davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Washington times., 1902-09-28

adveuturer; Kosmaroff. the prescribed
Polish noble: the three Americans-ail
are capitally drawn. though why an Eng
lish novelist always persists in labelling
his American men with middle initial
and an Old Testament Christian name
il would be difficult to say.
Next to the s6illfully constructed plot,
the best feature OF the book is its epi-
gram. Mr.. Merriman has distinct
talent for putting ideas into sentences
which flash upon the reader like sign
made of electric lights. Nothing less
modern and unequivocal will do for a
simile. Here, for example, is the SEN
tence into which he condenses what
might have been page or two of de-
scription:
Warsaw is Jay and cheerful town.
with fine streets and good shops, with
cold. gray climate. and history as
grim as that of any city in the world
save Paris
And here is the way in which he
sums up the household of the Prince
Bukaty in Warsaw:
''The air OF the rooms-the subtle i'm
dividuality which is impressed by hu-
manity ON wood and texture-suggeste
that older comfort which has been sue
ceeded by the restless luxury of these
times.
''fhe prince was, it appeared, one of
those men who diffuse tranquility wher-
ever they are. He had moved quietly
through stirring events; had acted with
out haste in hurried moments. For the
individuality of the house must have
been his. Wanda had found it there
when she came back from the school in
The Washington times., 1902-09-28
A STORY OF LONG ISLAND

"The Ship, of Dreams" is the second
novel of Louise Forsslund, whose first
book, "The Story of sarah,' made some
thing of sensation last year. Her new
novel is the work of more practiced
hand. and is better balanced than the
first; in short, the writer has evidently
found her feet.
The life of Long Island has been prac-
tically untouched by the novelists,
though one or two juvenile books have
been written about 1t. Like all sea-
shore regions, il abounds in quaint,
weird, beautiful or grotesque traditions
and characters. for there seems to be
something in the breath of the sea which
keeps romance alive in the soul of man
and brings him close to the edge of that
world of fancy which more inland set
Elements may ignore. What Sally Pratt
Mclean did for Cape Cod, some twenty
years ago, Louise Forsslund has done
for Long Island. Moreover, the spirit
of her work is kindlier and more imag
NATIVE than that of Cape Cod Folks"
criticism of the book may fitly. in
this case, include some information
about the author. Miss Forsslund Is
the daughter OF Swedish father and an
American mother, and was born and
brought up near Sayville, whore she has
lived all her life. She thus writes of
the life of Long Island with full knowl-
edge and familiarity.
''The Ship of Dreams" deals with two .
branches of an old family living on the
Great South Bay near Fire Island Light.
One is legitimate and one illegitimate,
and the plot concerns itself with the
working out of an ancient curse and the
development of singularly winsome
The Washington times., 1902-09-28

The two styles, judiciously contrasted,
are satisfaction to the epicure in
books.
| An example of the sossipy, pictur
esque writing which makes up a good
part of the book is the comment by Hen
ry Havard on THE Banquet of Argue
busters" by Frans Halls. He says:
| Il do not know if it would be possi-
Bile to experience IN a matter of art an
impression at once more singular and
| disquieting than that felt by stranger
visiting HARLEM for the first time. He
has hardly left the railway before he
seems to have entered into a sleeping
| town. The Kruis-straat opens before
him, a long and absolutely deserted
perspective To right and left the
empty streets offer to the caressing
sunlight their brick pavements, so neat
and bright that 1t seems as il they can
not have been trodden upon for many
years The Shiny waves of the canals
that he crosses by means Of neat little
bridges appear to sleep in the shadow
of the great beeches. In proportion as
he approaches the center of the village
this strange feeling of isolation and
this impression of solitude become NOR
intense. After having fathomed with
his glance the depths of the Market
Place and he raps with the knocker of
the Stadhuis, 1t seems to him that he is
in the land of the Sleeping Beauty. Bu,
the door turns silently upon its hinges.
A mute parsonage admits and ,precedes
him. Following him, our visitor ac-
cends several steps and Immediately
finds himself opposite the pictures of
Frans Hals-that is to say, before an
exuberance of noisy and dissolute life.
Never was there produced a more
striking and impressive contrast. With |
a perplexed mind, one asks If these pic |
lures of wild life could have been pro-
duced in this very proper and curiously |
drowsy city, and IL the painter has not
traduced nature outrageously. No. |
Frans Halls has traduced nothing. He
did nothing but translate toyously what
his eyes rested upon, for during the firss
years of the seventeenth century Haar
pleasant and soporific town through |
which we have just walked.
Then it was brilliant agglomera-
tion, surrounded with solid ramparts.
and animated with warlike and queru-
lous sentiments, and, consequently, was
just as noisy as it is now quiet. and
The Washington times., 1902-09-28
A DRAMATIC PSYCHOLOGICAL NOVEL.

