davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22
HoWELLs ON LITERATURE.

william D. Howells has decided views on
literature. He has expressed some of them to
a reporter thus:
''The best features of our fiction are its finish
and its excellent portrayal of life" said the
novelist 'Next to the French ours is the
most artistic fiction, and the truest. While no
great three-decker novel has been written on
American soil, l DO think that much of our
work is extremely faithful to vast number of
the phases of our life. No novel can cover
great proportion of the types which this coun-
try affords, for the range is too varied. The
great American novel will not be written, I
think. 1t is no more feasib for the novelist
to treat the whole National life of America
than that of Italy. We resemble the Italians
closest in our extreme decentralization.
"As matter of fact, no novel yet written
deals at large with English life or French or
Spanish or Russian. Writers can do justice 10
fragments, but not to the whole. It is all
superstition TO think they can. When an
artist caryes out q statue he crystallizes his
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22
A CHARMING GIFT.BooK.

TALES OF LANGUEDOC-By Samuel Jacques
Brun with an introduction by Harriet W. Pres
ton Illustrated by Ernest C. Peixotto. san
Francisco: William Doxey. Palace Hotel. Price
81 so.
In the present work Professor Brun OF the
Leland Stanford Jr. University has collected
number of old-time French legends, some of
which have been handed down by tradition in
his own family.
The "Tales OF Languedoc," thus published
possess three.old interest First, they Will
be read by students of folklore as something
quite new in this field OF literature. Professor
Bruins woIk is entitled 10 rank with that of
Joseph Jacobs, who has charmed large circle
of readers both in England and America with
his simple Provencal stories and ballads. In
the second place, these quaint old-time fairy
tales will be grateful aid to the mother who
until now has sought inspiration for delight
full talks with her tiny tots from the brothers
Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, and
lastly, they will be found worthy of place in
every nursery library for the use of children
of somewhat larger growth.
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22
My Lady Iippet.

Ny lady's tppet is OF gray,
And gray her eyes and gray her muff-
mousie sprite with winning way,
She peeps from DER a velvet ruff.
My Lady Tppet has a grace
No queen could copy if she tried,
While eyes of gray ne'er looked from face
So charming and so beautified.
Her laugh is like silver bell
That tinkles in the frosty air;
Her smile is like fairy's well.
Rejecting all the witchcraft there.
Her step is soft, her touch is light
As soft and light as eiderdown-
And sweet her ways, which make me knigb
And bid me for her win renown.
My Ledy Tippet loves me true
She tells me so in tender wise
Whene'er she gives the kisses due
To prove the love that underlies.
And me? All me! no cloud need.
Since she brings sunshine every day:
But life would be q blank indeed
Without the child in tippet gray.
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22

which was emphatically denied by the unscru-
pulous adventurer when he was seeking pro-
motion at the hands of the Jacobins.
OF his youth we are told that it was largely
occupied with reading and that history found
chiefest favor in his eyes. This reading was
done, notebook in hand-not for pastime, but
for acquisition. The schoolboy was morose.
studious, solitary. He became sociable and
amiable only for the purpose of fighting mimic
battles with his schoolmates. The book pic
| lures h i'm leading an assault on fortress of
snow, with snowballs for bullets.
Further on in the volume the author relates
some things which might surprise those read
ers who have not read history closely and re-
membered what they have read: When a
young officer in training at Auxonne he was
charged with the oversight OF some slight
works on the Notifications. He displayed such
Incompetence that he was actually punished
by short arrest Neither he nor his sister
Eliza could ever spell any language with accu-
racy or ease. And this: According to $ trict
Interpretation of the military code there was
! scarcely crime which Bonaparte had not
com mitted-desertion, disobedience, tamper-
ing, attack on constituted authority and abuse
of official power"
Speaking of his first appointment as gen.
eral, the author says: s'Neither the blind luck,
nor the revolutionary epoch. nor the superla-
these, had brought this marvel to pass.'
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22
FOR CHRISTMAS.

