The Portland daily press., 1899-03-07
MAGAZINE NOTICES.

The March Mcclure S is an unusually
good number of a magazine that never
fails to supply something out Of the ordi
nary. An account of Tripler's invention
and process for reduction of ordinary air to
"a liquid of such wondrous potency that 1t
may displace steam and electricity and
supply, at next to no cost, all the force
required in oil the mechanical operations
of life, brings us to the ledge of the fu-
ture' with sweep that take one's
breath. Somewhat the same palpitant
expectancy is raised by Lieutenant
Peary's account of his plans and hopes
for the new exploration for the North
Pole, in the prosecution of which he is
now established somewhere in the vloinity
of Lincoln Sea, 81 or SO degrees north lat
itude. No less interesting in their sever
al ways, and scarcely less striking, are a
seriesof Sketches in Egypt" drawn by
Charles Dana Gibson, with some genial
comment and description written by the
artist himself; some entirely new reiuin-
isoenees of Lincoln, showing his relations
with Fremont, Mcclellan, Cameron, and
stanton. and illustrating his rare tact
and consideration in dealing with men in
ratiye) Of the way in which the artist
Iissot came TO take up his great work of
picturing the life OF Christ, and Of the
manner in which he executed 1t; and in
cidents and anecdotes of General Woods
great work in the regeneration of Santa
60, furnished by ii. II. Lewis. who him
self spent some time at Santiago with
General Wood.
The Social Growth of the Colony is dis
cussed by James Collier in the leading ar
ticle i'll Appleton's Popular Science
Monthly for March. Politics as Form
of Civil War, by Franklin Smith, contains
a trencbant criticism of present political
methods and points out the essential sim
ilarity. in results at Least, between mod
ern politics and war. Prof. Norman
Robinson, who has attained considerable
eminence as IA writer on popular natural
history, describes and pictures a curious
pet IN an article entitled My Pet Scor-
pion. The Peoples OF the balkan PENN
sula, by Prof. William u. Ripley, de-
scribes the Greeks. Slavs. and Turks whu
inhabit this curious corner of Europe;
unique geographically as well as racial
ly. An extremely important article, The
Marvellous Increase in Gold Production,
is by A. L. Outerbridge, Jr. whose faith
er was for many years Director of the
Mint. The California Penal System, by
Charles Howard Shinn, Is an illustrated
account of the history and pre'en condi-
ton of the California tats prisons. The
unsatisfactory results of the first Behring
Sea Commission of 1899 has led the public
TO overlook the very different and vslu-
able work of the later commission of 1897
Mr.. George A. Clark gives an account of
the latter's conclusions in an article en-
tilted The Scientific Expert and the Behr-
ing sea Controversy, and draws moral
by contrasting the personnel OF the TWO
bodies, after comparing the results of
their respective inquiries.
The complete novel in the March issue
of Lippinscott's is The Sport of Cir
cuIustnnces. by Clariuda Pendleton La
mar. a tale of modern Southern life.
Joseph A. Nunez, in an article on Gu
ba, gives timely and interesting facts re-
lating to animal and vegetable lite in our
new possession. Recollections of Lon
don Lawner, by q. Burnett Smith, tells
amusing incidents of London Law Courts,
especially connected with the career OF
Montagu Williams. Owen Hall, in I'm
peTialism-An Estimate, talks about the
colonization. Brainerd's Idol, by VIM T.
Nichols, is n tale of an ambitious editor,
and is followed by the Perception of the
Picturesque, by j. Hunter. William NJ
Tisdale gives an interesting sketch of
Chinese Physicians in California, with
details about their prescriptions and
diagnosis. Mendicity as a Fine Art, is
treated Of by Francis j. Ziegler. Gerald
Inc Bonner has romaatio story emit tied.
His Honor