The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1902-10-21

| Georgia IS more prOllnc IN popular au-
thors, platform speakers and writer's
than any other Southern State. Easily
the first man of letters in the South is
| Joel Chandler Harris. better known as
tUncle Remus.' Many men have tried to
write the negro dialect. and some have
| succeeded-notably Thomas Nelson Page
but "Uncle Remus" is the only writer
| who has mastered it. He has learned it
until he can talk and write negro dialect
better than the negro himself. No other
Georgian has had the temerity to try to
| write a negro story. Mr.. Harriss pri-
macy is unquestiOned.
The most interesting and prolific field
for character study in the South is IN the
mountain section. The people there are
less understood than any other people,
| and they have changed less than any
| others. Mrs. Murfree was the first to
| CLEAN in that field, but though others
have followed the reapers, the harvest
is so plentiful that there is abundance
for all who know how to CLEAN. The
| stories are not to be had by superficial
| study of the mountaineer. He must be
| studied as one would study ANYTHING else
| worth learning. He has a head full of
| common sense-What they call horse
| sense-and the Yankee who thinks he can
do him wakes up to find that he has
| tackled the wrong fellow.
Before writing "Abner Daniel the au-
thor studied the mountain character CT
! North Georgia until he knew it as we'll
as he knew the a b c's. He didn't write
| about the mountain men as most novel
lists from a superficial knowledge OF their
| true worth and an exaggerated idea of
| their eccentricities. He POUNDS his novel
| upon an appreciative knowledge e their
| worth. their sense, their shrewdness,
| their grit and the stern stuff of manhood
| that is in them. Moreover he has learned
| their idioms. their customs, their folk
lore. He writes as if he had himself
been born in a mountain coVe-as he may
have been. for all we know-and been
| brought up in the associations he de-
! picts so well.
"Abner Daniel" has been character
| lied as the David Harum of the South
and the Characterization is not far
/ wrong. 1t is q southern mountain story
| in warp and wool, with the life depicted
| as it really is. The characters are like
| plenty of men and women you will find
| in our mountains. The occupations,
| amusements, virtues and vices are illus
| trated by many a quaint story. Abner
| Daniel is not in every respect David
Harum, but Mr.. Harden has created a
character whose quaint philosophy. re-
ligion without cant, and WholesonenesS
make him a more admirable character
than David. and to a Southern reade' an
! even more interesting character. HIS be-
havior when on trial in church and his
speech when the railroads wanted to get
the people to give them a right OF way.
are such as to elicit the warmest admi-
ration. A homely philosopher full of the
milk of human kindness and quaint wit
l A hpar Donia1 iS q ST rOnClV drawn Charac-
Ter. But perhaps. even more vitaliZei
is the character of Pole Baker, q sort or
half derclict and genius, full OF faults but
fuller of virtues. with all the shreWdness
and shiftleSsness of q typical moonshlner.
Pole is a wonder in his way and through
the kindness of Abner and his nephew IS
made a good citizen, and turns out to be
a detective who could give Sherlock
Holmes pointers.
The love story, or stories, may be com
pared to the breath of violets in spring
sweet and pure with Just enough of ro-
nance and uncertainty to keep the in
tereSt at the absorbing pltch
from start to finish. 1t is a wholesome
story of the love that abides in the
South-tlis not calculating love of a man
for a maid. a love that ennobles man and
woman, the tender romance that makes
life holy and beautiful in ten thousand
hills and valleys of the South. It las in
it no element of unworthiness. There IS
no anker no noxious weed to turn it
into shame and ~unhappiness. The mod
ern novel too often deals with the strong
est Of human passion as if it is interesting
only when of doubtful propriety or OF alb
solute inpropriety. Such stories poison
the mind and the heart. Mr.. Harben's
love story is the ''old, old story where,
} after a novel and interesting and not
wholly unnatural delay and opposition,
the stream of love at last runs strong
and true, the lovers marry and live to-
gether happily ever afterwards A novel
With any other ending is not fit to be
read, no matter what its literary quail
ties.
Mr.. Harben's book illustrates the indus
trial, mineral and timber development of
our mountain country and his story
brings out the shrewdness of the South
!, ern Yankee whose trading capacity is not
, surpassed by any son Of New England,
' The story of the land-poor old man, who
had a firm conviction that mountain tim
Der land would one day make him rich,
) opens the way for the introduction OF the
, shrewd Northern promoter and lumber
man who found his match in the inlet
!, tered mountain ex-moonshiner.
1t is a delightful book 'racy of the
soil" The best test of a book is: Do
you wish to devour it, do you become Sc
interested in the characters and the plot
that you will put aside your work to read
. it to the end? BY that test we pronounce
"Abncr Daniel one of the very best
novels of the year. 1t ought to be in the
, hands of ell who love a wholesome, alb
= sorbing, delightful story.
n WHY so MANY NEW BOOKS?
# To the Editor: Why are so many new
books flooding the country now? This is
a question most every one at all inter
e ested in literature has asked himself
% But how many have satisfied themselves
with an explanation? There must BIZ
Y some reason for the large output, which
perhaps is best explained by the char
acter Of the books circulated.
The only satisfactory eXplanation