Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1880-12-02
A Fools Errand and The Invisible
E,T9oirS

OOios duu OCuiCdSSi " OLI!ei LlSlH
bers of the family You must get
that-it's a stunned"
Your best friend suggests it as the
most enjoyable thing he knows; the
chance acquaintance and the stranger
refer to it at once as the uppermost
topic, For weeks the newspaper cor
respondent has dipped his nimble pen
into every possible item of gossip con
corning the author and the fame of his
book. The great Daily Newspapers
devote one, two, three, and four col
umns to extracts from it and to com
ments on the elements of Its power and
popularity. 1t has even aroused the
most staid and sober Of the Monthlies
and Quarterly Reviews. and elicted
their warmest admiration. The later
national ReUie,c says:
sit is nothing less than an cxtraor-
dlnry work. In mat ter, it is intense
ly interesting; in manner, it is forcible
and vivid to a rare degree English
literature contains no similar picture,
as, indeed, probably no material at
once so picturesque and so terrible has
ever been offered by any society with
which English writers have dealt"
President Hayes sat down to read
this remarkable story of recent events,
and without waiting to complete it
sent for dozen copies to present to
officials or personal friends
Representative southern men, inclu-
ding Postmaster- General Key and
General Wright, have taken hold Of it
with unexpected zest, pronouncing it
the ablest and truest book ever written
on the South
It is only about once in a generation
that a book appears which is at once
and universally accepted as a marked
element in the life and literature of
the old world. About thirty years ago
Mrs. Stoves ''Uncle Toms Cabin"
aroused the world with indignation
over the wrongs of a race, and inaug-
urated the noreL ruth purpose And
now has appeared another book, "a
FOOL's ERRAND, BY One OF THE
FooLs," which has sliced uuon the
popular imagination and run through
edition after edition, as fast as 1t could
be printed. 1t is the married. book of
this generation.
1t is tale of life at the South since
the late war, and is full Of the racy
humor of the country people, the rich
and laughter provoking characteristics
of negro fun and the pathos OF negro
prayer-meetings, the dashing excite
ment of the hunt, the oddities of up
country mass meetings, the social lines
Of caste, the hot passions Of politics,
the dark and bloody doings of an en-
ragged people, and their strange logic
Of se!Ejustifcation It gives new
and startling view of matters that
every American should understand,
and for brilliancy, power. romantic
interest. and sustained hold upon the
attention of the reader, it stands
among the famous books of the world
So great has been the demand for it
that the publishers have thought it
worth issuing in an enlarged and alas
trated edition, which is sold by sub
scription only and not to be found at
the book stores.
The enlargement is partly in the
tale itself, which the author has revs-
ed very carefully and supplied with
some new matter, more fully compile
ting its artistic proportions, but es-
pecially in the addition Of Part IL,
entitled 1.-The Invisible Empire" con-
tanning thirteen intensely interesting
chapters, which give a concise review
Of recent events at the South (showing
the elements on which the tale is bas-
ed), with many thrilling personal mar
ratives and other startling facts and
considerations; including also an &C
count Of the rise, extent, purpose,
methods, DISCUSSES. secret oaths, and
mysterious deeds of the rcdoubtable
Ku-Klux Khan; all fully auttcntica-
ted from sworn documents never be-
fore grouped for the general reader.
The Engrayings have been designed
by competent artists from original
models. In beauty and interest they
are very attractive; in fidelity to facts
they may be relied on. For instance.
the striking figure Of The Nasked
Sentinel, facing page 225, was drawn
directly from a costume captured on a
Ku-Klux raider, and now in the pos
session Of the publishers. The work
is in every respect an 'honest book"
It gives 524 pages, in clear, lesible
type, but compact and full containing
more matter than many book selling
at double the price. 1t is handsomely
printed, on good paper. and bound in
substantial and handsome style, as be-
fits a book certain to sell fast and far,
and one that must stand good deal Of
reading.
The New York Tribune says of it:
''In point Of vivid scene-painting,
subtle intuitions of character, and col
loquial raciness and humor, many OF
the sketches in this volume may well
challenge comparison with the most eff
fective passages in our fictitious litera-
ture, not excepting the wonderful pic
lures of actual life in "Uncle Toms
Cabin
And the Chicago Inter- Ocean adds:
"If this book don't move men, and
start the patriotic blood of the nation
into warmer flow, then we have mi8ta-
ken the American people,
Saws the Neg York Graphic: