The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-05-29

Publishery' Notes.
Mr.. Meltzer. whose translation of The
Sunken Bell" by Gerhart Hauptmann, Ia
soon TO be published by r. Fl. Russell, has
received a letter from Hauptmann. author
izing this translation
The open Court Publishing Company, OF
Chicago. has Just issued a translation OF
DR.. Alfred Binet's Psychology of Rea-
soning" as based on experimental research
es in hypnotism- DIR. Binet is one OF the
leading French psychologists. His book.
which is a successful one. is now in its Sec
ond French edition, and has been COM
mcnded by Francis Cation as being clear
and soli1, and deserving Of careful reading
two or three times over" Cloth. Is cents
Marie corelli has in preparation for Dodd.
Mead & Co. a new novel. the title of which
is as yet undetermined II has been some
time since this writer has offered the pub
lie a long. serious piece of fiction. In the
meanwhile she has been studiously at work
on her forthcoming work. but has still found
time to write one or two short stories,
ana one or two slight. brief books. The
terpiece. and would have her fame, IL fame
she is 10 have, perpetuated by IL. The book
Is written quite In her early style of phras-
ing: the scene is laid in Rome. and the
action centers around certain phases OF
Roman Catholicism.
TRANSACTIONS OF Robert W. Chambers's
Ashes of Empire are prohibited in Ger
many. the Kaiser having taken a personal
dislike 10 the book. In the meantime, the
novel has begun 10 stir the critics OF both
Germany and France. while In England It
Of the season. In The Conspirators.'' now
running as a serial in Harper's Weekly.
Mr.. Chambers has taken another liberty
with a playful abandon calculated to arouse
even less vain monarchs TO frenzy. The
Conspirators' viii ultimately be presented
in book form by the Frederick A Stokes
Company.
G. F. Putnam's Sons announce for publ
cation early in June a book Of instructions
for swimmers; not only beginners. but ex-
perts. The book is entitled How to SWIM"
1t has been written by Capt. Davis Dalton.
champion long-distance swimmer of tho
world. chief inspector of the United States
Volunteer Life Saving Corps. The author
Won wide renown by swimming across the
in the water t~wenty-three and a half hours.
He swan. upon his back and. being car
seventy-two miles. In addition to what
might be called the Elementary Age Of
Swimming" Captain Dalton has included
strokes and trick swimming: a set of rules
covering swimming contests and a system
of handicapping.
Cassell & Co.. limited, New York. have
ready al entirely new edition Of Lewis
Wright's Practical Poultry Keeper" The
first edition of this work was published in
1867. its object being to give practical de-
tails with such clearness and simplicity that
1t might be put into the hands of a person
totally ignorant of poultry keeping, with
the reasonable certainty that its ~instruc-
tons. IL followed. would command success"
A twentieth edition has just been issued.
The work in its new dress is considerably
enlarged and two Of the colored plates are
devoted to varieties Of poultry which have
been recently introduced. The facts and the
truth are becoming more defined respecting
the vexed question of poultry farming and
some endeavor has been made to set forth
that truth. and to correct the exaggerations
which have been published on both sides.
The Review of Reviews says of Mr..
Charles Majors novel, when Knighthood
Was in Flower" that 1t is a work of real
power. and adds: 1.-THE book is as free as
possible from the various tricks and arti-
fatalities so common in attempts of this
kind, but its simplicity is its strength. II
is a plain, Straightforward tale of life, not
without occasional crudities of diction, not
always faultless when tried by accepted
standards of literary construction, but yet,
after all deductions have been made, a book
Of rare merits; As a character study: Mr..
markable, but the author deserves quite as
much praise for his unusual success in sur
rounding all his characters with what Is
technically known as the "atnosphere" OF
their times. This is what gives the work
it's wonderful unity and nsistency-qual-
tiles obviously lacking in so many would-be
historical novels. None but a devoted
student of English history. could have pro-
duced such an effect. One hesitates TO class
Mr.. Majors effort with the romances OF
Anthony Hope: Ii reminds US rather or the
genius of Sir Walter Scott. and without
going back to Scott IL would not be easy
to find its equal in its particular field. As
suredly. the spirit of romanticism is not
dead"
Although much has been said and written
about the liquor problem. there is COM
paratively but little literature which CONF
mands the confidence of impartial minds.
Approaching the Importance of this prob
lem and the lack of accurate Information
on the subject. a number of leading citizens.
among them President Eliot. Seth Low,
Carroll D. Wright. Bishop Potter and
Charles Dudley Warner, resolved themselves
into a committee of fifty a few years ago
and instituted a comprehensive investiga-
ton. In 1897 a report was. made upon the
which attracted much attention. The Sec
ond report of the series. entitled The Eco
nomic Aspects of the Liquor Problem. has
Just been published by Houghton, Miffiin
& Co., and Is of immense practical interest.
The careful study of thousands found In
prisons and almshouses scattered about the
country. and of many applicants TO chari-
to what extent crime and poverty are due
to the LIQUOR habit. The relative effect OF
liquor upon various nationalities comprising
our cosmopolitan population Is also pointed
out. and chapters are devoted to the relation
of the Indian and negro to the liquor prob