davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09
A CHARMING LITTLE ROMANCE

A CAPITAL COURTSHIP-By Alex
 ander Black. New York: Charles
 Scribner's Sons. Price S1.
 Mir Blacks latest story might well be termed a study in realism. The book teens with interesting characters, all or whom speak and act as they might in real life. A healthiness of tone pervadeS the little volume, and although the plot of the story was originally written for oral delivery and has been recast for publication in book form, 1t has lost none of its strength by the treatment. The tale is a capital one from start to finish, and the little love comedy running through 1t is most cleverly told. The illustrations, being the same as those used in Mir. Blacks picture play, are probably the best of their kind that ever embellished a story. In its get up the book is faultless, the Ietterpress showing clearly on fine paper and the binding be- ing unique.
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09

very interesting interview with Phil May who succeeded Du Maurier on Punch. MT. May. we learn, was born at WOrtley, near Leeds, England. thir- ty-three years ago. His career has been a very varied and serious one, and began when, as a boy of F, he was thrown upon his own resources. His first regular work was done on the now defunct St. Stephens Review fourteen years ago, after which he went out to Australia in 1885. He worked there for the Sydney Bulletin, and came back to London in 1888. The publication of "The Parscn and the Painter" in 1891 was the beginning of his success, when a writer in the London Daily Chronicle spoke in the highest terms of his work and gave three columns to a criticism of it. Dur
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09
THE GENTLE cOWPUNcHER.

LIN McLEAN-By Owen Mister. New
 York: Harper 6 Brothers. For sale
 by A. M. Robertson.
 Apparently the true type of Western cowboy, or cowpunche-. as MT. Mister calls him, has not been clearly fixed by the romancists who have made him their theme. Otherwise there could hardly be room, in the realms of realistic fiction, for characters differing so widely as those presented by Dan Quinn and the author under notice.
 Everybody knows the cowboy who carves his ruddy, bullet-strewn path through the pages of ''Wolfville"; but MT. Wister's cowpuncher is a being Of a totally different nature Tn a series of half dozen loosely connected stories the author has given us rather pretty pie ture of a gentle, sensitive creature whom cruel fate has unkindly forced to mas querade in the guise of a cowboy. For Lin Mclean, if he is not highly educated. at any rate talks fairly good English he does not swear-at least, not in the pages of the book, nor does he make a habit of painting the town a bright vermi'i ion hue whenever he enters it.
 In his capacity for pathos and generous. unexpected deeds of self-sacrifice he re- minds us of Bret Harte's Jack Hamlin and Tuba Bill rolled into one and set down upon the Wyoming cattle ranges instead of in California The book is well worth reading if only for its de- scriptive power and its many realistic touches of rude Western life
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09
A WHOLESOME STORY.

DOROTHY DRAYCOTT'S TO-MOR-
 ROWS-By Virginia r. Townsend
 Boston: Lee & Shepard. Price $1 50.
 Although a sequel to Dorothy Dray- cott's To-Days" Miss Townsends latest book is a work complete in itself. The fortunes of several of the old favorite characters are followed to the end, and, as was to be expected, Dorothy marries Philip Fallowes. the hero of her girl hoods dreams. The great charm of Miss Townsend's books is that she always in- troduces lovable characters into them; she does not waste her time and energy in psychological analyses, but contents herself with the charm of depicting youth and beauty. Her plots are ingeni- ous and full of interest; incidents and situations follow one another swiftly, and there is never aught in her tales that might bring a blush to the cheeks of her youthful readers. The present volume is daintily bound in green cloth.
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09
hooted him every time he did it.

