The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 8, 1904, Page 5

REVIVAL of Celtic Literature. re est those qual- There is that Yeats is v lite of the reckoning, revival a thing the young apos- rs and the gospel past the popular fad in riter of this re- therefore, a effort, ever structed e The w work has revival, con- me to this 11 us, Mr reserving for a - f common thought . s the present favor of a literary result of the striving with 4 failing of a C a ression of racial s ave turped to 2 na- R viewing in Celtic the year of jonal Literary tribute to the Hyde, the emi- classics and Gregory, author ting Men,” and G of character- has had a large impetus to the re- X movement. The n the field of fiction, Seu- Shan Bullock, Miss ow and Standish J. O'Grady and others who gain a ready ear because they ake the humor, os and tragedy in the lives of the eir subject,” have contributed sota to the weight of the new movement of the day. The many-sidedness of Yeats' lit- erary activity must be a revelation to heretofore casual readers of his works when they learn from Krans' appre- expreesio; by writers 1892 hose ve soor t cimt the wvarious channels of lit- erary expression that seemed to be yed equally happily by the g man of letters. In the poems has written . that draw upon sources, such as “The Death ) or “The Old Age of Maeve,” Krans finds that Y wverse reflects “rather appreci- piion of the temper of ancient Irish erature than embodiment of It.” Théy belong to the poetry of an age of thought, revolting against itself,” seys the essayist further, “and imitat- ng the poetry of an age of action.” When the poet uses the old legends as i e for his own sentiments, how- he produces lyrics, blank verse fn epic flights, delicate pastorals, dramas and prose fiction even, all .wealed with the seal of his haunting Celtic mysticism and essence of true fomantic poesy. Indeed it is the close study Krans makeé of the mysticism and symbol- ism of Yeats that stamps his book as 4he scholarly thing that it is. Krans finds Yeats the true dreamer, charac- teristic Celt, whose work embodies he quest of the ideal in all its forms, faith in the unseen life, the passion for romance and mystery, the pursuit of thé intangible and evanescent, a vague ancholy and a vague unrest, the brinking from the tumult of the world. From this constant seeking te penetrate the veil of the hidden “misteries of life, beauty, love, there to Yeats a certain marked sm, which Krans notes, a turn- g of the eyes inward to the soul to fhe utter ignoring of all the vital man- tions of life’s activity such as ng seeks to catch. “The mystic- of Yeats,” says the author, ticism of many times and any countries, holds to a belief in e great mind, ope great memory, ind and memory of nature her- Of this great mind and memory r minds and memories are a part, wnetimes separated from it, some- sing over into it and bearing asures of eternal wisdom.” Of-'Yeats' dramatic writings the es- st writes somewhat sparingly. He the young Irishman’'s #s as a direct revolt from the n development of that form of expression—as the drama of itellectual appeal rather than otional. Yeats’ dramas are no vable than some of Bernard haw because they are of a trend of thought too subtle to admit of ade- uate dramatic expression and of a t ure not sufficlently robust. Their of subjectivity does not make lucid stage interpretation, how- Mr. &Dird for ever perfect they may be from the standpoint of pure literary standirds Krans attributes much signifieance and large worth to Yeats' wc . both as a leader in the Gaelic literary re- vival and as a master of poesy. “The future will lock back to Mr. Yeats.~ says he, a landmark the lit- erary history of Ireland, both because of his artistic achievement and be- cause he has been a leader in a re- markable movement.” (McClure, Phillips & Co. New York.) CARTOONS Picture Bird Center. OHN T. McCUTCHEON. the car- J toonist, can do with a pencil what Ceorge Ade, the master of slang, does with a pen. In his “Chron- icle of Social Happenings at Bird Center,” recently published, the popu- lar Chicago artist has produced a se- ries of fables as trenchant, oddly humorous 2s anything his confrere ia fun ever wrote. Where Ade catche human foibles by a trick of the tongue, McCutcheon pins them to paper with a quirk of the pencil. His single drawing contains a story that could not be put under 1000 words in Ade's argot. The fun' in his work is even fresher, more spontaneous than that of the fable teller—perhaps because it has not baen ridden to death. In his “Chronicle” McCuteheon