea announced in the preface of writing “‘a simple little manual containing the laws of health as based upon evolution, and giving broad outlines instead of pet the- ories.”” Her book begins with a general discussion on “The Health Demanded by Modern Life.” She then considers: “The Child and His Atmosphere,” *“Educating the Nerves,” ‘“Nature’s Sweet Restorer,” “Nutriment and Growth,” “The Relation of Grace to Health,” “Vocal Expression,” “Culture of the Emotions,” ‘Defective Children,” and at the end gives a chap- ter on “Recreation and Social Life.” ‘““The Children’s Health” is published by The Baker and Taylor Company, New York. Price, $1 2. 8 Caleb Wright. ‘“Caleb Wright,” by John Habberton, the author of *“Helen's Babies,” is a story of a small town in the West. It differs much from the typical stories of Western life, with their accounts of the doings of desperadoes. The little town where Ca- leb Wright and his friends live is a peace- ful, law-abiding community, whose main disadvantage lies in being shut off from the wider life of the great world. To this town there comes from New York a man and his wife, whose energy revolutionizes its fortune and helps develop its re- sources until it has a bright future be- fore it. These people find in Caleb Wright — g S wrtd b LoBed, bt for e Note By Old Vompy Field Slason Thompson EUGENE FIELD AS A FRIEND KNEW HIM. THERE has just been published by Charles Scribner’s Sons a life of Eu- £ene Field in two volumes by Slason Thompson. (Price $3.00.) Mr. Thompson was a warm personal friend of Field and therefore well fitted to become his biographer. These two volumes are especially interesting on account of the great number of letters by Fleld to inti- mate friends and the unique and original illustrations reproduced which Field so enjoyed making a part of his correspon- dence. The numerous and little known portraits of Field and the great wealth of anecdote form a feature of the books. The following extracts will serve to give an idea of the contents of the work: . e % There were two Fields—the author and the man—and it is the purpose of this study to reproduce the latter as he ap- peared to those who knew and loved him for what he was personally, for the benefit of those who have only known him through the medium of his writings. In doing this it is far from my inten- tion and farther from my friendship to disturb any of the preconceptions that have been formed from the perusal of his works. These are the creations of some- thing entirely apart from the man whose genius produced them. His fame as an author rests on his printed books and will endure as surely as the basis of his art was true, his methods severely simple and his spirit gentle and pure. In his daily work the dominant note was that of fun and conviviality. It 4s more than probable that Eugene Field chose Chicago for the place of his permanent abode after deliberately weighing the advantages and limitations of its situation with reference to his literary career. He felt that it was as far East as he could make his home with- out coming within the influence of those social and literary conventions that have squeezed so much of genuine American flavor out of our literature. He had recelved many tempting offers e e e them in a way that will be more pleas- ing to those who agree with him that trusts are forms of robbery than to those who are as yet but students of the prob- lem and wish for argument rather than denunciation. His style and method may be estimated from two quotations: t first taken from *“‘Democracy and Trusts™: “It might be well for the old king to censider a few facts calmly and without passion. Let him not lose his head. The last king to do that was Charles I. His main protection has been his secrecy and his infernal hypocrisy. Let the people once awaken to the full knowledge of his crimes and he will be shattered as by a stroke of lightning.” The second is from ‘“‘People and Property”: “If any citizen should catch a sneak thief in his house making off with his coat he would take him to the nearest police station and there make his charge. He must Jook to the law for the rest. This general remark applies ‘to the Standard Oil trus- tees. It would seem that any honest citi- zen would be justified in knocking one down and dragging him to the nearest police station. To begin with the presi- dent would have a salutary effect upon the others.” It will be seen that Mr. Jennings has more of the stump speaker than the phil- osopher in his make-up. His addresses do not lack what is called *snap,” and will doubtless prove popular, but they are of little value. to earnest students of the trust problem. (Published by The Abbey Press, New York. Price 50 cents each.) The Children’s Health. A third volume has just appeared in that excellent series, “The Parent’s Li- brary,” written by Florence Hull Win- terburn. Mrs. Winterburn, in her books “Nursery Ethics” and “From the Child's Standpoint,” gave so much that savored of good common sense and years of ex- unpubfishéd