The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 11, 1904, Page 5

* THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. because the sen- ssed . be al- v E t to simmer and e ‘ understanding be- American, a muse fraught thor and the kens deiliver- biting sarcasm in Dickens en- h\ his sub- * with only we Americans are nothing else. So, If nd let it be consider- fon and of all rles I Note 11 the English painter came not with any preconceived with a mind clean as to receive impres- e did receive many; some flat- elves, others distinctly Added to the typical British mind he finical delicacies of the sense—a double handicap, cer- t to be considered auspicious ur falr appearance in his eyes. ro one dis- e ognized, even the uttermost ends . e while New 1p to the « e soon be- € to him, But ¥ sh ¢ rts ns(-ll s e the ; seemed clothed—and of the three knows he s is his “beautiful e its silver fit- g nlal supply of hot o’ com'nenL and naturally so. elves are ready to admit that comes to the tip of the rican tongue more handily than ny other word and we are equally ready to deplore the fact did only such scknowledgment of our failing bring anything of betterment with it. Fur- thermore Burne-Jones seems to see & natural correlation between the craze of money getting and the treatment of our women. Says he: “The women seem better able to cope with the situation (the amassing of great wealth) and find no difficulty in spending the money their fathers and husbends have spolled their lives in acquiring. And, as a rule, the men are content that this should be ®so. There is something very remark- able, something a bit pathetic, about the attitude of the American men to their women folk. They are anxious for them to have a ‘good time'—the good time that they cannot and will not arrange for themselves.” At times this genial sightseer lapses inte the strictly scientific mood of sustere investigation and treats of our idlogyncrasies as if he were adding to a theeis upon anthrepoid apes in Barawak. Witness this, from a deli- clously British standpoint: “The peanut is a very favorite article of light and occasional food among the poeorer people, the stalls for its sale presided over by Itallans, etc.” And again: “It is commonly called ‘Peacock Row,’ or ‘Rubber Neck Row'—a ‘rubber neck’ being an eager, craning, busy sort of a neck, which is supposed to be possessed to a noticeable extent by the eccupants of these chalrs.” Newport soclety came nearer sick- ening the author than any other of our socia]l phenomensa. *“Indeed they ere like spolled children,” is Burne- Jones comment upon its members, “surfeited with excitement, yet always hungering for more; there is some- thing pathetic ebout the incessant un- rest of them.” Thus the author-painter's views un- wind themselves—some heavy with good, sound sense, some laughable in their childlike ingenuousness. Bitter y once, and that with good cause, and against the yellow journals, ready to gloss our faults rather than pin with scorn, Sir Philip Burne- is not an unwelcome commenta- (D. Appleton & Co., istrated; price $1 25.) A DESERT MIRAGE WHICH LURES TO DEATH. HOSE who cherish among the memories of a year's reading a high regard for Mrs. Mary Aus- tin's delicate pastel of desert life “The Land of Little Rain,” will wel- come as the companion piece to that book the little volume that comes, pri- New York; from the pen of Idah trobridge; its name, “In - Land.” Encroaching in upon Mrs. Austin’s province— ill life and the creatures of es—this last volume of but broadens the field by its more det: treatment of the humankind of sac»!-rush land. The mystery of the great unwatered reaches of the West is in each the fundamental motive. The lady who wrote about the little town of the grapevine down on the edge of the Mohave shows us the men of the desert steeped in the subtle influence of the barrens until quiescence wraps them in a mantle of something almost akin to fatalism; Idah Meacham Strobridge follows the mad striving, the restless battling of desert dwellers, trying ever to wreak fortune from the veiled genius of their parched abiding places. This writer, whose name is not an unfamiliar .one to old readers of The Call, is a true daughter of Nevada— she has the typical Nevjda love for the land that seems all tob wearisome from the coaches of the train. To her the desert is as the Cugpaean Sibyl whose books are only to b&®read by the elect. Here is its charm: “If you love the desert and live in it, and lie awake at night under its low-hanging stars, you know you are a part of the pulse-beat of the uni- verse, and you feel the swing of the spheres through space and you hear through the silence the