The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 31, 1902, Page 12

THE SUNDAY CALL CONDUCTED BY B. G. LATHROP. : + ——d page we have reproduced eh the special courtesy of blishers, Messrs. Elder & n Francisco, and of r. Mr. George Hansen of hild studies that go to n a series of fascinat- ots. There is a story back le one, it is true, but one every father and nsen is a landscape architect by author, a natural poet fon. He already able books con- rofession to his credit this he has may see may ap- over 2000 snap irely unposed ness and truth of pictures as they book form, indicative f life common to every are not only in- , but serve the himself has to catch some of the student of life pos- h degree. If youarea why mnot copy this en so generously of- field of present and greater than a first ght surmise. just placed three of Roland Booklets” on ounce that others are “Vespers,” of episodes in child t mind becomes suf- st grasp in some wonderful and awe-in- setting sun. e Ascent of Man,” the wn on this page, ggle of Roland come the tirst obstacle to the career 1 of all that goes v life; the obligation forces upon us with either to progress ompiish—or as 2 thing unfit. of the child's a first attempt at Mr. Hansen Jjust tne happy n wanting: ANSEN. evidently one iate us on this up question of d if he entertaims appearance of Lhe had no idea of il- new manner snappin kodaik. e desire 10 keep a our child, the our family after s vast world, in a to be blamed if he one fil He teels wasting 2) or 50 ographic goods when s on a close margmn. s should turn out to t the good woman for- t the failures she never I went through many ng in the role of nurse ne back yard, creature as it meas- gh its tiny fingers or to gain a freer view r It was not long taken in close Words and captions, con- > &8 the dozens and used as entire the hun is have increased 0 now more than two thousand pict- ht by there any sense in all this? is for the public to That But what ben- DELLARATION OF INDEPEND- ENCE. efit we have had out of it I gladly relate for the information of those interested in the work. Have you ever tried to recall the Iittle experiences you had with your child? Could you recall now, vears later, such impressions as v received and describe with any degree of accuracy? Referring to our case, I own up that the mother recalls to my mind episodes that have escaped already my mind and the child is only two vears old. Our age is awake to child-study and to the devising of ways and means to im- prove chilé-life. To do such you must proceed properly. First know your chil To know it keep reliable record and know once for ail that nothing is more trust- worthy than the camera. The pages upon pages of notes taken on the little man are perhaps neither better nor worse than records kept by other parents, lery of thousands of pictures, tal moods, under all condition that is a the glim- sea of bloom in a mountain meadow. Is it wo! while to publish these plct- ures? Indeed it is. No other child ever had its life put into such illustrative pages, and it is well to have the complets record of any one child before us. I do not believe for a moment in reforming the adult, if he is not able to bring out the best that is in him with anything like a fair show in this world. He must boe his own row, if it is not away from the highway, then behind the inclosures of an industrial school or prison walls. 1 believe in one thing though, and that is NEVER MIND BACKSLI]SING. the one least practiced: Give the child fullest opportunity to develop in what God has placed within its reac! A STORY OF THE By HARRY LEON WILSON EAST AND WEST Pric, $1.50 A clean, strong, quick-moving novel. A story of to-day, Keen, a story for Americans, for those who believe in personal independence, energy, ability, yet good-natured in satire, amusing in idiom and epigram; wholesome and sunny in spirit. A really great piece of native fiction. Loulsville Courier-Journal says : “If there is such a thing as the American novel of a new method, this is one. Absolutely to be enjoyed is it from the first page to the last, founded on the ele- mental truth that ‘the man is strongest who, Antacan- like, stands with his feet upon the carth.’” THROP P ELISHING COMPANY, Nashyille American says : “Nothing too good can be said about it. It is brilliantly conceived, full of the bright- est and best sort of humor, written in 2 wholesome, un- able style, and has as characters the sort of people that the every-da: world is full of” s BOSTON MAMMA, SEE! talk of kindergartens and do this “gar- dening” in vacant stores. We talk or schoolyards and establish cattle-sheds. We force and screw and twist and squeeze the child’s mind and body with all the thumbscrews and finesses of our educa- tional wisdom, until we sink exhausted while still admiring the wonderful work that we have accomplished. I have loved children all my life, and prided myself on some knowledge of them. Since little Roland stepped into our midst I have forgutten all I ever knew. But I have learncd anew, and 1 had a teacher without education: our »wn child. He never told me \what was not so, he never -accomplished what was not in natural sequence: he never de- I WISK I WORE PANTS. manded what was not good for him and never gave what it was not natural for him to part with. Roland is no unusual child. He is neither overbright nor does te show special inclination to be anything out of the common. But that