The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1899-09-10
THE TIMES: RICHMOND Va SUNDAY. SEPTEMBER 1899
Authors

THE LADDER or FORTUNE. By
Frances Courtenay Baylor. Boston and
New York. Houghton. Mifilin & Co.
Bound In cloth, $50 pages. price $50.
The Ladder Of Fortune IS a novel show
ing distinctive American types the man
who gives his life 20 the struggle OF
amassing malIte. and his wife whose high
est ambition and aim IS 20 be society
leader. The man IS tho orphaned son or
a Californian pioneer, who married
little miiiiner from St. LOUIS. lhcy
both succeed in their eudcaNors, the VIE
using her husbands money as an enter
ing wedge to force the golden gates that
guard the entrance into upper tendon.
After years OF struggle, each hnds ina
the desire gained Is but as apples o.
SodOm." The man discovers that having
almost unlimited means, yet ne does TOT
know how 10 get any genuine pleasure
from his wealth, and that the only pleas
ure left him IS % make more money.
simply that he may have some occupa-
ton. He dimiy sees that IN giving UP
himself TO moncy-making, that ne mas
pissed By that vhich makes IRE worth
living. the love OF wife and children, the
satisfaction that come from good decds
done and dies, q person OF no account in
his own house. surrounded by every evil
dencc o. wealth. Yet o. pauper I'm love.
His wife ls too busy with big reception
10 take tine 20 soothe her dying husband.
dark hour, and be dies, ar he mas hVeo'
alone and with the words "a failure my
NE. perfect failure" on his lips
The wife. after many rebuffs. finds her
self "a great lady" marics her daugh-
ter 10 n Marquis, who squanders his Wite.s
wealth and SO maireats her that she Is
forced 20 take shelter under the maternal
roof. much 20 her mothers disgust. 1he
son grows I'D. and under ms mother IN
huence, concciycs a contempt Tor honest
tol. 0nd, having been educated IN Europe
absorbs the vices Of the continent win
spongelilze capacity. and ends his career
by forging his fathers name for hfty
| THOUSAND dollars. and flying 10 Spain.
The only attractive characters I'm the
book are those Of the younger daughter.
a loyal. lovable American girl. proud n
her country. loving her father and max
ing him love her. end Ter American sweet
heart. for whose sake she has refused men
of title. and who is the noble fellow such
q woman deserves.
Tho book is we'll written, bringing out
with firm, strong. truths the lights and
shadows Of the characters portrayed. Inc
pen picture OF the woman, who has
climbed % the highest round Of The social
! ladder, Is pithy and TO the point. Job
/ served by the curious, assailed by the
envious sought by the selfish, gushed
over by the insincere, used By the am
bilious"
THE WAR WITH SPAIN. BY Henry
Cabot Lodge. New York and London:
Harper d Brothers. Bound in cloth.
gilt top. illustrated 216 pages. Price $3.50.
One lays aside this history with dis
tnct sense OF disappointment. but very
pleasant disappointment for II Is truly
refreshing. after the numerous magazine
/ articles and sensational histories Of the
Spanish War. 10 read a book that deals
with something else than mere lighting
The author writes from a philosophical
point Of view. attempting 90 trace each
effect 20 its cause and 10 assign TO each
act its proper place in the ever moving
world forces. dealing thus not merely with
the naval and military operations, but also
! with the diplomatic and political SIDE Of
the conflict. in the first CHAPTER the
author discusses the Unsettled Question
that kept seeking an answer until settled
IN 1898. When the United States I'm 1S-5
prevented Mexico and Colombia from IN
vading Cuba and freeing her from the
yoke that they themselves hdu iHloMl
off. she assumed q heavy responsibility
and attempted TO stay a great movement
at once racial, political and economic at a
point selected by herself. But the Cuban
question would not stay settled and at
last after throe.quarters OF a century the
United States was compelled to complete
the work she had attempted In $50. The
thunder OF The Amer can guns az Manila
and Santiago ushered I'm the last act Of a
world drama and brought 90 ht con-
cluslon the long strife between the people
who stood for civil and religious liberty
and those who stood for bigOtry and
tyranny. When that thunder died away.
Spain had ceased 90 rule and the reen'-
less world forces which govern the des-
TIMES OF mankind had without pity strip
ped her Of her vast empire, because she
had proved herself unfit 10 rule. Thus
moro than seventy years later this Re
public had had to fight a war because at
| the appointed time. she had brought TO a
| halt the movement 20 free the new world
| from the oppression of the old, a move
ment she herselfe had started.
Then follows a description Of the naval