The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-09-19

or. ard spent SUMNER n~sasi8E g0F-ls
! arouns 10 Wales on schooner. With al
/ his ambition SIR. jacobs never became q
| skipper. bat his interest IN ssz-faring
/ rsfer and things never dwindlsd. snd for
some years he lived on a wharf. where he
! ssreonscfousIy acquired TIE knowledge %
/ small ccastinE craft. which he has used
! 80 effectively In his stories His success
! IN connection with an amateur magazine
! AZ the postosfice. which began about i
years ago. prompted him 70 appeal 70 a
4 wider audience. ard Many Carg0es" is
/ the result.
/ Although his writing shows no sign Q,
| Ella boration. ne Is a very patient. careful
worker. During the last six months he
/ has been engaged on q story Of o. 80
words which viii appear serialiy under
The title The Shippers WooinE and
/ will be published in book form m the aa-
tumn. He Is also planning q longer story.
bug has nothing definite 20 say about II
| yet
OLD TINES IN MIDDLE GEORGIA.
Bv Richard Malcolm Johnston. New
York. The Macmillan Co $50
That Mr Richard Malcolm Johnston Is
toth a story teller Of power and an an
aiyst Of character these stories OF old
Times in Middle Georgia conclusiveiy
prove They are fall Of local color. and
The people who figure in them seem not
20 have been invented. bat TO I've pen por-
traits of living types. as they existed. and
these sketches 10 be personal reminiscent
ces % the author Even the names which
Mr Johnston gives his percentages are said
not to be fictitious ones. but 10 belong alb
s0lutely 70 the country, to the precise To-
cality OF which he writes There II a
quiet sense Of humor running throughout
the book which il most infectious. The
love stories are tenderly written and the
book is one that its readers cannot fail
to enjoy and appreciate.
WAYSIDE COURTSHIPS. BY Hamlin
Garland New York: y. Appleton &
Co SlZ5.
"wayside Courtships" is the first volume
In the handsome uniform edition that APP
pleton & 60. are issuing OF Hamlin Gar
lands hooks-"Jason Edwards. A Spoil
OF Office" and "A Member of the Third
House are TO follow in rapid succession.
That Mr. Garland Is a realist seems I'M
necessary TO state 10 anyone who IL at all
familiar with his writings. That he often
sacrifices much in his strenuous effort to
maintain this realism. i also only too APP
parent
Like most If not all OF his previous
efforts. these stories deal with the life 81
the middle west. and as the one object
of art according to Mr.. Garland's stand
ard. Is the representa- ton Of the thing
as II IS. we may conclude that these min
listers. book-agents. farm hands school
teachers hrakemen and lumbeTmen are
plain unvarnished types Of actually ex-
isting characters They as whole are
not an amusing lot. and however much at
home Mr.. Garland may DE Ia depicting
the characteristics. emotions and passions
OF his own locality, he certainly falls far
short in his realism. when in A Meeting
in the Foothills" he attempts the portray
al Of an Englishman. whose extraordi-
nary dialect and idiosyncrasies are about
as far removed from the real article as
a Choctaw Indian Is from an American
gentleman.
In this same tale Mr.. Garland allows his
democratic views of caste fun swing. and
however realistic his harnyard scenes. and
the fight between the hero. Arthur Ram
sey and the hired men ruffians may be.
we are sure he exceeds the limits of his
cult when he makes the heroine. who is
represented as a delicate. refined woman.
cling ahs,t the neck of Arthur. when he
summons up courage to make his first
call on her at her unce's stately mansion.
An Alien In the Pines" contains some
clever and appreciative descriptions of
scenery. which show that Mr. Garland
possesses a poetic and artistic instinct If
he were not so determined TO maintain a
reputation for realism. which in his case
50 often takes the form OF coarseness.
which disgusts instead OF attracting by
Its power.
Before the Low Green Door is a re-
reliant and uninteresiiug study Of a
death bed scene. which may be realism,
but certainly Is not art. and which 10 the
untntjated seems 10 have little connec-
tfon with the subject of "Wayside Court
ships"
While some Of the sketches show skin
ard keen appreciation of nature, and
have certain interest. as whole. they
are neither stimulating nor celebrating
and while one feels that the author pos
sesseS a measure. Of rugged strength and
power ono cannot helm thinking that he
always falls JUST short If the genius that
mako a sH.cessfm writer.