voice of God speaking.” “In Miners’ Mirage Land"—that means to the author the land of vis- ions, the land of wild dreams wherein men’s minds are clouded with the aura of golden Iimaginings. Just as the thirst ridden traveler may vainly pur- sue the vision of lapping waters across miles of shifting wastes so do these the glittering promise make ves but the record of cease- less grasping at the skirts of a fortune always ahead but always smiling. The writer finds that the desert trick of the mirage manifests itself as surely in the minds of men as in the actual phenomena of the quivering heat waves. The best thing in the book is the sketch of “Old Man Berry.” Here the author gives a breathing picture of one who had reached his four-score years but who was still on a feverish hunt for that lure that had been so many times just within the fancied reach of his hand. This indomitable old pros- pector—craz: some would call him— who is as willing to bend his withered hands to the taming of a fractious colt as he is to court death in the desert, is a type that should live in 2 plece of fic- tion, so virile is he made in the few sketch ljnes blocked out by Mrs, Stro- bridge. For those who have a sense quick- ened to the possibilities of fiction the recital of the myths concerning the Hardin silver, “Forman’s Find” or the “Three Little Lakes of Gold” brings instant response. These tales of lost treasure, each with its grisly record o2 death and privation and year-long de- spair, have in them strong possibilities for more serious treatment, which the author should embrace. Her manner of telling is dramatic; the narratives themselves are intensely fascinating. Though marred occasionally by a straining after effect. Mrs. Strobridge’s style is quite commensurate with the charm of the subject she has elected to portray. When she has to reproduce before us some of the weird beauty of sculptured hills and purpled skyline she makes a choice of phrase and meta- phor at times impressive, Briefly, in subject matter, in diction and even in artistic handiwork of bind- ing, Idah Meacham Strobridge’s collec- tion of sketches is one of the most en- tertaining books that have been writ- ten in the West this year. (The Artemisia Bindery, Los Ange- les; price $1 50.) FOR TEACHERS, THESE NEW TEXTS. ILLIAM C. DOUB of Stanford \Uunfinnlly has brought out two little manuals which should find ready recognition at the hands of teachers. In “Topical Discussion of American History” he has prepared a man- ual for the use of teachers of history and civics in the seventh and eighth year work, designed to lighten the burdens of instruction by pointing the way to a rational and consecutive line of topical study. Each period of Amer- fcan history is treated in detalil, first with brief summaries of leading points for the use of the instructor in expla- nations to classes, then with questions covering the material thus elucidated. This, with a corresponding outline of the history for the pupil, seems em- inently practical. (Whitaker & Ray Company, Francisco; price $1 10.) Ban For the work of the evening schools William E. Chancellor, & practical worker in this branch of pedagogic ac- tivity, has prepared primary lessons in arithmetic, reading and language and English literature. In scope the texts are sufficiently broad to convey the scholar over the field usually covered by night school education, while the manner of exposition employed in them is so simple as to bring ready appre- hension to thg scholar. (American /Book Company, York; price 30 cents.) New For primary nature studies M. H. Carter of the New York Training School for Teachers has supplied a primer ' under the title “Nature . Studles. With Common Things.” The object of this book is to teach young pupils how to observe nature, to learn to answer the question “What is it?"” as a preparation for the future ques- tion, “Why is it?” The subjects of the lessons are fruits and vegetables, which can be readily and economically obtained for study. The lessons are so arranged and of such length that EX IML lmmm ST, sectional prejudice. Fne vuok is more than an ordinary biggraphy, as it em- braces much of 'the most important parts of the history of our country from the close of'the Revolution to the end of the Civil War. Considerable space is given to Lincoln's boyhood, in 0 Three Women Hold High Rank Among Writers . — MONG the books of the year that have been countcd good by common consent of the best critics stand three, written by omen' these are “The Deliverance,” f the lobmm fields; “Sir Mortimer” by Mary Johnston, ayd Gertrude Atherton’s “Rulers of Some have been moved fo comment upon the fact that a constantly