The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 9, 1904, Page 5

breeze of ap- orid. “Bev- action th incide € and hum itself \\nh the discrep- i execution is ommiser- i rolls wp on Graue €tark arter this Intermission or sev- eral years we see the Princess Yetive and her American consort, Lorry, hur- rying back to their dominion from a jaunt to Washington, impelled by ru- mors of & disturbance along the fron- tier of the little state. Prince Gabriel; whom we remember as the terrible as- sassin of the last story, has fled his Graustarkian dungeon and i now in collusion with Princess So-and-So of Buch-and-Such—object, the extermina- tion of Graustark. With fine independ- ence Beverly Calhoun, beautiful South- ern girl and friend of their Majesties, crosses to St. Petersburg and takes an independent jaunt into Graustark over e northern border. Her traveling car- age i= held up in a fearsome mountain pass by some wandering scallawags; the chief of the scallawags graciously saves her from being devoured by a wild lon, end thereby becomes an ob- ject of interest for Beverly Calhoun. The rest of the story has to detall the perticulars of how this chief of the rag- tag and bobtails is not & beggar, but & truly Prince in exile; how he takes ser- vice with Beverly under the impression that she is the Princess Yetive, falls hopelessly In love with her and finally, of course, they live happily ever after- werd. The villain of the piece is a flerce old bird, head of the army, who has buried five or six wives and desires to confer the honor of another chance on He is thoroughly villainous. s Yetive does mnothing in the yut act very kittenish for a Prin- cess &t times, and signs the proper de- crees necessary to release this man from prison or keep that one out. The situations are for the most part made over from popular fiction. In- deed, it might be well to tabulate some of them, with their various sources, thus: Heroine saved from teeth of moun- tain lon; see “The Deerslayer.” Heroine helps hero to escape through secret passage under a chapel floor; see “Marguerite de Valois.” Beggar is a Prince in disguise; see “Grimm’s Fairy Tales.” ‘“Trapped at last,’ a sardonic voice hissed”; see “Th stery of Three- Fingered Jack,” Nick Carter library. (Dodd, Mead & Co., New York; illus- trated by Harrison Fisher; price $1 50.) ookl wne ol CATHEDRAL Lore of Old Werld WO books of widely different worth have appeared In the Cathedral Series of Messrs, L. C. Page’ & Co.—“The Cathedrals of Southern France, by Francis Mil- toun, and “The Cathedrals of Eng- jand,” from the pen of Mary J. Taber. The first nemed is really 2 noteworthy ture: the ¢ worth putt: panion volume is hardly between co uction to his b Mr. that “‘too oft it is iged delusion, how- meets with what appears to ory that a book of travel must necessarily a series of dull, dis- carsive, and uncorroborated pinio; 0 may not be an in- telligent but he continues to remark that it lies entirely within the ‘province of the writer either to ) he reader an int sted partner in his peregrinations to hold him a stern distance of cold indiffer- The writer elects to follow the 1y does cicerone an f the meaning that raven stones of the les vf Provence ving himself just enough s strictly architectural nands of the specialist, ses upon the hoary old m- a point of view for the studen and of human nature imp As do other writers upon architecture, the author finds in tt spect of the cathedrals a reflec- tion of the life and thought of the times which saw their inception. Es- pecially does he find this true in the case of the cathedrals of Southern France. There, as he points out in an and the tox: early chapter, the church militant had a hold on the minds of the medieval peoples not duplicated outside of Italy With the spirit of the Crusades n Provence and Aquitaine with the Popes of the Schism eslablished iz Avizuon. little wonder is it that the activity of the times should have found permanent expression in the comstruction of religious edifices. “The great cathedral church,” says the writer, “is, next to being a symbol of the faith, more great as a monument to its age and environment than as the product of its individual builders.” Pursuant to his conception of church architecture as the most perfect ex- ponent of the lives of the builders, Miltoun carries the thread of history with his descriptions, giving us the associations that cling about all of