di- vides the laugh between the cartoons and the text. Each drawing i= eluci- dated on its companion page by ex- tracts from the Bird Center Argogy describing the sc 1 event depicted therein. The grandilogu:ent phrases of “ye editor” are no less mirth provok- ing than the Bird Center worthies themselves, in whose praises are couched. When one has visited with these homely folk the Bohemian jinks given in the tintype studio of Mr. Ri- ley Peters, gone with them to thc re- ception in honor of the Congressman of the district in the K. of P. hall and shared with them the delicious thrill caused by the mysterious stranger's dark ways, he feels that he knows Bird Cent: and Bird Centerites as if it were his natal town—knows them all and likes them. (A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago.) e B L, A SLEUTH of Rare Stupidity. UINTUS OAKES, the detective extraordinary and sleuth incom- parable, is the veriest tyro st his trade judging by the lights accord- ed him by his indulgent creator, Charles Ross Jackson. For when Quin- tus Oakes sets himself to the solution of a mystery where he is combated ac every turn by foes that are possessed of a full quota of knavish tricks and where secrecy must be the ail-essen- tial prerequisite of success, what does he do? Why, first he takes with him on his still hunt two greenhorns, a lawyer and a doctor, who feel the need of a vacation and who are consumed with a desire to see how the wonderful Quintus Oakes, premlier of crime de- tectors, works. Then, when he has ar- rived at the scene of the shrouded ter- ror, he takes into his confidence the local constable, surely a man well cal- culated to sist in the unraveling of mystery. Before long he makes him- self known to a negro and another in- consequential individual who runs the local news sheet. Then, with five rank outsiders acquainted with his plans, more or less, and endeavoring, each ia his amateurish way, to be of assist- ance, the king of ferrets gets down to business. All this is very enlightening to one not conversant with the “ways thet are dark” employed by police spies. The mystery that has to be brought to lght in this “Quintus Ogakes” of Jackson’s has much to do with secret passageways, double walls and trap dcors. A cloaked figure, with a mask, who wears, so Oakes deduces, nothiug above the walst save a linen mesh un- derehirt when on murder beat, has much to do with certain unaccounta- ble happenings. An elaborate system of night flashes with a dark laptern keeps the quarry and his confederates in touch with one another. Oakes is so rapid of movement that he can light a cigar and have it half smoked before a stuttering man could say “Jack Rob- inson.” All these wonders and many others are to be found in this wonder- fully fantastic book. (G. W. Dillingham & Co., New York; price §1 60.) THE SAN FR.—\NCIS&O SUNDAY CALL. Vi HER WILL Makes the Story Go. ITH the charm of Swiss lake and llated Bavarian town for a ound, and with a maste ful gentleman of foreign birth and a very stubborn American widow for tral figures, Anne Warner has evolved a story that is impelling for its very cleverness. “A Woman's Wiil” the calls it; Woman's Obstinacy” name it, for if ever there a lady bgtween book covers that nifested sublimated mulishness to a greater degree than Anne Warners widow exhibits that admirable quality she has yet to be made known to this it 1& this unbending stead- reviewer. fastness In perversity on ‘the pgit of the falr widow and the unfalllng te- ity of purpuse in the forelgh gen. nan, her lover, that is the motlf for this excellent little story of sparkling humor. All the more credit to the authior In that she has written a naovel with no more plot thgn that hinted at in the preceding paragraph, and yet has suc- ceeded in catching and holding atten- tion from the first. It {s the dialogue that makes the book. From the mi- nute Rosina, the fetching young wo- man in weeds, meetg Von lbn, the Swiss-German nobleman and famous musician, it is a war of wits and flerce tierce and riposte until tha ve end of the book. Much of the cleverly evolved humor of the duel of words between the two has tie laugh hidden away in the clash betweea Rosina's Americanism. both of thousht and speech, and Von Ibn's characteristic continental concentlons of life aad manners. There is a continuous sur- prise arising out of thz misusder- standinge that spriag up between Ro- sina and her sultor whea they meet o ground of English as Doke in the States. When Ro- sina i=forms her companion that his argument ig | the squirrel ia hia wheel, Von Ib mediately