increcasing class of women wwriters has begun to’usurp the honors of the literary laurel, heretofore so closely thgt the feminine mind is better capable of grasping and portraying For such the circumstance of these 1\ ings.” guarded by men, claiming the significant facts of szc in their many manifestations. three authers’ successes pp bably comes as evidence indisputable. By some Ellen Glfsgow’s novel, “The Deliverance,” has been styled the novel par excel- - none have denied to it a fair share of distinction. In England, where a book by an American author has to be very good to be read, extended comment has been made upon its power in the delineation of elemental impulses of human life. cent years has had a wider reading. Mary Johnston, the disciple of the historical romance, has been open to less unanimous commendation/in the writing of “Sir Mortimer.” On both sides of the water there have been sharp flings at what the critics termed the “stage play” of its romantic incident. According to the list of “best sellers,” however, “Sir Mortimer” has kept well in the lead of the season’s books. By the vigorous expression of her views upon the “bourgcois” character of American | literatufe in a recent number of the North American Review Gertrude Atherton has at least de- fined what the failings are inherent in owr fiction. Pettiness of theme—one of the faults she picks out—"Rulers of Kings” certainly has not. Americanism to jump with the Britow's pride. It is considered Miss Atherton’s most preten- lence of the whole yedr; tious work. e ot some distinction in the middle of the Victorian era of English literature, and best known to his contemporaries Ellen Glasgow’s novel Truly, no book of re- English comment finds in it too much rampant - W st AR R R L BRI R S A they can be handled each in a single recitation, even in classés where the teacher has had no special training in sclence. They are planned to set forth what the child can learn for himself in one hour about the subject of the day’'s study. Each {llustration tells a story, and is a model of arrangement and description, to be followed by the pupils, who are, however, to make their own drawings direct from the ob- ject itself. These lessons have been tepted in the school-room and will solve successfully the problem of an ade- quate elementary laboratory training for the lower grades, (American Book Company, New York; price 60 cents.) As supplementary reading for pupils in the middle grammar grades James Baldwin, the author of the Baldwin readers, has written “Abraham Lin- coln.”” The life of the great President i3 here retold in a manner both agree- able and comprehensible to young read- ers. Mr. Baldwin has been particularly ccessful in producing a book equally adapted to school and home reading order to bring out the conditions of ploneer life in the West. The {llustra- tions are numerous and attractive. The volume is dedicated “To the Schoolboys of America,” and will prove of service in Inspiring in them, by the power of such an example adequately portrayed, an ardent and unselfish patriotism. (American Book Company, New York; price 60 cents.) OLD DAYAND NEW REFLECTED IN ROMANCE. UR fathers used to read ‘“‘Brake- speare; or the Romance of a Free Lance,” with as much avidity as they did “Ivanhoe” or “Wood- stock’”; to-day it would probably be safe in the limbo of forgotten things were it not that some enterprising publishers have seen in it the quali- ties that make the historical novel of the hour so attractive and brought it out for the new generation of read- by his “Guy Livingstone,” was thé au- thor. . With a quutlonnbls alacrity in im- puting the charge of plagiarism, the publishers have seen fit to open the book with a little note, calling atten- tion to the fact—as they view it—ot the sponsorship of “Brakespeare” to the works of several living novellsts. After reviewing all of the recent ro- mances that have the middle ages for a background we can find but one that in any way carries about it the taint of the suspicion thus cast—that one, Sir Conan Doyle’s “White Company.” True that Sir John Hawkwood, the historic captain of free companies, figures both in “Brakespeare” and “The White Company,” as do also Ber- trand du Guesclin and Lord Audley, famous fighters in their day. But it is plain to be seen that Froissart, the standard contemporary historian of the time, was the well spring of both the romances and to lay the charge of plagiarism at the door of the one last avalling himself of the sources is rub at least, if not unfair. @ (W not make half so livening a tale out of his Froissart as did Doyle. Though in the recital of Brakespeare’s adv tures as a wandering