The San Francisco call., 1899-10-22
A Review of the Most Striking Books of the Week.

Railroad" worked UP some plots, senti-
mental or sensational and staged the
whole with railroad properties. The real
natural, actual life Of the railroad is not
in his book. His heroism is not the hero
ism the railroad man is called on to
show; his sentiment is not railroad sentt-
Mr.. Handlers I'VE Win is of a differ
ent type. 1t is an honest narrative of a
healthy, natural young boy, who has
pluck and good nature and perseverance,
and who is made lucky by the author
The railroad element is more simply and
genuinely treated than in Mr.. Hills work,
but 1t is only an accident Of the story,
not the medium in which it lives. What
there Is Is thin and weak. The scenes are
homely pictures of rural American life
the country picnic the lOVe-making, the
high-fown speeches. are as vivid as pho
tographs. Indeed, the book is open to the
charge OF utter commonplacenesS in sub
stance, tone and sentiment. A certain
good-tempered sincerity makes 1t pleas
Captain Bradys Tales of the Tele-
graph" belongs to a different class The
author has really understood what he
undertook to do. Here the situations
grow out Of the natural circumstances of
q teIegraphers occupation. No one but
a telegrapher could have been placed as
MS characters are; no one but a teegra-
pner would have thought, acted and joked
like them. And yet they are not tele-
graphic machines or oddities, but men,
most remarkably like you" Their Ian
guage Is not 50 extremely technical as to
trageoy. IN heroism and tenderness, these
little stories are alive and true.
captain Brady's weakness is a neglect
OF finish and of dignity His work is
marred by too liberal realism Of style
employed when II is not needed for dra-
matte effect The result is a lack of con-
trast to set off his characters and make
their peculiarities distinct. The language
and sentiment which ought 10 be confined
to the characters are assumed by the
author. Thus the whole book is made to
seem rude in manner and commonplace
in feeling If Captain Brady could unite
delicacy and distinction with his evident
force of imagination his work would de-
serve the name art.
owe Win by Herbert e. Hamblen;
'Tales of the Telegraph" by J. r Brady.
York;
That Professor saintsbury. who has
read everything and is writing about II as
fast as he can should in time reach Mat
thew Arnold is but natural. Matthew
Arnold must be to him a fascinating Cp-
posite. Arnold was in a way liberal;
he was a believer in equality without be-
ing democratic; in q church without dog
ma in criticism without a philosophy Of
criticism; his personality, as shown IN his
writings, is urbane; his style has charm,
philosophic exactness. of thought; his
weakness is in the direction of shining too
lambently and with too little heat. Saints
bury burns with smoky fame he IS
convinced aristOcrat, dogmattst, metaphy-
sician he has faith in an ordered philosi-
ply Of style. When he exhibits himself
r is usually in a perverse way. His style,
in spite Of his declamations on melody, is
at times to be paralleled for whimsical
amorphousness only by authors three cen
turtles old Yet in spite OF this d1nerence
of temper between Professor Saintsbury
and the subject of his book We find that
he cannot only exactly, but warmly and
noblv. admire that which he can assimi-
late Of Arnold's work. However perverse
in Individual judgment Professor Saints
bury's criticism may be he cannot be
the failure to warm to great work. The
book however, is, not safe Introduction
TO Matthew Arnold It is tedious minute
and one-sided If you know Arnold's
works by heart you will he interested in
what Professor Saintsbury says about
heart. do not depend upon Professor
Saintsbury.