New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-10-02
MEN AND NATURE.
FROM THE SOUTH SEAS TO MASSACHUSETTS

PIP. o4S H0ughtOn, MlIlli N W.
ELpFAAGs vagsqt C1ron M OF Earth ss@ a%d
PIP 242. IIarpcr & Brothers.
THE WEST FROM CAR-WINDOW. By Richard
Harding Davis. Illustrated 12mo, PIP 24J.
Harper & Brothers.
To the handsome new edition Of Mr.. Stoddard's
fascinating book has been prclixed letter lately
written to the author by Mr.. w. d. Howclls-
letter which frankly expresses the enthusiasm
which few happy people have felt for these
sketches. You have done them once for all
writes the novelist; mo one need ever write
of the South Seas again" The admirers OF MT.
Stevenson will look aslSance AT this sentence per-
haps; let them read these ldyls' ana ulcI"
wild be 70 room in their Southern horizon
for Robert Louis Stevenson. There is, in truth,
in them what Mr.. lIowclls calls undying youth,
the freshness the tenderness, the gayety ana
sparkle of genius dealing with lands and waters
Of strange and bewildering charms. AL the
care free, joyous life Of those uopic Isles
pulses in these pages through a prose as liquid
and haunting poetry.
81 feel that my life very hoD,cly. nv pleasures
very cheap" says Thoreau in the journal whlch
has furnished material for the new volume called
Autumn Joy and sorrow. success and failure,
grandeur and meanncs>. and. indeed. most words
in the English language. do not mean for me what
they do for nv ncghtors I see that they look
with compassion on me, that they think it Is
mean and unfortunate DESTINY which makes me
walk in these fields and woods so much ana san
on this river alone" Fnr. indeed. from the
world Of endcavor and achievement was TINS
quiet soul: vet Eal nc pleasures and throne
unknown 10 kIrGs ard cmpcrors. II 10 i've WIFI
high thoughts and pure imagining makes "A man
l. = fsraf,~
His townsmea noted the solitary figure in the
Walden woods and pited the poor dreamer VINO
was laying IN no store Of dollars; bat how IN
dnitely rich and rll of the things that mike for
tic real life-the life of the spirt-werc his days
Autumn" like tie volumes which preceded
IT, is full Of the loyIng patient and lntutivc OBJ
scrvation of Nature IN which few writer's have
opproachcd Thcreau Others have watched the
cod less SURPRISING her IN sylvan hannis; Ihorcnu
claspei hands with her and walked beside hcr
a kinsman o. her Qwn' and partakcr OF her moods
Il would know when in the year. Inc SAYS
TO expect certain q oughis AMI moods as the
sportsman knows when 10 look Tor ploN'r'
Thorcaua books probably have ~ great body OF
readers. but those who care for them at all care
for them deeply. and will eagerly welcome each
rev volume of extracts from his journal
Mr.. Torrcy'e "Tootpath WAY" leads through
Ncw-England. and Is chiefly devoted 10 obeerva-
tion of the native lirds-for the author u an
enthusiastic orn.tnoloi-t. and spares no pains anu
crndrc, no time 70 gain glimpse OF rare
warbler or 10 catch the sound OF its song. fof
those who do not share this special 'Asc 'h''"
are two pleasant charters on Flowers ana Folks
and d" In Praise of the Weymouth Pine.
In "Fiole-Fsrinrs4 Martha Me-. Williams re-
bcarscs in prose full Of color and music The tale
Of the Gears changes. III" white, winter W'''-
land. the scurrv of the snow housed rabbit CHS
turlnd untimcly: the brawlng io DIS Of 7prihs
the fields Of tossing gran all the sweet III" %
tree and vine and Hover the song OF brook ana
nool and the free winds are here get FORM WIN
rare sympathy and vividness OF Interpretation
The blcmish Of the book Is certain ahc''a'Io"
OF the style Of an elder day. an oc'ASi'Hd' '"'
premoditatcd strain. tn" o" l"a' an pr'Is'
a false note into m" wildwood -ymphonF' AM
tbrco a. the clock" l. too sophisticated for the
rus,ic nlcturn II introduced Nor d. "" car" Tor
wet world that is "awash for April orre7"S
"awcck, asmlc~; for birds that ar" apcrch' OF
all arunlc with conccit,7 or all arrow upon -"
big oak: for clustered quail with heads ailhs
outside the circle: for trees "aianglc or All
areath" with vines: for nryads a'hi''r LOT
canes "arustle"; or for unkns waters atA''
10 IN" far sea. ne duth"' HdH - 7''"''' 90
winning a style Of her own that these alien
phrase, are all the more apparent and cNa'p'ra'-
ing But while they mar, they cannot spoil
a charming book
Mr.. Davis's sketches Of the West have n youth
fnl vieor vividnc~s and enthusiasm; and they
bctray. moreover. the scorn of things mean ana
touch Of cynicism that belong by right TO the
Young fellow Of brilliant parts Mr.. DavNs
style il spirited with a nervous qni'er a. oi
high-mcttlcd stced his powers Of observation are
ouicz and malicious: and like Kipling, he has the
Gift Of making few words paint large picture
that il 10 say he has n notable talent IN tl"
manipulaton Of detail. He f1r from find
ing all his Western Journey intcrsting' aud he
has known when to seizc with the discrimination
Of the true artist just those features and trait'
which 20 TO make what we know a " the West
The ranch. the military posts, thr mining camp,
the raw city. the Indian reservation he visited
in turn finding occasionally that the real West
was altogether unlike the West he had expected
70 sec The Texan pistol, for example. was con
spicuous for its absence instead OF seeing every
worthy citizen neatly and completely armed "a
he is supposed by the Gillette East to be. he dH
covered that the only men on the borders OF
Texas who are allowed 10 wear rcvolvcrs are
sherins State agents in charge Of prisoners and
the Texas rangers. In these rangers ana IN the
sights Of cowboys ropng cattle Mr. Davis holds
that the man from the East will have TO satisfy
his warnings for the picturesque. His para
graphs on the rangers and their wonderful shoot
ing are, by the way, among ,he most entertaining
in his book and the story Of the Alamo which
completes the chapter Is an uncommonly stirring
bit OF writing.
At Creole Mr.. Davis looked for the mining
camp with which diligcnt study. Of Bret IIartc
had made him familiar; but all he found TO re-
mind him of that lively chroniccr was a pick,
pan for washing gold, and a man who hailed him
as Partner" mountain side, and askcd'
What luck ~ What he thinks of the young city
OF Oklahoma may be tersely indicated in his con-
vcton that any man who can afford a hall bed
room and Il gas-stove in New-York City is better
of than he would be as the owner of one hundred