Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1892-09-22

The September number OF Lippincotts
is also Californian Number" and is
composed almost entirely of matter con-
tributed by writer's from this coast.
THE aDoomswoman, by Gertrude
Anterior, the California novelist, is the
complete novelette, of the number; it is
more profusely and better illustrated
than is usual in this magazine. The
story bears evidence Of intelligent study
of the social and domestic life of Cali
fornia, under the Spanish rule, and shows
q good instinct for color and incident.
The material is excellent and the tieat-
ment in pieces spirited; but as a work
Of art the story is hopelessly marred by
slovenly style and an inelegant and, at
times, incorrect use of English. That
these faults are not nearly SO noticeable
in some parts as others of the story in
dicates that they are the result rather Of
carelessness than incapacity. Mrs.
Atherton needs to cultivate her ear and
taste by close study Of good models.
Her material is not very unlike that used
by G. w. Cable in his exquisite volume
Of short stories, 'Old Creole Days" The
difference between their results is the
difference between art and sensational
ism. Probably no amount Of study
would give to Mrs. Anterior a style COM
parable to Cables, which is the outcome
of the Unborn art-instinct; but it would
save her from such sentence as the fol-
lowing: "But Chonita, with the. long
glide Of the Californian woman, dissolved
from the room." Or the absurd sugges-
ton Of this: IA thick red carpet COW
cred the floor, red arras the walls
Mozart and Beethoven were on the grand
piano."
The next sentence shows that Mrs.
Anterior shares the common error in re-
gard to the use Of the word FESTIVE"
She uses 1t in the sense Of restless" in
stead Of in its correct meaning Of can in
clination to rest or stand still"-
with this knowledge of you my own
FESTIVE demand for variety left me.'
Her limitations are most evident in
situations that are supposed to be blood
curdling, as, for instance, in the scene in
which Chonita curses her rival. The
paragraph concludes with these words !:
Suddenly with the curve Of panther,
her figure glided above the Unconscious
woman, her open hand describing a
strange motion; then she melted from
the room"--And the william still pursued
her.
But 'The Doomswoman" is not all
like this ;'if it were, it would be unworthy
of analysis. There are unaffected and
original passages in the story that show
not only perception Of character and
emotion, but, at times, an undeveloped
instinct for language. "You are tired"
she makes her hero say, looking at the
woman whom he loves, .Your color
has gone, and the shadows are coming
about your eyes," And again in speak
ing OF the sagacious hero: '.He had
twisted Santa Ana, one Of the most
subtle and self-seeking men of his time,
around his finger as if he had been a
yard Of ribbon When her "restive"
hero at last conquers and holds the
woman that he loves in his arms, she
says of him: "In that supreme moment
he felt not happiness, but bitter desire
to bear her out Of the world into some
higher sphere where the conditions Of
happiness might possibly exist"
1t is these glimpses Of better things
that make Mrs. .Atherton's work promise
much more than it ful6lls. Talent,
study, and good material are too rare on
this, or any other coast, to he squandered
on careless sensational work; such work
can only appeal, in its entirety, to unedu-
Gated or unthoughtful minds. We have
seen how Brete Harte dissipated his
great natural talent in slovenly uncon-
scientious work until he has dropped
to the weekly newspaper rank of fiction,
and if Mrs. Atherton,s ideals remain at
their present level, her fate will be the
same. a-4.-t-.1t.
In recent paper upon Geographical
Fiction" fully reviewed in this column,
Mrs. Atherton states her extremely low
opinion Of the uses and function OF
fiction, and its valuelessness as a con-
tribution to literature. 1t may be as a
result of the low estimation in which she
holds this branch of literature that she
is content to aim no higher in her own
work. If this is the case, it would be
the part of wisdom for her to make a
careful study Of the exquisite finish
workmanship in Hawthorne's novelist
and OF Gable in his earlier stories. It
might raise her opinion of the artistic
possibilities of English fiction and fill her
with noble discomfort at this half-suc-
cess which should be bitterer to young
writer than downright failure in better
cause. asts4e Il
Taken as whole, Lippincott's is more
interesting than usual this month, but
it would be quite impossible to pay it the
compliment recently paid, at the close of
his speech. to political orator by an en-
thusiastic auditor: "Mr. Panel" cried
the ardent listener, with warm hand
grasp, II enjoyed your speech SO much.
II was SO grammatical"