The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 7, 1904, Page 5

THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. Deeping Writes a True Romance ' | I3 € /’ k Dee - . !\, » old romance without ry copy of As in “The are secret my 2 2 i the egress hid- i has thor has put “The me 1794, matter does novel the fierce glow of a pil- Yeoland, the i robber and rev n ne author his machinations of society of Jac- rabble pre- against King d becomes the the band by divine cally manipulated; ef of the nobles, love ks of nd herself. Then portrayed scenes of Gilderoy, - and at d the des- brevault it- ast among the uins that any carries the he ve triumphs lete arra wed for his nar- the florid word color- ghly p. d metaphore he old school romanticists. Things ever in “a purple haze, sunflecked d,” or the clouds are “effulgent of fire, hurled from the 1 furnace of the sun.” This become very tiresome did we that it came from the riotous « gance of the author's own con- ceit, but we must remember that he is but reproducing, very faithfully, the old rom line for line. In copy- ing ancient manuscripts every quaint worth Comy 1; price $150.) el Gt Clara Barton and Red Cross SMALL fascinating “A Story efatigable p not vau beneficent T those that feel the r the se works are whose est by Clara eat veals th she he For eithe ik ual field serv- has spent e fe in ger the afflicted, the is that nly the d as the rec- woman's years of self- first of the found- ican Red Cross Soci, a special er of nvention to the e United States to its she gained the in- Garfield and later ial action of President Arthur, the Geneva pact on the part nited States. This was in the f 18%0-81. The society which Barton had formed with a view to carrying the flag of comfort to all stricken persons, whether by war, fire or plague, had scarce a thousand dol- lars in the treasury, and was known of few. Yet when the devastating floods in the Ohio River came in the winter of 1884 the president of the new society and Dr. Hubbel, the first medical di- rector, set bravely out on the swollen river with the str device of Gene- va flying from their steamer and with blessed relief for hundreds of naked, starving sufferers. Thus does Miss Barton sketch the picture of their res- cue work: “Picture, if possible, this scene. A strange ship with a strange flag steam- ing up the river. It halts, turns from its course, and draws up to the near- est landing. Some persons disembark and speak a few minutes with the fam- ily. Then, a half dozen strong me- chanics man a small boat laden with all material for constructing a one- room house—floor, roof, doors, windows. The boat returns for furniture. Within three hours the strange ship salls away, leaving a bewlldered family in 2 new and clean house with bed, bed- ding, clothing, table, chairs, dishes, candles, a little cooking-stove with a blazing fire, all the common quota of 2 utensils, and meat, meal, and ing of the A how, return of Pres ry, s; a plow, rake, ax, hoe, shovel, spade, hammer and nails. We ask few questions. They ask none. The w e of the Troop is as welcome to their ears as the flag to their eyes.” Vividly does the writer depict the ter- rible scenes attendant upon the awful Johnstown flood in May, 1889, and de- tail the work of succor done there by the Red Cross Society, now grown to wider recognition and greater strength. Six frame bulldings, known as “Red Cross Hotels,” were put up immediate- ly to furnish some protection from the elements to the homeless survivors. For three thousand hastily constructed dwellings the Red Cross supplied com- plete furnishings. The society’s books showed the record of over twenty-five thousand people served directly by its aid. Supplies to the value of $211,000 were housed, handled and distributed by Miss Barton and her assistants. Equally as interesting as the re- countal of the rellef work at John- town are Miss Barton’s chapters on the Russian famine in 1891, and the relief of the Armenians after the massacre of "86. It is upon the record of Red Cross in Cuba duying the Spanish war, however, that we fix our closest atten- tion. It is probably safe to say that .‘.' '. l"n 0! ess energy displayed by the so- the Cuban campaign and the nmeasured ght by its min- t the organization for to a place of national nd widespread commenda- ciet wrou; Its province the battlefield never € mnstrated in our country unt the Geneva emblem flut- tering from the hospitals at Siboney and Guantanamo, marked the work of blessed charity that was being done under its folds. does Miss Barton follow the Red Cross operations il from the time its shjp, the State of Texas, anchored off Guan- tanamo before the first battle in the hills until the last bit of relief work was done in conquered Santiago. One cannot but be struck with the fact that had it not been for the Red Cross the mortality and suffering attending the siege of Santiago would have been 1 what it was, for a reading of Miss Barton’s account emphasizes the utter inadequacy of the medical staff to cope with the situation with its mea- ger equipment. Justly did President McKinley pay hearty meed of grati- tude to Miss Barton and the work of the Red Cross in his message to Con- gress of December 6, 