Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-09-21
Win The New Books.

THE BLOOD TAX. BY Dorothea Ge-
rard, author of One Year, ..Tbes MI
lion.' etc. Dodd Mead & Co, New
York.
FOR sale by the Bell Book and Station
cry company. city; price sl5o
esaif TINS is hook of surprises. and
agreeable surprises at that In the first
pace. the title Of the story gives no clue
% me contents OF the book One expects
something sorry and Sensational. wherca 9
.he work is calm. sericua and conseryn-
W. .se ~ IT'S zone hrd when we see that
tne writer is a woman. we natural y con-
crude that We are 10 have more sentiment
man information; but a little invcstiga-
'ioH SHOWS us that the authoress hiss
gone INTO pretty, deep wateTs aDf, discuss-
% some very we!ghty matters. Lastly, the
lovers In the novel all do exactly what NE
90: not expect then: 10 30, and thereby SO
ss1onish US tnat ii taxes one good while
70 recover his ecnaEis1lity.
Those orllislous words. The Blood Tax ..
as we pretty quickly find out. refer to inc
CONSUMPTION of subjects into the German
army, and the story is par excellence a.
military. work, which discusses in full the
merits and deEnerits OF the German army
How woman ever hit on such subject.
we cannot imagine, but the authoress
II must be admitted. is thoroughly ia
ini!lar With her theme. and hand1es it
Doth philosophically and entertainment
She docs not believe in mlitarsm-that
Is. such nlitaTism as they have in Ger.
many; though so much is. said about the
SGbJect- and it is presented so irlpartiaily
that the reader may judge for himself
II Dorothea Gerard is to be believed, all.
Germany worships uniform and her
soldiers dominate the land. The blghting
influences of consumption. however, are
we'll described, and the evils of an i'm
mense standing army are wildly depict
ed
The economic and political features O.
the book far outweigh the romantic side
and at tlmes one almost forgets he *
reading novel, thong. 1t cannot be Dc.
MED that the characters are ingenousls
utilized and that they serve a good pur
pose in illustrating the points made.
A young Englishman much interested
in military affairs. an considerably dis
gruntled by the reverses OF his nation Ii:
South Africa, goes to Germany partly OF
business and partly to study her military
system He feels that something is
wrong with the solulers of Great Britain,
and at first leans to the belief that his
country is sadly in need of such methods
as those employed by the Kaiser. For
oiit SSdi ne i1ls SSllSdlS5 tl1S COiUltlOIiS
prevailing in the German army and leaves
no stone unturned to gain information.
incidentally he meets several German Of
ficers, an Anarchist, and the women who
figure in The story. This Englshman
serves a good purpose in exploiting the
views Of the authoress, but so far as The
romance Of the story goes he is a mere
figurehead. The real hero is dragon
officer, devoted heart and soul to his pro-
1eSSjOn nd ra
are brought about by circumstances ut
terly beyond his control. There is also
golden-haired goddess in the story. who
falls in love with the dragoon's uniform,
but deserts him when his troubles begin
AT the last minute, however, a very sub
stantia1 lass is found to soothe the UNI
fortunate officer in his hour Of travail.
The Blood Tax is nothing If not I'M
usual, and it merits substantial recogni-
ton at the hands Of thoughtful people.
It's appearance just now is very seasonal
BILE, as it gives an excellent description Of
the German army manoeuvres and other
matters of current interest in military
circles. 1t was only last week that I<af
ser William was conducting the real ma
1oeuvres of his vast army, and as several
American officers were detailed to watch
these evolutions, the papers have had no
little to say on the subject We fancy.
however, that the lay reader will prefer
the descriptions of the authoress to more
technical reports.
ROB AND HIS GUN, by William Alex
ander Linn: illustrated; Charles Scrib-
ner's Sons, publishers, New York; SLIGO
net.
This attra ctiyely bound and beautiful
ly illustrated work is just the sort Of
book to please a boy, and we fancy that
some Of the older sportsmen will not be
averse to taking a peep at its pages
The object of the author is to introduce
his young readers to some of the pleas
ures of country life, to give them practi-
cal hints of the methods by which they
may become expert with thetgun and rife,
to make them acquainted with game of
different kinds, and the manner of hunt |
ing it, and at the same time point out
to them the difference between the
pleasure of a true sportsman and the
taking Of life for the mere sake of kill
ing.
The subject matter, which appears in
the form of a story. is treated in the fol- |
towing chapters: Cousin Dawes Visit to |
he City; Learning About Things; A First |
Lesson in Roofing; A September Walk; |
Rob's First Days Hunt; Shooting Bay
Snipe; A Trip to the Adirondacks; Duck |
Shooting on Barnegat Bay; Quail Shoot
ng in North Carolina; in the Canada !
Bush; Wild Goose Shooting in Dakota.
The beautiful ha]ffOpa nictIraS in t3,A