the most important cathedrals besides out- lines of the architectural features of each. Through all the beautiful south- land of France the narrative carrles, into places far off the beaten path of tourists and made known only through that gentle voyager with a donkey, R. L. B. His book is thordughly satisfy- ing and is given an added value by the delicately drawn illustrations by Blanche McManus. “The Cathedrals of England,” on the other hand, is not worth reading. De- claring that in the limits of one vol- ume it would be impossible to give a full description of the architecture of England's thirty cathedrals, Miss Taber cloaks her evident ignorance of the same under the guise of a ramb- ling comment, half archaeological, half devoted to personalia. Through litera- ture and history she has grubbed after reference to any or all of the bishops, priests and deacons who were associ- ated In the flesh with the several cathedrals mentioned, and these anec- dotal and semi-traditional jottings are ranged forth in chronological order under the proper chapter heads. Pho- tographs of the several sacred edifices give more clew to their respective architectura] features than the text. (L. C. Page & Co., Boston; price, 1 volume, $1 60.) SUSAN CLEGG of Rare Naivete WHEN “A Woman's Will” came out a few months ago with the name of a new writer, Anne ‘Warner, appended to its title page, it made manifest the fact that there had come to the front a writer who was blessed with pleasing originality and the grace of keen wit. Simultaneously there began to appear in the Century a series of delightfully amusing sketches about a certain Susan Clegg, spinster, which proved that Anne War- ner was also the possessor ofsunusual versatflity. These four Century stories together with a new one, hitherto un- published, have been collected into a book, its title, “Susan Clegg and Her Friend Mrs. Lathrop.” Though in this new metier Anne Warner has avow- THE % 0 edly Invaded a fleld already overwork- ed by books of the “Mrs. Wiggs” and “Second Mrs. Jim"” type, her Susan gg sketches have a distinct tone of originality and can have no imputation of imitation attached to them. In the first story, “The Marrying of Susan Clegg,” we have that lady of strenuous convictions introduced to us through her guileless confessions of matrimonial aspirations that are poured over the back fence into the willing ears of a doltish neighbor. Su- n, who has faithfully served a par- alytic father through all the days of bher maidenhood, now finds age creep- ing on with the father still as a heavy asset and no mate to share the ques- ti ble joys of her companionship. With delightful naivete she invites one of her elected suitors to come and give his professional opinion as to the prob- able duration of Clegg senior as a fac- tor in marital consideration and she cheers herself with the aphorism that “a watched pot never boils.” A de- lightful ingenuous creature this Su- san Clegg. But it is in the second story, “Miss Clegg’'s Adopted,” that the writer's humor bubbles over with riotous effer- vescence. With father dead and buried Susan is torn between the duty of pro- viding him with a suitable tombstone and the desire to take to her maidenly bosom an orphan for loving upbring- ing. The stonecutter has an entranc- ing article of graveyard furniture in the shape of a recumbent lion, which is moved with visible grief over the demise of the individual whom he may be selected to honor. Here is a trans- cript of Susan’s haggling over this treasure, as faithfully reported to Mrs. Lathrop: “He’s three hundred dollars, but the man says that's because his tail's out o' the same block. I asked him if he couldn’t take the tall off, but he said t'would hurt his reputation. He sald 't I'd go up the ladder to his sec- ond floor 'n' look down on the lion I'd never talk about sawin’ off his tail, ’'n’ he sald’t anyhow cuttin’ it off would only make it cost more because it was cut on in the first place. I saw the senise o’ that 'n’ I remembered too, 't even ’f folks in the cemetery never can see the tall, father 'll have to look at it from higher up 'n the ladder in the monument man’s shed, 'n’ I don't want him to think ’t I economized on the tail of his tombstone.” Through the experience of “Jathrop Lathrop’s Cow,” the awful catastrophe attending the discovery of Cousin Mari- on and the diplomatic disposition of the minister’s children during that worthy's