New-York tribune., 1901-03-23
ROCKS AND AUTHORS.
CURRENT TALK OF THINGS PRESENT
AND TO COME

c,,pBENr TALK OF THINGS PRESENT
AND TO COME.
Tn. Hsrpars are publishing this week a col
,.,io, Of Miss wilk:ns's stories that have
.s,,lv appeared in the magazine. dealing largely
-+.b psychological interests, such as the sm-
,,i,v Of the workings Of the minds of men and
:, animals "Understudes' is the title.
~ Andrew Carnegie's MAGNIFICENT promise
- more than S5.000o00 as a gift to the city of
,-evrYork has stimulated great interest in his
hook on The Gospel Of Wealth The Century
company reports that il is overwhelmed with
orders for IL from all parts Of the country; and
!. has been cheerfully remarked that few au-
-hors are willing 10 spend S12yo00,000 within a
tsw weeks TO advertise their books. Mr.. Car
,epie-from the publishers point of view-has
done a representative OF The Century Com
nany was congratulating himself the other day
mat the company had no expectation Of being
called on share this expense. The first two
.ssavs in the book called The Problem of the
administration Of Wealth and The Best Fields
Cor Philanthropy contain formulation Of Mr..
rsrnegies views about giving which he is now
so magnifcently carrying into practice.
whenever ] see a falling off in the book trade
30 q city" said prominent publisher the other
Sav
ushu7ent or enlargement of free public libraries.
+. is usually due to some such cause the
,,oxirnitv of another city. in the case Of
worcester Mass. where the book business has
,re all 10 pieces because Boston is near.
T,deed the wise extension of library work often
stimulates the book business, as in the case Of
snringfeld Mass, where the book trade has
lacked up since the remarkable work Of Mr..
mana in extending the influence of the library
,bere | believe that people get interested IN
boolzs at the library and then want to own
them themselves. OF course il may not be the
came with popular novels: but you must remem-
her that. while the library of a large city may
have several hundred duplicates, we are selling
thousands in the city elsewhere. The new ideas
;. library MANAGEMENT that make for the widest
ooesit,e use of books are only help TO the book
rrblishers in extending the knowledge of and
familiarity with books. and hence the desire to
own them.
The siege of Kumassi and the narrow escape
~ the British authorities in that West African
Ashanti town were incidents that would ordi-
rarilv have excited and interested at least the
English speaking world. but events further to
the south and east last year centred the worlds
.,+anticn almost exclusively. This makes Lady
uodrson's book The Siege of Kumassi." which
rongmans. Green & Co. publish. almost new
story Of an exciting incident in British imperial
history She is the wife Of Sir Frederic Hods-
son late Governor of the Gold Coast, and was
the first English woman who ever entered
Kumassi She relates in detail the narrow
escape that the British party had from annlhlla-
,ion al the hands Of the Ashantis and gives
,ri,,ine picture of life at a frontier post. Illus
rrating the richness Of that portion of AFRICA IN
gold. she tells in a striking way how the boast
hat In could
.rjcked I'D in the streets" pan of road scrap
ings was gathered at random and washed out
bv a native. with a substantial yield Of gold
nsrtcles which would seem TO justify the title
OF Gold Coast for this part of Africa
poda Mead & Co are publishing this week
Paul Laurence Dunbar's story THE Fanatics
It's action takes place in little Ohio town at
the beginning of the Civil War, when public sem
timent was divided and feeling ran high among
the adherents of both political parties. The
period is naturally of intense interest to
one Of Mr. Dunbars race and though he has
drawn what is called a vivid picture and ex-
messed himself in no uncertain terms. the work
as whole is said TO be characterized by
spirit Of fair minded restraint and impartality.
The life Of a brilliant Southern statesman Of
nearly a century ago is told In the biography of
William Lowndes that Houghton. Miffiin & Co.
will publish next month Though he died at the
age Of forty, he had been in Congress ten years.
and had served before that in the South Carolina
legislature An interesting story is told of him
thar connects his name with that OF the Duke
Of Argyll: While in London he happened to be
left alone in his hotel. which frequented by
none but men Of rank and distinction, with
William Roscoe author Of the Life of Leo x
who was much his senior. The two fell into
conversation. and the elder gentleman. leaving
the room after time, met the Duke OF Argyll
in the street.
! have been spending most agreeable hour"
be said TO the duke, with young American
gentleman. who is the tallest, wisest and best
bred young man / have ever met"
It must have been Mr. Lowndes, of South
Carolina replied the duke. He is such a
man. I know him, and I know no other like
him Return and make his acquaintance"
In Henry Clay's opinion Mr. Lowndes was
the wisest man he had ever known in Congress
The only portrait OF Lowndes was painted by
Morse. and hangs in the Corcoran Gallery. at
Washington. This is reproduced in the biog-
raphy we'll as a view of Lowndess South
Carolina hcme.
Thomas Nelson Pages pretty story. The Old
Gentleman in the Black Stock has just reached
circulation of fifty thousand copies.
The discovery of Felix Gras. the Provencal
writer who died early this month. was due, so
lar as the English speaking world is concerned
70 Mrs. Thomas A. Janvier. who was living in
Provence when his work was called TO her at
tention. She Immediately translated the first
chapters Of The Reds of the Midi" and sent