The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-12-10
ELwYN BARRoN,s CHAMBERS !.

tionery company in Wichita.
| ELWYN BARRON'S CHAMBERS
One Of the most rapidly selling book
of the day is Elwyn Barron's "Manders.
Some years ago in a Kansas printing
! office, in Atchison we think boy saw
visions of possibilities in other lands il
the mirrory depths of an ink-5arrel, anC
| so set forth, to become enc Of that grea
! army Of Kansas wanderers, whose pres
ent residence is anywhere, and who's
| home Is any spot they hallow by halting
You can find Kansans in the desert GOLD
| fields east of Freemantle, in the Nata
| ridges, in the jungles of Formosa, il
every capital of Europe, so that in the
next century the world may have {
sprinkling of Kansas names as odd as the
evidences Of the Grant Irish in Spain
France and Austria. At all events the
boy Of the ink-barrel set forth to size VI
a rather large section of the original a
the nile green globe he had seen al
school. Presently he appears in Chicago
as the dramatic editor of the Chicago
Inter-Ocean. There is no callous posi-
bilities in the position of dramatic edi-
tor" Only after the work has become
monotonous, does the dramatic editor
cease to be daily surprised that he IS paid
for doing something he likes to do so
well. There was large contingent in
Chicago which became his votary, and
slid down on marrow-bones at the men
ton of his name. At that time he gave
rope to a tremendously active vocabulary,
snd as Is frequently the case, the vocab-
lfiary often ran away with and crippled
the thought it should have served. From
CHICAGO Elwyn Barron went to New York,
then to London, as an occasional cores
pendent of a Chicago paper. and finally
disappeared from the scene altogether,
until lately VIXEN his books have begun
to appear, and among them 'Manders, "
a story having to do almost wholly with
Paris and a French atmosphere, more or
less shocking to Kansan, even with the
gloss of the knowledge that it doesn't
shock Paris.
The popularity Of "Manders'' and its
charm is in it's tragic quality. It brings
the crystalline mind of the youth of a
new civilization to a test in the poison
retort of an old civilization-the Quarter
Latin, test of manly responsibility, and
he is not equal to it, until driven to the
sacrifice by an American girl. Not to
reveal the authors property-his plot
Walter Blakemore is a Virginian trying
to learn to paint in Paris. A former
model, Marie, now become widow, again
poses, and this time before a class in
which Blakemore is the most unlikely pu-
pill. This model pities the young Ameri-
can and wants to help him. marie came
to feel a sympathy with the young stud
ent who seemed to her bent upon achiev-
ing success in a pursuit for which he had
the least aptitude. He was but little
more than her own age, and she thought
him an exceptionally good example of his
seX-tall broad-shouldered fair, proud in
a way, but with a smile that was key
to any heart he cared to unlock. He had.
moreover, an air Of gentility that made
it's impression upon her so that to her
sympathy was added a great deal of re-
spect. Marie found herself looking with
unceasing interest upon his canvas as
she passed it on her way to and from
would get on; but generally she expert
enced a penitential regret as if she her
self We're in some way to blame for his
slow advancement" She proposes that
she pose for him at odd hours that he
may succeed in his work and he anxious
to surpass his class, agrees. At one of
these hours, Manders, Marie's baby boy,
playing near, turns and sees his mother
nude and fiercely attacks the easel and
shouts his fury upon Blakemore.
Now here is the atmosphere of Paris:
"Singularly enough Blackmore had no in
clination to laugh. On the contrary he
looked in arrested wonderment at the
child. and then his eyes turned in appeal
to the mother; but Marie, holding Man
ders with one arm close against her
breast, was trying in vain to draw pro-
tectingly about her the cover of the
couch, her face scarlet with shame her
hot tears running down upon the curls of
her boy. Blakemore understood. Eve had
become conscious of her nakedness. A
well-fortiied man of the world, or even
one who had reached the cynical stage
of the sexual cult, would nave seen the /
humor of the situation. But Blakemore
had the misfortune to be youth in earn
est. He felt a ridiculous tightness in his
throat, and recognized his helplessness as
he gazed upon these two children, the one
quivering in the defense of an idol as
sailed. the other tremlous in unmerited
reimbursement Knowing nothing better
TO do, Blakemore took up his hat
and stole softly out of the ROOM
The novel is cleverly written and the |
author having abandoned long ago vocab- |
ulary etudes, the style of the narrative is
simple and emotionally searching There /
seems little if any of the artificial in IL
and its lesson, and the characters in /
whose lives the lesson is wrought is deep :
ly imprinted on the mind after reading
the book, the mind-craft Of a man out of /,
this new west working with the materials /
of nation in its decay. The novel is /
published by L. c. Page & Co, Boston. /
and may be obtained Of the Goldsmith 1
Book and Stationery company, Wichita /
SCARCITY OF MANILA TWlNE |
How the War in the Philippines Has /
Affected the Farmer.
Philadelphia, Pa, Dec. S.-William Fit /
Ter president of the Edwin II Filler