AlOVNVb l4ti4 every llIllG ne tlu IL.
 As often as not one gets to know fel- low pretty well before finding out that he has a title. The little Princes of Connaught. and even the Duke of Al bany. will boil their own kettles for tea and do duty as flag like any one else; and as interiors and as captains they will be judged by the same standard as their school fellows. It was not only on the playing fields of Eton that the bat tie of Waterloo was won, it was in the school rooms and houses as well"
 There are many other passages in this most interesting book which would be well worth quotation if space permitted. But we must coptent ourselves with the conclusion the author bases on the facts he has gathered. "The public schools are built upon the solid manhood of fifteen generations. and during all that time they have relied for discipline in the main on the native impulses of boy na- ture. The life boys lead, meanwhile, has little by little been bettered as the gen. Sations have become more civilized. If these facts prove anything they prove that the public school system has it's source deep in the best instincts Of the English people. Beyond this no praise is possible
 However. in spite of his enthusiasm for the English system, the author warns American parents against sending their sons abroad to receive a training to- tally at variance with the conditions of life in their native land. Nothing. to my mind. could be more fatal to a boys happiness, or even to his best education. For a boy or a young man educated abroad to ignore the worst he finds at home and take up with the best may be possible; but I think that most thought full parents will agree they have little right to expect such triumph of son. In some cases boys have been snubbed in England for being Americans, and snubbed again when they got back for being too English"
 The proper course, Mir. Corbin consid- CTS. would be to modify American schools after the English pattern. in stead of trying to educate American schoolbOys at English schools In the last chapter he gives a number of shrewd
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09
WELL-TOLD TALES.

A FOREST ORCHID-By Ella Higgin-
 son. New York: The Macmillan Com
 pany. For sale by Doxey. Price s1 50.
 Mrs. Higginson is thoroughly at home when she treats of the Puget Sound country. She has studied both the seen cry and people to advantage and can weave them and their doings into roman ces we'll worth reading. Her last book
 '"The Flower That Grew in the Sand" was well received by press and public, and these new stories should meet with a like warm reception. The initial tale in the book, which gives it its title, is a delicate little love story enacted amid mighty forests. At one place the reader Is led to expect sad ending, but with a skill peculiarly her own Mrs. Higginson makes all things come right at last. There are ten stories altogether. some of
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09
MORBID ENGLISH LIFE.

THE CEDAR STAR-By Mary E. Mann.
 New York: R. F. Fenno & Go. For
 sale by Payot, Upham S Co.
 In her latest story Miss Mann has drawn a graphic but unhealthy picture of English life, which will undoubtedly appeal to a large number of morbid readers. The book deals with a mis- mated couple, an interruptions husband who permits his wife to drown so that he can marry another, an unfortunate lover, and a woman whose affections ultimately prove stronger than her principles. The chapters. however. are of uniform interest, and the writer shows her capability of spinning story with ease and eVenness.
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09

ing the last five or six years the bril- liant young artist, after surmounting more difficulties than most men are obliged to encounter, has been recog- nized as the most gifted black-and- white artist of our time. He is now exclusively retained by Punch and the Graphic, so that his days as a free lance are over. He is anxious that it should be widely known that any sketches which appear in other papers are sketches which were done by him years ago, and are being republished with his signature left in and the date
 CHARACTER SKETCH BY PHIL MAY,
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09
A DUMAS IMPRoMPTU.

Alexander Dumas fills diRed one day with pr. Gistal, one of the most emil nent and popular physicians of Mar seilles. After dinner the company ad- tourned to the drawing room, where coffee was served. Here GistaI said to his honored guest: My dear Dumas. I know you are a capital hand at impro- vising; pray oblige me with four lines in this album With pleasure the author replied. He took his pencil and wrote:
 For the health and well-being of our
 dear old town,
 pr. Gistal has always been anxious
 very.
 Result: The hospital Is now pulled
 down.
 You flattereri" the doctor interrupted. as he looked over the writer's shoulder. But Dumas continued:
 And in its place we've cemetery"
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09
AN AMERICAN ON ENGLISH
 SCHOOLS.

