The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-04-08
REVIEWS OF NEW BOOKS
sOAIH OF THE PUBLICATIONS JUST
PLACED ON THE MAR
KET
NOTES OF LITERARY SUBJECTS
The Inventors OF the Nineteenth
Century Covered I'm q PubIicn-
ton of the COnLey Conn
DanY Just Out.

"WondeTs Of the Nineteenth Century. 20
py =. w. Hanson, A. M, ID. ID. w. B.
GonKey company. Chicago.
Inc book Is wonder In more ways
than one. AS g. reference volume it may
be called Indispensable and it is more
than that when considered as one of in
teresting reading matter. Any one knows
that the, wonders of the nineteenth cen
fury are multitudipous and the history
OF those w0ndersZtheir conception, de-
velepment and final perfection, makes
reading matter fully as instructive as en-
tertain1ng. And then, 1t Is not con-
tinued story. You may read one page.
one chapter. or any portion of the work
with the same comparative benefit; lay
the volume down, pick 1t up next day
and ind something complete and just as
interesting as before.
The book deals with such subjects as
electricity in It's various modern forms
Of application, such as the x ray ma
chine, the horseless carriage. trolley car
and artificial lighting. There is also
section devoted to the construction Of
sky Scraper buildings Of steel and iron.
Another section takes up the improve
mentS made in railroad engine. car and
track building. The opening chapter
| takes up the subject of matches and
gives full story Of the conception and
carrying out of the plans Of the in
wolves story of the early methods of
making or keeping light when saucer
of grease with ayrag wick was the only
! lamp used. Then came the talIow, then
kerosene. then electricity. In just the
same manner the development Of fire.
arms as weapons of defense is treated:
| from the crudest flint lock to the modern
machine gun or disappearing rife used
In modern coast defense.
Another interesting subject discussed
is that of canal building, and this sec
tlon deals with the great International
canals Of Europe and Asia and con-
cludes with the $32 900 900 sanitary canal
In Illinois, and there is also a section de-
voted to farm machinery, in which de-
veloPment is shown from the ancient
crooked limb Of tree used in the valley
of the Nile river TO the modern gang
and sulky plow Of today. This section
also describes the harvesting machine in
dustry.
Ocean cables for the telegraph are also
explained with the recent Improvements
for operation Another section treats of
warship construction from the time Of
the frigate to ysuch modern destroyers
as the first-class> battleshlps of the
American navy
Cloth-making IN all its branches. from
the time Of the spinning wheel to the
silk and cotton looms of the Massachu-
sets factories, form another interesting
section SG
Printing presses and typeSetting ma
chimes are explained from the time of the
old screw press toS the present modern
perfecting daily newspaper printing ma
chine, which is as delicate and more in
tricate than watch. The history of the
sewing machine forms another interest
ing chapter. and the whole volume is
not a mass Of statistics. 1t is gotten up
in readable form. with enough of the his
tory Of the individuals most concerned
to impress the reader with their per-
sonalities Each section Is a story in
itself. told In manner and method that
does not impress the reader with the idea
that he or she is reading for the sole pur-
pose of crowding the memory with an ar
ray Of figures and dates.
The publisher of Wonders OF the Nine
teenth Century made a splendid hit
when he designed and secured a fine lot
of half-tone and other. engravings for
the work. Pictures insttuting compari-
sons between old and new methods are
more effective than words, and In this
volume the pictures are OF greater value
on that account