vacation, Susan Clegg’s con- tinuous monologue carries the reader. Susan s not the philosopher of Mrs, Rice’s conception, nor the philanthro- pist of the Mrs. Jim stripe. She is wholly self-centered, wholly selfish. The charm In her lles entirely in.her picturesque diction and the breezihess of her thoughts concerning the import of the several village happenings in which ghe is elther an active partici- pant or of which she is an interested spectator. Anne Warner has made her Susan one of the most entertaining per- sonages of all the year's book people. (Little, Brown & Co., Boston; price $1.) —_—— MATTHEWS’ Literary Diversions RANDER MATTHEWS, drama- tist, critic, essaylst, fiction writer and literary man-of-all-work, has collected into a volume scattered es- says on topoics off the beaten path of literature which he has contributed to the magazines for several years SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. AR NER ‘ past. He styles the whole “Recreations of an Anthologist.”” The great number of readers who hold Mr. Matthews in familiar address through the varied and manifold character of his writings * will find this Ilittle collection of sketches fully satisfying, and a return to them for those that have already read them in magazine form will not be without profit. < In a prefatory essay of quaint humor Mr. Matthews defines the joys of the anthologist and the characteris- tics that he holds in common with the collector of tea cups or the hoarder of boot heels from off the shoe of fame. Through all of man's mania for col- lecting, be it counterfeit coins, can- celed stamps or shoe buttons, the essayist sees clearly the primitive in- stinct of our fathers of arboreal dwell- ings, of the man in the Nth degree, “who hung suspended by his prehen- sile tail from the boughs of the forest primeval.” So without apology -or reservation he admits a partiality for the joys of the anthologist—the col- lector and compiler of literary shoe buttons, if vou will—and he submits this brace of essays as a sort of by- product of his larger labors. As supplementary to an earlier paper of his on “The Ethics of Plagiarism” and lillustrative of the way in which that charge may be falsely imputed by a too willing critic, Matthews traces in his first essay the path of an odd literary conceit down through the centuries. By taking from the pen of Austin Dobson one of his rondeaus of quaint conception he shows its earlier prototype to be in the French of Voiture, farther back still in the same tongie, Desmarets, and finally one of the strange flings of wit of the old Spaniard, Lope de Vega. A journey, shus, into the lit- erary rag bag, so to speak, with an eye to matching the colors for a crazy quilt. The essayist's two themes on “Un- written Books™ and “Seed Corn for Stories” carry more Interest than any- thing else in the volume. In the first of these he cites the noted cases of the intervention of death between the inception and the accomplishment of a writer’s task and gives us other less known instances of authors’ promises that have never been fulfilled. Vague castles in the air were those of Rich- ard Brinsley Sheridan, who promised to write his comedy par excellence, “Affectation,” and did not: of Mollere, who was ever talking of & forthcoming “L’'Homme de Cour”; of Victor Hugo, whose publishers advertised for years a book which never wrote itself. More fascinating still is Matthews’ review of the plots for stories yet unwritten, which writers have left to the warld in thelr crammed notebooks. ‘“‘A person to catch fire-flies and try to kindle his household fire with them” scribbled Hawthorne in his notebook. A man is born into the world endowed with an intellect far superior to those of his fellows, according to Poe’'s “Mar- ginalia”; suppose he was confined as an insane person, what would his feel- ings be? Though he is in no pn.meululy ar- gumentative mood, the writer does not make out a very good case for Ameri- can satire. Noting the fact that two British compllers of English satire did not see it to Incorporate in their works any samples of the American product, Mr. Matthews goes on to trace the growth of that form of verse in this country with illustrative pas- sages. Lowell with his “Bigelow Papers” would appear to be the only writer this side of the water meriting the name of a satirist. Nor in the domalin of poetic epigram can the writer find much of home product that