SCHOOL-BOY LIFE IN ENGLAND-Bv
 John Corbin; Harper & Brothers. New
 York. For sale by A. M. Robertson.
 This is not, as it's title would seem to Imply. book for boys, though it is all about boys. Nothing of the boisterous rollicking flavor of Tom Brown is to be found in these pages. There are no juvenile tricks and adventures, no mid night suppers and hair-breadth scapes from indignant masters It is a book rather for parents, and Americans would do well to make a careful study of the theories of secondary education which if propounds when arranging for the edu- cation of their sons. Mir Corbin. who states his case with remarkable luciditv takes three great English schools as typi- cal of the system which prevails across the Atlantic. These are Winchester founded in 1887, Eton in 1440, and Rugby in 1567. Of course the great antiquity of these institutions has given room for de- velopment on the broadest scale; the greatest or all masters, experience, has molded their constitutions on lines which the teaching of centuries has proved most effective.
 MT. Corbin, after a careful study of each of these schools, finds little but praise for their methods. Many of the features which to American parents seem most objectionable are shown to be IT. Take for instance the practice of flag ging, universal at all the great English public schools.
 ''In the past. to be sure, the system of Tagging was often grossly abused; and even to-day it is, like all good institu- tons, liable to abuse, yet altogether too much has been said about its tyranny and brutality. Most small boys are glad enough to be with the big boys. and a senior who plays football Or rows well may have as many youngsters to wait on him as he chooses"
 There is sound common sense in these remarks, and to illustrate his point of view Mir. Corbin revives a good storv about Lord Rosebery. which will bear rep etition. Speaking at a public meeting last year the late Prime Minister of Eng land turned to the chairman, Mr Ack- land the Minister of Education 'It is a long time since you and l, MT. Chair man, first met I have always been a little under your presi6ence, because began as your flag at Eton, and I little thought, when I poached your eggs and made your tea, that we were destined to meet under these very dissimllar circum- stances"
 There can be nothing very wrong in a system which leads to such soundly dem . ocratic results. Take the spirit which prevails at Eton. the most aristocratic of all English schools. We must ad- nit writes Mir. Corbin, 'if we are hon. est" that in any given class there is apt to be more democracy in England than with us. If an Eton boy is a gentleman by birth and instinct he need be nothing more At Oxford or Cambridge Lord So-and-So may find his way where plain So-and-So cannot go. but English school boys refuse to give way 10 mere Lords and Earls. A tradesnlan once told me of the experience of the little Earl of Blank who used to present his card when buy ing things. The other boys found 1t out and followed him from shop to shop. and
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09
A STUDY IN CHILD TRAINING.

PEG BUNSON-By John W. Spear. New
 York: G. W. Dillingham; Company.
 Price $1 9.
 The author of this story apparently be- lieves that the veriest slattern can be converted into a lady If her teachers are only patient and kind. The heroine is young girl of Il, who is ostraciZed by her friends. She is taken in hand, however, by good Samaritan of an engineer, and finally becomes "every inch lady" Many side scenes are wrought into the narrative, which include much conniving at serious criminal deeds and some ex- nerienced detective work.
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09

That there is truth in the old saying eoout a book not being judged by it's binding Is abundantly proved by the publication of this most artistic work How Messrs. Scribner ever allowed such a book to go out into the world with such binding is beyond comprehension. Wlthln, the volume is full of delicate art suggestions. beautiful Old World furni- ture and all the refinements of cultured ire Without, it is cased in the shab- biest and commonest of paper bindings and marbled papers, of all horrors, at that. But leaving the exterior of the volume, after this brief comment, alone, one hnds in 1t much to satisfy ones craving for the beautiful. Furnishings or every epoch during the last 800 years are illustrated by finely executed plates, ranging over an immense variety of sub- 1ects, from an Italian Gothic chest to 2 French pergere Of the Louis XVI period. The authors, who take as their motto Henri Mayeuxs axiom. "Une forme doit cure belle en elle-meme ct on ne doit 9afnals compter sur le decor applique pour en sauver les irnperfections,' have great deal that is instructive to say eoout Inc true inwardnesS of household decoration.
 Their main contention is that archi- tectural features should not be subordi- nate to artificial ornament, that mere superhciahues such as lace curtains and nimsy upholstering work should not be allowed to hide from sight and render Valueless the true features of a dwelling.
 In other words. degenerate modern taste has led to a severance between the ex- terior and the interior of a house. We no longer, in designing room, consider proper proportion and the relation of voids to masses, but rather place re- liance on cheap portable hangings to remedy all defects Unfortunately for this contention, expense has become serious factor in modern life, and the average householder cannot. if he would, afford to live up to these ideals. And as to the builder-wel, he is utterly hope less, it will take a good many volumes of such admirable teaching to compel him to realize his duty toward the interior of the houses he constructs. Still, this vol tune. with its fine letter press and beau tifully engraved plates, is step in the right direction, and if it only influences the minds of a few wealthy people who can afford to accomplish it's high ideas, 1t will do something toward relieving the barbaric crudeness of the average Amer lean home
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09
SOME SOUTHERN TYPES.

