The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-11-07
CONCERNING BOOKS.

Among the novels Of the season recently
published By the Harpsrs, portland;
Lorins, Short s. Harmony there are not
ably Kis Kennedy. BY 8. Il. Crockstt;
The Enohantet Typewriter. by John
Ksndrick bangs; He. Shs and They.
by Albert Lss; A new edition Of
Merriam's The Sewers; Gavin Hamilton.
by Molly Elliot Ssawsil. and Aaoinac
Stories. BY Mary Hartwell Cathsrwood-
Kit Kennedy has all the usual charac-
t,risties Of Mr.. Crockstt's writings;
the faults, and the fine qualities for both
of which this writer is noted. That
the latter prevail In the present story al
readers will admit. Upon the whole
I should say that Kit 10 rather ona Of
the best things that Mr.. Crockett has
done, and is quite SURE to be popular
among his many admirers. II 10 rather
q sad tile Of middle Glass people. Lillian
Armour, the daughter Of q country Scotch
kirk elder has yuarrie unhsppily so that
poor Kit, her son. hes hard life Of It,
However, jus. as We are thinking there
is never to be . rift In the clouds they
lit and we get a CLEAN Of sunshine. The
villain Of the story comes to bad end
to the relief of every body. and the man
who IL more weak than wicked turns
from the error of his ways and concludes
to "behave himself" 30 that Kit and
his mother have better outlook when
we close the book, than We could have
believed possible in the beginning. There
is not too much dialect, which will be q
relief to those who do not like 1t.
The Enchanted Typewriter IL IN Mr..
Bangs's usual vein. !. O., weird and
gnostly, serio -comic and impossible. Mr..
Peter Newell seems TO have occurred for
the purpose OF illr stratinR precisely this
SORT OF book. SO ably does his I'm agery aid
the text.
The story, II IL may be called that runs
in this wise. The raoonteur discovers In
his attic, an ancient typewriter. which
he has plaoed In his apartment. and soon
learns that invisible hands are working
upon 1t, and hszy spirits from Hades
click communications 10 him. Boswell
and Xantipps In particular gave him
valuable Information as to nfo on
the Styx, and indulge In much good
natured and amusing satire anont their
COM aniona In the land Of shades.
There seem to be some queer perform
ancss there according to Boswell, who
edits the "Stygisn Gazette" and who 10
thrown into q dungeon where South Sea
Savages tattoo upon his back some OF his
own verses. adding in red letters under
them. "This edition strictly limited to
Une copy, for private circulation only"
Again the narrator has Xanthippe to
contend with and thinks of sending for
his wife to assist him. For. says he:
woman better than do. She has never
wanted to vote. and my collars are safe
In her hands. She has frequently OBJ
served that her greatest blessing Is that
she was born woman instead Of man,
and the new women Of the town never
leave her presence without wondering In
their own minds whether they are not
mere humorous contributions Of the AL
mighty to too serious world "
The author declares that all his state
msnts ara truthful, although being ut
present cut OF from the realms Of the
Styx, he cannot prove them.
Mr.. Albert Lee has given US a very
She and They-being a faithful and
sprightly record of "the wofuI enJoyments
and joyful woes of Him and Her." b
very charming young and newly married
couple. who are 50 cleveriy drawn that
we all feel sure that he mum bers; the
Benton's among our friends and acquain-
ances. But for the illustrations Of nthis
little volume one can only speak of them
for want Of better tsrm-as ths under
done variety, because instead Of careful
work the artist sndeavors to produce his
effects by q few coarse lines and black
slpirches It is difficult to tall in one in
stance upon which side Of the figure is
the lady's face; and in another ether the
young woman's bonnet Ia on her head, or
upon the wall behind her. AS
for psrspsctivs-the artist evidently
scorns IL.
Mr.. Bernard Capes's Our L,dy of
Darkness Is novel diffieult to class. II
II were not SO bad 1t would be better, for
the author Is unnecessarily coarse In his
rendering Of SUBJECTS and objects which
might be Interesting and certainly clever.
nut which are rendered nauseating by
touches Of faint Moreover the Style Is
stiitsd and involved as II to be simple
were to be commonplace.
A network Of elaborate words 90 over
lies the idea that it sometimes almost
conceals 1t, ana one is 70 distracted by