Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-11-21
UNITY CLUB.
Excellent Programme Carried Out-Enract Of
the Paper Read.


carried out. In absence of Judge Hall
the meeting was presided over by Rev. f
Il. Ncwbert. 1t is to be regretted that al
the members were not present to listen t.
Mrs. Sherburne's very interesting paper, al
extract only of which we are able to give
as follows:
American writers have taken the shor,
story for their province, and nowhere is the
art so varied as with us? In England il
has been and remains foreign and irregu-
Lar, but in America it is the most vital
as well as the most attractive part of oul
literature. The United States is in ad-
vance of Great Britain in two lines: one
that of political science and economies.
the other the short story. Hawthorne
says there is no fountain 50 small but
that Heaven may be imaged in its
bosom so the short story bodies forth
that impression of life, which is all that
literature can give. Upon these shorter
works the magazine greatly depends; here
the names of X. ID. Wiggin, q. p. Lathrop
and r. Fl. Davis are familiar to all.
With Mrs. Wiggin nature has been very
lavish in bestowing her gifts, and every
accomplishment is possessed by her She
is bright convcrsationalist, a delightful
writer,a musician, playing both piano and
guitar, sweet singer, composing difficult
and involved melody, and has shown her
self capable Of forming and CARRYING on
the most complicated Of philanthropic
schemes. She was born in Philadelphia
In California she became interested in the
kindergarten system, and it seems as if
her love for this work and her desire to
help the poor, have been the secret and
object of her literary work. There are few
more reliable tests of persons real
character, underneath the society train
ing and custom, than their ability to at
tract children and obtain their confidence
This power Mrs. Wiggin possesses in a
large measure. Her first production, a
short serial story Half Dozen House
keepers" for which she received $3.50, APP
paared in st. Nicholas in 1873. Her next,
Patsy" by many considered her most
characteristic work, was written to raise
money for the school in San Francisco,
5000 copies being sold before it was ever
placed in store This with ''Carol. :"
has been printed in raised letters for the
blind, and translated into French and
German.
AS we read its pages, we inhalc an odor
from the leaves,as if flowers from the gar
den of childhood had been pressed between
them, and for a moment, by the sweet
sophistry of association, we stand among
them where they grow There are affini-
ties between people and books as there are
between people and other people. To have
loved small child in book, one must
have been child oneself, and that, alas
8
us We're little prigs when we We're in short
clothes and we are big prigs now, and that
has been the only evolution we have I'M
dergone. Not that the memory of our
childhood affects us all equally. To some
the opening chapters and many passages
seem unnatural. No 5-ycars- old child in
the world ever had such absurd thoughts,
and they couldn't remember them if they
did suggest one. That is very true, but
the authors children are children with an
Imagination.
The humorous is strongly brought out,
and on the other and, nothing could be
more tendcrly pathetic than the death of
little Patsy when he is called home and
God gives him back his three lost years.
Little things of life are vitalized and
idealizcd. Events in themselves unim-
portant are written in a manner graceful
and entertaining. Her works abound in
wholesome suggestions as to how lives
may be made better that are not always
cast in pleasant places. 1t is her firm be
lief based upon her own experience, that
if children are properly moulded and
nourshed during the first 10 years of their
existence, their maturity will be worthily
spent The strong pathos and gentlcness
of her books must come from keen obscr-
walton and intense sympathy with the
poor and afflicted
Richard H. Davis is the son of l.. Clark
Davis. From his father he gets his jour
nalistic tastes, and from his mother Re-
becca II. Davis, his ability to tell story.
His intellectually is of the sort that is
stable. solid and persistent, he acknowl-
edges no obstacles,
His face is, perhaps, unconsciously
familiar to some, as his friend, Charles
Gibson. has used him in many OF his
sketches, notably AS Lord Melrose in the
~ Anrlomaniacs, but to the majority he Is
at once brought to mind by Gallagher,
which is a series of short stories grouped
around "A common character, These short
stories have won for him wide and I'M
mediate popularity. They treat of New
York life with the various phases, with
which Mr.. Davis shows great familiarity,
together with ready appreciation OF the
dramatic. pathetic and humorous element.
One writer says of his stories that they
possess much of the charm and power OF
Dickens description, while there Is a
rounding of each theme that suggests
French masters
Two of Mr.. Davis's works are adapted
+, the stage and his short stories have
attracted much attention, but he is con
sidercd an observer and traveller rather
than n novelist and dramatist.
His Rulers of the Mediterranean,
whore we learn of Gibraltar, Athens
Constantinoplc and Cairo, The Northern
Island of Great Britain, Nv hat L saw
from a Car Window, and 1.-The Great
East. Europe, Asia and Africa, 1t Is IN
these descriptions that he excels. His
histories are marked by their carefulness
and fullness. Instructive material Is
selected and presented as a fresh, flowing
stream rather than stagnant pool. lie
is assistant editor of Harper's. He has in
Harper's a series of descriptions OF Eng,
l;Sb life with q somewhat ill humoreo
sketch of English hospitality, he sees
Jopdon as it should be seen by foreigner
and an American; he docs not PROSTATE