The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-01-28
SOME NEW BOOKS.

the mining of gold or diamonds which pos
sesses as dramatic history as that of the
petroleum industry; and it probably is also
true that no other industry is so little un-
derstood even by those who live almost
within sight Of the oil derricks or within
range of the peculiar and pungent odor of
the outtlows from the oil wells. We sus-
pect that If these statements be doubted
by anybody, doubt will be removed by a
perusal of Sketches in Crude OIL" a
handsome volume in which Mr.. John j.
McLaurin, of Harrisburg, has narrated
as he modestly tells us, some accidents
and incidents of the development of petro-
leum in all parts of the globe" but which
is really most comprehensive and fas-
cnating story of the petroleum industry
and the men who have made it. The
volume gives evidence that it's author
has not only been a prominent figure
in the scenes which he pictures but has
Furthermore devoted much time and
money to the quest of original informa-
tion His biographies of prominent citi-
zens in the oil region would alone consti-
tute an invaluable work, written as they
are in the chatty, breezy style which
makes biography, while true in fact, as
interesting as fiction But these are only
a part of the task to which Mr.. McLau
rim has addressed himself. Slowed away
in the 400 large pages of this attractive
book, amidst abounding portraits and il
Illustrations in well-eXecuted half tone, is
a mass of information, anecdotes and in
Cidents such as could not elsewhere be
found in any form. 1t would be some
thing merely to have had the patience to
gather together Mr.. McLaurins accumu-
lation of facts: but 1t is true genius TO
be able, as he has been, to present these
facts in dressing SO pleasing as to make
his book a strong- rival against the most
absorbing novel. lRoyal octave, CLOTH PIP.
iO6; price 50; published by the author at
Harrisburg, Pal
Receipt is acknowledged from John Muir
ply & Co., publishers, of Baltimore, of
the latest literary work of Cardinal Glib
bons, entitled "The Ambassador of
Christ" Accompanying it is a circular
letter from the author explaining that its
chief purpose is "to demonstrate the dig
nifty and responsibility of the Christian
ministry" The thirty-one chapters of the
book are addressed in admonition to he
Catholic clergy, urging personal humility
obedience, charity ana chastity, together
with other virtues and graces such as beiit
those who essay the functions of the
priesthood, and abounding in Scrptural
quotation, in fertilization of the precepts
laid down. These chapters are of value
to those Immediately addressed in them;
but the books preface takes on a larger
scope. In 1t the cardinal speaks hopefully
of the 'inviting field for missionary la
bor' offered in the United States; takes
a phllosophiC view of the "periodical
whirlwinds of bgotry that sweep over
the land" and "soon subsde, like the up
heavals of nature after spending their
force" and holds that even these are not
an unmixed evil since they purify the
moral atmosphere; clear the spiritual
skies and give obscrVant men better m
sight into the uncreated world" The car
IA iIa al is aftlIp 11Nr Of Of hA
warfare of agnosticism upon religion; in
fact he prefers an open foe to lukewarm
friend, because when the foe is converted
ac Is worth something,
"Americans," says he, "are fundamen-
tally a regOus people. They who char
acterize them as a nation so absorbed in
trade and commerce, in agriculture ana
| politics, as to give scarcely a thought to
| eternal truths, judge them not correctly,
| A people having little regard for Chris
| tianity would not spend millions annually
| in the erection of churches and in the main
tenanCe of home and foreign missions, as
Americans are known to do Within
| twenty years after the civi war, twenty
| two millions of dollars were contributed
by Northern Protestants for endoWments
| Of educational institutions in behalf of
| the negroes of the south, all these insu-
| tutions being strictly religious. In 1888,
| the Presbyteriars spent S927,C00 for Amerl-
| can home missions, besides vast sums for
| foreign missions. According to a statement
| apparently authorized, the five leading de-
| nominations in the United States contri-
| butte annually SSS,OOOODJ for the support
| of their respective churches and missions.
| And these contributions are not eXacted
| as a compulsory tax, but are bestowed as
| voluntary offerings.
| "The American people possess, also, in
| a marked degree, the natural virtues that
| are the indispensable basis of supernatural
| life. They are gifted with a high order
| of Intelligence; they are self-poised and
| deliberate; they are Of industrious and
| temperate habits; they are frank, manly,
| and ingenious. They have deep sense
of justice and fair play; they are brave
and generous; and they usually have the
courage of their convictions, They are,
| withal law-abiding people At the close
| of the civil war when hundreds of thou
| sands of Federal and Confederate troops
were disbanded they laid down their arms,
| and quietly resumed the civic pursuits of
| life, submitting without Constrant TO the
| constitutional laws of the country. They
! eloquently disproved the ominous predic-
| tions uttered abroad that a soldiery sud-
| denly released from the restraints of mill
| tary discipline, would be q standing men,
| ace to the peace and industry OF the ooun-
| try by their acts of violence and sedition;
| and that, after having once acquired
taste for blood, they would still thirst for
| more.
| During a presidential campaign, we
! find both great parties fiercely striving for