can pass muster. Uncollected poems of the late H. C. Bunner, one time editor of Puck, with brief comment by Matthews in the way of elucida- flon, close this volume of pleasurable reading. (Dodd, Mead & Co., price $1.) New York; s ga JOTTINGS About Other Books MONG the first of the holiday books and lending itself readily to the exigencies of this genre of literature is Maurice Maeterlinck’s little' essay, “Our Friend the Dog.” Taken from the last collected volume of the Belgian writer's essays, “The Double Garden,” and given the typi- cal Christmas dress of gay cover, il- luminated page and attractive {llus- tration, this delicate bit of whimsical reflection upon a dog’s world and a dog's destiny makes an attractive feat- ure for the coming holiday bookstall. As we had occasion to say In a review of “The Double Garden,” this brief essay, unique In concept and dellcate in expression, is typical of the high- est art that is in Maeterlinck. It is his sympathétic understanding of the hidden things in bee and flower, in the dog even, that makes for the beauty of his thought. (Dodd, Mead & Co., New York; il- lustrated by Paul J. Meylan; price $1) ‘With the seriousness characteristic of the Englishman at his sports, “Badsworth,” high priest and chief nagus of bridge whist, or bridge to be more proper, now turns apologist for the game he has sponsored these ten years past and delivers himself of a “Defense of Bridge” in pamphlet form, which, for logic heaped up and argument piled on argument, might well cause the shades of Butler or Jeremy Taylor to shiver and turn back. From a reading of his impas- sioned apologia it appears that the same Is delivered In reply to an at- tack by an eccleslastical organ of England—an attack which brands bridge as worse than poker and com- parable only to the “rouge et noir” of Monte Carlo in its blighting effects upon society, Stoutly does ‘‘Bads- worth” rally to the charge and val- {antly does he expound the high quali- ties of the game from the viewpoint of ethics and sociology. “The large claim for bridge,” he concludes, “is that it can bring light and pleasure into every home in the land, from castle to cottage, and im- prove the memory, the reasoning pow- ers and the judgment of every man in the kingdom from Premler to peasant.” May we not reasonably expect some one in our own country to come forth now with a defense of seven-up or a vindication of the heartless game of hearts? (G. P, Putnam’s Sons, New York; price ten cents.) A recent contribution te Macmil- lan’s Sportsman’s Library is Hamil- ton Busbey’s “Trotting and Pacing Horse in America.” To the untutored eye of the novice in things horsey it appears that Mr. Busbey has incor- porated in his book every ascertain- able fact concerning the breeding of racers, the growth of famous stables and the methods of leading horsemen. One reads with awe of “the tribe of Hambletonian,” “the Star family” and “Mambrino Chief and his descend- ants” and readily consents to giving the author all the credit due a special- ist. One who does not know a single- footer from a Flemish dray horse, however, cannot find himself compe- tent to pass final judgment on a book of this character. (The Macmillan Company, York; illustrated; price $2.) Though beyond the province of the book reviewer somewhat, exception must be made and recognition given on this page to the book, “Japan in the Beginning of the Twentieth Century,” & thorough compendium of facts con- cerning the industrial, governmental and topographical aspect of present- day Japan, which is issued under the authorization of the Imperial Japaness Commission to the Louistana Purchase ‘sExposition. The statistics of products and manufacture, given the most prom- inence in this publication, are at once possessed of the most interest and value in that they body forth the story of the marvelous strides made by Nip- pon since the days of the dawning of civillzation. A careful scrutiny of the record of imports and exports, w?ther New 18 -‘-%H&QN VSN o with a survey of the banking reports for the last few years, gives the reader a thoroughly clear conception of the real strength which lies behind the struggle Japan is now making for the control of the Orient. (Japan Times Office, Tokio, Japan.) The American-Jewish Year Book for the year 5665 (1904-1905) is a compen- dium of statistical information of every sort that has interest for Jewry in this country. By Cyrus L. Sulzberger