THE KENTUCKIANS-By John Fox Jr.
 New York: Harper & Brothers. For
 sale by A NJ Robertson. Price S1 g.
 A dramatic contrast is made in this well-told tale between the two distinctive types of Kentuckians-the "blue grass man and the mountaineer. Boone Stall lard, the mountaineer, is really the hero of the book, and a sturdy character he Is gentle and noble. for all his erudeness, a born leader. Rannie Marshall, the "blue grass" man. stands for a well-known type of Kentucky gentleman. of good birth and family tradition, and finely equipped by education and influence for the public career on whichhe Is fairly launched when the story opens. The first chapters bring
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09
VILLAGE LIFE IN ENGLAND.

THROUGH LATTICE wINDOWS-By
 Dr. w. J. Dawson. New York: Double
 day & Mcclure Go. For sale by Payot,
 Upham & Go.
 After perusing this little volume the American reader will be able to form very good idea of life in a peaceful Eng fish village. The book is in reality a ser ies of character studies, which for their intimacy, realism. sympathy and fine feeling are quite as effective as any prod uct of the Scotch School' Throughout the book several of the characters re- appear in the different tales, thereby com pleting the illusion that one is living among the homely villagers.
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09

The nItn printing OA DT MltcHeiIS s novel, Hugh Wynne," is now under way, bringing the book up to the thirtieth thousand
 A portion of one of A. Conan Doyles Brigadier Gerard stories. which are published by D. Appleton & Co.,. is to bo issued in raised print for the use of the blind.
 E.. Dutton & Go. have just published London ''The Life of Barney I. Bar nato, the Famous African Speculator and Diamond Mine Owner" The book, as has already been announced, is by Henry Raymond, and contains portrait of Barnato.
 Modern English Literature" by Ed mund Gosse, is to be the next volume in the Literatures of the World Series, published by D. Appleton & Co Mir. Gosse begins with the time of Chaucer and comes down to this generation, without, however. including living writers. The London Saturday Review has recently remarked that there is probably no living man more competent than MT. Gosse to write popular and scholarly history of English literature"
 In Audubon and His Journals to be published the last of the month by the Scribners, Miss Maria R. Audobon, the granddaughter or the ornltnotoSfSt, has brought to light much new material about the famous naturalist The MS. had to be deciphered in great part by the aid of Q microscope, not because he wrote badly, but in such extremely fine characters. Dr. Elliott Coues has copi- ously annotated the journals and the two volumes will be large, handsome and ex- pensive.
 Percy Fitzgerald, well known as Dickens authority, is about to issue. through the Roxburghe Press, a volume, 'Pickwickian Manners and Customs" It will contain an early portrait of Boz and original map of the route taken on the Pickwick tour. with an account of the sources. polnts of interest char acters and their originals, and other matters appertaining to the immortal "Pickwicl." The December number of Chambers Journal will. by the way. con- tain Maltus Q. Holyoakes Memories of Charles Dickens"
 The book stalls along the quays of Paris are going to be swept away. This is melancholy news. There are no more attractive spots in ali Paris-in all Flu rope, one might say. Many an hour have we spent in browsing along that water front. going from stall to stall. picking up book here and there. chatting with the vendorS-old men or old women, as the case might be. If petitioning would do any good, we could get up a document a mile long. With those book stalls gone, we should almost feel that we never wished to visit Paris again. certainly not the left bank of the Seine,
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09

four years for trying to obtain money under false pretenses. He is sent out to Australia, attempts to escape and has an extra two years added to his sentence. Finally he goes to South Africa and To- cates diamond field, and with a few millions in his pockets returns to the damsel who has been waiting for him for over six years. They are married and settle down, but 1t finally turNs out that the girls own mother had helped to de- stroy the novel and permitted her son. in-law to go to jail without saying a word fin his defense. The young couple finally turn the objectionable mother-in-law out of their house, but as she is already re- married to a wealthy British soap mer- chant she snaps her fingers at them. Miss Montresor has written three other novels. but this one is the most preten- tiOus of the lot
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09
INSTRUCTIVE, INTERESTING.

