The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-05-27

sented by the New England Magazine for
June. The editors are alive TO the fact that
to keep pace with the msrch of periodical
literature nowadays u magazine must be
artistioallv gotten up and lavishly illus
trsted, and with each number there ia an
improvement both in the quantity and
quality of the illustrations. The initial
article in the current number ia Wagner
and TNnnhauser in Paris, 1861" by Edward
II. House, one of the few stylists of con-
temporary literature, whose charming
stories of Japanese life in the Atlantic,
Scribner's and other magazines won for
him immediate recognition as = writer Of
the purest English. The article il partly
reminiscent, partly historical and partly
critical. Mr.. House does not ~oriticise WaG-
ner, but he tells the story of the scandalous
Partisan conspiracy of 81 with u strong
~undercurrsnt of contempt for the in
justice of such an exhibition Of
provincialism in the capital of the
world. 1t is illustrated with two full page
portraits of Wagner. which are entirely I'M
known in America. Mrs. Elizabeth Akers
Allen writes appreciatively of Mrs. Part
inRton" and her less famous, but equally
genial creator, the late Benjamin Penhal-
low Shillsber.
"The First Line of Electrical Telegraph"
by stephen Vail, \ son Of Alfred Vail.
whose name Is familiar to all inter
ested in the electric telegraph, is
a very interesting and comprehensive &C
count of the early experiments and success
90 in which his father took q considerable
share. The article is we'll illustrated, and
&C., - tf,nl Vail f,~,n
an old daguerrotype, now very scarce. MIR.
Edwin d. Mead wriehts brightly and
forcibly on the Message of Puritanism for
this Time" Mr.. Mead takes a very ration
al view of the habit of looking backward,
and says that our reverence for the puritan
fathers, interpreted through their lives.
should only make us live more vitality in
the present, and not escape from its bur-
lens into an atmosphere of antiquarianism
and inactivity.
The Popular Science Monthly, published
by d. Appleton u Co., is a magazine of
sterling merit. In the June number a new
subject is taken up in the series On the
development of American industries since
Columbus, viz, 1.-THE Manufacture of Wool,''
which is handled by the author. Mi. S. N.
Dexter North, in a notably attractive man
ner. The present paper. like the rest of
the series, is appropriately illustrated. DR..
Andrew ID. White concludes his chapter on
Miracles and Medicine dealing with theo-
logical intolerance of Jewish and other
physicians, incubation. and anasthetics,
changes of vogue in regard to SANITY relics,
the royal touch, etc. Under the title of
"Our Grandfathers Died too Young Mrs.
H. M. Plunkett sketches the progress of
which has doubled the average
length of human life within a few
hundred years. Lieutenant Colonel A.
B. Ellis contributes an essay on
"Survivals From Marriage by Capture"
describing a great number of curious GUS
Some Questions concerning the
Minor Planets are reviewed by F. F. lis
The Natchez Indians, an ancient
Mexican people that occupied the lower
Mississippi country, are described by How
ard A.. Giddings. There is a copiously illus
article on The characteristics of In
sects by Louis Montillot. A number of
quaint medical prescriptions from an old
book entitled 1.-The Pearl of Practice" are
embodied in a paper by Miss Elizabeth
Robinson. Mons. A. De L'apparent dis
courses on The Future of the Dry Land.
There is a paper on The Music of the Birds,
including hens, by the late S.. p. Cheney,
with music. The life of the great a~strono-
mer, Copernicus, is sketched, with a por-
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