Drawings by E Note ‘Slosson™ was oue of meant i“rwcwfww.m from New York newspapers before com- ing to Chicago and after our acquaintance I do not believe a year went by that Field did not decline an engagement, per- sonally tendered by Mr. Dana, to go to the New York Sun at a salary nearly double that he was receiving here. But, as he told Julian Ralph on one occasion, he would not live in or write for the East. For, as he put it, there was more liberty and fewer literary “fellers” out West, and a man had more chance to be judged on his merits and ‘‘grow up with the countn;»” . Practically all Field's scholarship and mental equipment, so far as they were obtained from books, were acquired after he came to Chicago and he was never lifted above the ragsed edge of impecuni- osity until he began to receive royaltles from the popular edition of “A Little Book of Western Verse” and “A Little Book of Profitable Tales. His domestic life was spent in flats or rented houses until less than five months before his death. The photographs taken a few months before his death of Eugene Field's home and the beautiful library in which he wrote are ghastly travesties on the nomadic character of his domestic ar- Thompson. author of the present book for some twenty-nine more. Each rhyme has its own full page picture in colors, which brightens the book and will allura the youth into spending a few of his busy minutes in the quiet occupation of read- ing and picture seeing instead of mischief making. (Price $12.) Merry Time Songs for Childven. Although this charming collection of songs is designed for children, the moth- ers will enjoy them quite as much as the little ones. Laura E. Richards, who writes such pretty verses for St. Nicholas, contributed to the number; also Anna M. Pratt, who knows so well the tastes of the small child. The pages are reduced from originals, several of which were dis- played at the late exhibition at the Hop- kins Institute. The illustrations are, of course, delightful, for Albertine Randall ‘Whelan did them, and all of the little ones who enjoyed her “Moon Babies’ last year will wish to have a copy of these songs which she has illustrated. The music is by Charles H. McCurrie, and is very: tune- ful. The melodies show great variety and suit admirably the words for which they are written. It is a local production and deserves the popularity it will certainly attain. (Published by Sherman, Clay & ©o., San Francisco.) Exercise Book. “Practical Exercises on the Latin Verb,” 'by Katherine Campbell Reiley, teacher of Latin, Brooklyn Heights Semi- nary, is a copy book of blanks for exer- cises on the Latin verb, prepared to econo- mize the time of both teacher and pupil and to present the verb in such a way that its acquisition will be both easy and permanent. It has grown out of the prac- _— % UGene Field. Field's pet names for Slason OWW' i rangements for many vears before June, 18%—dreams for which he longed, but only lived to realize for four brief months. All the best Field wrote previous to 1590 —and it includes the best he ever wrote except “The Love Affairs of a Bibllo- maniac,”—was written in a room to which many a box stall Is palatial, and his sole library was a dflapldated edition of Bart- lett’s " “Familiar Quotations,” Cruden’s fConcordance of the Bible” and a well- thumbed copy of the King James version of the Bible. He detested the revised version. The genius of this man at this time did not depend on scholarshin or surroundings, but on the companionship of his fellows and the unconventionality of his home life. o e e Fleld never believed that he was sent into the world to reform it. His aim was to amuse himself and if in so doing he rtained or gratified others, so much thé better. “Reform away,” he was once reported as saying, “reform away, but as for me, the world is good enough for me as it is. I am a thorough optimist. In temperament I'm a little like old Horace— I want to get all the happiness out of the world that’s possible.” And he got it, not intermittently and in chunks, but day by day and every hour of the day. a strong ally in their efforts toward bet- tering the condition of the town. Caleb is a simple, kind soul, with a fund of na- tlve humor and wisdom. He works for years to givg happiness to others, and at last he finds his reward in prosperity and in the love of a woman who is good enough herself to appreciate the nobility of Caleb, ; “Caleb Wright is a simple tale of a auiet life. It does not arouse deep emo- .tions, but it pleases, as must do any well- drawn picture of life, even if this portray only the simple events of lives which fate has placed amid unromantic surroundings. (Published by the Lothrop Publishing Company, Boston. Price, $150.) Tarec Young Ranchmen. “Three Young Ranchmen,” by Captain Ralph Bonehill, relates the adventures of three brothers, Allen, Chetwood and Paul Winthrop. These boys have been left to support themselves as best they can on a lonely ranch in Idaho. They have a hard time and meet with many thriiling adventures, but at last prosperity smiles upon them and they are able to leave their ranch and go away to school and college. (Published by the Saalfield Com- pany. Price $1.) ol AN Jingleman Jack. “Jingleman Jack” is a book to delight the heart of the small boy. The rhymes by James O’'Dea, cover many of the call- ings, trades and crafts of the day, and the illustrations by Harry Kennedy and designs by Charles Costello form no smal! part in making the book a most attrac- tive holiday volume. First we have a jingle to the sallorman, followed by one to the artist, and then come in succes- sion the lumberman, bricklayer, farmer, teamster, tailor, cobbler, miner, cowboy, blacksmith, fireman, miller, engraver, iron-molder, lawyer, glass-blower, baker, cook, bridge-builder. printer—and so on el tical needs of the classroom after long experience, and may be used In connec- tlon with any beginner's manual or les- sons. It seems well designed for over- coming one of the greatest difficulties in iaying rapidly and well the foundations of a knowledge of Latin grammar—that of giving the pupil thorough ana effecfive drill on the verb. (Published by the American Book Company, New York. Price, 50 cents.) The Old Northwest. “Baldwin's Conquest of the Old North- west,” by James Baldwin, is supplement- ary to the same author's “Discovery of the Old Northwest,” yet is complete in itself. Commencing with the completion of the French colonization about 1735, 1¢ covers a period of a hundred years, end- ing with the last strugsgle, in this region, between the forces of barbarism and civ- ilization (1832), and the completion of the American conquest. This is an attempt to present for younger readers the little known but varied, interesting and im- portant history of this magnificent sec- tion of our country, the romantic side of which is being exploited In such works of fiction as the late Maurice Thompson's ;‘f?"fia olfl old WB/:;cennes." (Published by e American k Com N Price 60 cents.) ek The Golden Tooth. “The Golden Tooth,” by J. Maclaren Cobban, is a novel containing a mystery. A murder is committed in England, and .an amateur detective sets out to find the unknown murderer. As is usually the case In detective stories, the professional detectives accuse of crime an innocent man, and it is left for the amateur to un- ravel mysteries and to bring the real cul- prit to justice. It is the strange thing about stories of this class that in them men who spend their lives unraveling the mysteries of crime always follow up a false clew, while 2 man who is supposad to give his time and attention to other pursuits suddenly develops a genius for the detection of crime which i3 as sur- prising as it is sudden. Those who care for any sort of a detective story will like “The Golden Tooth”; the more fastidious would better avoid it, as there Is really nothing commendable in it. (Published by F. M. Buckles, New York. Price §125.) — . Literary Notes. Little, Brown & Co. have just complet- ed the publication of their Valois equn of the romances of Alexandre Dumas, in forty volumes. There are two styl cloth and half morocco. It is uniform with the Centenary Balzac. Maxfield Parrish, who has made some of the most striking colored pictures in the December magazines, has gone to the Southwest for The Century to illustrate the series of articles on that country writ- ten by Ray Stannard Baker, which The Century is about to print. This is Mr. Parrish’s first visit to the West. Doubleday, Page & Co. published last week the second and concluding volume of “The Furniture of Our Forefathers,” “The Latin Quarter” in their “French Novels of the Nineteenth Century” series, “The True Story of Captain John Smith,” a blography compiled from unusual sources by Katharine Pearson Woods, and ‘“Photography as a Fine Art,” Charles H. Caffin, with over a hundred examples of the best work. It is announced that “Eben Holden” is soon to appear in an illustrated edition. Scenes from the play now running at the Savoy Theater, New York City, will be reproduced, togetier with Mr. Bachel- ler's portrait as a frontispiece, and 2 very attractive gift book for the holidays is promised. The success of the play has been frequently commented upon. E. M. Holland, in the title role, looks for all the world like the picture of Uncle Eb used by the publishers to advertise the book. Outing is edited to interest almost every man and woman who is not an ascetic. It has a spirit of buovant life which ear- ries its readers from cover to cover. I articles of out-of-door fact are instruc- tive; its stories of out-of-door fiction are interesting. Here are the titles of ten of the twenty-eight features of the Decem- ber number: Colored frontispiece, Fred- eric Remington; “The Wilderness Hun- ter,” Owen Wister (illustrated by Fred- eric Remington): “The Newfoundlanders of the Outports,” Norman Duncan (pho- tographs by the author); “The Way of the Indian Cross,” Edwyn Sandys; “Vic2 in Horses and Its Correction,” Frank M. Ware (practical and illustrated); “Fal- conry in France,” Vance Thompson (drawings by Hy. S. Watson); “The Dog Poisoner,” J. P. Mowbray; “Theories Re- garding Scent,” John T. Balley; “Physi- cal Training for Women,” J. V. Gillman; “The Adventures of Mr. Wiliam Mari- ner,” Edward S. Holden. The January Delineator has a rich and inviting table of contents, and attractive features are added to all the existing de- partments. Ira D. Sankey, the famous evangelist, vividly describes his journey through Egypt and:Palestine, and tne personality of the author gives to these papers an interest that is truly remark- able. They are illustrated by photographs made by I. Allen Sankey, who accom- panied his father. Recent mournful events and the intense public sympathy with Mrs. McKinley make very timely an article on “Notable Pensioners of the Na- tion,”” in which the annuities paid to cer- tain illustrious ladies are made public for perhaps the first time. Dr. S. R. Elliott begins his series of recollections of a group of women noteworthy for personal character and attainments, and Clara E. Laughlin tells with great charm the story of Poe's love and marriage. Some ex- cellent flction is offered in this number; the children are especially considered and the various miscellaneous articles—the fancy-work, cookery, the holiday display, house-furnishing, etc.—have a distinctly seasonable flavor. In the elaborate and authoritative work, “The Furniture of Our Forefathers,” now published complete by Doubleday, Page & Cox, is given an extract from a letter by Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts written in 1630, which shows what a se- rious matter the love of pretty things was in those days. Winthrop says: *“A good- ly woman of the church of Boston, dwell- ing some time in London, brought with her a parcel of very fine linen of great value, which She set her heart too much upon, and had veen at charge to have it all newly washed and curiously folded and pressed, and so left it in the press In her parlor over night. She had a negro maid, who went into her room very late, and let fall some snuff of the candle upon the linen, so as by morning all the linen was burned to tinder and the boards under- neath and some sicols and a part of the wainscoat burned, and never perceived by any in the house, though some lodged in the chamber overhead and no ceiling be- tween. But it pleased God that the lozs of this linen did her much good. both in taking off her heart from worldly com- forts and in preparing her for a far great- er affliction by the untimely death of her husband, who was slain not long after at Isle of Providence.” A significant illustration of the large and growing interest in storles of Ameri- can life which deal with men and women more or less familiar to the reader is of- fered in the success of “J. Devlin—Boss issued by the Lothrop Publishing Com- pany. The novel, which was published a iittle over three months ago, has sold heavily from the first. It has been on the list of the six best selling books in many cities the country over during that time, and is in greater demand to-day than at any time since its appearance. It is a Jove story with a political setting, and it has had as many women readers as men, Two propositions have already been made for its dramatization; and among those who have written to the author. Francis Churchill Willlams, and the publishers, of their personal Interest in the story are Rear Admiral Evans, Secretary of State Hay; D. B. Henderson, Speaker of the House of Representatives: Senator Haw- ley, Irving Scott, Cyrus Townsend Brady, Governors Van Sant and Yates, Senator Dantel of Virginia, Marion Harland, Mary E. Wilkins, Gertrude Atherton, Jacob Riis, Leo Rassieur, commander of the G. A. R., and Thomas E. Watson. The story is a stirring one, brings into relief per- haps the most typical figure in American life, and not a few dramatic Incidents in national history have a place in the book. The International Monthly for Decem- ber contains a number of essays that com- bine a sufficient lightness of touch with genuine interest and power. “The Middle ‘West,” by Professor Frederick J. Turner of the University of Wisconsin, is a com- prehensive study of the main features in the development of the vast area under discussion: The incidents of settlement, the two currents of emigration, Northern and Southern, especizlly in their relation to the civil war, and, finally, the enorm industria’ expansion of comparativ cent years. Sereno E. Payne of Aub N. Y., contributes an essay oh the- Trusts.” Another valuable this number is “Gustave Flaube M. Edouard Rod, a master in the literary peortrciture, and one of the st eminent critics in the France of i Gustave Flaubert's “Madame Bov spite of its cynical realism, is in composition perhaps the fect novel that has ever ten, and M. Rod do tice to the great esthetic cre; a as well as to the remarkable personali of Flaubert himself. Professor Munro of the University of Pennsylvania tch, “C concludes his historical and Infidel in