The Washington times., 1902-08-03
, Ube Books Of tbe Season a11o Ubetr Mutbors y

/ the racing season. in order to see tha;
every detail, slang and all. should be
in keeping with the atmosphere of his
book. he has already written many rae
( ing stories, whose scenes were laid in
England and in India. but this is his
first important work of the kind dealing
with American life.
"A Fake Novel.
I In striking contrast to the accuracy
of the Canadian and Middle Western
writer's is the slipshod performance of
Mr.. owen Wister, whose book, THE
/ Nirginian," has won success considera-
bly, more by hit than any good wit. 1t
is some time since a more remarkable
collection Of inaccuracies has been
strung on a plot and entitled literature.
The pity Of it = that Mr. Wister has
spoilt lot of good material. very much
as old ladies' sometimes cut pretty
fabrics into scraps for crazy quilts The
cowboy life of Wyoming. Montana, and
Colorado is as picturesque and as evan
escent material as the life of the
forty miners. 1t is already losing much
of its unique fascination. If Mr.. Wister
had gone at his task with any conscience
he might have done really valuable
work.
The facts appear to be something like
this: The litterateur in question was a
tenderfoot who strayed into Wyoming
for his health saw that here was money
to be made off the characters and Gus
toms Of the place, and gathering up
scraps here and there. put them to-
gether according to his own fancy. He
establishes a frog marsh in a region
where there is nothing but alkali desert
He sets cowboys TO digging bitches when
the real cowboy would not consider such
a proposition for half a minute He
sends his hero East with a train load
Of cattle and crew of refractory cow
punchers. when in reality. about three
men would be required to do the work
of taking care of that consignment of
cattle, and they would be individuals
anxious to get to Chicago and stay there.
The heroics of that chapter are about
as realistic as a scareerow.
He is even less fortunate in the char
acter of his heroine He has pitched on
New Hampshire as her birthplace. ap-
parently because New Hampshire and
Virginia make dramatic combination,
but no descendants of General Stark
ever talked or wrote as she and her
family do. Mr.. Wister should not have
made the mistake of thinking that the |
educated people OF New Hampshire |
know as little about the West as he ap- |
parently does. This might have been |
forgiven; but when he makes Miss Molly |
Wood threaten to renounce her lover on |
the eve of marriage he takes all the |
backbone out Of her character. a Puri-
tan maiden of the type described might |
have been incapable of falling in love
with the Virginian but once betrothed /
she would have stuck to him if he had |
waded to her through gore. According
to q recently quoted letter OF Mr.. Wis
ter, however, inaccuracy is not a sin
which lies heavy on his conscience. He
admits that in Que. of his earlier works
he said that Indians screamed like yul-
tures, " and that he has since discovered
that vultures do not scream. The time
TO have discovered that was before max
ing the comparison. It is unfortunate
that so promising a region as the Rocky
Mountains should have been partly pre-
empted by just this kind of a scribbler.
Il is to be hoped that other fiction will
be written describing the cowboy as be
is and was, in a way which will not set
on edge the teeth Of the people of wy
oming.
A Delightful Biography.
Among the biographies of the season
one Of the best and most entertaining
was that OF William Black. by Sir Wemyss
Reid, which came out short time ago.
The author has written biographies of
two or three other famous men OF let