TOTEM TALEs-By W. $. Phillips. Star Pub
fishing Company, Chicago: price 81 60 For
sale by A. M Robertson, Post street, City.
These Indian legends were gathered by the
author during his travels among the tribes of
the Pacific Northwest He has illustrated them
with large number of pen sketches taken on
the spot. 1t is book to suit the boys and girls
at Christmas time. The author first told them
to some little friends of his and they became
SO much interested in them that they would be
ever begging for "just one more story" The
Indian peculiarly OF tale-telling is followed as
nearly as is possibly consistent with the max
ing of them comprehensive in English. They
are not the mere in ven tions of an imaginative
brain, but are the real myths and legends told
by the professional story-tellers of the tribes
around the campfres In the big woods at
night They breathe tho poetry and love of
mystery of the Indian nature. They tell of
"The Talking Pine" "'The Song of the Waters" I"
''The Dance of the Wind" "The Great
Waters" "The Tale OF the Demons" ssThe
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22
A Plea for Childhood.

You do not know-you cannot tell
What magic lies in each caress
From baby hands; for childhood's spell
Binds not all men; and so, unless
You love a child, you cannot tell.
You do not know-you do not dream
How potent is that childish laugh;
For ears must understand the theme
The treble bears. 1t tells not nalf
To those whose hearts uncon scious seem.
You do not know-you do not think
How near to heaven these wee cnes are;
They stand upon sun-clad brink
Sweet treasures sent us from afar
Each little hand a tender link.
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22
TALE OF A WHISKY CURE.

"GASCoIGNE'S GHOST" - By c. B. Burrin.
1New York: Harper d Bros. For sale by A M.
Robertson, Post street, City; price 81.
This is a narrative of ch haracters of mingled
depravity and nobleness. The two principal
characters, Gascoigne and his father, who is
his 'ghost," after thoroughly disliking each
other for a time, at last each discover the
latent generosity of the others nature.
Richard Wayne the father, who is drunk
ard, is left legacy of $4,000. To make it
safe he leaves it all to his son, Ray Gascoigne
who is ashamed of his father and takes his
mothers name. Ray is anxious to marry Miss
Marchmount for her money. He takes his
father to her house to dinner and here Wavne
gets drunk. The son denies his Relationship
to his father and the old man goes home and
becomes very i'll. He is treated successfully
with q cure for alcoholism. Being brilliant
newspaper writer, he now offers the use of his
talents to Ray, In order to save the latter,s
paper from impending ruin. Ray repents, and
not to be outdone in generosity, he deeds the
paper to Wayne.
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22
taken in. All the stock is in the hands of the


Franklin W. Lee, author of dreamy
Hours,'' 'Mam'selle Paganini'' and other
pooks, who is now editor of the Rush City
Gfinn.) Post, has issued a pamphlet edition of
his rhymes about children, entitled "Whis-
pers of Wee Ones" Mr.. Lee will publish
other poems in similar style, grouping them
according to their themes. The next will be
entitled "Lenten Lyrics"
General Horace Porter in his "Campaigni ng
With Grant," in the Christmas Century, deals
with General Grants demeanor during the
battle of the wilderness. General Porter says
that even during the most critical moments
General Grant m anifested no perceptible anx-
iety, but that he was visibly affected by the
sight of blood. During the second dav of the
battle Grant smoked about twenty strong ci-
gars, his highest record in the use of tobacco.
That clever literary raconteur, 'Droch," who
in private life is Robert Bridges, has joined the
writer's who are focking in such mum bers to the
Ladies' Home Journal "Droch" commences
in the December issue OF that magazine a
series of "Droch's Literary Talks" which will
hereafter be a regular editorial feature of the
Journal. Mr.. Bridges will aim his work more
directly at girls, and gossip about books
rather than review them. They will be, in
short, ''literary talks"
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22

IDEAL OF beauty in one form, he doesn't try to
make stone images of whole people,
do you think that our fiction writers are
showing signs of the degeneration Nordau
talks of ?''
mo; on the contrary, think that we are
improving We are combining reality to life
with beauty of style. / have strongly opposed
tne ldess OF Max Nordau. do not believe that
the man is sincere.
ut is in the line of realism that the future
OF our fiction lies, believe, and it is here that
we are showing genuine promise. l have al
ways held that that was the work at which
tne writer should aim. We have no idealistic
work In this country now. Nathaniel Haw-
thorne was, to be sure. one of the greatest
masters OF romance, but he has left no sue
cessor, and do not expect to see one appear" !"
MI Howells declined to draw any compari-
sons between the work of American writer's
ana that OF the Scotch school, whose popular
lty has grown so rapidly in this country. He
expressed himself as pleased with the shorter
sketches of Barrie, but said that he was unae-
qualnted with Barrie's novels OF with those
OF Stevenson
In speaking of poetry, he said: "The Ameri-
can epic Is not destined to appear, tn ink.
NO eplcs are being written nowadays. We
have not the kind of civilization requisite to
produce them. But the outlook for American
poetry is, on the whole, promising"
mat do you consider especially good
among recent American poemsY'
why, L think that colored man, Dunbar
mas done some extraordinary work." was the
reply. "And James Whitcomb Riley's latest
poem, "A Child World is lovely thing Then
there is Kipling. As he is an imperial English
man we can claim relationship with him, 1
think, His poetry is unusually good. He is a
young man yet, and If he keeps on at the pace
he has set he will do all that could be expected
oil him. In fact, he is doing that now"
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22
FASCINATION OF HORROR.

