The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-05-06
Recent Publications.


mentary works on mechanical and physical
soiehce tnat shall not be simply manuals or
.eAt-Dooks. but practical treatses reduced to
.ne stage Of direct and useful application The
ini'iai volume admirably conforms to this STAN
ua,u ano cannot fail to be of great interest and
'"'ue 10 the travelling public. Mr.. Barry is
practlcal civil engineer and has brought to his
Work thorough and accurate KNOWLEDGE He
does not attempt within the limits of this VOL
nme to deal With more than one division Of the
SUBJECT VIZ. "a description of details of rail
way construction subsequent to the competi-
ton OF the earthworks and structures" To
this ne adds short notice of railway rollno
stock. This department is of greater interest
to the average reader than the more technical
subjects of bridges, earthworks, viaducts or
even the financial management of a company,
1or lt has to do with the safety and comfort of
the traveller. The author is an Englishman
and.treats the subject from an English stand
point But aside from a few such terms as
vans, Wagons and points, which are but diff
ferent names for our cars and switches. there
is nothing that may not apply to cur own rail-
way system. The present condition and re-
cent improvements in the English system are
minutely explained and well illustrated. The
author thinks our long American cars with
their lack OF privacy and difficulty of ineress
and egress at the end doors are inferior to the
English carriages, but thinks our arrappement
best adapted for sleeping cars The need of
communication betw cen the engineer and the
rest OF the train, which our bell cord affords
u.s. is still felt in England. The traveller IN
England can only communicate with other
parts OF tie train through the guard or con-
ductor which in case of an accident imminent
at the rear of the train many involve the loss
Oh priceless moments The chapters upon
Signals anG the explanation of the "block"
s!stem are deeply interesting as showing the
ingenuity of mechanical appliances for secur-
ing safety and speed. If the other works of
this series are equal in value to the first they
Will form most acceptable addition to scier-
tifc literature.
AoHsAH. A NEW ENGLAND LIFE STUDY. ByRey.
Peter Pennot. Published by Lee s. Shepard
Boston. For sale by Loring, Short & Harmon.
Ihe quaint traits of New England existence,
the shrewdness, kindliness and undemonstra-
tive originality of the descendants of the Puri-
tans, furnish tempting ground for the writer
OF fiction. Sometimes the result is admirable,
as witness Mrs. Stoves Minister'S Wooing.
and Pearl of Orr's Island, or Dr. Holmes
genial, pathetic, merry and tender work; more
often the result is like the novel under consid-
GRAFTON, The dramatis persone are as conven-
tional as Punch, Judy, the hangman land the
enemy of mankind, as seen in the itinerant
mechanical drama-the narrow w-minded deacon,
lit seems as if writers of ordinary ficticn forgot
the proverbial difference in deacons''), the
charming rural maiden, the sentimental old
girl, the sensible spinster, the uncharitable
and misunderstanding ditto-who in this case
"contrives a double debt to pay" and supplies
the relodrama of The occasion by murder
trial, in which she appears as deiepdant-these
and few other familiar citizens make up the
human interest of the volume. There is, how.
ever, good degree of humor not of the finest
quality, but genuine in its way; and the evident
care and good intention with which the book
is written givei it degree of merit and interest.
The illustrations are by no means embellish-
ments. The frontispiece is portrait of the
0Hainess OF the story; the rustic maiden is un-
fatteriDgly presented in another, and so on
But the one upon which the reader will gaze
with horrible fascination, is the counterfeit
presentment of the young clergyman who
appears as contre-heroS of the story, and who
unless the artist did him injustice, combined
the luxuriant hair and distended eyes of the
popular actor upon posters, with the rapt ex-
preston Of the seventh son of seventh son
warranted to cure all cases of lung disease in
three weeks
LADIES' FANCY WORK; HINTS AND HELPS TO
HOME TASTES AND HOME RECREATIoNs. BY
Mrs. G. s. Jones and Henry I. Williams. Pub
lished by H. T. Williams, New York. For sale by
Loring, Short & Harmon.
This is large and miscellaneous collection of
recipes for all sorts of mistaken attempts in
the line of home decorations. 1t is written with
the best of Intentions its directions involve little
that is costly or extravagant-exce the waste
OF much time; BUT its tendency is really not to
elevate popular taste, but rather to encourage
monstrosities in the shape of shellwork, or
pasteboard castles with putty retainers, pill
box turrets, and scenery compounded of cotton
wool, bits of broken looking-glass and brown
paper. Still, it there be a household whose
idiosyncrasies demand that its peace be pro-
NOTED by filling the family hearth.stone with
white pine shayings over which is draped white
taratane ornamented by gold-paper stars ard
spaDgles-let no journalistic clod presume to
suggest that the shayings would make excellent
kindling and that the tarlatane &c. are but in
different fuel, and consequently superfiuous.
And if our wealthy neighbors' yearning for
cracked plate that was once the pride of some
oldtime matroD, or sinuous green lizard that
Palissy moulded, be counteda mark of refined
taste-why should unlimited laughter be the
portion of our equally esteemed friend across
the way. who not having seen the Apollo Bel
videre enjoys his little Praying Samuel, who
not having known the garden of Semiramis
even by report, is content with his hanging bas-
ket of ravelled cotton. Tastes so differ that in
regard to the volume under consideration it
can merely be said, in case any one wishes to
make any of the articles described in it, they
will find therein plain and full instructions for
so doing.
THE DILEMMA. A novel. BY the author of 'The
Battle of Dorking. Published by Harper Brothers.
New York. For sale by Loring Short & Harmon.
This admirably written novel depends less
for its interest upon plot or delineation of char
acter, than upon the spirited, minute and life
like picture it affords of life in an AIglo-Indi-
an garrison town, including the description of
a siege by the Sepoys. The same traits that
made the authors "Battle of Dorking' IA
nous at once, appear also in "The Dilemma"
The power of crcumstantial narration, which
gives an air of utter truthfulness to the story,
and at once enlists the confidence and sympa-
thy of the reader; the familiarity with military
life, and acquaintance with every detail of it;
delicate sense of humor, mingled with gravi-
ty and force of expression-pIove the author to
possessed of no common talent aud originality.
1t is said that evidence points with great unani-
nifty to Canon Pullen an English gentleman,
as the writer of these books-who may be as
sured that whenever he chooses to
exchange the vague perfume of impersonal
praise for more direct applause that
it will be forthcoming and unstinted. While.
regarded merely as story, The Dilemma is
sad and somewhat unsatisfactory, the excellent
touches Uf minor description that abound in 1t,
as well as the more strongly outlined sketches
of warlike deeds-give it a worth far beyond
that of the ordinary novel.
POETRY FOR HOME AND SCHOOL. Selected and
arranged by Anna c. Bracket and Ida NJ. Eliot
Published by G.. p Putnam's Sons Now Vorlr