The San Francisco call., 1898-11-20

TN the Cage by Henry James, is book
 concerning the merits of which there
 Is sure to be q great diversity of opin-
 ion The reader who is looking for a Il story full of incident and easy to read will be disappointed. The reader who is looking for very high class literary production will also be disappointed.
 What, then, is the quality of the work?
 This question is easier asked than an swered, but there is a charm about Tn the Cage" that only seems to reveal itself after certain paragraphs have been read several times
 The reader unacquainted with the style of writing will remark that it is "a queer book" and possibly cast it aside
 Nevertheless Tn the Cage" is well worth reading, and when finished 1t will leave impressions on the mind that VIII not vanish in a day.
 It might be said that from literary point of view the style of writing is too high for the subject. In paragraphs the style is fit for an allegory. and yet the subjects handled are of the most com monplace. There seems to be the point Subject and style or writing are lhcoh-
 What little plot there is to the story is Uound around a poor English girl who spends her life behind the wire cage of telegraph office. Here she meets ana knows people that she never sees else 
 even know the persons positions in lie, and yet their affairs become a part or her being. Her narrow horizon recedes nt- tie beyond the walls Of the grocery-store where the telegraph office Is located, when she feels an interest m the doinss of others. Of course. the Engllsh noniliIy Is brought into the story, and the virtues and crimes of the different leaders or So- ciety make a dazzling impression on the She handles telegrams from one of the highest peers in the realm, and inclden- tally learns certain facts not to his iorQ- ships credit. She puts, several lncldents something In the end, however, 1t turns out that she was all wrong. ohe llH4ty Social sphere in which the cage IS located. A well-to-do groceryman IS the Happg nap " man. At least. this is what the reader IS left to infer when the vague put dlIlosl tragic end is reached. ,.-
 I1 spite of his unusual style of dealing x,,ifb his subject MT. James word painting is very vivid when once his coloring Is Understood It is also both truth1ul ana strong. Following are a few sentences or the opening paragraphs ana VII VIII serve 'o give an idea of the style or writing:
 It had occurred to her early that in her po- sition-that of a young person spendlng. m framed and wired confinement. the hte @ or a great many persons without their recoshlziHs the acquaintance That made 1t an emotion l!,h the more Iivey-though singularly rare ana always. even then, with opportunity still very much smothered-to see any one come Tn whom 
 could add something to the poor identity Of her function. Her function was to sit there with two young men-the other telegraphlst and the counter clerk; to mind the ''sounder. which was always going, to dole out stamps and postal orders weigh letters. answer stupid questions, give difficult change, and, more than anything else, count words as numoerless as the sands of the sea. the words of the tele- grams thrust, from morning to night, through the gap left in the high lattice, across the encountered shelf that her forearm ached with rubbing. This transparent screen fenced out or fenced in, according to the side Of the mar row counter on which the human lot was cast the duskiest corner of shop pervaded not 8 little. in winter, by the poison of perpetual gas and at all times by the presence of hams; cheese dried fish. soap, varnish, parathn and other solids and fluids that she came to know perfectly by their smells without consenting to know them by their names. The barrier that divided the little post-and-telegraph-o office from the grocery frail structure of wood and wire but the social. the professional sep quite remarkable had spared her the necessity of contributing at all publicly to bridge.
 Herbert s. Stone & Co, publishers, Chi cago. For sale by all booksellers. Price $l 9.