is. what ha is: a healthy, happy youngster. He bawls RESTING GOES WITH IT. when things can be got in such a way from an indulgent guardian. He shouts like an Indian when he races around the yard with a stick or rope. He eats with &n appetite that tells his own story, and i more trouble to his mother than he ought to be. With local pride we may point to the fact that he is what any typical California child sught to be—born under our clear sky, ralsed in our sun- shine all the year round. What individual lesson can we gain from our experience? We have been for- tunate in so far as we have had our child entirely to ourselves for almost cvery day of these two wonderful years. No loving grandmother has overlooked his naughtiness, no unwelcome aunt has smiled at hisattacks, no uncle has taught him tricks. This child's shortcom- ings must correct themselves with his in- creasing experience, and we are only the profiting pupils when we are supposed to be his guardians. Other parents living in the close quarters of a crowded street will have to put up with many outside influences when separation would be more to their liking. But one thing—and this will be the one nearest to the heart of the individual parent—one and all can learn from my way of p'cturing a chiid, pamely, the way of fixing some of their most Interesting periods of development. I never once clicked a shutter till this child came to us. When I explained the HERE I AM. way of taking these pictures to a dear friend he patted me patronizingly on my back and said, “Any fool can do that.” And right he is. When you, fond mother OR NO CLOTHES AT ALL. want to surprise the father go to the Store and borrow a camera and charge it with a roll of films. And as you sit on the porch or front step mending stock- ings and watching the little tot in the yard or on the cidewalk, take your cam- era on your lap and snap it every time the little one changes its position. Do not try to assist it. You do not know how, you are too conceited. And as to - s Illustrations on this page from George Hansen’s “Baby Roland Booklets.” Copyright, 1902, by George Hansen. — Gressing up, do not select a dress that does not have about it the sanctity of usage. Remember, when I was’ lying on the ground taking the pictures of Baby Roland in *‘Vespers” and was reveling In the grandness of our first sonrise while this son admired the glorious tints of his first sunset, he wore the very TIL BE THERE IN NO TIME. R T e e ST shoes, the toes of which he wore out about the month before while doing his first creeping. Yet this ‘“Vespers” will stand a classic of illustration in childlife as long as a Raphael selects angel faces and a mother nods asleep alongside the cradle in a restless night. Your child, to you, is as dear as ours to us, and your plctures will be treasures in your home us these are in ours. Jezebel. A new book comes to us from the pen of Miss Lafayette McLaws, the author of “‘When the Land Was Young,” a work that won recognition for itself last year and for a first book was quite a success. The present work is a biblical tale of the time when Omri and Ahab were the kings of Israel and Elijah was a prophet of Je- hovah. It shows the maturity due to a more practiced hand that was lacking to a small extent in Miss McLaws' first book, and with the exception of the necessarily stilted style in following out the old form of expression to give the local color to so remote a perfod the present historical novel will be found quite entertaining and in a way Instruc- tive. Here is a brief outline of the plot: Abab, the Israelite, takes to wife Jeze- bel, the worshiper of Baal. When Ahab comes to the throne and Jezebel sets up the worship of Baal the prophets and be- levers of Israel are incensed against the queen, and Jezebel begins a fierce perse- cution of her enemies. This contest is the chief motive of the story. Its complica- tions involve not only Elijah, but Ruth, daughter of Naboth, most beautiful of the Israelite maldens. Ruth is a favorite of Jezebel, but the queen's fury Is aroused against her by the report that Ahab is being persuaded to take Ruth alsc as his wife. Ruth is betrothed to Jonadab, but is beloved by Prince Amon and loves him in return. This is the real romance of the narrative. In this story Miss McLaws has endeav- ored to throw mew light upon the char- acter of Jezebel, and while she does not depart from the B blical account she sure- ly presents this strong-willed, beautiful queen in a somewhat novel and striking manner. We get glimpses of Jezebel the woman as well as Jezebel the queen, and it is as a woman with warm passions and 1HiS LOOKS LIKE THE TOP. Jealous instincts that Jezebel is most and best portrayed. 