Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-02-22
LITERARY NOTES.

portrait. -Murfat h"ko~""
LITERARY NOTES.
Tbare are few characters Ia the liter
arv world more amusing than the sus-
nicious author. Her mind filled by
hearssy aud gossip. she has convinced
herself that her manuscript Will not 90
read by the editor to whom she sends IL.
With an energy worthy OF better
cause, she proceeds to find him ou,:
Carefully she transposes the pages OK
her manuscript. so that page ni'y..wo
will follow page three, and one nun
bred and nineteen 10 carefully giueo 70
page twenty four. Or wafers are
adopted and folios are securely al
hered. Sometimes. that which nature
intended should beautify woman . mead
and not her manuscripts. Is resorted 10,
aud rich golden or brown hair
is iunocentiy inserted between
Two psges. And thus is the un-
wary editor to be trapped. Every
trick or device Is resortei
to. This is at one end. At the other Is
the editor who looks over the manu-
script and wonders why 80 much energy
ha, been misplaced. Fopdly. he wishes
the manuscript itself had inhsritso
some of the cleverness OF the devices.
For. As a rule, the manuscripts OF the
.uspicious author have but little 10
commend them. The devices, when
are always quickly detected. at once
preiudices the editor against the manu-
script, and brilliant indeed must prove
the production before the INJURY oone
az the outset is removed. Literary
tricks, as tricks OF any kind. only de-
feat their own object. And she 10
wise author with her best Interests AZ
heart who learns this lesson early ana
well.-Lsdies Home Journal.
IAN Ocular DelusionN Is the title OF
bright social study In serial shape,
which will begin in the New York
Ledger of March |. The story holds
the mirror up to club life IN the metrop-
Oils. and touches lightly, bet with the
mastery and suggestive stroke OF the
etching hand, some Of the more dls-
tInctiys sides OF New York society iife'
Several of the characters are so start
lingly typical that they may De TAKEN
for any one of scores OF the memoers
of the Four Hundred. Inc nero wa
fine combination Of msnliness, ready
ingenuity and audacity. youth Win
rare amount of phosphorus In ms cere-
bral gray matter and an equally gene
rons amount of red corpuseules la bis
veins-a character which tho author
has elaborated with sympathetic inter
est and which, according TO the i'm
nrassion given by the advance sheets,
represents Az oarsman Of recent crew
of a leading American college. Inc
author. by tho way, is that brilliant
Young newspaper worker. Frank How
ard Howe. son Of the late Postmaster
General Timothy +. Howe, OF Wiscon-
sin.
John Ericsson. the great engineer, Ia
a confidential letter, written March 20:
1866. said: Tine great Importance OF
what | call the sub-aquatlc System OF
naval warfare strongly presented ITSELF
To NV mind in 1925, yet have not dur.
ing this long interval communicated
mv IDEAS to a single person. excepting
Emperor Napoleon Ill. What knew
twelve years ago, he knows, Win re-
gard TO the general result OK my iaoors'
bnt tbe details remain q secret with me.
The monitor Of 1853 was the visible
mart of nv system, and Its grand Tea
tures were excluded from its published
drawings and descriptions. Among
Ericsson's papers were tound' ailer ~,
death. q series Of autograph pencil
drawings. showing these concealed ica-
lures of bis monitor system as original
ly conceived. They represent the ldscS
of sub. aquatic attack first presented 10
the DESTROYER in 1878, after being with
held from the public gaze by their au'
thor for half a century. These rude
sketcbes will for the first time be made
pubiic IN fac simile in Scribner's Tor
March.
, Professor William James, of Harvard,
in his article on Hypnot'sm, entitled
The Hidden Self. IN tho hafch
Scribnsr. says: Il know u non-hysteri-
3 cal woman vino. in her frances, knows
: facts which altogether transcend het
( possible normal consciousness. iact'
, about the lives Of people whom she
I never saw or heard OF before. ] an
well aware of all the Liabilities TO which
T this statement exposes me, ard l MAKE
o IL deliberately, having practically NC
doubt whatever OF liz tiulh. MY owl
impression i that the trance condition
is an immensely complex anh uuctua
: ting thing, into the understanding OF
n which we have hardly bsgyn 10 pene
trate. aud concerning which any verJ
+. sweeping generalization Is sure 10 Ds
q premature. A comparative stddy Of
q frances and suDconsclous states Is mean
|. while of the most urgent lmportanc,,
8 for lbe comprehension OF our nature
t Professor John Henry Comstcck, tn
4 eminent naturalist. begins IN the New
!, York Ledger OF March /. series OK sii
. articles on the study OF insects, u
5 which he describes, not only those Ia
' sects which arc useful TO ths farmer
- bat also. those which destroy tntir
g fields of grain. cotton and rice, AM
:. ravage orchards, gardens crd vine
10 wards. He demonstrates how ~ wa
G. scientifically determined that an aver
r ace annual loss Of $50, 0O0, 600 has bee
Is occasioned ia the South by tae cotton
1t worm alone; and thai an average 10,
q per year. Oh nearly S~sN~i~NSf ''~'
II brought about in the apple crop OF III
ID nois by tho rayages OF the Goblin moti
8, The series is profusely illustrated.
81 Kirk Muuros, who has spcn. man
g winters among the Florida Seminole
10 in his article for the March Scribne
ie describes the immense turban WHICH
" the universal masculine head-dr,ss az
II Distinguishing badge of that tribe. III
III turban 10 composed Of fold upon FOL
s. OF small shawls. or gayly colored ham
- kerchiefs, in which red is the prodom
40 nant color, wound round aud rour
&c until the structure projects ten
an rw Give inches from tho mead. IL do
III net cover The top OF the head. ard Is a
De to be set of by a single graceful plun
III OF the white heron.
Octave Thanets for-part stor
sExpiation, now running ia Scr
=. ner's, gives picture OF life on
AZ AZ isolated Arkansas plantation. duri