wishea to know what souirrel and cannot re- member having alluded to squirrels in his conversation. The character of Von “Ibn is Miss ‘Warren's best study in this novel. He is the typical ‘‘cosmopolite” of the old countries—the man who has no home. no especial flag, no definite pur- pose in life =ave to be happy. He is polished, cuick of wit, ready to anger and supremely self-assured. Quick to drop into the melodramatic, too, is this persevering lover, for when his suit seems darkest he is very ready to play the poseur and ruffle up his back hair ith tragic gesture. Yet withal he is a good fellow, and though we are prone at times to wonder at his surpr audacity and to grow somewhat weary of his nrotestations of affection, we cannot but be glad when he finally wing this ultimate of the perverse, this blindly stubborn Rosina. (Little, Brown & Co., Bostun, illus- trated; price $1 50; LENFANT Terrible of a New Age. N “The Admirable Tinker” Edgar Jepson, the English writer, has drawn a picture of the twentieth century “enfant terrible” which is in parts exceptionally diverting, and for the rest somewhat tiresome. The story is a strange mixture of the real and the extravagant in its concept. At one minute the remarkable boy whom Jep- son has chosen for his hero will be in- dulging himself in the perfectly normal exercise of playing the matador, to the discomfiture of Squire Alloway's goat: at another he will be flying across the English Channel by night in an air- ship. This wonderful child, with the head of a man, is a nice, companion- able little fellow 28 long as he keeps within the bounds of his twelve sum- mers, but once he begins to talk about pounds sterling as if they were coppers or to propound his theories upon the married state in its possible beneficial effect upon his sire, the admirable Tinker becomes a most impossible brat and one not at all acceptable, even upon his own standards. Jepson’s story has its inception with Sir Tancred Beauleigh's discovery of his infant son in a baby farm of un- savory atmosphere, where he had been placed at birth by the discreet step- mother of the youthful and irrespon- sible Sir Tancred. The young blood takes his starved and brow-beaten progeny to raise under his own eye. Himself a man whose wits have been gharpened by long dealing with impor- SosD 7 T EQUTCHLEON AUTHAR OF BiRD TENTER QRTINS I8 vE ZESs y > AATELT TRON TS REAPER MIGAZZLAE " tunate creditors. Sir Tanered bs‘in; early to instill into this child of his- Tinker, fer short—an assorted store of worldly dorh, so that his remarkable precocity needs Jjust this touch of leaven to bring it to a miraculous frui- ticn. Then follow the mdventures of the Tinker. He discuvers a kidnaped girl and wins a thousand or so sterl- ing. he skims the heavens in a flying machine, plays the good Samaritan in Lehale a homeies= little girl, rescues his adepted sister's governess from brigands in a flving automobile and finglly vlays Cunid and Captain Kidd simultaneously on a stolen steam yacht. Of course, Tinker is not to he taken seriously—you must not misjudge the reviewer's attitude when he says that the boy wonder is unnatural. The book is cesigped as one to laugh over, and the very extravagance of its design, of course, is the nrojected cause of the lauvgh. The writer of this brief note did not laugh—-perhzns hecause he has feotch blood somewhere in his intel- leetual economy. (McCiure, Phillins & Co., New York; SWEET IDYL of Lovers'of Long Ago. old Provence that sounds again in Margaret Sherwood’'s “The Story of King Sylvain and Queen Aimee.” A rare boon it is for us that we may here read in all the quaintness and nusical stateliness of the “chansons,” long since forgotten, a story such as was once tuned before belted knight and coifed lady in some gray castle of remote ages. , All of the naive simplic- ity and the pure romance of a Geoffrey Galmar or a Bernart of Ventadour find place in Margaret Sherwood's story of the forest love of King Sylvain and his beautiful Queen. It happens that King Sylvain, whose seat is in the royal city of Wannamere somewhere in the land of legend, sud- denly hears above the tinsel and the dross of his court the call from the woods and the meadows—the call to a free life. So he takes his good Queen Aimee and together they fly the palace, garbed as peasants, and follow the for- est paths into the very degeps of the woods where ‘all chance of capture is defeated. There in this new and beau- tiful land the King and the wife like shepherd and shepherdess in the vales of old Arcady live and love. The birds and the beasts bear them company in this their new court of high domain; with their own hands they dig and €pin for life’s demands; their days are all sunshine and sweetness. This idyl of forgotten lore the au- thor puts into the quaint old tongue of the wandering minstrels. The illus- trations of archaic design by Sarah S. Stillwell serve to accentuate the deli- cate flavor of the old time that clings round the book. To read the tale is to be back ten centuries when the world was young and romance was life everywhere, (The Macmillan Company, New York; {llustrated.) ll' is the sweet troubador’'s tale of MAGAZINES for Month'’s Reading. 