5 The book is replete with dramatic situa- tlons, the actlon is rapid and stirring and the denouement is original and startling. (Published by the Lothrop Publishing Company, Boston. Price $1 50.) Bale Marked Circle X. George Cary Eggleston is already so well known as a writer of fiction for both young and old that any book appearing under his authorship is sure to receive ready welcome. His latest juvenile, “The Bale Marked Circle X,” tells the exciting story of a blockade running adventure. In it we meet three boy soldiers in the Confederate service who are sent in a sloop on a secret voyage from Charleston to the Bahamas, conveying a strange bale of cotton which holds important docu- ments and also fifty-one pounds of rifle powder, with which bale, sloop, and crew must be blown up as a last resort to save the precious papers from capture by the Federals. She runs the blockade, picking up on the way a young, wounded Federal soldier. She encounters a storm, and passes through it safely, to be knocked down and capsized by a white squall near one of the outlying Bahama Islands. The boys manage to swim ashore with the pre- cious bale, and pretty soon their water- logged sloop comes drifting conveniently into a little harbor near them. They right her, pump her out, refit her, and go on their way, delivering the bale safely to its destination. Packed as the book is withc daring deeds, there is also in it much of practical information that most boys are likely to enjoy. It is one of Eggleston's best stories for boys. (The book is pub- lished by the Lothrop Publishing Com- pany, Boston. Price $1 20.) Errand Boy of Andrew Jackson. A fine historical novel for boys is one dealing with the War of 1812 and called “The Errand Boy of Andrew Jackson, by W. O. Stoddard. It is an intensely martial story, full of action, life, incident and deeds of courage—the kind to enlist WHY, THIS IS FUN, every wholesome boy’s attention and hold it to the end. The tale describes the events of the brilliant campaign which closed the war, the only land campaign of 1812-14, in which the Americans were entirely successful. The story tells of a Tennessee boy, Dan Martin, who enlists in Jackson's army for the defense of the Mississippi River, serves at Mobile and New Orleans, and s wounded in the vic- Ihe wey 1o neach Success— e Iocmden. W%Aj’ffinw.yfi. “He JG/ 1o frs, we wotry ovey At f the Yeans: but"the - CRifd, STep By stepp,Keepa, Clim Bing (INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH IN THE “ASCENT OF MAN.”) tory at the latter place. At the outset of the story Dan attracts the attention of General Jackson, and is sent as messen- ger and aid in some delicate and danger- ous transactions, displaying real courage, sbrewdness and boyish pluck, leading “Old Hickory” to cry, “God bless the boys of America!” Jean Lafitte and the Baratarian pirates play a conspicuous part in the story. -It.is spirited, finely written and true to the facts of history. (Fublished by the Lothrop Publishing Company, Boston. Price $1.) ‘Wistons. ‘“Wistons,” by Miles Amber, is a mourn- ful study of heredity. The story told is not of much interest, while the main char- acters, of an uncommon type, are drawn with such vagueness of outline that just what they are meant to be is not clear to the reader. Wistons Is a small estate in Eng- land, which has descended to many gener- ations of a family named Woolvenhurst. Untii the time when the story opens the members of the family have been qulet people, who have lived a prosaic exist- ence. Then the heir to the estate, a young Oxford student, breaks away from the traditions of his family by marrying a beautiful gypsy girl. This girl proves to have only a brief fascination for the young man, who finds the effect of his wife’s beauty marred for him by her coarseness. To these parents, so unlike In taste and training, are born two daugh- ters. The elder, Esther, has inherited the disposition and taste of the refined Wool- venhursts, while the other, Rhoda, re- veals the instincts of her unconventional 8YDsy ancestors. Esther makes a very unhappy marriage, which promises to de- strey her happy confidence in the value of the beauty of the world. Rhoda's self- ish, self-centered life finds in its early maturity a tragic end. (Published by Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York. Price $150.) Next to the Ground. A book that will be found most charm- ing by nature lovers is Martha McCul- loch-Williams’ bound collection of de- scriptive papers, whose theme is the daily life of a boy and girl on a farm. Mrs. Williams seems particularly well fitted for the task in which she has shown so much of real enthusiasm and talent; for she is not only a naturalist of ability, but a writer as well. She invests even the most familiar subjects with a surprising fresh. ness and pictures realities In a manner that presents to the mental vision things that we have surely seen but have never taken the time nor thought necessary to really appreciate. You will find in her pages much fascinating knowledge of winds and clouds, of homely farm employ- ments and bits of hidden woodland life, of the way of the weed in the furrow, of the mule in the harness, and of the trout In the stream. The title of the work is “Next to the Ground,” and the book is published by McClure, Phillips & Co., New York. Price $1 20 net. A House of Days. The work of another California poet, Mr. Christian K. Binkley, comes to us in a neatly printed and bound volume from Al M. Robertson, the San Francisco pub- lisher. Mr. Binkley takes as the title of his book, “A House of Days"—suggested by Chaucer's “A House of Fame.” The poet employs the sonnet form for the ma. Jority of his songs, yet there is plenty of variety in the verses that make up the minority of the selections. Mr. Binkley's verses are deserving of attention as the work of one who is at present a resident of our State. He was graduated from Stanford University in 1899, and for' the past two yvears has had charge of the Evglish and history departments at the Cogswell Polytechnic College. The price of the book js §1 The Little Citizen. “The Little Citizen,” by M. E. Waller, is a capital