Love and the Soul Hunters" is the
of John Oliver Hobbies. who is, as all
the world now knows, Mrs. Craigie. The
readers of this book would not in any
event be deceived by the pseudonym, for
the finesse and psychological analysis
are Enthusiastically woman's work.
Love and the Soul Hunters" combines
the skill in dialogue and character
drawing shown in the authors previous
novels. with a certain strength of dra-
matte construction which may be the re-
suit of her recent experience in play
writing
The hero of the book. Prince Paul of
Urseville- -Beylestein, is a young syba-
rite OF ultra refined sensibilities at the
beginning of the book, and at the end he
is a reasonably manly young fellow. The
change is caused by a veritable grande
passion, which results in his finding
himself and determining to live up to
the ideal in the mind OF his betrothed.
She, the heroine, Clementine Gloucester
is charming and girlish, yet not too
simple maiden, the daughter of an Eng
lish aristocrat of no character, and a
French American dancer with a great
deal OF personality. Aside from the emo
tional interest of the story, 1t is some.
what fascinating as an entirely truthful
study of the possible results of an ill
assorted union.
Felshammer, the German physician,
who is the third important character in
the book, is thoroughly well drawn. con-
sisteEt. and alive in every trait and ac-
tion. Another entirely delightful person
is La Belle Valentine. mother OF the
The Washington times., 1902-09-28

ventor, for before him the pa,e,te haa
| no knowledge of these ruarva,..,
sources But these lights of shadow
tnese ciearnesses OF shadow take notb-
ing from the soIidity OF the bodies rrho,,
play upon their surfaces. and do ~
penetrate into them. They have indoaa
relative intensity which ,eava.S -,
'heir Vaiue upon the. parts touched bv
the light. The local lone of the oh.
Jects pursues it and finds II wi,ho,.
attracting the eye. The whitenesses .,
the Hesh are not surrounded bv tbosa
s~arthy or wcod-coIored zones which
TOO often represent the shadow in mic.
lures that are otherwise admirable and
full of sublime qualities.
Ihis perfect homogeneity nj tb.
bright parts and the dark parts pive "a
oorregsio' figures rare power of re-
he1; they detach themselves from thu
oIock OF the background spread out be.
mind them and exhibit themselves IN RI.
eye with all the appearance of Iife-Iiks
oDJects perceived in mirror. AT the
approach of twilight, when the canvases
IN the galleries extinguish themselves
one by one, and present themselves ONLY
as confused blots, Correggio's pictures
keep the light and seem to illumlnats
themselves; the personages assume an
intense and mysterious life, one would
say they mean to come out of the frames
ike tableaux vivants when the effect is
produced, and that they must take new
poses for another group. As the sun
lingers upon the high mountains long
after night has bathed the valleys, light
abandons these high SUBMITS of art re-
gretfulIy"
1t cannot fail to be noted that the
translator. in rendefing into English this
peculiarly artistic bit of Gautier's prose.
has kept the flavor of the original to q
truly remarkable degree, and that with
out the least awkwardness. 1t is not
usual to find a translation from the
French which suggests the Gallo idiom
without sounding like patois, but the
present translator has achieved.
These extracts are taken almost at
random from numerous passages Of
equal interest. The book should and a
place in every school library where
books on art are found. and in many
private libraries as well. tNew York:
Dodd, Mead & Co. $1.60.)
The Washington times., 1902-09-28

''St. Georges warning is in the world.
and for it; he is the enemy of it's DESC
lation. the guardian Of it's peace; and all
the vital force of the lower nature he
shall have to bear him into battle; sub
missive indeed, to the spur, bitted and
bridled for obedience, yet honorably
decked with trappings whose studs and
bosses are fair. carven faces. But though
of color prosaically useful, this horse
has 4 deeper kinship with the air. Many
of the ancient histories and vase-paint-
ings tell us that Perseus, when he saved
Andromeda, was mounted on Pegasus
Look now here at the name and tail,
swept still back upon the wind, though
already the passionate onset has been
brought to sudden pause in that crash
of encounter. Though the flash of an
earthly fire be in his eye, its force in
his limbs; though the clothing of his
The Washington times., 1902-09-28