'CRIBNER'S MAGAZINE for May begins a new short serial, which will surely attract wide atten- tien. *“The Soldiers of the Valley,” by Nelson Lloyd, is a tale of a bsau- tiful valley in a romantic region. Rare- 1y Is there such a combination of humor and pathos offered in a modern story. The quaint cHaracters with their wise sayings and their amusing views of iife are mingled with the real depth of feeling and abounding remance of the young hero—the one soldier of the Spanish-American war in that region. The tale opens with his reception on his return to the valley, Each install- ment will be fully illustrated by A. B. Frost. The outdoor quality of the tale and the rural characters who abound in it furnish Mr. Frost with the very best opportunity for his genius. The' wonders and marvelous beauties of the Yellowstone Park have been heretofore but faintly reproduced in any series of illystrations. In this num- ber, however, Dwight L. Elmendort's beautiful views, colored from nature (which have been seen by so many pea- ple at his jectures), are reproduced in color with amazing aecuracy and beau- ty. Arnold Hague, the distingulshed scientist, writes entertainingly of the Yellowstone. Another very effective union of pic- tures and text is the article, “The Eagles of the Harbor,” by Albert Bige- luw Paine, with* pictures by Edwin B. Thild. Author and artist together spent 1 great deal of time on the various tug- boats in New York barbor. George W. Cable, the novelist, who lives at Northampton, Massachusetis, describes the result of an experiment which has been for some years car- ried on there to improve the beauty of the local garden There is an annual vrize competition and last year there were over two hundred gardens entered in this contest. John Bassett Moore's secdnd paper on American diplomacy is the most im- portant article in Harper's Magazine for May. It deals with “Our System of Neutrality.” An interesting fact is brought to light by Mr. Moore relative to the Alabama affair in 1862. It seems that certain evidence against the vessel was given to the British Foreign Office by the American Legation in London. The Foreign Office duly turned over the papers to the senfor law officer of the crown, Sir John Dorney Harding. Just at that time Sir John was suffering from mental trouble, news of which his wife had carvefully concealed. h»'eving that it would not last. With “peace and war and the fate of nations” de- pending upon the decision on these pa- pers, they were laid aside by Lady Harding in her wifely anxiety to keep her husband's condition secret. The Foreign Office became alarmed at the delay and took away the papers; but it was too late. During the night the Alabama had sailed. Norman Duncan contributes another capital article on the seafaring folk of Labrador to the May number, Mr. Duncan is the coming sea story writer of whose work Frank Bullen said: “I am absolutely certain that, with the exception of Mr. Joseph Conrad and Mr. Rudyard Kipling, no writing about the sea has ever probed so deeply and so faithfully into its mysteries as this.” The readers of the May number of the Booklovers’ Magazine will find much that he expects to find, as a matter of course, in this magazine. He will also find several pleasurable sur- prises. In the first place, the Mav cover is novel and striking, with its blazoning of the Japanese and Russian imperial insignia on a light ground. There are, as usual, in the May num- ber, a profusion of pictures, in color and half-tone, illustrating the best and newest things in the realm of contem- porary art: Four striking pictures by modern HEuropean artists; four of Louis Rhead’s delightful flower pic- tures; four pages of remarkable Japan- ese cartoons, and an {llustrated article on the work of Karl Bitter, the direc- tor of the department of sculpture at the St. Louis Fair. Harold Bolce sends from Japan for the May number a thoughtful discus- sion of the problems that will ensue “1f Japan Should Win"—the third of his notable series of articles on “The Two Pacifics.” Joseph M. Rogers, whose articles on “Fateful Presidential Conventions” - have been a feature of preceding num- beys, contributes a character sketch of LG - QUEEN ALFEE JIORY OF SYL l'.l/’/"' AN Senator Quay to the May number that is remarkable for its frankness and fairness. The trans-Atlantic traveler will enjoy Winthrop Packard’s -~<sipy article in the May number on “Stewards of an Ocean Liner,” witlt an Interesting il- lustrated account of their multifarious dutles above and below decks. Mr. Esenwein's article in the May number on “Japanese Caricature” is a revelation of the extent to which the Japanese have assimilated European, and especially American, ideas. The May number of The Smart Set more than upholds that monthly’s repu- tation as “the magazine of cleverness:” Between its covers one finds brilllancy, strength, sparkling wit, delicate fancy, originality—everything, In fact, except duliness. The novelette, “Veronica's Lovers,” by (. B. Burgin, author of “The Shutters of Silenee.” is an Enz- lish story of enthrailing interest, in which attention centers upon half a dozen characters whose strikinz in- dividualities are skillfully developed through the unfolding of a most ingen- ious and uovel plot. in complete contrast follows, “The Wood of Ydren,” by Zona Gale, an idyllic tale of exquisite poetic fancy. In still another vein is “The Blue Pear by Arthur Stringer, the story of a dia- mond robbery on Fifth avenue by a man and woman who rival “Raffles” in professional acumen and win an even warmer place in the reader's heart. ‘‘Sounding Brass,” by Emery Pottle, is both an absorbing romance and an exceptionally masterful psycho- logical study—a piece of fiction that will hold a permanent place. Bertha Runkle’'s “His Crowded Hour” tells how an idealistic and romantic nature seizes its one chance of real life—tells it with a delicate todch and an infinite pathos that reach the heagt. SREAR i A SURVEY in Brief of Other Books OTHING brings so poignant a feeling of unrest and regret that N there should be such thing as years and seasons that carry you on and on as the reading of a book such as “Stony Lonesome,” by Arthur J. Russelt. Mr. Russell is not the first to write about the day when the boy is king; from Tom Sawyer and Huck’ Finn right on down to the recent re- freshing stories about “You' in one of the monthlies the halcyon, heroic age of youth has lived.in song and story. This latest is as full of charm as all the others. Grown-ups never tire of being carried back to the time when they were called “Daring Dick” or “Rob Roy’" and lived in a dismal cave between meal times. Stony Lonesome is a sleepy New Eng- land village, inhabited by a “gang” of boys, with here and there a parent or an “Uncle Ellery” to give a background to their pranks and plottings. The picture which Mr. Russell draws of this town, with its quaint characters, is unique in literature. Nothing as graph- ic in its character drawing, as sponta- neous in its humor, as vivid in its dia- logue has been written of a New Eng- land town. The story is unstudied and absolutely devoid of pedantry. It is bubbling over with good nature, with the laughter of real boys and the irre- sponsible spirit of youth. (Rand, McNally & Co., Chicago; ilI- lustrated; price $1.) “Bessie Bell,” a little child's story, from the pen of Martha Young, is as sweet a "tale for little tots as “Cap'n January” or “The Birds’ Christmas Carol.” It has to recount how a little girl was caught in the fever grip down South somewhere and how in the rigors of quarantine and isolation she became separated from her mother and was re- moved to the kind haven of a sisters’ hospital. There, when she had recov- ered and found herself in the company of other little boys and girls, she had to learn all over again a great many things she had known before the fever came; but she did not learn that she had a mamma until the last, and that was the best of all knowledge. The story is written with admirable con- formity to the measure of a child's understanding and is prettily illus- trated by Ida Dougherty. (Scott-Thaw Company, New York.) “Even Thine Altars” is the title of a little book of prayers and discussion of the interpretation of this the soul's ap- peal to a higher power, by G. J. F., the author of .that book of touching religious emotion, “Twelve Letters to My the Bible.” In the present brief work the author precedes his compilation ef sundry devotional Son appeals by an in- quiry into the efficacy of prayer. its boon