The times., 1899-12-22
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

ca Is the title OF small volume with
many Illustrations The author. Lewis e.
Strans has covered his ground very thor
oughiy. giving brief chapter TO every az
tress worth mentioning IN thls country.
while his criticisms are, as dramatic crit
icism goes. very good indeed Thers arc
about twenty-five illustrations. an photo
gravures. and including pictures % Nal3a
Adams as Babbie ard as Juliet. OF Minnie
MaddeTn Fiske as Tess. OF Mary Manner
ing as Rose TreiaWny. and 81 Julia Arthur.
Blanche Bates Mrs. Leslie Garter Lillian
Lawrence. Annie Russell. and many others
in their most famous characters. Tee book
viii be charming souvenir volume Tor
any girl interested in the stage for &c IS
/ daintily bound and printed, and the pie
lures are very good indeed. tBostou. J.
c. Page & Co. $L501
San Isidro. by Mrs. Schuyler Crown
iushield, is little story Of Latin America
apparently Mexico. though the label q the
scene is not obtrusive. The here who is
not much OF a hero. IS one Don Beltraa.
and the heroine a Spanish octoroou. Azue-
da. a gentle, simple. exquisitely pathetic
little figure. There is another love story
in the book. that OF Raguei. nie.e OF an
old Spanish william. and Don Sileusio, her
lover, who Tescues and defends her from
her uncle. Eventually an American cousin
Of BeitTan's appears on the scene. a pe-t
and altogether unlOysly maiden. and her
advent brings woe to Agueda Tae story s
original IN plot and perfect il character
drawing. so far as Il goes. though il makes
no preteusions to being anything but
simple study OF certain phases OF Mexican
life. It deals with a problem, but ls artis-
tic and ia no sense a problem novel ard
that Is refreshing tChicagO. Herbert s.
Stone & Co. $1.5oJ
Active Service" is the latest work Of
Stephen Crane. and candOr compels one TO
admit that Mr.. Cranes name is the
only remarkable thing about it. SOme Of
this authors work may be bizarre. out is
at any rate original In this book there is
nothing Of either quality. and after having
been raised upon a pinnacle OF expectation
by the fact that this is rather an ambitious
work OF Mr.. Cranes and deals with scenes
in which be figured as war correspondent.
the reader is forced to descend with a most
inglorious flop. The hero of the story is
a war correspondent. Rufus Coleman, and
the heroine the daughter Of a college pre-
fessor, Marjory Wainwright by name. For
no apparent reason MarjOry's father Oh
iscts violently 70 C0ieman-that begins he
story with a jerk. For no reason she ap-
sends Coleman away IN a condition OF de-
spair which eventually results 90 bis GET
ting tpsy. In pursuance Of che same ec-
centric plan or action the novelist now
takes MaTiOTy, il company with her father
and mother and eight coilegs students. 20
Greece just before the beginning Of tna
GrecO-Turkish war and ,hither Coleman
goes as correspondent Tor the sole pur-
pose Of pursuing a girl who has rsjecied
MIN without any reason for IT, This. Of
course, lands the characters fatIy in he
middle Of the country where Mr.. Crane has
determined that they shall be, but the whole
thing is very wooden, indeed. Further con-
plicatiOus are made by the Introduction OF
an actress who, as We are given 70 under
stand, is a comic opera queen. and much
smitten with Coleman. This Interesting
lady forces herself upon Coleman IN va
riOus rather unpleasant ways. and the col
lege students talk slang. and Coleman De-
haves like giant, a hero, and yellow
Journal correspondent all combined. Finally,
MsrjOFy concludes TO accept Coleman. and it
all ends happily. Just as it might have ended
on the fifth page, instead or the three hun
dred and forty-ffth. (Chicago; Frederick
A. Stokes Company
Standard Whist by Annie Blanche
Shelby, is 8 little book whose entire scope
and character are fully explained on the
title page. This is the full title, Stand
ard Whist: An exponent OF the principles
and rules OF the modern scientific game Of
whist as adopted by the American Whist
League at the ninth American Whist Con
gress cOnvening at Chicago July 10. 1899,
TO which is appended the laws OF whist
and the etiquette OF whist as revised and
adopted at the third American Whist Con
gress. Chicago, June, 1893. and the laws
Of duplicate whist as revised and submitted
at the eighth American Whist Congress,
and adopted on trial for another year az
the ninth American Whist Congress. En-
oracing also q complete glossary OF con-
mon and technical terms" II viii be seen
from this that the book while not parLic-
llarlys deep or original, is a fairly complete
summary of the general laws and rules
governing the game and likely 10 be very
useful to whist clubs composed of people
who are not very brilliant or scientific
players and need some information at times.
CChicago: Herbert s. Stone & Co S10oJ
Roberts, and If the tine OF the action were
one hundred years ago instead of the pres
ent IL would be a historical novel. The
central figure OF the plot is Cecil Rhodes,
under the very thin disguise OF the name
Eustace LOder; and the interest centres in
the financing OF the Cape 10 Cairo Railway.
Of course, the pun on Mr.. Rhodes name is
rather obvious, and so are the likeuessas
which various other people in the book bear
TO figures IN international politics. Mr..
Roberts has simply taken an incident Of
.he history OF England in Af.ica, and woven
with the facts thread Of romance.
The principal feminine factor IN this
story-she can hardly be called heroine
is lady who pursues Mr.. LCder most
openly, her intent being matrimOny. as II
SAYS in the personal columns. To this end
she arranEes all sorts OF schemes FOR get
ting a tete-a-tete with him, In some OF
which she is aided and sbetted by her
chaperone. and by a luckless young attache
named Hinton who is made the eats 's-paw
to pull this extraordinary young ladys
chestnuts out OF the fire BY the FIRE Of
I.oder's wrath. Gertrude BroughtOn is a
fairly good example OF the brilliant WO-
man who. for want OF something to occupy
her mind. becomes silly. fOOlhardy, End ca
lricious. She caps the climax OF her re-
doings by entangling herst in
LOder's affairs in such way that he IS
obliged TO give her the interview she
seeks. or give up the plan on which his
whole being is set. The working out OF
al this is undeniably clever, and the char
icters are well drawn. That OF LOter, IN
particular will give many people a fairly
good idea of one OF the most remarkable
men Of the present day. IL may err a little
N the side OF hero-wOrship, but not much.
New York Harper & Bros S1-25-)
Saints in Art" is a volume OF the Art
overs Series, now including six volumes
The authorP Clara Erskiue Clement, is we'll
.nown as a writer Of popular books on art,
md her present work fully sustalHs her
equation. The book. like others in the