the Holy La William A. Dunning of Columbia y, from dity contributes the sources of i heory of Machiavelli,”” the famous and enigmatical Florentine; Mr. Montgomery Schuyler of New York in “An American Dictionary of Architecture” offers a worthy tribute to the work of Russell Sturgis. Poultney Bigelow writes with all of his accustomed verve on the patriot Johann Karl ram Stuve, who did and suffered so much for the cause of pblitical freedom in Gere many. The December issue of “Successful American” contains upward of 100 pages of current literature, the principal fea- ture of which is tersely written bio- graphical sketches of successful citizens of the several States of the Union, and known by business connections through- out the length and breadth of the land. Besides the latest portrait and a bio- graphical sketch of Seth Low, ex-presi- dent of Columbia College, of the city of New York, who recently su bearded the Tammany Tiger in hi: together with a portrait and biographs of Morgan J. O'Brien, the unanimously re-elected Justice of the Supreme Court, also of Hon. Jacob A. Cantor, the success- ful nominee for president of Manhattan borough; the invincible Willilam Traver Jerome, who made such a whirlwind can- vass, with other w Yorkers, the De- cember issue also contair portrait of Hon. Edwin W. F gen- tleman who has had the high honor of being four times elected Mayor of the city of Mount Vernon; also portrzits and biographs of Philip D. Armour, Nefls An- ton Christensen, Samuel W. Allerton, Frank O. Louden, H C. An- drew Jackson Aike Captain Frederick Pa ney, Henry L. Palmer, Ham P. Snyder, James Guffey many other leading c of Chi Milwaukee, Pittsburg and other the West—the whole forms collection of current blogray out the manner in w h our most inent business men and millionaire: their way in the world. In s history, Succes: cetch and Arnold, bie . pointing prom= ber contains “Ins ker”; also a dozen or more s iral Christmas sketches of New ¥ by Judge Thomas W. Pittman and Con- gressman T. J. Campbell. There seems to be much t is appro= priate to the season in the December nur ber of The Critic. The cover, whic lithographed in colors, show Robbia medallion of the Virgin, ¢ angels on a white ground, the let being in gold. The feature of th is, however, Ralph Fletel decorations for Milton's Od '€ Morning of Christ's Nativity,” the poem being illustrated and rubricate manner which is essentially rich a fective. Mr. Seymour is responsible all the designs, both picto: sgraphical, and the poem, with a plece portrait of Milton at the age of twenty-one, forms one of the most elab- orate of The Critic's Christmas features. Following the Milton ode are re tions of a series of portraits b brated German portrait paint von Lenbach, with introductory letter- press by Christlan Brinton. The article includes portraits of Von Lenbach him- self, Prince Bismarck, Arnold Bocklin, Paul Heyse, Signora Duse, Bjornstjerns Bjornson and others of international in- terest. One of the most important contributions to the December Critic is an article ‘Willlam Armstrong entitled “Mr. Swi burne and Mr. Watts-Dunton at ‘The Plnes.”” Mr. Armstrong enjoyed excep- tional opportunities for making the ac- quaintance of the poet and his host and studying their milleu, and has written a paper full of details regarding one of the most interesting literary friendships o the present day. The paper is fully trated after photographs, drawings an paintings of the occupants of “The Pines and their surroundings, both interior an exterlor. Another article which in a happy combination of text and pictor material is Professo- Harlow C 1 of “Johannes Brahms.” Professor touches upon the main points in Brahm life, both biographical and technical, his paper is enlivened by numerous pho- tographs, silhouettes and drawings ing almost every phase of the mt career. A further pictorial feature o current number of the Christmas Critic is J. Ranken Towse's critique drama, illustrated after origh by Albert J. Sterner. Hawes Cr: Mrs. Florence Scovel Shinn as w from photographs. Books Received. IDYLS OF THE GASS—By Marth stein. The Jewish Publication America, Philadelphia. THE BURGESS NONSENSE BOOK Gelett Burgess. Frederick A. Stokes C u? 1 a blue 1d N New York. $2 13. ALPHONSE DAUDET—Selected Prepared for class use by T. Atkins kins. American Book Company, New York TEN COMMON TREES By Susan Stokes American Book Company, New York DER PROZESS—By Rode: Bened! EINER MUSZ HEIRATHE y W Edited by M. B. Lambert. American Company, New York. 30c. L A — —————————— | A UNIQUE HOLIDAY GIFT “JINGLES Faom JAPAN" Verses bv Mabel Hyds=. Picturcs by Helen Hyde. “The jingles. ‘as set forth by t Ghinks,” are bright and far above the a The of her poems are exceptionally goc The volume will be a most accep able holiday souvenir, for its unique etyle and attractive drawings appeal to the public. The pictu printed in flat blacks and reds, 3 strikingly artistic.”—The Milwaus Sentinel. PRICE 75c NET. wi A. M. ROSERTSON, Pub isher. i 26 Post Strect.