there is a review of Jewish activitles and vents having bearing on Jewish in- terests for the year past. N. Taylor Phillips | contributes a blographical sketch of Rev. Gershom Mendez Sei- xas, the patriot Jewish minister of the American revolution. “The American Passport in Russia,” by the editor, Cy- rus Adler, gives the diplomatic as- pect of the passport question incor- porated In the national platforms of both the Republican and Democratic parties. Full reports of charities, fraternal orders and educational socl- etles complete the volume. (The Jewish Publication Soclety, Philadelphia.) “Pomes of the Peepul,” purported to have been written by “The Amalga- mated Di'lect Forgers’ Union,” Is a collection of very mediocre comie verse of the average newspaper varlety, in- terspersed with occasional attempts at the jruly lyrical—also of the typlcal newspaper varlety. The “di'lect” Is as mixed as the meter in most Instances, and neither comhine to make uproar- lous mirth to any great extent. (T. S. Denison, Chicago; illustrated; price $1.) MAGAZINES for Current Month HE frontispiece of the October Century is a drawing in color, called “The Duet,” by Anna Whelan Betts, whose color work in re- cent numbers of the Century, repre- senting life of fifty or sixty years ago, is well known. The war in the East is touched upon in two articles, an illuminating anec- dotal paper on Admiral Togo by one of his countrymen, Adach! Kinnosuke; the other an illustrated paper on “The. Cossacks” by David B. Macgowan, who wrote the paper on “A Russian Lourdes” in the September Century, a comprehensive article, dealing with the character of the Cossacks, their horses, military organization, tactics and spe- clal maneuvers. The illustrations in- clude a portrait of the Cossack general, Rennenkampft, The fiction includes the last install- ment but one of “The Sea-Wolf,” by Jack London, and seven short stories, as follows: “A Ready Letter-Writer” in the Madigan group, by Mirlam Michelson, {llustrated by Orson Lowell; “The Thorn That Pricked,” by Grace Ellery Channing, with a picture by Al- bert Sterner; “Love at Long Distance,” by James Raymond Perry, with pic- tures by John Cassel; “The Wuller- wups” (a “Miss Nigger” story), by Rose Young; “Concerning My Aunt Ellen,” by Gouverneur Morris, {llus- trated by Leon Guipon; “Jathrop Lathrop’s Cow,” by Anne Warner (au- thor of "“The Marrying of Susan Clegs”), and “Richard’'s Practicing,” & monologus by Ruth Kimball Gardi- ner, illustrated by Fanny Cory. There are several stories In Oec- tober McClure’s which will make a distinct impression and merit comment. In “A Good Samaritan,” Mary R. Shipman Andrews, with a realism that is the truest art, describes the humorous experiences of a young rector and an intoxicated friend whom he feels in duty bound to escort home. There 13-a love story and real human interest along with i{t. Lloyd Osborne in “Glass-Eyed Bill" has done one of his very best, full of dry humor, and a most interesting situation. Eugene Wood offers another of his bully bits of comedy from real life in describing the - “Firemen’s Tournament.” It Is strong in the force of its suggestion and familiarity. As usual there is a bright story of children, this time “A Fruit of the Falr,” by Marion Hill with some wonderful drawings by F. Y. Cory. Leroy Scott tells a fascinating story of mingled pathos, humor and tragedy in “The Prison Days of Billy MacCheek.” The number Includes several bits of excellent verse, “The Forerunners” by Florence Wilkinson, “A Serenade in Autumn” by Herminie Templeton, “The Child in the Midst” by Margaret E. Sangster, and “The World is Round” by A. E. Housman. The number also includes the concluding chapters of George Madden Martin's successful serial, “The House of Fulfillment.” The novelette in the current number of Lippincott’s Magazine is a tale of the Great Lakes from the pen of Karl Edwin Harriman. Its title is “A Lad's Love,” and through {ts pages the island fisher-folk are presented as only one who loves them in their atmos- phere of oula The ser- es (with a ¢ pent in from a wins his wa the wood in ng little Margy Kerg d lover has gone for e world's activity n to “the story is epest tragedy by native r and a beauti ful end. First among the well-chosen short A. Hall which a pretty cart comt onfidently ex- d :»rn one 1( and a the taking off o she determined to have her “fii scon finds out that what has befors seemed 4 