The herald., 1898-05-01
edited by Enoch 1znight)
A Choice

Not simpleS breWeo TO cure OF ease
Humanitys confessed disease.
But the spirit-wine Of a singing line
Or . dewdrop In honey cup!
PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR.
THE AUTHOR OF tom GROGAN"-A
writer In the Critic has this to say about
r. Hopkinson Smiths New York home:
His house in Thirty-fourth street. Is a
sort of entrepot and headquarters. where
no stores the spoils Of travel and now ana
then stays over night. It's staircase Is
lined with sketches, its reception room with
old brocade; his studio. on the top fooE, Is
full OF Chinese embroideries. venetian
mirrors, Mexican pottery. Japanese MASKS
Turkish rugs. Cuban machetes, Spanish
water jars and old Dutch copper vessels
BY each OF these things hangs q tale. This
bit of lowered brocade has clothed sta
tue of the Virgin. It was her feast cay In
cuanajuato, and he piously presented her
with a new robe and as piousy carried on
the old one. Espero has brought him his
coffee in this quaint little copper coffee pot
upon the Grand canal and Dcrdrecht
waitress has yielded to him for love or
money (who shall say y. these shining silver
plates from her headdress There are SOU
venirs Of places and people not so far away.
There are tiles painted by members OF the
Tie club Chase and Abbey and others; and
in an ancient cupboard set of old china, q
legacy from a lady who once upon time
entertained weary artists in condemned
canal boat upon the Harlem. In the midst
Of all this fancy a man Of medium height,
still active, though growing stout, with
iron-gray hair. close-cropped. and gray
uustaches, looking, at the first glance, like
@ prosperous French man Of affairs. When
he speaks. however, this illusion vaniSheas
for his voice has the peculiar ring and his
gestures the illustrative significance which
are acquired to the full by no one but the
American lecturer. And he is apt to show
you the framed bond given by his ances-
tor, Francis Hopktnson. q signer of the
Declaration Of Independence, as security
for loan, and the lenders receipts, show
Ing that that gentleman honestly paid his
debt"
LOST MANS LANE-By Anna Katherine
Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs). G. p.
Putnam's Sons. so cents.
This sprightly story is No. 20 of the well
como Hudson Library" series, and would
be taken on trust, even II the author were
less favorably known, since nothing in the
wey OF mere trash is admitted into this
series OF novels.
An older set Of readers will remember
1.-THE Leavenworth Case" with great in
forest and pleasure. while younger set
will recall with great delight THAT Affair
Next Door,. Both OF the above were far
beyond the average. as this one no doubt
will prove to be.
PEACE AND WAR.-Some stories of
interesting adventures and character
studies Of the South, most of them dur
ing the war or just afterward. by Joel
Chandler Harris. author Of the Uncle
Remus" and '"rhintlehuGer" stories.
With illustrations. Crown, Svo., $l.5O.
Houghton, Mifflin & Company. For
sale by stoll & Thayer.
A dozen delightful stories make up this
pretty volume, some old and some new,
but all good. One of the most character
istic Of the Southland of Jasper county
especially Is 1.-The Late Mr. Watkins of
Georgia." Nothing more delicious can be
Imagined than the account OF how old Mr..
watkins-"he was meaner than gar broth
negroes work, that he actually grew to 1t.
The neighbors couldn't pull him, the doc
tors could'n separate the two. and so the
stump had to be dug up. with old MIR. Wat
kins on 1t, and both were buried in one
grave. At least this Is the way Mrs. Big
gers declared 1t all was, for her mother had
It straight from her grandmother.
The most pathetic sketch is "A Belle of
Ia htr'c
Christmas" But there is nothing in the
volume that isn't good and worthy of the
creator Of Uncle Remus."
CALEB WEST. MASTER DRIVER. BY
F. Hopkinson Smith. author Of TON
Grogan," "Gondola Days" etc.. with
capital illustrations. limo. $1.6o. Hough-
ton, Mifflin & Co. For sale by Stoll &
Thayer.
All in all, this is the sturdiest of Mr..
Smiths books. In his earlier ventures
there was a lighter touch, more artistic
ooloring, but less life and purpose, as all
must allow. From an artist he became an
architect, man of affairs in the wide
range Of his profession, and was thus
brought in contact with the strong char
acters that make up the sum Of American
life. Concerning the equipment for his
latest volume, "Lounger' in the Critic
writes:
MR. Smith got the material OF his story
from life. When he began his career as an
engineer, one of the first important gov
eminent contracts that was awarded him
was the building of the Race Rock light
off New London. The foundation consisted
Of some thirty thousand loads Of stone. The
center OF this mass Of stones had to be
brought up from the bottom by divers, and
new plan of Mr.. Smiths tried. This was
the placing OF specially made cast-iron
cylinder in the water till it touched boz
tom and was secured there; then It was
allied with concrete, packed down, which
became as hard as the stones themselves
and moro secure"
Major Sloconb Of Pooomolls, an exotic
transplanted from another atmosphere or
rather borrowed for a show, the easy
going creature who gets everything to
minister to his whirna IL Il does not take too
much e1erticn, and Betty West are the two
figures In the book that do not have very
positive and vital side and function.
The main characters are Captain Joe
Bell and Caleb West, the latter being made
the hero Of the story only because he was
Just a little more OF hero than the other.
These men are true representatives of that
courage that holds up the world, men of
strong hands and bodies, cool heads.
dauntless energy and almost limitless re-
sources In times Of stress. What finer ser.
vtCe rnay, aver do The "a save e..-