THE CARISSIMA, a Modern Grotesoue = Rv
Lucas Msllet. Herbert S. Stone Ss Co. Chicago.
price 81 80. For sale by A. II. Robertson Post
street, City.
Every one to his own taste, and this book
will suit these who like something really ex-
cellent in the way of an uneanny, unhappy.
blood-curdling story. 1t tells that there are
people In this life who have seen the Thing
too-much, gone clear to this worlds limit and
looked over the wall and consequently have
forever after haunting fear. The hero of the
tale while travelling over the barren wastes in
the mining districts of Africa comes upon a
dead camp. He is sick with fever. wearr.
thirsty and lonesome. The people OF the camp
were ghastly corpses-victims of thirst in
desert The only living thing there was a miser
able yelping cur tied under one of the wagons.
Close to the dog lay the body of little girl
just big enough to have been able to toddle To
its old playmate. The brute had been living
on the blood and meat of the child. Forever
after the ghostly image of the dog haunts his
Imagination. 1t makes him seem a madman
to the woman he loves. 1t spoils his life. He
ends the horror of it by suicide. The writer
has a wealth OF words and puts them together
in q way that makes the reader shudder.
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22
The Kingdom of No-Name.

You have heard of the wonderful Kingdoms
Which lie to the east of Cathay,
Where the people are laden with jewels
And life is beautiful play;
Where the labor is done by the brownies;
Where fairy folk live with the rest;
Where the moments are just as they should be-
And days are brightest and best.
But know of another queer kingdom,
Where life is midsummer dream,
And the quaintest of odd little people
Apart from the rest of US seem.
1t is found in q room where two children
Are monarchs OF all that is there,
And the Oldest has eyes like the morn-mist-
The younger is blue-eyed and fair.
If you stand in the hallway and listen
To what they are saying inside,
You will fancy that though it seems crowded
Their realm is surprisingly wide;
For they bring from the sunshine around them,
In answer to mandates they give
Such a congress Of fantastic beings
That one wonders where they ell live.
There are gnomes in profusion and fairies
AS serfs to the King and the Queen,
And the oldest OF relatives, neighbors
And friends from the sunlit unseen.
They are there, though we may not behold
them,
NUT Eutdi NHdt tuty say III reply,
For the Queen and the King are not lonely
And moments are spurred as they fly.
IT'S the Kingdom of No-Name ] speak Of
realm where the children may reign
Till the years Danish brownies and fairies
And devas tate all their domain
They are happier far than the rulers
Who govern their States with nod.
For the wonderful Kingdom of No-Name
Is close to the Kingdom of God.
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22
A FIRST POETIC FLIGHT.

THE SOUNDING SEA AND OTHER POEMS
BY John +. Garvey. The Hicks Judd Com panv
san Francisco; price so cents. For sale bv
William Doxey, City.
This is a small collection OF verses sent forth
as first venture by an author who ahas no
apology TO offer or ambition 10 shine for other
than what he is" he remarks that an nm
heralded poet is a; shining mark for satires
trenchant pen, but'while thus reminding us
that the critics attempted mortal thrusts ara
only the following of stereotyped custom he
disclaims any wish to ward off serious criti-
cism. This is only beginning, and he ex-
presses desire to do better work-time alone
can tell. In this humor "he attempts to
storm the citadels of conservatism"
One OF the best of the bunch OF little poems
is "Lake Merritt," of which this is the first
stanZa:
Upon thy banks my fancy roves
To all those sweet embroidered groves
OF well-remembered story:
And often there lay me down
In autumn when the leaves are brown
And dream of phantom glory.
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22
laker, but who while dying shows trait OF
BRIEF AND BEAUTIFUL.

