New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-04-24
WCTIONS AND FACTS.
NOVELS. SKETCHES AND SHORT STORIES

A MEMBER OF TIE THIRD HOUSE. By Hamilton
Garland 12mo, PIP. 235. Chicago F. }. Schultz
q Co.
ACROSS TIE PLAINS. WITH OTTER MEMORIES
AND ESSAYS. BY Robert Louis Stevenson. Emo
PIP. 81. Charles s,rlbner's Son>.
COLONEL sTARBOTTLE'S CLIENT. AND SOME
OTTER PE0rLE. lty Bret HHrtc' l'mo' PIP $50
lloughton. Minn 4 co.
A DAY AT LAGUERREs AND OTHER DAlA. By
F. Iopkinson Smith. lGmo. PIP. lol. liouchion
\ CAPILLARY CRIME AND OTTER STORIES. BY
F. d. Mlct. Illustrated. limo. PIP. 271 Harper
81 Brothers.
MERRY TALES. BY Mark Twain. 1Gmo. PIP 200.
Charles l.. Webster & Go.
TIE JONAH or LUCKY VALLEY. AND OTTER
sIoMis. liy Howard sGcy. lln''Ia'ed' l-"o'
PIP. 235 Harper Brothers
Mr.. Hamilton Garland has chosen well-worn sub
feet for Illustration In a Member Of the Third
House. The lobby lsls been exploited 70 often that
H. IS row difficult to put any originality into TIE
treatment Of it. Mr. Garland moreover docs not
appear to know It at first hand. 80 10
speak. The lobby he dc,crlcs, ut nl events i oi
hind quite rare In The Eastern states, where "'orc
nncs-c and suavity enter into the manipulation "l
the third house. The railroad King hor' oe''
is bc-Gcs far too weak man ai bottom ever !" DIV =
attained 81 dominant a position. genuine aWo''h'
Of his kind would never have allowed his lieutenant
TO cct him 50 completely In his power. Neither
would either master or man have done their bribery
20 cumsily and opnlv that IL could be brought nome
70 them by The confession Of a member oil the Legs
atur whom they lad approached. legislative
rbcy and corruption there has been aud T.. b"y"nl
a pclaaventrrc. bat the pnncpa!s and agents Ia mat
Kind Of work have grown very afroii and vcry car'nS'
and Il Is one Of the most difficult Of enterprises 10
catch them. Mr.. Garland, people have plenty Of
life and also plenty Of chaaccr and men Ike brennan
are more common than Davis who beside beng
weaker than he should De has too much conscience
or HI, business. That Of his ,pc should collapse
ard take his own life merely because he had been
found ont In a legislative fob /, n conception not
trac Ia nature raj Davis would have Joined
lr.nnqu and ice t. some country between VIII h and
the United state, no c,irhlli,n tfrniy c'i~l
Mr. Garlond'- novel f., Indeed sufficiently Interest
Ing. but Il is not striking book ~ NAN
Travelled Hoad,r AID H., hacsncycd theme Interfere,
seriously With tho development; Of those literary traits
and Tendencies which hive attracted attention to
the author much Of late.
Robot LOu. Stcvcnsons volume II fragments aud
sketches f. Of course thoroughly readable and enter
tanning /, opens with highly Fpphc account Of
II journey across the continent IN emsrant train
according to Mr.. stevenson about n, wrcichcd -
method Of trim. pornion could well be conceived
In tie course u this sketch h, delivers himself # q
sentiment which. II known In the Wild West.
might render "a future visit IN that region somewhat
exciting for him II, declare that TIE Cline-c ar
personally cleaner than the white men j." en-
oat,rcd and That the atuO, pcrc ~ their car was
sweoter. What he says about Cil,orrn. hwcycr.
might help 10 wipe ont the memory of this insult.
