Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-07-05
GIN our BOOK ABLE.
SOME OF THE Lat T OFFERINGS
TO THE READIA, WORLD
Literary Notes and M on the
Authors of the ID. -ind Their
PrOductions-Ne. COo;As
Received.

Bellamy at least deserves credit 10 = havint
kept silence through ten years, dcsl 9le IN
Supcrhuman temptation TO rush into 'pfll
again after the popular craze over his VINE
book. Equality also deserves praise 10
its completeness. 1t shows the thought d i
work of years. 1t apparently treats ,
every phase of its subject. from Tillionaires
to ladies shoes. Having with one wave
of his wand made angels Of everybody
not in the ordinary painful way. of course
ne straishtway proceeds to construct al
ideal cooperative government on a basis
of absolute industrial and economic equal
ity.
OF course. the m~illionaires were the
toughest customers to convert into cooper
ative angels, hence the necessity of dieting
them a little on crusts. But this is onV one
of Il thousand interesting details of how
the old order of things is to be transmitted
into the new. The special province Of Mr.
Bellamy's new book is to explain how II
all came about-Or rather how it is all -
come. Tor he speaks as a prophet.
Taere is therefore nothing radically new
in this sequel to Looking Backward" 1t
takes up the same characteristic. West,
the nineteenth century millionaire. v:ho mas
slept until the year 2,ON, and DR.. Lecte and
his daughter Edith, with whom Mr.. West
is in love. The thread of the romance IL
even more himsy than before, and Ine book
consists almost wholly of long economic
disqulsitions and monolOgues put into the
mouths OF the puppet characters. Alr. Bel
ltiAlN NOulu nave maze "A more GdOdIlE
book II he had frankly adopted the style
of an essayist.
Mr.. BeIlamy's heaven on earth. which Is
scheduled Tor q few decades hence, Is to
come through the medium of a great relig-
ious revival. From the time that the
sense of the people came generally to rec
OSnlze that the fight of the existing order
TO prevent the new order was nothing more
nor less than a controversy between the
almighty dollar and the Almighty God.
thSre was substantially but one side to it
Inc scheme of transition from the old to
the new Is as ingenious as il Is Ctopian.
Inc hrst step is to municipaliZe and nation
alZe the railroads, telegraphs, telephones,
lighting plants. water works. coal mines,
petroleum manufactures. and the traffic
In intoxicating liquors. The next step is to
establish public service stores where all
kuolc employees can get everything at cost.
hheSe' OF course. are also run by the ma
tlonal government. Then gradually ali
other citizens are admitted to purchase
their provisions In these stores, and the re-
SUIT Is that private capital shortly has no.
body to buy It's wares. All purchases are
made by credit certificates. and money goes
out OF use. Each man and woman Is cred
lteu with S,OO a year as his share of the
nations work. and each purchase is
charged up against him. Nobody can spend
more than this amount annually, and If he
spends less the balance is Cancelled. Every
oOdy likes this plan so well that the mil
lionaires are left without servants or en-
ployes. and when they finally get tired of
oIacking their own shoes and living on
cruSts IN their lonesome palaces they Join
the new Elysium and promptly do their
share of the farming. raflrondIng. etc.
II Mr. Bellamy were only permitted to re-
make the human heart according to his own
improved plans and specifications he could
soon organize his beautiful dead level com
monweaith. d. Appleton & Co., New York.
My Wife's Husband" by Alice wiIkin-
son sparks. This Is a story that recalls
sentences and the handling Of subjects. as
by letters. When ThackSray wrote "The
for the awkward spelling. and the constant
beast OF Chawles Jeanes that he was i'm
proving in his spelling added to the amuse-
ment and enjoyment Of the reader. There
was reason for the bad spelling in the case
OF the Nasty letters, but the spelling itself
never AVE carried the letters
had they not been so full of hu-
NOR. wit and satire. In this story the HIT |
husband Of a literary woman Is i'm
peeled to write a book, because he discOv- |
ers that the many people vino have read his
wife's books refer to him as Mrs. Chatter
ear, but the necessity of writing i book be-
nS very urgent. he throws himself into the
work with great energy as 10 expression of
and sentiments. and great reckless
ness In the matter of spelling.
There Is much insight into human nature. |
I pleasant handling of incidents and anec-
Totes. some admirable sketches OF charac-
and from first to last a ripple of humor
along the current of the narrative. The sit
are not strained. but develop the
and pronounced eEotism Of the
yOoG-natured illiterate COnSpiring to COM
oete with the work of his wife. His pride
n the fact that she first was known as
-harles Chatterton's wife his resentment
when he Is spoken of as Mrs. Chatterton's
husband. the attitude of the iliiterate man
oward his educated children and their as
all come into the story in an eff
ective way. and it runs along in rambling.
OCSe-jointed heedlesSness, taking in adven-
ure. anecdote. confession and explanation.
HI reader rarely losing sight of the droll-
ry of the situation.
The author is evidently very familiar with
he remarkable and eccentric characters of
oLntry life. and they are all handled in. a
way to create interest in the story and the
I~eVelopment of the character in whose
I:me the story Is written. The fun Of the
tory is not only In the spelling and the
that come to the wife's husband
n the writing of a book, and in the quaint,
( his illiteracy to the requirements of a
.tcrGry woman's husband. Laird & Lee,
I'm Bur and Blue" BY George Bridges
Rodney. Being certain portions from the
Liary of Richard Hilton, Gentleman. of
yer glorious war of independence. This
: ii neat litde volume In a series Of "Ro-
of Early American History While
does not possess striking literary merit.
is Il readable tale. with quite as much
istory as romance in IL. and will make
welcome addition TO home and sch OoI
The hero of IN Buff and Elue"
a Delaware lad who joins the Contilen-
al militia In the early days of the Revolu-
IOnary war, Pnd mas many interesting dd-
entures in camp and field. during the
ears of his service. The story begins in q,
he spring OF 11I6. and ends with the bat
e of Camden in 17n. Richard Hilton c
nrves In the regiment of Colonel HaSlet, 4
18th the Blue Hens Chickens of Cap
lin Caldwell. He gives the incident with
'htCh this phrase Is supposed to have ,
and a number of other well
Orn anecdotes Of the time are introduced.
monS these. We note the mythical tale
the old bellrinCer OF Philadelphia state ;
ouse. who rang out wildly the news of ,hc
of the Declaration of Indepcrd-
nee, July 4. 1T6. The author adds a dram
Tic touch to the legend by making the
d man drop dead from joy while ringing
II his message. We could have wished
lat this oft-tcld fiction had been omitted.
desirable Is il. in BOOKS such as these,
the fictitious element is allowed, to
void confoundinG il with what should be n
arii!ed history. Little, Brown & Co. Bos- [
Gorge r. r. Rivers. is a work written
it'll n definite purpose. that is, to show =
Str1kingly the of the lead :
OF the Peoples party. so-called, of 3
rays. the leader of the first organized re- II
lion against established authority I'm the y
nlted states. Mr.. Rivers has done more y
an note the similarity of argument: he u
ows that the conditions which gave e
csc unquiet characters their opportunity -
l.S6 were much the same as those which o
srired Eryan and company with elO- -
.ence in 1895. From the close of the Rev .
itloni ne says. until lIS!.S. the aGri-
ltuIal classes. especially in New England.
re IN very much the same frame of mind
that in which we find the farmers of
2 Western states to-day. Their farms
re heavily nortgaged: they were deeply
deDt. and they had the same real and
aslnary grievances that We hear about