Evening star., 1900-12-20

AMERICA, PICTURESQUE AND DESCRIPTIVE
By Joel Cook. author Of England. Picturesque
and Descriptive" In three volumes. Phladel-
phia: Henry I. Coates and Company.
The enterprise of writing a guide book
to the entire continent of North America
is a large one, calculated to tax the pa
tience. literary skill and industry of a sin
gle writer. This, however, Mr.. Cook has
accomplished, spreading the result over
three generous volumes. He has covered
the ground by series of twenty-one tours
upon a geographical basis A faithful
following of each Of these journeys
would bring the tourist in contact
with every phase Of American life,
into every large or historic city
and through the most noted of the
natural attractions of the continent The
text is admirably direct and devoid of tire
some details. The information is compact
ed into small compass, as must be the case
with so comprehensive work. The Illus
trations are beautifully reproduced, but in
some places the reader wishes for wiser
selection of subjects, more representative
series of truly illustrative views, rather
than such a redundancy of landscapes
without striking local significance. The en-
tire work, however, is calculated to i'm
press the reader with sense of the mag
nitude and grandeur Of the country, the
industry and progress Of the cities and the
attractions of nature with which the coun-
try abounds. The description of Washing
ton is intelligently comprehensive and
curate. 1t describes the capital in it's
beauties and suggests its wonderful oppor-
tunities for further development. The au-
thor shows throughout a spirit of descrip
ton rather than criticism, which is re-
freshing in a travel work Of this character.
OUR ISLANDS AND THEIR PEOPLE Edited
and arranged by William s. Bryan. st. Louis:
N D. Thompson Publishing Company.
The descriptive matter in the two quarto
volumes of this attractive and interesting
work is supplied by Jose de Olivares, the
author and war correspondent, and it Is
profusely illustrated with more than twelve
hundred special photographs, color types
and new colored maps. 1t furnishes the
curious American with vivid Photographic
and descriptive representation of the people
and islands lately acquired from Spain and
of Hawaii illustrating their material re-
sources and productions, the homes of the
people and their customs and general ap-
pearance Special consideration is given to
the conditions that prevailed before the
declaration of war, quoting Senators Proc
tor, Thurston, Money and numerous promi-
nent correspondents, and comparison is
made with conditions they now exist.
Major General Joseph Wheeler writes an
appreciative introduction to the work.
These volumes are admirably adapted to
crafty fully the natural desire of Ameri-
cans to learn all that can be known about
Cuba, Porto Rico, the Hawaiian group and
the Philippine Islands. and this educational
course is made easy and attractive. The
work combines the resources OF art with
descriptive and statistical fact of great
practical value. 1t Is timely. and fulfills
we'll its avowed purpose Of acQuainting in
telligent Americans with our new possess
Sions.
PREsENT-DAY PROBLEMS OF CHRISTIAN
Rector BY ths se s tse Ennhanp
Washington, D. q New York: Thomas Whit
taker.
DR.. McKims well-known force and direct
ness Of language are guarantees that the
problems which he discusses, whether in
the pulpit or in print, shall be thoroughly
understood by his hearer or listener. This
assurance holds good as to the present vol
ume of essays upon religious topics. in the
course of which the author touches ana
lytically and zealously from the Christian
point Of view upon the most pressing issues
of the time. He opens the work with dis
cussion Of Christianity and Buddhism,
reaching a conclusion in the antithesis en-
phatically favorable to the former as re-
ligious system. He deals with the Buddhist
doctrines in fair spirit. His other topics
are: ''Christian Strategy in the Mission
Field THE Gospel Of Christ and the
Pseudo-Gospels Of the Nationalist and the
Dogmatist," The Incarnation in Relation
to Miracle" The Christian Doctrine Of the
Atonement,' The Oberammergau Passion
Play The Bible Unique Among Litera-
lures" "Christ's Resurrection and Assem-
sion as Types of Human Development"
The Unity of New Testament Doctrine"
"The Christian Doctrine of Prayer" But
Ter and His Theology" Luther and the
Reformation
PAUL JONES. FOUNDER OF THE AMERICAN
NAVY; History. By Augustus c. Buell.. In
two volumes. New York: Charles Scribner's
navy is being developed at a rate which
makes it already the pride Of the nation
and gives promise of placing this country
close to the top Of the list of maritime
powers, 1t is eminently proper that there
should be revival of interest in the first
Of the naval heroes-John Paul JONES' who
gave practical aid in the formation of the
revolutionary navy and whose victories
over the British taught the world what 1t
did not then suspect, that Great Britain
could be whipped upon the sea. Every
American knows in general way the
story of John Paul Jones' life, but the biog-
rapher in this instance has shed new light
upon his character and career Every
depth of the sea fighters nature has been
sounded and every shade Of character de-
picted in this work, which shows wide
reading Of colonial and European history.
The author has revealed to the world sew
eral phases of the disposition Of Jones
perhaps hitherto unsuspected by the gen.
eral student The narrative Is told clearly
and interestingly, and the ocean battles
which figure in the biography are described
vividly.
sHARPs AND FLATS. By Eugene Field. Collated
by Slason Thompson. In two volumes. New
York: Charles Scrfbners Sons. Washington:
William Ballantyne and Sons.
For twelve years Eugene Field conducted
a column on the editorial page Of the Chi
cago News-afterward the Record-which
vas devoted to quips, paragraphs and
verses, sometimes to prolonged essays and
in later years to serial dissertations.
He had a free range OF opinion and express
sion. His wit and fancy played as it would.
No restraining pencil barred the way to q
literally personal exposition Of views A
compilation Of the best and most durable OF
these fragments is necessarily a labor Of
rejection. and in the process much that
was strictly of Eugene Fields peculiar kind
escapes from the permanent record. Yet a
complete republication would be impracti-
cable, for in the dozen years Field, the COM
piler estimates, wrote fully seven million
words in his column. The book Is a worthy