The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1891-11-01
NEW BOOKS OF INTEREST.

''The Southern Cross" is the title of small
volume OF poems by Lillian Rozell Messenger,
of this city, which has recently been issued by
the publishing house of Clark Wells Moulton,
of Buffalo. Mrs. Messenger is already known
to the readers of verse by her contributions to
tne magazines and newspapers. Her work is
marked by tenderness of sentiment and with
prevailing note OF sadness In most of it. The
present volume contains fifteen short poems.
the most ambitious of which are "Hippo-
menes," "The Southern Cross" ssStar-
Depths" "Now," and "Successn The two
hrst-named are in blank verse, In the use of
which Mrs. Messenger is not successful.
Through free resort to the license of inverted
clauses the sentences are made obscure and
difficult to read. This fault, SO common with
those inexpert in the use of the blank-verse
form, mars the beauty OF the most poetic
thought and destroys that rhythmic charm
which only the greatest poets can afford to dis
those verses are most successful which are
simplest In FORM The thoughts here are
clearly brought out There is rhythmic grace
as well as beauty Of sentiment in the poems
Across the Space" "Now," and "Facesn
The first-named begins:
Across the voiceless space that lies
between thy path and mine.
Looms the sweet splendor of fair eyes
In rays divine.
Probably the handsomest and most fasc-
mating volume SO far issued by the Appletons
In their series of "Good Stories for Young
People" is "Little Smoke, A Tale of the
Sioux" by William o. Stoddard The book
is just out and no properly constructed young
American can glance into it's pages without
falling under the spell which the aborigines
still cast over the imagination of vigorous
boys. There are fourteen admirable full-page
illustrations and many smaller ones, the latter
OF Indian implements, canoes, articles of dress,
no oFfi Dc hnlIn
illustrations are OF real educational value, as
they are evidently accurate and will give
bright boys and girls clear ideas of Indian
life and customs The Indian hoy from whom
the story takes its name will deeply interest
the reader. He Is splendid young Indian
and the exploits he performs while wonderful
are not impossible. There is also white hero
Bert Raynor, another boy, who is captured by
the band to which Little Smoke belongs. The
TWO become fast friends and have many adj
ventures together. The scene of the story is
In the Powder River and Black Hills country
and 1t ends with the terrible Custer massacre.
Bert escapes from the Indians after the battle
and 1oyfully returns to his almost heart broken
family In Ohio. "Little Smoker is we'll
written book that is sure to be read with de-
light by thousands of boys and gilrs.
Veterans of the Mexican war especially,
and the reading public in general, will learn
with Interest that the late General Cadmus
Wilcox left when he died manuscript his
tory OF the Mexican war, to the writing of
which he devoted twelve years of his life
The work is now being prepared for the press
by Miss Wilcox, of this city, and it will be
published about January l. at the last meet
ing In New York of the Aztec Club, of which
General Wilcox was an honored member, the
announcement of the forthcoming publication
was received with great interest, and the
members present at once subscribed for copies
OF the work, and the club gave it strong in
dorsement.
'The Evolution of Art" by John A. Taylor,
and "The Evolution of Architecture.1 by
John w. Chadwick, are late issues in Apple
toms evolution series.