THE LAND OF THE CASTANET-By II. c..
Chatfield Taylor. Herbert S. stone q Co., Chi
cago price 81 20. For sale by A. N. Robertson,
Post street, City.
This is a collection of Spanish sketches, so
we'll written and so tastetully printed, that to
pick up the book is to wish to read it through.
The sketches are not connected, but they lead
one on from sketch to sketch rs if they were
chapters of some absorbing continued story.
Facts about Spain are well told on fine paper
with wide margins, which are restfui to the
eye and make the reading of each page rapid
and easy, and gives the mind sense OF swiftly
passing from pleasure>to pleasure in these
panorama-like descriptions. Pretty pictures
are profusely scattered through the little book,
showing dancing and music and merry max
ing. odd streets and grand cathedrals, and
parts of fair palaces like the Alhambra and the
AlcaZar
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22

and loves Charles Darney, and Sydney takes
his fate like man. He has an interview
with her, and when all is understood between
them, Sydney promises never 10 trouble her
in that way again, and accepts her friend
ship. He keeps his word wonderfully. Bril-
liant of mind and trained in the law, he is the
catspaw of the jackal, of big talker named
Stryker, who makes his way in the courts, and
whose cases Sydney works up.
Meanwhile, he is leading a dissolate life.
Drunken and careless, he lives on, OCCASION
ally visiting the peaceful home of the woman
he loves, now happy wife and mother. Her
husband is really descended from the French
nobility, and his family have made themselves
specially hated by the people of the great
revolution, of which time the story treats. A
humane visit by Darney TO Paris is the op-
portunity of his being arrested as a vile aristo-
crat of the house OF Evremonde. For months he
is imprisoned; and, after many trials, finally
condemned to die. His wife, his child, his
father-in-law, are IN Paris, powerless to save
him, but careless, willful Sydney appears on
the scene, and by deity playing checkmate to
spy, he obtains access to the cell OF the con-
demned Darney. Sydney has taken precaut ton
to obtain drug, and uses it upon Darney
when the latter refuses to take advantage of
his likeness TO pass out of the pr!son-house
leaving Sydney to meet the guillotine. Dar-
ney is carried senseless from the cell bv the
spy, who represents him as Carton overcome
with grief for his friend.
And Sydney is left in the cell with few
minutes between him and death. Kind. good
hearted, careless, lovable Sydney. And even
then he THINKS not OF himself. He finds q poor,
little seamstress, falsely accused OF plottin :.
and helps her to die bravely. And then he is
taken and killed, thinking of greater sacri-
fee than his own. And when they looked at
him dead, 1t was said no sweeter face had
fallen from the guillotine's blade. And no
wonder. Well might Dickens biographer say /:
There is no grander, lovelier figure than the
self-wrecked, self-devoted Sydney Carton In
literature or history
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22
IN THE ARMY AND THE WEST.

GARRISON TANGLE-By Captain Charles
King, q. S. A. F. Tennyson Neely, New York:
price 81 %. For sale by the Emporium Book
and Stationery Department, City.
This is a story of love and fighting, of boots
and saddles, Of sudden alarms and swift
marches, of chasing to bay desperate horse.
thieves, of dealings with Indian chiefs who are
past masters in the art of diplomacy--men "to
whom Metternich and Tslleyrand might have
bowed in envious contemplation" The scene is
laid amid the billowing foothills, where the
valleys are beautifully wooded and the waters
are crystal clear. The tale ends with the run
ming down and killing of a great mischief.
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22
DICKENS GREATEST HERO.

Who is the greatest hero created by Charles
Dickens? Why, Sydney Carton. What did he
do? Why, he laid down his life for his
friend, and surely no man hath greater love
tnan this. 1t is peculiar paradox that claims
the most unheroic hero of Dickens as the
greatest, says the Newcastle (Eng) Chronicle,
yet there is little of the heroic in Sydney Car
ton when first we meet him in "a Tale OF Two
Cities"
Briefly, Sydney Carton and man named
Darney, very like him in form and feature,
fall in love with the same girl. She is French
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22
BITS OF CHILD-VERSE.
BY FRANKLIN W. LEE.
Blue EYes.

