New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-12-14
HOLIDAY BOOKS.
STORIES, SKETCHES AND HISTORY FOR
YOUNG READERS

One who hicks I'D 1.-THE Wagner Story BOOK
rire,,pht Tales of the Great Music Dramas.
by William Henry Frost Charles Scrlpher
Sons) under the impression that u IS a pooh vi
opera plots, will find that illusion oispeiieu
most completely and pleasantly by the first
mage The title Is truthful, but too prosalc' IL
tells more than it ought and less. Mr.. Frost mas
permitted the dramas of Wagner. from Iah-
bauser" to "Parsifal." to furnish him with ma
ter,a, for q set of tales which he has cast IN
Tho forr, of narratives to child; but ne mas
done with that material what every creative
artist does with the crude stuff which ne mas
at hand in nature He has melted IL OVER
moulded 1t anew, enriched 1t with Original ue
signs drawn from his own stores ana maue IL
subserve new purposes The stories moreover
are not those of the dramas as they appear OH
the printed page, but as they move past 'he
senses on the stage, charming eyes ana ears
stimulating the emotions and quckening 'he
fancy. And with them are mixed delightful
elements drawn from that world OF myth ana
legend and saga which We know to be the
mirror of the things which the human race mas
admired and yearned for, and loved ever since
n began How Mr.. Frost has done this II
would be difficult to explain in detail; nor would
we like to spoil the pleasure which every reader
will find in making the discovery In wa!
that is as luminous 1t is graceful ana ten
der he has enforced the lessons or truthful-
ness beauty and goodness He has done this
IN the most ingratiating manner conceivaole'
quite In the spirit of Charles Kingsley indeed
Archibald Forbes. the American; MacGahah'
and Villiers the present Corean correspondent
of BLACK and White" then the war artist OF
1.-The London Graphic" were. perhaps. the best
known workers for the English press who
watched the progress of the Russo-Turkish war
of 1871 Mr. Forbes has used his experience TO
good purpose in describing the life Of his fell
low-correspondents, and the episodes OF war IN
his new boys story Gear and Sultan Charles
Scribner's Sons). He puts his narrative INTO
the mouth Of a Danube corn merchant John
Carnegie who gives his two young nephews
an account Of what he saw when, young
man. he found trade suspended and became a
messenger for MacGahan and Nilliers, and
later on himself press writer following the
Russian army. Mr.. Forbes writes at once terse-
Nv and yividly With as little of technical state
ment as possible ne describes the beginning OF
the war; the crossing of the Danube by the
Russians. the rush Of Gourko over the Balkans.
the heroic stand of the Russians at Schipka
Pass the battles around Pevna. the surrender
of Osman Pacha, and the conclusion of peace
before Constantinople. The numerous pen por-
traits of such men as the dashing Skobeleff. the
hard Gourko the brave bull-headed Nepokoit-
schitsky. the pedantic drillmaster Levitsky'
and the melancholy Alexander H. are ex-
tremely interesting. The conditions Of Russian
army life. with its many features which seem
SO strange to American and Western European
military ideas are all admirably portrayed
Under the title. The Special Correspondent"
Lowell. Coryell & Co. have published an edition
of Jules Verne's story "Caudius Bombarnac.'
which first appeared about two years ago in
no
from Tifis in Transcaucasa. and makes a
tourney to China, far possible on the Rus
sian military railroads With every prospect OF
travels made barren Of incident by European
methods Of transit and administration, he sue
ceeds in finding adventures which would have
done no discredit to the land at time when
Turk and Tartar made II their battle-ground
The text is literally illustrated with full-page
cuts. Mrs o. b. Boyd, In Cavalry Life In Tent
and Field o. Selwin TAFT Sons, gives a
sprghty account of the experiences Of young
New-York girl who married a second lieutenant
OF cavalry and went to 1--we at the advanced
Western outposts in 1867. and continued her ac-
quaintance with army life until the death OF
Captain Boyd in 1885. She describes divers
frontier discomforts which seemed particularly
hard TO the inexperienced wife The traveller
Of to-day knows nothing Of the old-t!me coach
which is only comfortable when the passengers
are numerous as TO be wedged tightly together
so that they do not shake around The only pos
sibe way for the women passengers Of former
days to rest their heads for a nap was TO lear
forward and pillow them In blankets placed OF
the knees of the men who sat opposite. Neither
is he prepared with all his expectation Of rough
frontier manners for such ideas Of politeness al
Mrs. Boyd encountered at the end Of her frs
five days Of army life: 81 no longer felt particu
and hc of Iccl
had aged me- Yet. knowing that the years which
had passed my head were few as wer
consistent with the dignity Of married woman
was taken quite aback when one OF the EN-
ployes connected with the stage station aske'
my husband: How did the old woman stanC
the trip"
1t is difficult to say just how far history ma!
properly be diluted with fiction. and facts mad
70 give way to imagination in a historical story
In Decatur and Somers' d. Appleton & Coz
Molly Elliot Seawell has gone to the limit. Sh
recounts the life of these two naval Off
GERS from their first sailing togethe
as mdshipmen the frigate United
States from Philadelphia in 1888 to the mys
terious blowing up OF the Intrepid and the dealt
OF Somers in the harbor Of Tripo The NAH
outline of the story of these lifelong friends /
historically correct. The conversations and In
cidents are in a great measure imaginary, o
course, but there Is no ground for complaint OF
that score, for the author makes lively stor
full Of the nobest lessons In patriotism. Wher
however, the whole theory OF the destruction O
the Intrepid is assumed together with "A trail
OF incidents. the truth Of which no man ca
know, even II the theory be granted, 1t may ser9
ous.y be questioned II correct knowledge Q
American history is not being sacrificed TO IN
exigences Of story telling. Nobody knows ho'
the ketch was destroyed. Filled with explosive
which its crew had promise should not fall int
the hands of the enemy. 1t went on Its eiran
Of Trin lost IN