New-York tribune., 1902-06-21

Miss Clara Morris's book, and her hNelg' easy
and sometimes rather brusque style goes Lai
give air Of reality 70 its characters anu IN,
dents AS regards plot and the treatment W
Of there is little that differentiates II -Ioi,'
other novels of stage life. All are suf1useo ,'''
the lirnelight of exaggeration Wh4'h si''
separa bic from the subject. all owen WIN 49,
the same method on its pecuHar 'e'iii'
ite r,isAries the futiIity Of its triumphs '"'
erontiness of its glories the artificial glitter of
its '.pasteboard crown" The reader "ouu -
i,e-tAed IN expectfng from so clever writer d
less hackneyed combination Of the ma'eIlal'
offered by the theatre. All the quaint iieii -
winning and touching sides OF it apparent ~
Miss Norrfs's own delightful "reminiscences a
absent from these pages. Conventional ilie'O
drama and conventional types Of character u
ate the situations of disappointing s'olS
..Tboea Delightful Americans is the title OF
a hook which is the very thing for the soIaee
of a hot afternoon. As light as n bubble on 'he
wave # is not without sharp satire ana SusseS
tions of keen insight It's portraits are haIo'S
more than outline sketches, but they are eA
pressive TO a high degree. occaslonaIy lne
author would seem to be a little behlho '"0
times in her descriptions Of American manners
and ways-as if her observations had beeh
made a decade or two ago: and she otteh oropS
mere farce, in her amusing pages oil 'ii'
relations of Mr.. and Mrs. Ham with JAKE
the hired man." and Bird, the imported butter.
But there is the foundation of truth even mere
We will not tantalize readers by snort
extract from chapters which should be an
sorbed in their entirety; we will merely quote
one of the little records of travel set down by
the English matron who is supposed TO tell the
story:
We have the warmest and most grateful feel
ings toward Americans and l do not Wlsh -
dwell upon the treatment our luggage received
to the exclusion of everything else, as so man!
English people do, especially as the recoIeclioh
of Il even now rouseS in one kind of annltilIAt-
ing rage which is not pretty sentiment But
two burst locks and a top completely smashed
init was my new dress basket from the stores
cannot be passed over in silence. There seemed
to be among the porteTs an honorable comPe-
tition to how far they could fling the boxes
and how accurately they could place them upon
their corners. Perhaps if one We're porter
oneself and were asked 10 lift the monstrous
great clamped trunks the Americans carry
a bout one would have felt the same animoslty
toward them: but to display 1t toward cabin
luggage and cane baskets and leather port
rnanteaus was an act of malignity which had
no excuse Kaye. with his foolish insular idea
of bringing somebody to justice. found what
they call the ''bagsagemas ster,' a muscular, red
faced thing in his shirtSleeVes. who might have
been chosen by election for his skill in damag-
ing the possessions of the travelling public. He
put his fingers in the aTmholes of his waiStcoat
and looked at our boxes Then he spat. Then
he turned to a subordinate. Looks like some
of Tom McGinns's work here he said to the
subordinate. who nodded
That's what v get" he said to Kaye, for
trustin' yer baggage to a man like Tom Nc
Ginnis" Kaye speechless, and perhaps it
was as well: but he seldom tells the story to
this day without adding: That bagga gemaster
made me- a convert to lynch law