mercenary are plied with battle, siege and sud death quite to the fill, the hero is ¢ ways trailing his crest in gloom, al- ways rebelling against hard, hard fate by giving over to a discord with the tune of things. As we remember “The White Company” from a reading of many years ago, a much more exhilar- ating spirit of diablerie and rec good humor characterized the doings of Doyle’s hardy bowmen. They fought with a laugh. Though the then lately fashionable Childe Harold pessimism must have had its influence upon this author of the late fifties, guiding his pen to strokes invariably of the darkest, “Brakespeare” shows an erudition in things antiquarian scarcely posse: 1 by so-called historical novelists of the day. The word of the ancient chron- icles is strictly adhered to throughout the tale and the spirit of those far off times of Poitiers and Crecy vividly reproduced. (F. M. Buckles & Co., New Yor k, {llustrated; price $1.) “Crecy,” by Edith Lawrence, is a pretty little tale of the Revolution, rather stereotyped, to be sure, but capable of providing a good two hours’ pleasure. The author, realizing no doubt that the story of the winsome colonial lassie and her British lover has been told many times, seeks to furbish up the old type stock by a change in the manner of the telling. In the form of a series of letters between the vari- ous characters of her story Miss Law- rence finds conveyance for the romance & bit cumbersome at times and prolific of a certain lack of continuity Crecy, whose bona fide portrait from the brush of Stuart graces the frontal page, is as wild a blade as one would meet in a month of Sundays. The first of her letters shows her berating her Quaker cousin and affianced husband, Nathaniel Darrach, for his policy of non-resistance, pursued steadfastly in the face of the invasion of the British. Then we find her confiding in Cousin Peace Darrach the details of a little affair of the heart with a young red- coat cornet of the English forces who presses his suit with far more stead- fastness than the cause of his coun- try. ‘With all of the characters introduced thus through their own written words the tale proceeds to unravel its length through mingled cloud and sunshine of war and frolicking. Crecy gets into the net pret 3 vith her young B cousin turns her, her Quaker fighter and her own brother has the bad grace to turn traitor and spy. At the midnight revel of the Hesslans at Trenton Crecy’s father, resolute Friend though he is, acts as the one to signal when the Continentals should fall to the slaughter. Then enters Washing- ton upon the scene and remains to the fore throughout the rest of the story as arbiter both of life and love. At the end Crecy’s rampant patriotism so far adjusts itself as to admit of her marrying her British lover and pre- sumably “living happy ever after.” Like nearly all of the colonial stories this book attempts a near view of Washington, with results not altogeth- er satisfying. It is hard to believe that with the manifold worriments of an adverse campaign vexing him without cease the great general could devote hours of his time to the settlement of the love affairs of a girl, even of a Crecy. (F. M. Buckles & Co.,, New York; price §1.) TEAC UP GOSSIP ON WRITERS’ DOINGS. HE best of the bon mots, or witty sayings, contributed to Irish litera- ture by Sheridan, O'Leary, the anecdotes and good storles of O’Connell, O'Keefe and others have been collected and brought together in “Irish Literature,” a work in ten hand- some, full illustrated volumes which will shortly be published by John D. Morris & Co. of Philadelphia. The world has no finer specimens of song and story, of legend and anecdote, of play and romance than some of the best which the Emerald Isle can claim as its own. The editor-in-chief is Hon. Justin McCarthy, M. P., assisted by Dr. Douglas Hyde, Lady Gregory, James Jeffrey Roche, editor of the Pl- lot, Boston; Maurice Francis Egan, professor of literature at ‘Washington University, with Charles Welsh, the blographer of John Newbery, friend and publisher of Goldsmith, as man- aging editor. Burton E. Stevenson, author of “The Holladay Case” (which Messrs. Henry Holt & Co. have printed five times here, which has been re- printed In England and s being translated In Germany), has had an amusing experience. He has received letters from several widely separated members of the Holladay family in this country. The first letter came to the author from a young lady in Chicago, who expressed surprise that a name so unusual as hers should have been used for the heroine of the story, and begged to know whether the author had ever known any one of that name. Next came a letter