Birmingham state herald., 1897-04-25

'Fairy Hcrses,' Mine Muses," Jewels" ''Dance of Electric Dolls," etc. The entertainments will be given for the benefit of the Birmingham Carnival society fund, and is therefore deserving of liberal patronage by the citizens of this city.
 Prof, Mahler requests the Shate-Herald to announce that he desires all the young ladies and misses and masters who par ticipated in. Bobby Shafto" and who are willing to take parts in this new production to meet him at Turn Verein hall, Third avenue, between Twentieth and Twenty-first streets, on next We'd nesday afternoon at o'clock. and sug- gests that they ask any friends who can dance or sing and who are willing to as- stst in the enterba inments to come with them
 The Belles Lettres club was charmingly entertained by Mrs. c. B. Powell on Thursday. The programme was as fol- lows:
 St. Augustine-Miss Powell
 Reading-"Ven nice by Moonlight" (Mad- amle Le Vert)-Mrs. Buck.
 Criticism-''The Luck of the Penden- nings"-Mrs. Putnam
 Following the programme was discus sion Of matters of general interest to the club. after which the meeting adjourned.
 Elegant refreshments were served by the ladies.
 The club meets next Friday with Mrs. Terry.
 One of the novelties in literature is the writings and style of Rudyard Kipling, and an astonishing circumstance con- nected with them is the praise of the critic. The ordinary reader of most of his writings put down the finished book with feeling of his own utter stu pidity in not being able to understand what the author has said. To many minds, this of itself, is rather to the credit of the book. much on the same idea as one who has never learned Latin, feels toward a Latin sentence. It's power lay in iks mystery. Now and then one does come across something in his writings which is in ordinary lan- guage, simple and strong and which touches upon truth which appeals to the fancy, or imagination of the reader, but these instances are rare. In "The Confessions of an Opium Eater" one de- tects the evidence of MT. Kipling's genius but this alone should not create the literary position MT. Kipling has achieved. There is facination in mys- tery,. but we need a little light in the back ground, and the author gives us very few. To most of us India is a dark country, and it's people must have GUS toms and cults unknown to the rest of the world, but if they be such as Mr. Kipling undertakes to reveal, he shows great genius in even being able to pene- trate so faraas to understand them. St. Paul felt the utter powerlessness of lan- guage to describe the wonderful things he saw in his frances, but still he used terms which, could in some small meas urc. convey to his readers what was in his own mind. e. MT. Kipling must have seen less than St. Paul and yet the reader knows more about what St. Paul saw than what Mir. Kipling knows. Perhaps MT. Kipling won't last so long. c.
 MT. w. H. Smith, of the Louisville and Nashville, went south in his private car yesterday, and was met at the sta ton by his sister, Mrs. John Cox.
 On next Thursday afternoon, April 27. Mrs. L. Crozier-French will give series of lectures before the city Federation of Women's clubs. There will be one lec- lure given at p. m. sharp in Magnolia hall. on each of the following dates: April 27, May.1, 8, 13 and 15. Mrs. French comes to us from New Orleans, where she has just given the same course of lectures before, the women's clubs of that city, and she received much favorable comment from the press. Her lectures are rather of the nature of informal talks, Mrs. French desiring to be consid- cred in the light of a leader, and her au- dienee is permitted to ask questions to take part in the discussion of the subect.