Blue eyes that shine in the cleaning
Frankly and honestly blue;
Blue eyes aglow with lovelight
Sober and tender and true;
What will you see in the future,
When, from the boyhood estate,
Time brings man to do battle
Ever and ever with fate.
Blue eyes, so sweet and so tender,
Life is not always dream
Often mans eyes grow aweary,
Beauty is never supreme.
Learn, then, to fashion a curtain,
Subject to sense and to will;
Look. when you may, at the better;
Curtain yourselves from the i'll.
Blue eyes, sigh in the twilight
Would that you e'er might retain
Some of the beauty they showed you
Once on the heavenly plane!
If you but treasure it always,
Life will seem better to you
Blue eyes that shine with loyelight
Sober and tender and true
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22

Birth of the SUM-" ''The Rain bow" ssYelth
and the Butterfly" and are full OF the forest
thoughts OF the wild people who dwell in close
communion with nature.
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22
It's Discovery Forms the Basis Of an Inter
=. esting Story Of the West
CHHRLES j. SHINN TELLS OF THE BIG goNBNzg
lhe Days of the Great Strike Admirably Described by One Who
Faithfully Portrays Both the Bright and Dark
Sides of Mining Life

understanding and sympathy which make
for a perfect National unity"
FMaNuRI EIZAs
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22


There is to be new edition of Macaulay's
works In ten volumes, including Sir George
Trevelyan's biography. The editor is not an
| nounced, but presumably Sir George Tre-
| velyan himself will take charge of the work.
There will be no illustrations.
The Century Company publishes very
handsome and very interesting book in
| Modern French Masters" series of bio
graphical and critical reviews by American
artists, with abundant illustra tions, some OF
| them wood engraYings, some in half-tone.
Mrs. Charlotte Perkins Stetson of California,
the author OF volume of verse entitled "In
This Our World" +" has been lecturing in Eng
land. Her former husband, by the way, mar
ried some time ago the famous DR.. Channing's
granddaughter, who has made some reputa-
tion In verse and romance as Grace Ellery
Charming.
The Messrs. Scribner will be the American
publishers of 1.-The Unpublished Works of Ed
ward Gibbon," including seven autobiog-
raphies, correspondence etc., printed YER
batim from MSS. in the possession of the Earl
OF sheffield, with preface by the Earl of
sheffield. These MSS. have since been &C
quired by the British Museum.
Thomas Hardy has just returned to wes-
sex from O sojourn OF some weeks on the Con-
tinent. He went abroad TO strengthen his
health, which had not been altogether satis-
factory. He came back much benefited, and
able to resume the revision OF his story, "The
Pursuit OF the Well Beloved" This novel will
appear in book form early in the spring.
Mark Twain has left his rural quarters in
Surrey and taken up his abode in London for
| the winter. Indeed, he is likely 10 remain on
the other side of the Atlantic until the middle
of next summer. A good deal depends on the
progress he makes, with the book describing
his recent tour around the world He has
just corrected the proofs of new volume OF
stories, tom sawyer, Detective"
The old and famous publishing-house of
| Harper & Bros has been changed into a stock
company, with capital of 81. 900 600. This
| step has been taken simply for convenience
and for the better protection of the interests
| of those concerned. The firm name will not
be changed, nor will any outside capital be
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22

According to the London Daily Chronicle
Mr. Thomas Hardy is now on the Continent
preparing for publication in book form his
novel, The Pursuit of the Well Beloved" ,"
which originally appeared in the illustrated
London News in 1892
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22

H. c. Bunner lett very few unpublished
poems. One of the best OF them, "A Magic
Gift" appears in the Christmas Scribner's
The verses. were written in acknowled gment
OF a gift of flowers
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22
LITERARY NOTES.

Mr.. Barrie's new novel, sentimental
Tommy" published only three weeks ago. is
already in its fifteenth thousand.
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22

S. L. Ollif, manager of the Phoenix Publish
ing Company, London, is 10 bring out "The
Woman's Bible in England. The second part
of the book is in preparation
The record-union., 1896-08-11
NEW TODAY.
NOTICE OF STREET WORK.

PUBLIC NOTICE Is HEREBY GIVEN
that the Board of Trustees of the City of Sac
ramento, on the 9th day of August 1895,
adopted Resolution No. 323 of its intention to
order the following street work to be done,
viz: That street in this city, from the east
line of Front street TO the west line of Second
street be improved by removing cobbles,
grading and laying streetway of concrete
SIX (6) inches in thickness, and with a top
coating of asphaltum two and one-quarter
(210 inches In thickness, grouted rock gut
tiers five (5) feet wide on concrete foundation
four AZ inches in thickness altering two (2)
old catch basins and where not already done,
constructing granite curbing with round cor
ners at the alley intersections.
For further particulars reference is hereby
made to said resolution on file in the Office of
the City Clerk.
Sacramento, August TO- 1896.
f. J. CROLY,
au11-6t Superintendent of Streets.