1898, With an account of the work done by the society at the Galveston hor- ror Miss Barton closes this record of unselfish devotion. Considering the hold the American Red Cross Society has established upon the sympathies of our people, Miss Barton need fear no betrayal of trust when she invests the furtherance of the good work with us in the closing paragraph of her book. “To you—the people of Ameri- ca—this sacred trust is committed, in your hands the charge Is lald. To none will your help ever be so precious as it has been to me, for in its proud growth and strength none will ever so need you.” & (D. Appleton & Co., New York; price 1) Keeler’s Derses for Little Folk l T is not an easy task to write verses and jingles acceptable to children. Many are those that have tried; few the number whose books have remained nursery favorites. Eugene Field's little rhymes have held their place; James “Whitcomb Riley's are, many of them, household quips; Stev- enson’s “Child’s Garden of Verse” is the sweetest word given children in many years. Whether or not “Elfin Songs of Sunland,” by Charles Keeler, will catch a place in the childish heart is a question not to be foreordained. Of far more certain quality than that of children’s verse are many of the other literary forms adopted by our writers. To please a little tot is indeed to win full measure of success. Truly Mr. Keeler has offered in his little book variety enough for the most exacting youngster. There are jingles of playtime, rhymes of the U woods and fields, quips ana cranks about nothing in particular and bal= lads about babies of other lands. One merit all possess in common—a very high merit: every verse in the book is down to the baby’s level. No young- ster need interrupt in the reading of them with a “What's that mean?” To no youngster need come any doubt concerning the particular identity and special characteristics of “Farmer Jones’ Goat” or “The Baker Man.” In this simplicity of thought and diction has the Berkeley poet succeeded ad- mirably. Through another and a unique fea- ture do Keeler's child verses make a bid for success. Over a score of the rhymes in his book seek to lead the little one into an understanding of some of the beauties of nature and a sympathy with nature’'s creatures. For example, the dainty little imaginative verse on “The Columbine”: Five doves the fairies took away To the deep, dark wood une summer day, And they hung them up on a slender spray— Again this: Heigh-ho for the ~~lumbine! Red and gold were the doves they took; With heads outstretched the birdli o Till the fairies sang them to See the little drops of rain, Falling, falling, Softly calling Flowers back to life again. First the blades of grass appear, Upward creeping, Shyly peeping % O'er the meadow far and near. Then the mustard spreads its gold— Opes its flowers To the showe Little heeding winte: Popples’_velvet petal: Each newcomer Thinks 'tis summer, Though the winter breezes blow. And the little drops of rain, Softly falling, Still are calling Flowers forth on hill and plain. In other verses upon “The Coyote,” “The Roadrunner,” ‘“Johnny Jump- Up” and the llke Keeler would in- struct the child in his first nature les- son—that of love for evervthing. It is hard to judge by a young one’'s standards; to count certain success for Keeler's rhymes would be to measure by the most uncertain of all criterions, yet can it be well believed that many of his little verses will close tired eyes when crooned from mothers’ lips at sand-man-time. The value of the book is not a lit- tle enhanced by the very artistic form given it, both by the decorative work done by Mrs. Keeler and the unique binding and printing. It is an unusu- ally good example of tasty book mak- ing. !(Slg-n of the Live Oak, Berkeley; price 75 cents.) Present Spirit of the Missions 1SS BELLE M. BRAIN, of Springfleld, Ohio, is known and beloved throughout the entire missionary world for her unre- mitting labors in rousing and sustain- ing interest among the “Christians at home” in the work of those who are advancing and upholding the standard of Christ among heathen and semi- bn.fblro\u peoples. From the titles of I | two of Miss Brain's former books, “Fuel for Missionary Fires” and “Fifty Missionary Programs,” the glowing epirit and practical character of her writings may be Inferred. In “Holding the Ropes” she has summed up and systematized all her original ideas, and her clever applications to mission work of the most approved methods in the pedagogical and evangelical fields. As Delavan L. Plerson, an editor of The Missionary Review of the World, in which the chapters composing the pres- ent book originally appeared, says in his introduction to the volume, “The study of missions is a science, and the management of a missionary meeting is an art. Therefore, when so great in- terests are at stake, Miss Brain must be commended for her earnestness and thoroughness in presenting to mission- ary workers at home the most ad- vanced scientific methods of study and the most artful means of arousing the Interest of indifferent church members and listless Sunday-school scolars.” Dr. Arthur T. Pierson writes, in his “The Crisis of Missions™: “Not long ago we saw a prescription warranted to ‘kill a missionary meet- ing.’ It may be stated somewhat as follows: * “Take one dimly lighted church par- lor, at a temperature not to exceed six- ty degrees; add a few people—the old- er the better—drawn together by a strong sense of duty and an apologetic announcement. Begin to stir to slow music or a formal prayer at from five to twenty minutes late; drop in one at a time, ad infinitum, some not over- fresh facts relating to the geography and customs of any mission field. Close up al! outlets and let stand, but do not fail to extract a few pennies from each atom present.” " Miss Brain has given us in this vol- ume an antidote and a substitute for all such treatment. If adopted and ANN) adapted, we believe that her sugges- tions cannot fail to resurrect dead meetings and to make them living forced in the evangelization of the world. (Funk & Wagnalls Company, New York; price $1.) Brief Reviews of Recent Books ORIS FARRAND'S Vocation,” 66 D by “Pansy” (Mrs. G. R. Ald- en), is a sweet, wholesome story for young girls, as are all of that author's books. It tells the tale of a young girl's upbringing, the formation of her character and the happy results developing when that character is put to the test. Very lit- tle exaggeration of sentiment is there in the book and that only to emphasize ihe sound moral that the writer seeks to bring to the fore. No Sunday-school book is “Doris Farrand's Vocation,” but a thoroughly interesting little story which suffers nothing from pointing an obvious lesson. Doris, her sister ‘Athalie, Richard Shipley and Garrett Randall are the four personages about whom the ac- tion of the story centers. Athalie, sweet, self-sacrificing always, and the two young men, true both of them to their ideals, are as surely drawn as Doris herself. When, in the course of the story, the time comes for the hero- ine to choose between what is ethically right and what is opportunely though legally right the author brings to the telling of Doris’ decision a fine strength of narrative commensurat: with the demands of the situation. That the last chapter of the story brings a gen- uine surprise to the reader but adds to the genuine pleasure of the reading. (The Lothrop Publishing Company, Boston, llustrated; price $1 50.) A very timely little book at the pres- ent hour and one good to have at the elbow' at any time is “Strenuous Epi- grams of Theodore Roosevelt,” com- piled and published by the H. M. Cald- ‘well Company, New York. Not all epi- grams are these cullings from the President’s written and spoken words, nor all strenuous, but every one of the quotations has its sound kernel of good sense clothed in good English., Many Review - of- Some -New - Books =< of the sharp, terse sentences have al- ready become familiar through much quotation. Others there are which have escaped notice in the length of a speech or a document, but they equally worthy of remembering. is a good book to have at hand. The Magaz[nes for This Month HE August Century well name a midsummer holiday number, being pervad: with the holiday and spirit. The number is crowded with holiday fealures: “The New Coney Island,” by Albert Bigelow Paine, with drawings by Yohn; ‘“Visit- ing in Country Houses,” by Eliot Gre- gory, with drawings by Charlotte Harding; “The Old and Novel Sport of Archery,” by A. B. Casselman, apropos of the Olympic games at St. Louis, ilustrated; “Lombard Villas,” by Edith Wharton, with Parrish's pic- tures; “What Do Animals Know?” by John Burroughs. Six or seven poems add further to the seasonable charac- ter of the number. There is also a con- tinuation of Andrew D. White's anec- dotal recollections of “Russia in War- time,” and a repreduction of Volk's handsome painting, “The Belle of the Colony."” Besides “The Youth of Washington,” told in the form of an autobiography by Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, the historical accuracy of which has not yet been assailed, and Jack London’s absorbing tale, ‘“The Sea-Wolf,” there is a va- riety of diverting and humorous short stories of separate interest: A second of the Madigan stories by Miriam Michelson, illustrated by Lowell and is In fact as as in outdoor entitled “A Pagan and a Puritan™; “Susan Clegg’s Cousin Marion,” by Anne Warner, illustrated by Mrs. Shinn; a “Sexton Maginnis" story, “The Reign of Sentiment,” by Maurice Francis Egan, in his new fleld, and illustrated by Keller; “A Necrological Romance,” by Mary Agnes Griffin, and, in a serious vein, an army story by Captain Thomas H. Wilson, “Not Ac- cording to the Code. For many years the August number of Scribner’s Magazine has been the fiction number of the year, noted for its selection of the best short stories obtainable, with the most beautiful and elaborate illustrations in color, and in black and white. The issue of this year is a remarka- ble one. It contains short stories by Rudyard Kipling, Edith Wharton, Thomas Nelson Page, Josephine Das- kam Bacon, and others; serials by Robert Grant and Nelson Lloyd, and poems by Henry Van Dyke, John Fin- ley and E. S. Martin. Certainly no more distinguished list of writers has appeared together in a single number of a magazine. Kipling’s story is naturally bound to raise comment. In