OVER THE ANDES-By Hezekiah But
 terworth. Boston: w 4. Wilde & Co.
 Price S1 50.
 The South America of to-day presents a most interesting subject for study as its history is that of constant struggle for liberty against oppression. The sub ject Is an interesting one and MT. But terworth has done justice to the high ideals that have inspired many of the great South American men. Out of quaint stories and fanciful legends he has woven together romance that Is we'll worth reading
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09
VERSES BY A MINOR POET.

SONGS OF LIBERTY AND OTHER
 POEMS-By Robert U. Johnson. New
 York: The Century Company.
 Apart from a certain amount of polish and metrical accuracy these poems have little to win an audience outside of the circle of the authors friends MT. Johnson sings chiefly of the Greeks and Servians and the late troubles in their respective countries, but he does not sue ceed in saying anything very original. A few poems in a minor key are inter spersed between these others and some of them are worthy of a second perusal. The volume is daintily printed and neatly bound.
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09
TWO WORKS ON CHILD STUDY.

A MANUAL OF MENTAL SCIENCE
 By Jessie A. Fowler. New York: Fowler
 & Wells Company.
 Phrenology is nowadays no longer as- sociated with Quackery and charlatanry, but has evolved into something like a science and is well worthy of study. Mrs. Fowler has written book applying this science to children. claiming, with a cer- tain amount of reason. that for proper instruction teachers must understand the pupils and their inherited tendencies. The work is especially adapted to meet the needs of the many teachers who are in- terested in mental science and who are seeking assistance in the pursuance of this study. Numerous illustrations and charts are given, likewise explana- tions for cultivating and restraining the needful faculties by a simple knowledge of the clements in each mind. The book will also prove of incalculable value to those who have taken up phrenology as a pastime or as a means of earning their bread and butter.
 CHIIDREN'S wAYS-By James Sully
 New York: D. Appleton & Co.
 The awakened interest in the young and their training presageS well for the future welfare of the race. There have hitherto been too few writers like Mir. Sully, who has made child-life a study and whose advice concerning the education of chill dren is well worth listening to. We know very little about the little ones. and the tendency to classify them together is as hurtful as it is general. Before an attempt can be made to properly edu- cate them and broaden their minds. ac- curate knowledge as to the cause Of theiT dreamings and whims is absolutely neces- sary That the number of failures in the world is so large is mainly due to the fact that so little attention is given to children as such. Their actions are either misconstrued or permitted to pass
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09
SARAH GRAND HITS BACK.

The author of 'rhe Heavenly Twins and "The Beth Book has turned upon her critics. The Saturday Review, the Athenaeum. the Spectator. the Academy and the London Times have been busily roasting ''The Beth Book with appella- tions such as: 'the worst drfvel yet "a putrid garbage heap and 'woman's worst offense." The review in the Daily Telegraph is the one, however, that elicits rejoinder. From Cambo Classes Pyren- ees), under date November 22, she writes to the editor as follows:
 Sir: My distance from home makes
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09
TWO EDUCATIONAL WORKS.

ELEMENTARY EXERCISES IN BOTANY
 By Volney Rattan. San Francisco: The
 Whitaker & Ray Co. Price 70 cents.
 This is a handy little manual for bot anists of the Pacific Coast, compiled by a teacher of botany in the California State Normal School of San Jose. It Is a complete work of its kind, is full Of many interesting facts here first pub hshed, and contains several hundred il- illustrations of flowers and their parts.
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-09
AN UP-To-DATE ROMANCE.

THE LADY OF THE VIOLETS-By
 Frank West Rollins. Boston: Lee &
 Shepard. Price S1.
 This is an interesting story of the financial career of two young ladies of the self-reliant, fin-de-siecle American girl type, who, passing successfully from their modest bachelor quarters in Ninety-ninth street, New York. through the financial maelstrom of Wall street, become the patron saints of their native town. After restoring the former pres