The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-02-20

sure Of appreciation for his word color
notes from an audience made up Of
many besides his fellow writer's; for
this much more advanced is the field
Of Letters than of art.
He who comes to the Outlines in
Local Color" expecting to find stories
Of the usual type will pronounce them
as pointless as possible, and. indeed.
one must admit that manner, in Prof.
Matthews sketches, is more important
than matter, and this makes stronger
the comparison to an artists portfolio.
One is always glad to meet Miss
MaIlenspuyk gain, ard the first sketch
of this collection brings her back with
all her cauStic but optimistic clever
ness. The dear old New York spinster
gives. While society folk come and go at
fashionable afternoon tea. her opinion
Of the modern press to a delightful girl
who writes for the Dial. In startling
contrast to the background of this
sketch is the scene of the next, the
saloon Of a local politician; the motifs
Of the two do not diverge so far, how
ever. for the bitterness Of wage-earn-
ing is common between the girl of good
family, who sacrifices her refinement
to the necessities of yellow journalism
W
| man, who can find no work to do. "a
Glimpse Of the Under World" is a pic
ture of a Madison avenue kitchen dur
ing a dinner party. THE Vigil
Of Mcdowell Sutro" is a night study
of New York with its drifting, hopeless,
homeless population; but in THE
| Watches Of the Night" is a more subtle
breath Of desolation and loneliness.
1t is night study, too, but this time in
the luxurious chamber of millionaire
In brighter colors are the love stories
| told in "a Wall Street Wooing," "a
Spring Flood in Broadway" "The
| Rehearsal of the New Play" and the
horse show picture. aptly called MEN
and Women and Horses" AS has been
said. none Of these studies fills the mis-
sion of the popular fragment Of fiction
| called the short story. But why should
1t? 1t has a reason quite as legitimate
for its existence that is we'll summed
| UP by these lines from the Spectator,
which Prof. Matthews aptly uses:
when I came to my chamber, 1 writ
down these minutes, but was at a loss
what instruction I should propose to
| my readers from the enumeration of
so many insignificant matters and oc-
| currences; and I thought it Of great
| use. If they could learn with me to
keep their minds open to qualification
and ready to receive it from ANYTHING
| it meets with
cOutlnes in Local Color" by Brander
| N Harper & Bros. New York;
| $l25 For sale by the st. Paul Book and
Stationery company
It Is only after we begin to realize
| how much there is to be known about
Sicily. its history, its literature. it's art
and its archaeology, that we begin to
measure the vastness of our preyious
lack Of information.
If Ito know Europe one must know
Italy," and If. as Goethe says. "Italy
without Sicily leaves no image on the
| soul; Sicily is the key to ALL" then ia
our grasp Of European history and art
but weak. and the fault is not alto
| gether ours, for but few travellers larry
IN Sicily, and written accounts Of the
| island are as scarce as they are de-
sirable. Mr.. William Agnew Patton, the
author Of Picturesque Sicily" says
in his preface that of American books
OH modern Sicily there are none of
English books there is plentiful lack:
and, even in these days Of magazines
and newspapers, but little informa tion
concerning the mysterious country
finds it's way into the public prints of
Europe or the United States. Never
theless, Sicily presents to historians
and archaeologists a field the more
! tempting that 1t has been so little
titled, and new world to travellers
who delight IN the romantic and the
picturesque. Despite the fact that we
are all familiar with the ruins of the
famous Greek temples in Sicily, we will
find it difficult to realize that there are
more such Greek ruins in the island of
Sicily than are to be found in the
Peloponnesus, or in all Greece besides.
Mr.. Patton sums up this phase of
Sicily's Importance: at has been well
said that Sicily Is the archaeological
museum Of Europe; for in Sicily are to
be seen the caves Of the cliff dwellers,
| fragments Of cyclopean structures
reared by prehistoric builders: founda.
tons Of walls laid by Phoenicians and
| Carthaginians; temples, theaters and
fortresses Of Greek construction.
| bridges. aqueducts and amphitheaters
erected by Roman engineers; remains
! OF edifices built by Byzantine archi-