story for juvenile readers. It Is the narrative of the developments of a waif of New York streets in the simple and wholesome life of a Vermont farmer neighborhood. The lad, Miffins, is taken into the household of Jacob Foss, a farmer. The story tells of the transforma- tion wrought in Miffins’ character. It is & story of heart power, and with Its study of the evolution of a street gamin into a useful little citizen and with its graphic descriptions of Vermont country life in summer and winter it makes a book of unusual power and interest. Pub- lished by the Lothrop Publishing Com- pany, Boston. Price $1. Stronger Than Love. “Stronger Than Love,” by the well- known writer of fiction, Mrs. Alexander, is the story of(a girl who refuses the love SHALL I ATTEMPT IT TO-DAY? of a man for whom she cares because she believes that by doing this she will con- tribute to the happiness of a woman who has shown her great kindness. Fortunate- ly for the ultimate well-being of the heroine the sacrifice which she makes brings her a greater happiness than the one which she refused for the sake of her friend. Like the other novels of the author, this one is readable and agreeable. It is not overexciting, while being of sufficlent in- terest to hold the attention of the reader. (Published by Brentano, New York.) Literary Notes. Owen Wister’s novel, “The Virgintan—A Horseman of the Plains,” has run into its fiftieth thousand within six weeks of 1ts publication. In the literary magazines and weekly reports it stands at the head of all the hits of the popular books of the day. Messrs. Thomas Y. Crowell & Com- pany are now printing a new edition of “What Is Worth While,” by Anna R. Brown Lindsay. Since this inspiring booklet appeared a few years ago the de- mand for it has caused numerous edi- tions. The present printing brings the total number of copies to 200,000. The Century Company will begin thi: autumn the publication of a new series of books for boys and girls, to be called “The St. Nicholas Series,” made up of long stories which have appeared in the St. Nicholas Magazine. That periodical began this past year to dispense with serials and Instead has given a long com- plete story in each number. The new series will include “Sir Marok,” by Allen French; “The Cruise of the Dazzler, by Jack London; “The Boy and the Baron,” by Adeline Knapp; “The Boys of the Rin- con Ranch,” by #. S. Canfleld, and “Tommy Remington’s Battle,” by Bur- ton E. Stevenson—all richly fllustrated and esued In uniform and attractive bind- ing"at a popular price. In the old Overland Monthly of 1863-63 Bret Harte gathered around him some of the brightest minds of American letters and it is from these that the reminiscent material for the September number of the Overland Monthly, which will be the Bret Harte memorial number, has been gath- ered. Ina Coolbrith, whom Harte con- sidered the sweetest singer of her time, has contributed a beautiful poem, as has Joaquin Miller in his touching “Good Night, Bret Harte, Good Night.” “Ten- nessee’'s Partner,” “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” and “The Luck of Roaring Camp,” the three stories which made Bret Harte and the Overland Monthiy famous, have been reprinted and embel- lished by suitable illustrations. The de- partment of ‘“Reminiscences” consists of letters from friends of Harte, who best knew his personality and his private life, and includes fac similes of letters from ‘Willlam Dean Howells and John Hay, to- gether with engravings of Harte's cor- rected proof of “The Heathen Chinee™ and his original manuseript. Noah Erooks, who knows more of the great story-teller than any other living man, has written the life of Bret Harte, which will take the place of honor in the magazine. Contributions from the pens of President Daniel C. Gilman, Professor Edgar L. Larkin, Dr. David Starr Jordan and Di- rector Campbell of Lick Observatory will make up the partial contents of a re- markable magazine. The Rolfe Shakespeare, which for twenty years has been regarded as the standard in point of text and notes by the leading school and colleges, is to be issued this fall by the Baker & Taylor Co. in handsome olive green limp leather binding, stamped in gold with gilt top and decorated title pages in two colors. The new form will be much more attractive for library and general use, while still being sufficiently durable to serve for the purpose of study. The set was/originally published by Harper & Bros., but later passed to the American Book Company, through whose courtesy the present edi- tion is put forth. It will be sold in sets boxed at $36 net per set or singly at % cents net. Books Received. PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL RESEARCHES— By Borle Sidis, M.A., Ph.D. Published under the auspices of the trustees of the Psycho- pathic Hospital, department of the New York Infirmary for Women and Children. G. E. Stechert. New York, London, Leipzig, Paris. NEITHER BOND NOR FREE—By G. Lang- horne Pryor. J. S. Ogilvie Publishing Com- pany, New York. ELEMENTARY . COMMERCIAL GEOG- RAPHY—By Cyrus C. Adams. D. Appletoa & Co., New York. $1 10. Baby Roland Booklets. Instinc’ive with the ‘vn and Irolic ol babyhood. Uaposed and matural. ‘Will appeal to every one who loves a child. No. 1-Vesprs. L No. 2—A-c nt of Man. No. 3—Limn Eeans. Each 50c net. For descrip ive ci cular or for the byo "« lete, address th pubti. hers, Elder and 233 Post Street, San Francisco.