The times., 1899-11-12
Tiresnme 1fr. BnnEs.


When, rather more than decade ago,
Mr. John Kendrick Bangs began to inter
view dead but otherwise unoffending per-
sons and print their remarks in the papers,
he undeniably struck a comparatively new
vein, and he pried at it assiduousiy and
brought forth many shekels. This vein,
however. is now worked out; the stock of
that particular mine is fiat, and still Mr..
Bangs taps away at it with his little pick
and exhibits specimens Of iron pyrites un-
der the apparent impression that they are
gold.
To drop the metaphor, The Houseboat
on the StyX" was a very readable book
when taken in homeopathic doses, but
when the same notion is worked in half
a dozen successive books each little less
entertaining than the last, it seems as II
the public ought to have some rights in the
matter. In his latest production, Inc
Enchanted Typewriter We have that same
old notion. very thin and worn, and if an
other attempt is made to force the inno-
cent though long-suffering reading pubic
into the company of people from hades,
| there is some danger that Mr.. Bangs may
be compelled to select that interesting spot
as a permanent residence. Something
ought to be done with him, or to him, and
| in very short order.
Briefly, he begins his present spiritual
| istic seance with the statement that there
was a typewriter in his library which,
without apparent cause, began to write
| things, and that it was subsequently dis
covered that this typewriter was mantpu-
! lated by spooks interested in shadowy
newspaper conducted somewhere down be-
| low The average reader will conclude
| after reading extracts from this remark
able sheet, that if that is the kind of thing
| there is in perdition, he would like to be a
Universalist.
There may be people in this world who
have a morbid curiosity concerning the
salient features of life in hades, and are in
| terested in learning the topography of the
country the kind of food the inhabitants
eat, and the internal politics Of the king
dom, including full particulars of the fall
elections In catering to such persons Mr.
| Bangs reveals himself as about on a lavel
with that interesting Chauncey Depew OF
the pulpit, T De Witt Talmage, who once
described for the edification of his hearers
| the salient features Of heaven. He said
| that the streets were laid out so that the
| inhabitants We're arranged according to oc-
cupation-ApostIe Square ReYiyalist Row
| Missionary Street, and so On-and he de-
| scribed q picturesque feast, served on solid
| gold dishes, upon a table at which sat q
brass band. or something Of that kind. who
I DttdSibEdlie hIbEu Llit4l IiA4biis anu oASN
| blast on their trumpets 10 express their
| perfect content. This is not an eXaggsra-
| tion The whole thing with much more Of
| the same SORT, can be found in book Of
| Talmages sermons, and the intelligent
| reading world will agree that taste which
| demands such food is dapraved. The same
| uuwholesome appetite for sensation appa-
rently leads Mr. Bangs to indulge himself
! in descriptions Of the interior economy OF
! hades, and in one way ne does missionary
work, because the average sinner, after
reading his description OF the under world,
will exert himself considerably to avoid go
| ing there He would be bored to eXtinc-
| tion in a week.
A duller book. on the whole. than this
| particular example OF ghost literature
| would be hard to find When a man is not
| funny and is thoroughly convinced that he
| is funny, and takes more than a hundred
| and fifty pages explaining to the reader how
| humorous he IS the reader has a right to
be tired (New York: Harper & Brothers.
| $1.25.)