The record-union., 1899-04-28
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

"Porto Rico and the West Indies" by
| Margherita .Arlina Hamm. This is an
Illustrated paper covered volume of
23O pages; the print is large, and the
| Illustrations are half-toneS. The author
states that her book was inspired by
two visits to the West Indies-one just
before the Cuban rebellion, the other
| inst prior to the Spanish American
| War AS a result, she gives the two
aspects of the people she met-that of
neace that of war; The book serves
well as a guide and handbook, though
if is not written with the care that be-
longs to a. more pretentious work; the
| general tone of the chapters is that,
rather, of a. series of bright newspaper
articles. Among other things, the
twenty-five chapters treat Of the fol-
lowing topics The animal world, lower
forms of marine life, vegetation, peo-
pie. history, government, social life.
city life. women's world, cookery, COM
merce. coffee and sugar industries, to-
bacco- raising, agriculture, opportuni-
ties. governmental problems. Much in
formation is crowded into this little
volume. F. Tennyson Nicely, New
York, publisher.
'She of the West" is the name of a
cloth-bound volume of 264 pages, COM
prising sixteen short stories by Frank
B. Willard.
cess of Rudyard Kipling and other
short story writer's, Mr. Willard has
been tempted to issue his previously
! paWcpapor oo1 ,,,o 1i,, O
stories in book form-which is 'She of
the West" named that because many
stories pertain to Western women. "A
Pretty Bandit" is the first story, which
is followed by "A Girl Reporter" "All
for a Mormon Girl Kate of the
Desert" and like yarns Probably the
best story of the collection is ION the
| Caliente Trail" which illustrates the
hardships of travel and the scarcity of
water in the barren mesas around Flag
staff. 1t is picturesque, concise, and
we'll written.
1t may be said that every story in
the volume is gracefully told, and some
! have more than ordinary power The
author shows that he has fallen under
the spell of Bierce, whose trenchant
style has somewhat colored that of his
/
has been toned down; and there is heart
in Mr. Millard's stories, which cannot
be said of his models masterpieces.
Here and there are evidences that the
author has fallen into the Kipling
swing, though he is by no means a
slavish imitator of anybody To sum
up the entire matter, it may be said
that the volume contains "a batch of
high-class newspaper stories; they are
light, catchy and free from. problems.
Lovers of such literature will find the
volume just the thing for filing in q
few idle hours. They occupy a place
| between mere newspaper stories and
literature proper Published by The
Continental Company, New York.
THE Two Standards is the name of
an elaborate novel, by Rev. DR.. William
Barry of London. The author will be
remembered as the author of THE New
Antigone," which novel appeared in
1887, making the writer famous in the
circle of readers that like the Howells
and James type of stories. The pub
fishers give the following synopsis of
the plot and purpose of the story: DIR.
Barry presents very wildly many
phases of English social artistic and
religious life at the end of the nine
teenth century His heroine, Marian
Greystoke, a girl of 10, 'perverse, will
full, obstinate and proud rebelling
against the narrow existence of a, coun-
try vicarage, marries millionaire
without loving him and goes to London
to live, but soon realizes that Vanity
| Fair is a poor home for a serious
minded woman. Her husband, Lucas
Harland, is great company promoter,
of the type of E. T. Hooley, whose rise
1 and fall have attracted universal at
tention within the past few months
This is a very striking character, and
is painted to the life. But the hero of
| the book is Gerard Elven, a famous
musician, devoted to his art, yet ca
pable of loving strongly. The Two
Standards of the title are moral stand
ards, and the great lesson of the story,
as revealed in the experiences of the
hero and heroine, is renunciation's
The book shows a delicate apprecia-
ton of music, art and literature, but
the writer also shows a wide knowledge
of the world, for his characters are not
mere automatOns-they are living peo-
pie. A metaphysical strain runs through
the story, and the authors method is
rather that of Balzac (static. or charac-
tiers deliberately described), rather than
the method of Stevenson (kinetic. or
! characters acting), though there is
enough mystery in the background to
hold the interest. However, the person
who reads and enjoys this novel must
be one of wide reading and speculative
temperament. 1t will never reach a
large sale among the masses. The Cen
fury Company, New York.