The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-04-28
Some NequS - -
y y and Repiexvs.

us oatginaily appeared IN the Civil ana MI
ltary Gazette. b. one entitled, .s1hree And
An Extra II dcais with an episode In the
married experience OF the Cusack. Bremmiis.
who had lost their only child. daughter.
Mrs. Bremuiil. absorbed In grief. and
sw-athed In black. permitted another
woman, q woman very much mlive to the
possibilities Of such continuation Of cor
cnmsscnces, 10 bcguile her husband frcm
her The other woman twas clever ana
witty and brilliant beyond most Of her
kind, but possessed OF many devils OF
malice and nslschicvousness." At first Mrs
Bremui gave no heed 10 existing conli-
tons, aud she might have gone on TO the
end In peaceful ignoiancc OF the. impending
catastrophe, but for the kind Offices OF her
fteends, HAT dozen OF whom saw 80 II
that she lost no detail OF the. drama which
was being enacted in her absence. when
all was said. and MIC enlissaries, having ac-
comphshed thcir Christian duty. had sev-
crafty dcnantcd, the injured wife sat down
| to face the ssratton and TO take counsel
with herself. Tine result was. she speedily
| decided HhaUt the memory OF dead child
was worth less ahan the affections Of a
| living husband. So arayod IN a new and
iaost becoming gown, she appeared uuex.
| pcctcdly Wt hafl, where that hushanu
and the other woman were dlsportlur them
solves, summalNiy covered her rival with
defeat and ignominy and took triumphant
possession OF the citadel Of her rights,
~
This Is clever nuns method nx deaf
Ing With one OF thc gravest. one OF the
| saddest problems In the sum total Of cx-
| Islcnce; the proaAon Of vonans lnhuman-
ity to woman. Mr.. Ktpiing's story con-
! tatns in brief, ahe salient points OF Miss
| Athorton's latest novel OF Washington lite,
Senator Norh," But neither Mr.. klpl'ng
nor miss Athcmcn really erapples with the
| fundamental principle involved; they con.
sder She whole question not from an otai-
cal point OF View, but from tempern
mental one, II should he said, however,
! that the masculine rendering OF this dc
| plorablc themc is much more elevated and
scemly In its TONE than It's fcminlne coun
terpart. 1t is foregone conclusion that
Mrs North can not attempt 10 rescue her
husband as Mrs Rremml does. Miss
Atherton handlcNps her at the outset, vita
chronic aud hopeless nyalldism. and wo
realize that as far as she Is concerned
1 Rctte Madison and Senator North will he
left to accomplish their own moral de
srruatlon in thcir own way. A cold blood
ed. callous calculating way ~ is; In cnrions
contrast TO the wagnlth ot the passion 10y
which they are mutually consumed
~
As regards the Individuality Of this con
scienceless pair. one Is compelled TO dis
agree with their creator, when, having
drawn them go her own satisfaction, she
labels them 'as being OF the brightest
types that nature has produced" But 1t
eau not be said Of her that her work
"a distinguished for consistency. When the
woman Ia young aud Seductive and the
man sixty and given 10 roaming, all the
necessary elements for tragedy are at
hand. Tho author has handled these quant-
lies clevcrly effectively and rcmoraelessy,
as far MS their powcr for evil goes She
makes her heroine admire Senator North
nattltnde towards his wife" while she
wllfully and systematically scts out to add
the last bitter drop TO that wife's cup OF
borrow. sympathy for Mrs. North's mental
and physical suncrings Is not 10 the cate
CORY of Miss Madiaon's virtues, but she
is deeply sympathetic for the sad fate OF
the martyrcd husband Ii may be noted
Incidentally that such Is usually the att
tude OF the other woman, and the author
can not be credited with originality on
this count.
The literary qualities Of book are all
ways open 10 argument, hut there should
he unanlmity OF opinion as to ats moral
atmosphere. THAT this Is not the case Is
lncontroyertible evidence of It's contamina-
ton When the fancy Is SO charmed the
svmpnthes 30 enlisted, the interest 50
aroused that our estimate OF right and
wrong Is vitiated, and we suffer from moral
ustIgtnatism there can be question OF
1 II Ia
cpd.
Miss Anterior ldys great stress upon the
Importance Of public probity, yet holds
private virtue, Its only sure foundation,
rs Of nothing worth. Her own recognized
ability makes her Inconsistency the more
! to be regretted, the less TO be condoued
and excused. 1t Is impossible that sne
should not see clearly the dividing line
between good and evil, however she may
choose 60 ignore 1t. Unfortunately, there
is often no klnshlp between the mental and
moral qualities Of men and women They
can not truly be measured by tue same
rule nor weighed in the same scale; hut
they have. nevertheless, thetf respective
ana recognized values.
,rhe moral oblqnity Of Senator North"
is appalling. and the clc,erness WITH whiea
i,g author tries TO confuse our estimates
by hef sophlstrIcs, Is INST unworthy Rus.
lin says: ut Is the type Of eternal trnth
thai The souls nrnor Is never wei set to
the heart, unless woman's hand has
braccd Il, and Il is only when she braces
il loosely that the honor Of manhood
fails"
unhappliy. the world Is fun Of Kettle
iMadlsons and Of senator Norths. Tha
parts they play In the drama OF life are
cious diseases. the pruricnt mind which
shameless enough. But the literary ski'i
which deliberately cloaks them Ia mefetri
would have them masquerade as merely
the unfortunate victims OF adverse circum-
stances, and which endcayors 10 cheat as
into accepting them as such, Is more
shameless sim. = :, ,