this he carries the peculiar imaginative quality displayed in “The Brushwood Boy” to still diz- zier heights of psychological sugges- tion. It is a question whether in do- ing so he has not sacrificed clarity to the novelty of his concept. “They” is anything but easy of understanding at first reading. John Bassett Moore, LL. D., contin- ues his series of valuable articles on American diplomacy in Harper's Maga- zine for August. In “The Contest With Commercial Restrictions” he relates from inside official sources the first en- trance of our commerce into the Chi- nese, Japanese and Korean markets. He tells how America, through Com- modore Matthew C. Perry, made the first treaty with Japan after the most ingenious diplomatic advances on our part; and the first treaty the hermit kingdom of Korea ever entered into with a Western nation was made with us in 1882, through the admirable dip- lomatic offices of Commodore Shufeldt. Thomas A. Janvier contributes an- other of his delightful articles on France. His subject is the old Chateau Gaillard, built by Richard Coeur de Lion when his Duchy of Normandy wag the ntier On mest enter- ry, and its story, by nt buted n the p. s dog tax. the two friends, e not only ack ol paym fate took a ha the dog and the « restored to eact natural but un spected citizens so signally f; mutual devotic pathos and w strongly sugge stories. Pearson's for A usual of light days when one the worid t “Dr. Nicholas S ly. It is a det ises to be full ¢ ns attractive- and prom- nd of human interest. Then e A Sheaf of Ghost Storfes,” edite e Duke of Argyll, whose na their trustworthine Norman Duncan, He Balanced Accou Finance”; an I tainment story by Ghosh—"“The Casket shorter stories, = bright and en- tter consists w Paine's article on “Nast and the R in the Thomas Nast series; the first of Dr. Cyrus Townsend Brad ee papers on “War With the in the Indian Fights and Fighters series, and “The Combat on Beav by General Eugene A. Carr. magazine con- tains the Home Not rtment as usual. The fillus e good and in large number. The cover is notice- able, being a repredu in co of Thomas Nast's “Brains” cartoon, that well-known portrait whose head is a money bag. The August At ¢ contains a pow- erful and instructive paper, which will surely attract n and create dis- cussion, upon “T shed Commer- cial Crime” (the way of the rich man in eluding the law), written by George W. Alger, author of the recent much- talked-of Atlantic paper on “Moral Overstrain.” Bliss Perry contributes his striking tribute to Hawthorne, delivered at the late Bowdoin ge centenary cele- bration. Danfel G. Mason discusses “Dis- sonance and Evil,” a quaint analysis of the connection between evil sounds and evil doings, and Martha Baker Dunn offers a characteristically amus- ing paper on “Temperance and Judg- ment to Come,” from the “Down-East™ point of view. Two interesting travel papers are “Tutuila,” an interesting an dinfc paper upon our Samoan possessions by President David Starr Jordan; and “X Selborne Pligrimage,” by Cornelius Weygandt, who leads us to the former habitat and to the spirit of the times of Gilbert White, the world famous naturalist. John Ruskin's delightful letters to Professor Norton are continued in this number, and Robert Herrick’s power- ful serial novel, “The Common Leot,™ is completed. Short stories are “The House of the Dead Hand,” a weird Italian romance by Edith Wharton; “The Two Chanty- Men,” a sailor sketch by George Was- son, and “The Todd's Utopia,” a hu- morous Western tale by Ella B. Wa- terbury. One of the grave questions that the next Congress will have to meet is the new treaty arrangements with the Chi- nese Government, as the period of the exclusion act terminates in December. The powerful Chinese Six Companies is already at work in the interests of its vastly lucrative traffic in Chinese labor, and there is every reason to be- lieve that the same lavish expenditure of wealth will be made during the fall that has marked the policy of this pow- erful and dangerous body in past years. In view of this fact Dr. Charles Frederick Holder’s brilliant, exhaustive and fascinating historical sketch of the Chinese Six Companies, entitled “The Dragon in America,” which occupies the place of honor in The Arena for August, will command general atten- tion, and to citizens of California, Ore- gon and Washington it will occasion particular satisfaction. Hitherto there has been much heated controversy om the Chinese question, but seldom if ever has the true inwardness of this issue been so ably and so judicially presented as has been dome by Dr. Holder in this remarkable paper. Cer- tainly never before has the un-Ameri- can character of the traffic in Chinese labor been so clearly pointed out. Books Received. MANCHU AND MUSCOVITE—B. L. Putnam Weale: the Macmillan Com- pany, New York. BRAKESPEARE—George L. Law- rence; reprint; F. M. Buckles & Co., New York; price $1. CRECY—Edith Lawrence; F. Buckles & Co., New York; price $1. TRUE REPUBLICANISM — Frank Preston Stearns; J. B. Lippincott Com- pany, Philadelphia; price $1 50. BOOKS I HAVE READ—Melvin Hix; Hinds, Noble & Eldredge, New York. TUTONISH—Elas Molee; published by the author, Tacoma, Wash.; price 40 cents. i M.