New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-02-12
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
sroR1Es FROM DENMARK AND ELSE
WHERE

STORIES
WHERE.
PAUL. AND VIRGINIA OF a NORTHERN z4 isme
From the Danish OF Hoger Drachmahh i0"o'
Do POS Way Williams.
WHERE HIGHWAYS CROSS, BY J; s. fletcher'
Illustrated lsmo. PIP ls@' Ma'''"''. " ~,
TALES OF AN ENGINEER. WITH I RHYMES H. az
THE RAIL by Cy Warman ioino' PIP I''
Charles Scribner's Sons.
A SOCIAL HIGHwAYMAN. BY Elizabeth I p1'pPS
Train. Illustrated. Mario" ioiho' 'p ~
y. Lippncott Company.
', ..pa,, and Virginia OF Northern Zone MI
rIo,eer Drachmann. we believe, makes MS hrs' ap
pearance before American readers IN al i"e ms.
dress 1t is probable that It Will ho' oe '''
for he Is a writer Of unmistakabe talent ~ 10 =.
positive genius. outside OF Andersen ,,,'
there "a nothing sweeter, more charnihSI! NS'
.hor Saveral messages in this story; ike bJoruSo'
Drachmann has an artists gift at cohNeS'"e " ~
presslon OF the snacousness OF ou'uooi
bor changing moods OF light ana darKneSS' " =,
and calm The charm OF his little HaS'e'p -
lese striking than II 70 nsnuatlng. Inc ''au
not carried off his feet. he Is not swept o" ~ 80"
denonment as by an Irresistible current or intense
notion on the contrary. the spirit OF 'he WON p.
meates the mind gradually. until 1t enos oy 'aN"s
complete possession Of me IMAGINATION i
Virginia Of a Northern Zone" has the charm vi INC
hest poetry and arrives at its e1ect py the sa'ie
.,, 70
Thu story ia an .dyl which. without exactly re-
semblng is sufficiently like the French Classic ~
Justify the title Tt. spirit ana the scene d." ~
tinctiyely Northern es )" a certain rugged u'ie0'
NJ manner which Francs F. Browne has succeeuen
admirably In conveying from the Danish Original
Tho Mo. "a simplicity itself 1t is the story OF
vouth and maiden and the history OF 'he sio"
growth Of a childish affection into love AS s"o',
3ary characters there are the yor'hs la'"e'' ~
village smith: tho maiden's father the gooo-"a
ured drunken Captain Spang; Jacob the coae.
nj log PruSslaD
the .alo IL supplied by the nero. Tonnes D. ."i"''
IN go TO sea and his fathers oplos'loh' Inv '
plication depends on the captains encou'"s'"e NV
hoy in his ambition the tragedy on Nah'a Su'p'
cions that Tonnes deserted her father at cfn'a'
moment. For background we have quiet Dah's''
,,,I,ogs nv the sea with the surf curling on the
heach and the forest cutting of the SKY Ihe'e -
a nretty little house. with huinmihs o"u7 CIV
flowers ana dark smithy. the pare sleMs "'."S
of the smith and the intermittent glow OF the eoas
on the forge Such are the pio' anu WV
setting OF the scene -,
Nv Drachmann's story impresses one as series
q. p,ctures. but II would be mistake 10 s"p,"'.
that his gift lies only In this ViViu po''is" "
nature lie has. TO be sure. the ei"p.O
a high state OF development; but under th~' am
nervad.ng IT, is that breath OF poetr! "lio" '
-, tics unity 70 the scattered scenes This quar-
w. s never allowed 10 be obtrusive It's presence -
onv ,npl.ed: II Is like an e1uigence VINO" ' -.
Tho very heart Of things. one Is Conscious " "
Of mOmeDt-lt
the IMAGINATION by Its constant hihtS DIT 0'''~'
meaning living behind the material fact'
co,.r,s.,ne Mr.. J. S Fletchers former novel
.,I,ha, charles the First Was King. with MS ia'-
&c, effort. entitled Where Highways Crose' u'e
reader Is forced 10 conclude tha' suc' sN,'. %
possesses does not shine conspcuousiS III t p9
- tory Of modern life and manners. MS ''iS's"
% ou. ,s coronaratively deeper and more
narsn,cacous than his feeling for HE Inc S.o!S "
concerned with the fruitless love OF man "a
who I'D TO the time OF his meeNis WIN & .,,
"bad never known what II was TO nave any ie','s
Of love for women" HIS name Is hepwo'''' a"D
:. descrihed as half poet hat seer ana IN ''ie
.r,,, chan,ers his religious fervor is empnasiAea
midway in the book he takes Elizabeth sou'u's ~
task for her religious doubts ana later' ""e "
discovers that, Notwithstanding MS love io' "e,'
she is married. and that her husoaho' inc D'.'N
.orger still lives. he exclaims: =" hat ho0Ne''
"a life, Here am !. loving with all m! near, a
-.oroan who "a tied to another man She loVeo 'ha'
man passona.ely once. and believed IN MN WIN az
solute confidence and all the time ne was oe0eN
ing her She and would have been happy toset''e'
a. couldn't have been otherwise. because IoVeu Hei'
And now rs all overland I'm sick at heart LOT
worder that God lets such things be. Oh, don't
wonder that Elizabeth had doubts IL seems as IL
God played shut;ecock with human ives rs 'he'e
q God?" etc After this profound soliloquy' II is re-
corded that Hepworth poured himself out SUI,
glass OF whiskey." drank 1t at guIp ana
.n,aved with a revolver" This is a fair specimen
OF the authors literary style. as we'll as OF MS idea
OF the play Of human emotions HIS psycho'oeE Is
puerile, his characters wooden ana unh'efes'i's'
and their fortunes would not detain us were 1t not
that the publishers have seen MT to incIuoe MI
F,etcher's novelette, in the dainty IRIS series
Whatever poetry there may be associated win
,hA life OF the ra,way employe has not found It's
60, ,r.o Mr. Warrants Rhymes" which seldom
rise above the level OF doggerei; II might even be
urged against these ting>s that they are not soo'
metr.cal prose. We also note on unpleasant con-
f,son OF figures, when a locomotive when. win
daring originality Is referred 10 in one stanza as a
.Aery steed of steel" is presented IN another as
Young woman with her hair hanging down her
back" The stanza in which this last hgurative
gem Is embalmed is worth quoting as typical
specimen OF Mr.. Warman's rhymed style;
How love to watch the local winding up around
In the sunrise OF the morning when the autumn
And the smoke. like loosened tresses, floats away
And 70 listen 10 the measured 'choo-ka, choo-ka
of the stack
II may be that the author conceives the "loosenei
trss.e as belonging 10 the local express but mat
fers are helped little by this transfer in that the
mental picture OF steam-propeled centaur Is
merely replaced by a picture OF an iron steed
charging up hill with poor girl OF a local train.
The change is merely from question OF oad
rhetoric to ono OF bad taste. AS for Mr.. Narman
nrosa which under the title OF Tales OF an En-
gtneer" fills OF the 245 pages which are COM
pr.sed in the volume. one is able TO speak with
more appreciation Here. however, Mr.. Warman
has not touched high-water mark. He has, indeed.
failed lamentab.y in his effort to convey an I'm
preston Of the atmosphere in which the railway en-
u,neers live: but lie has managed TO work re-
spectable amount Of useful and, to the unprofes-
sional reader curious information into his Tales
which Is acceptable, without exactly being the sort
az thing for which sketches. presumably dramatic.
are usually read.
lx.r,a.sc nossihrties OF Elizabeth