able is so no longer. and she promptly out a mew pro- gramme. A}frn(l Stoddart’s sporting storles have become an established fact in the autur The one entitled “The D: shows dis- inct advance in h The first installment of David Gra- ham Phillips’ new novel, #The Plum Tree, or the Confessions of a Politi- clan,” appears In the October Success. It starts out in a strong, vigorous, ep- igrammatic manner and dips well into the “inside” of things. Sydney Brooks, the noted English journalist, contrib- utes a somewhat startling article on “Foreign Ignorance of American Af- fairs.” Mr. Brooks declares that thers are living British statesmen like Lans- downe and Balfour who do not even know whera s @ of our principal citles are locat and tells about a certain Britisher who recently asked Justin McCarthy If the Mississippi River flows east and west. Frank Fayant contributes another of his ar- ticles on American industries. This time he writes about the cereal crops and their relation to the financial cen- ters of the world. Somse of the facts that he gives regarding the annual wheat crop are truly remarkable. Vance Thompson In his Interesting “Diplomatic Mysteries” tells a thrilling story regarding the mysterious death of Felix Faure, once President of France. Country Life In America for October is the large annual house bullding number, a complete manual with about two hundred superb pictures, which are practical and suggestive, as well as beautiful. The opening feature, en- titled “Representative Country Homes,” {llustrates many types for the home maker, of moderate means, what the designers charge and rules for estimat- ing what a house will cost. Important articles deal with “Building a House off the Land,” the story of a Long Is- land house built of chestnut logs with local labor and from the owner's own drawings; “A New England Country Home in Ohio;” “The Philosopher Who Built,” which shows the success that may come of a calm foresight; “Fru- gal, Frivolous and Final Floor Cover- “Windows and Window Mo- and “The Finest California Pa- tio House.” While a great many other articles cover almost every feature of house building, including such sub- jects as “The House and the Garden,” “The Ideal Farmhouse”—for real farm-, ers, “How to Light the Country House,” “How to Fit.Up the Bathroom,” “Re- modeling Old Houses,” “The Ideal Sta- ble,” and “Window Gardens.” There is much food for thought for wideawake girls and boys in George Ethelbert Walsh's article in the Octo- ber St. Nicholas, entitled “What a Lump of Coal Could Do.” _He shows that a small lump of coal, suddenly converted Into steam, If its energy were utilized, would be sufficlent to run an electric motor car full of pas- sengers two and a half miles at the rate of twenty miles an hour, or would carry a trailn of ordinary cars and a keavy Pullman sleeper and dining-car one-sixth of a mile at the rate of twen- ty-filve miles an hour. The article will prove an interesting exposition of the transformation wrought in the labor fleld by man's utilization of coal and its latent powers. NewBooKksReceived THB BETRAYAL-E. Phillips Op- penheim;: Dodd, Mead & Co., New York; {llustrated; price $1 50. THE FLIGHT OF A MOTH—Emily Post; Dodd, Mead & Co., New York; Ul lustrated; price $1 80. TOMMY & CO.—Jerome K. Jerome; Dodd, Mead & Co., New York; fllus- trated; price $1 50. GOD'S GOOD MAN-—Marie Corelll; Dodd, Mead & Co., New York; price $1 50. OUR FRIEND THE DOG—Maurice Maeterlinck; Dodd, Mead & Co., New York; {llustrated and decorated; price $1. RECREATIONS OF AN ANTHOLO- GIST—Brander Matthews; Dodd, Mead & Co., New York; price $1. BEVERLY OF GRAUSTARK—Georgs Barr McCutcheon; Dodd, Mead & Co., New York: illustrated; price §1 50. SUSAN CLEGG AND HER FRIEND MRS. LATHROP—Anne Warner; Lit- tle, Brown & Co., Boston; illustrated; price $1. MORE CHEERFUL AMERICANS-— Charles Battell Loomis; Henry Holt & Co., New York: illustrated; price $1 25. JIU-JITSU COMBAT TRICKS—Irv- ing Hancock; G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York; fllustrated; price §1 25. THE FIRST AMERICAN KING- George Gordon Hastings; Smart Set Publishing Company, New York. ROLAND OF ALTENBURG—-E4- ward Mott Wooley; Herbert S. Stone & Co., Chicago; illustrated. g THE SORCERESS—George head—adapted from Sardou’s “"q: that title; J. S. Ogilvie Company, New York. (Paper.) ° OSEBA'S LAST DISCOVERY— Colonel George W. Bell; New Zealand ’I‘lme; ‘Wellington, N. Z.: {llustrated.