The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-08-07
R PERIODICALS.

Harper's Magazine for August is a fiction
number. but 1t is no reflection on the quail
ity of the fiction to say that a great many
readers will find as much interest in Mr..
Sydney Brooks's comparison of English
and American elections as in the stories.
Mr.. Brooks is an Englishman who came 10
this country with some preconcelVed no.
tons as to the character OF our poiltlcal
institutions, which time and observation,
he says, compelled him TO change. lie por-
trays his impressions wildly, anu " Is IN
teresting to see ourselves in politics as he
sees us. Another class of readers will turn
to Thomas Jay Hudson's evidence of Life
After Death" He holds that telepatny ana
the common Phenomena OF spiritism, so
called, do not prove the existence OF such
life. Three serial stories are now running
in this magazine-Mrs. Wards Eleanor,
Zangwilis Mantle of Elijah and Frank
Stockton's "A Bicycle of Cathay.'
In the literature of the far West the
coyote has invariably been pictured as one
of the most Objectionable of wild beasts.
cowardly, %sneaking, vicious, always to be
hunted and destroyed-a very pariah of an
animal. Nevertheless. Ernest Seton-Thomp-
son takes a coyote for the subject of his
story in the August Scribner, and by simply
considering IL from the standpoint OF hu-
mainly and measuring IL by its own nature.
not mans, he succeeds in gaining for 1t
the readers interest and sympathy. In this.
as In his studies of deer, grizzlies and other
animals, he shows again his intimate ac-
Quaintance with the wild creatures OF for
est and plain. Richard Harding Davis has
an illustrated letter on Pretoria in War
Time Besides these two papers the maya
zine contains only fiction and verse-Albert
Biglow Paine. Edith Wharton, Arthur Col
ton. Josephine P. Peabody. Sydney ii.
Preston and others contributing short
stories. A series of eight Illustrations in
color. representing midsummer, are from
drawings by Henry McCarter.
The fact that half of the space of the
current issue of the North American Re-
view is devoted to some phases of the
Chinese crisis is a recognition Of the abb
sorbing interest in the conflict in that
country. The first of these articles is by
ex-Minister Barrett who is so well in
formed in regard to Oriental countries and
conditions. He points out the duty of the
United States and approves the policy pur-
sued by the President. The next article is
by a British naval officer who advocates
common action in China by the American
and British governments TO Civ that coun-
try a progressive government. Other phases
Of the situation are presented. one writer
taking the ground that the United States,
by prohibiting, the immigration Of Chinese
into the United States and the practical
stoppage of the going of Chinese to
Hawaii, are causes for the hostility of the
Chinese government to the United States.
Booker 7. Washington replies to Professor
Stratton, who asserted that education will
not solve the race question, in a manner
which shows that at least one black man
has a better intellect than one white pro-
lessor.
The Atlantic Monthly for August has
more than its customary proportion of fc-
ton, Sarah Orne Jewett, Alice Brown.
Fanny Kemble Johnson, Macmillan Foster
and Caroline Franklin Brown each con-
tributing a short story. There is also the
second part of Mr.. w. d. Howells's story,
"a Difficult Case" but this writer deals
with some of the deep problems of life and
religion in a way that makes his fiction
more impressive than another mans dis
sertation on theology or philosophy. Mr..
Howells's pen touches lightly, but his
thoughts are serious and go far beneath the
surface. This is manifest in nearly all his
verse and much of his prose, yet critics
complain every now and then that he dwells
too much upon trivialities. It gives an old
time look to the Atlantic to see his name
among the contributors, he has so Ions
confined his work 10 another periodical
Two attractive out-of-door papers are In
this number, their wide difference in char
acter making them none the less pleasing
One is a description by John Muir of 1.-THE
Wild Gardens of the Yosemite" the other
a rambling. gossipy talk by Mrs. Candact
Wheeler about her flower garden. An ex.
cellent paper by President Hadley discusses
the Importance of giving TO college stu.
dents a training in citizenship-the founda.
ton of a political education.