to the soul and its nature as holy communion with the Most High In handling this review of fhe highest in- stinct of the soul the author displays a deep, unwavering trust in the power of prayer—a trust founded not upen th eoncept of logic or the deduct f the religlous commentators, but 1 pure and simple faith. In the thirteen prayers following, which he has drawn from the pages of the Bible, the writer glves us something that is sonorc y beautiful, almost psalm in its s talned note of lofty religious fervor “Even Thine Altars” is a pure, swest call for those who search for the prop- er avenues that lead to God (Nunc Licet Press, Philadeiphia; price 75 cents.) m a There is no doubt of General Charles King’s ablility to write a story of ab- sorbing Interest, even though he may not employ the finest literary style in the world. Remarkable, too, how he can obtain so many stories out of the same old “props”—boy in blue somewhers where there is fighting, sweet young girl of a susceptible nature, and the heavy-handed villain. In “A Knight of “olumbia,” h. last book, General King has departed somewhat from his usual Western atmosphere and has placed his plot in N-w York and on the battle- fields of the Rebelllon. Intrigue, mys- the shuffiing of destinies and final happy adjustments—these are the fea- tures of the novel generously applied with the somewhat coarse-haired brush of the literary general. Though the title of the book would seem to iIndicate a story of Columbia College, that institution does not figure in the tale beyond the first chapter, and it must be thought that both the title and the brilllantly illuminated badge of a national college fraternity which the publishers have put on the cover represent an inspiration coming from the hope of Increased sales. (The Hobart Company, New York; illustrated.) -« Charles Keeler, the Berkeley poet and lover of the beautiful, has come forth as an advocate of the esthetic in home building in hjs little book, “The Simplg Home.” What he has to say on the subject of home, its housing and its environments, is in line with the grow- ing revolt against unsightly archi- tectural lines in house construction and the steadily Increasing sentiment against all these turrets and shoddy rococo work in our residences. In his book Mr. Keeler points out the move- ment toward a simpler and truer art expression in architecture now being made manifest throughout California. He urges a break from the convention- alized house which too often covers a conventionalized home life; little things in a home’s environment which may add mightily to its charm he mentions. Suggestions on the value of clinker brick, shingles and plaster for exteriors and wood and plaster for interior deco- ration give his book a practical value. It is good reading, because it carries an appeal to every person who has an eye for the finer things. (Paul Elder & Co., San Francisco; illustrated; price 75 cents.) i Bo=bu New Books Received. THE WOOD CARVER OF 'LIYM- PUS, M. E. Waller: Little, Brown & Co., Boston; illustrated; price $1 50. THE NORTH STAR, M. E. Henry- Ruffin; Little, Brown & Co., Boston; illustrated; price $1 50. A GINGHAM ROSE, Alice Woods Ullman; Bobbs-Merrill Company, In- dianapolis. SUSANNAH AND ONE OTHER, E. Maria Albanesi; McClure, Phillips & Co., New York; price $1 50. THE ADMIRABLE TINKER, Edgar Jepson; McClure, Phillips & Co., New York; {llustrated; price $1 50. THE SHAME OF THE CITIES, Lin- coln Steffens: McCilure, Phillips & Co., New York; price $1 50. BY THE FIRESIDE, Charles Wag- ner; McClure, Phillips & Co., New York; price $1. TRUSTS OF TO-DAY, Gilbert Hol- land Montague; McClure, Phillips & Co., New York; price $1 20. THREE YEARS IN THE KLON- DIKE, J. Lynch; Edward Arnold, Lon- don; Robertson, San Francisco, agent; illustrated; price $2. GETTING = ACQUAINTED WITH THE TREES, J. Horace McFarland: The Outlook Company, New York; il- lustrated; price $1 7. HOW TO GET THE BEST OUT OF BOOKS, Richard Le Gallienne; The Baker & Taylor Company, New York; price $§1 25. SOCIAL PROGRESS, Josiah Strong, editor: The Baker & Taylor Company, New York: price $1. THE STORY OF THE CHURCHES— THE CONGREGATIONALISTS, Leon- ard W. Bacon; The Baker & Taylor Company, New York; price $L. THE SIMPLE HOME, Charles Keel- er; Paul Elder & Co., San Franeisco illustrated; price 75 cents. PSYCHOLOGICAL YEAR BOOK edited by Janet Young; Paul Elder & Co., San Francisco; price 50 cemts. EXPOSITION SEEN AT A GLANCE —A GUIDE; Laird & Lee, Chicago. CORPORATION LAWS OF CALI NIA, W. L. Brobeck and R. M. Sims Bancroft-Whitney Company, San Fran cisco. i z