There is plcasant description Of Monterey. and
next to tbs a delightful paper on tho artistic colony
in the forest Of Fonaincjlcau. Two chapters "n
titrd " Random Memories afford opportunity for the
introduction q some photographed bits. Tho
Epllacuc - An Inland VOYAGE relates mn anus
ing but not very agreeable misunderstanding with
some French C'ndarmcs. and the resulting incarccra
ton Of The author In q vcriinbc dungeon. chnTcr
on dreams throws curons side Hight upon the genesis
Of Jehyn aud Hyde. There Other papers on more
serious subjects Int all possess the intefnnbc charm
which Mr. ScvcnS0n's writings cNhalc even when lie
is In his clcomcr moods
Colonel Sfarbotte Is an old favorte OF Bret lnrte.
and he always deals tcnderly with that quccrly pune
tlious representative OF southern "chvnlry" In the
"lrforc tie wah" period. Colonel Sarbottlcs client
Is new creation. and not easily classified Ap-
parcntly he IS intended 10 be pathetic but in fact he
only succeeds in manfcstng cxccpuOnally fantastic
IOollshncss. The whole story Is frightened by many
bits Of gTnphc description and characterization. but Is
below the average Of the authors work. The Other
stories In the volume are fniry good but fall short OF
excellence. The best OF them "Thc PO,lm,trcss
Of Laurel Rum "A Night at HAYS" Johnson's
| Old Woman and The New Assistant at Pine Clear
Ing school: but In all the stories may BE- noted IA
curious kind OF vagcncsS. as though the author were
not quite sure Of his own meaning. In some cases
this vaguen,ss amounts to deficiency Of vital power
| Mr. Hopklnson smiths daintily printed little volume
entitled "a Day ut Lhgucrrc's. and Other bays con
alns nine sketches Of a kind and qunlliy to BE-
more and more priced The artistic element enters
| into all Of them. but II does not dominate
| the literary element. and the effect Of the union f.
altogether pleasing The OF adventure Is cast
alternately in the ncghborlOol Of Ncw-York In Spain
Venice bulgaria. etc, and the local color has bccl
caught and reflected sEilfnlly IN every instance. SIR
smith has n rare knack Of selling expressive di1syncm
scs and giving portraits In II few bold and swecpin.
| lines. His short stories aud sketches often recall
some Of the best French wora Of the kind He Is con
sclcntious, never 5campS and never falls into du,c
| ness. We arc not likely 10 Lave too much OF sucl
| literature.
Another excursion into fiction by an artist Is Frnnl
d. Mllets collection OF stories. The author has taler
the public into his confidence In what would have Jccr
preface bad he not placed IL at the end Of the book
and might have been cpllogue had Its object beer
other than It Is a good deal Of personal experience
1t appears enters into these tales and the varied
and surprising OF ALL In which IA black poodle acts n
Nemesis TO three Young artists In turn Is vouched fo
as strictly true. The Capillary Crime, Is the ingen
ous account OF tire billing Of an artist In his studio By
mannildn (ayfgure) through the force Of capillary
attraction. The story Is good that we will NJ
throw fuller light upon IT, but the author staes thai
after II was written precisely, or almost
precisely similar In principle actually happened The
| second story "A Faded scapular.- Is dreadfully
uncaDny and weird, but none the less fascinating
| Yatl" is another mystical tale. which hinges on
the superstition that certain letters or numbers have
| relation to the desnlcs Of men, All the sketche,
well executed and nearly all OF them have n flavor
| more or less strongly deiined OF the supernatural
| or its border lands
The volume Of The Fiction. Fact and Fancy, scrc,
| devoted 10 Marx Iwans Merry Ta,es contains Sin
stories and nondescrpt production which the author
is pleased TO call play. The stories included are
The Irivate History Of Campaign that Failed
| "The Invald's story: Luck; "Tho CoptaIn's
| story; " Curious Experience; and "Mrs Me
Williams and the Lightning The play * entitled
"Mcstcrsciat." 81 the stories all have becn printed
before and some. such The Invald's Story have
| been modified, not always to their improvement.
from the original Yerions They are all FUNK. but