from a prominent lawyer of Tennessee, who made the same query, stating that his family was the only one In America spelling their name in just that way. Still another branch of the family was heard from in Cali- fornia, and now it looks as though there might be a reunion of the Hol- ladays, if this sort of thing keeps on. Mr. Stevenson was not aware that the name was an especially pe- culiar onme, although he never knew any one named Holladay, but evolved it, after some experimenting, as at- tractive and easily pronounced. TH story, of which Miss Frances Holla- "\BYD’OBF/DI e TCINE % heroine, deals, it win be , with a Wall street mys- fting afterward to 1 to France. whose new novel, shed by Double- has had a varied boyhood on an Illinois rinter, s & p Hutton s on the Mrs. ot ti Mrs. work was | ence to the E in the Cornh London as >ming to the ortly after the author's death seven Lau Hutton papers m a gos narration of his tion with lit from the ti Tk Readin published in 18 nal. ¥ pers is first Charles Dickens,” n the Red Hook Jour- The Maemillan C mpany’s autumn anouncement lis ust out this week, contai »f the chief books which t 1 publish between now and C including the fol- lowing books of special interest: Jack London’s first novel, “The Sea Wolf,” which has been the most widely read and discussed serial of the year: Marion Crawford's new novel of mod- ern Rome and Sicily, whose title is taken rom the well-known biblical quotation beginning, “Whosoever Shall Offend”; Miss Gw olen Overton’s new C: of the World,” the nrv of a s of unconnected studies of modern American life and condi- tions; R t Herrick’s story about the architect who tried to escape “The Common Lot” of mankind and to enjoy the special privileges of wealth; “Sa- brina Warham,” by Laurence Hous- man, the author of “An English Wom- an’s Love Letters”; “Traltor and Loy- alist,” a stirring blockade runner story by Henry K. Webster; James Barnes’ account of “The Unpardonable War™* between England and the United States some years hence, and other new novels by William Stearns Davis, Oulda, Mark Lee Luther, Upton Sinclalr, Foxcroft Davis and Dr. John Willlams Streeter, who wrote “The Fat of the Land,” as well as a volume of short stories of the American stage entitled “Players and Vagabonds,” by Miss Viola Roseboro. The Century Company announces a goodly list of fictlon for this autumn. There Il be a novel by Andre Cas- taigne, and an unusual story, “The Gray World,” by Evelyn Underhill, a English writer. Anne Dougl Sedg- wick, known through “The Rescue,” has written another plece of character study, “Paths of Judgment.” “The Madigans™ is by Mirlam Michelson, whose “In the Bishop's Carriage” has been one of the season's successes; and Gouverneur Morris’ new novel is en- titled “Ellen and Mr. Man.” Carolyn Wells' “The Staying Guest” is the story of a little girl, quaint, startling and lovable. A new bock by Ruth Mc- Enery Stuart is also announced, “The River’s Children”; and “A Transplant- ed Nursery” is by Martha Kean, the tale, from personal experience, of an American family summering in Brit- tany. BOOKS RECEIVED. IN MINERS' MIRAGE LAND-—Idah Meacham Strobridge; Artemisia Book Bindery, Los Angeles; price, $1.50. THE BOY COURIER OF NAPO- LEON—Willlam C. Sprague; Lee & Shepard, Boston; illustrated; price, $1 60. AMERICAN BOY'S LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT — Edward Stratemeyer; Lee & Shepard, Boston; {llustrated; price, $1.50. GATEWAY SERIES OF ENGLISH CLASSICS—Milton's “Minor Poems,” Coleridge’s “Anclent Mariner,” Addi- son’s “De Coverley Papers” Tenny- son’s “Idylls of the King,” Shakes- peare’s “Macbeth”; edited by Henry Van Dyke; The American Book Com- pany, New York. ROLFE'S SHAKESPEARE — “King Richard the Third,” “Romeo and Ju- let,” “King Henry the Fifth™: edifed by W. J. Rolfe; The American Book Company, New York. MAXWELLS ELEMENTARY GRAMMAR~—William H. Maxwell; The American Book Company; New York; price, 40 cents. ABRAHAM LINCOLN—James Bald- win; The American Book Company, New York; price, 60 cents. FIRST LATIN WRITER—Mather A. Abbott; The American Book Company, New York; price, 60 cents. HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPH- ICAL NARRATIVEE£—Isabel R. Wal- lach; The American Book Company, New York: price, 35 cents. NATURE STUDY WITH COMMON THINGS—M. H. Carter; The American Book Company, New York; illustrated; price, 60 cents. COLLEGE ENTRANCE REQUIRE- MENTS IN ENGLISH, 1906-1908—Com- piled and published by American Book Company, New York; price, 80 cents. EVENING SCHOOL TEXTS.—Stud- ies in English, arithmetic, reading and language lessons; William E. Chancel- lor; American Book Company, New York; price, 30 cents