is even stronger in its way, and there
Is, one would say, something of the old
scandinavian fatalism in the tempera-
ment OF the writer which has. con-
sclously or unconsciously, Influenced
her handling of this dramatic material.
1t Is done as skillfully as Ibsen ever
worked out one of his inevitable TRACE.
oies with the tools Of realism; there
is nothing improbable about 1t, and yet
1t Is grim and terrible to the last de-
gree. While there is still some crude
ness In the style of this novelist. a GER
tain disjointedness and roughness In
the way in which the scenes and char
acters are managed. there is also much
strength, and second book which is
as great an Improvement on the first.
from an artistic point of view. as this
one is over its predecessor, may very
wen be followed by others even more
noteworthy. The greatest danger in
which this author stands is that of be-
ing swamped by her own material. She
has found virgin field. in which. with
much may be done. but the
trouble with most realists in such a
situation is that thoy allow their genre
work to overbalance their plots and
the minor characters throw the hero
and heroine into the shade 1t Is not
an easy thing to bring into plot
which fits the scene, such grotesque and
eccentric developments of human nature
as are to be found In almost any coun-
try community, and the only way in
which 1t can be done is to wait for the |
plot to grow. naturally and inevitably
There are signs that the plot of THE |
ship of Dreams" developed partly in
this way, instead of being made to or
der. (New York: Harper &. Bros.)
The Washington times., 1902-09-28
INTRIGUE AND ROMANCE.

The Vultures,' Henry Seton Merri-
mans new novel, is likely to be consid-
cred one of his best, when the collection
Is dispassionately compared. The third
or fourth novel of any author is usually
at disadvantage in point of popularity,
because the public Is familiar with his
style, and lacks the spur of novelty to
awaken its interest. If THE Vultures'
had appeared as Mr.. Merriman's first
work. 1t would undoubtedly have attract
ed an unusual amount of attention.
The plot deals with the affairs of Po-
land at the present day. and the heroine
Is the daughter of an old and famous
Polish family whose motto seems to be
"Noblesse oblige." The hero is a young
Englishman in the diplomatic service,
and the characters of the two are fnely
contrasted as types of Polish and Anglo
Saxon nature. Lightly as the portrait
of Wanda is sketched. she is irresistibly
fascinating; and silent as Carooner
moves through the pages OF the romance.
the reader feels the same impulse of
trust and admiration experienced by
those who come into personal contact
with him.
The details of the plot are all, or
nearly all: political. though the main
interest is romantic. This somewhat
paradoxical statement means simply that
political intrigue is used to bring out
more and more clearly the characters
of Wanda and her lover. and force them
into situations crucial to their affec-
tion and sense of honor. The minor
Wanda's father. the old
prince. her brother. the brave and reck-
less young prince; Deulin. the old French
The Washington times., 1902-09-28

it is good to have them in accessible
form for the reference library.
(. Quite different from the style of Ha-
ward is that of James Reddie Anderson.
in his analysis of Carpaccio's "St.
George and the Dragon 1t is in part
as follows:
THE first picture on the left hand as
we enter the chapel shows St. George
on horseback, in battle with the Dragon
Other artists, even Tintoret, are of opin-
ion that the saint rode white horse.
The champion of purity must, they hold,
have been carried to victory by a
charger ethereal and splendid as sum-
mer cloud. Carpaccio believed that his
horse was dark brown He knew
that this color is generally the mark
of greatest strength and endurance; he
had no wish to paint here an ascetics
victory over the flesh.
The Washington times., 1902-09-28

as wide awake as it is now somnolent.
Around SAINT Bavon, so solitary today,
bursts of loud laughter made the win
dows of the taverns and gaming houses
ring. The Pelican, the Golden Grape,
the Bastard Pipe, the Rhine, the Draw
Net, and the Golden Fleece succeeded
one another with an assortment of dam
dies of every kind and appearance, and
overflowed with thirsty customers who
came in to moisten their mirth under the
shadow of the gigantic signs"
After this sketch of the time in which
the artist lived, the critic goes on to
explain the circumstances in which the
picture under consideration was paint
ed. and the qualities which make it note
worthy.
Such passages in art criticism as Rus
kin's essay on Turner's "Slave Ship
are too familiar to need quotation, but
The Washington times., 1902-09-28

Dresden. too young to have marked
individuality of he. own. Th' differ
ence she brought to the house was Ger
tain brightness and sort OF experiment
tai femininity, which reigned supreme
until her English soyeTness came back
again to live rs a companion with her
pupil. Wanda moved the furniture,
turned the house round on it's staid
basis, and made hundred experiments
in domestic economy before she gave
way to her fathers habits of life Then
she made that happiest of human dis
coveries, which has the magic power
of allaying at one stroke the eternal
feminine discontent which has made the
world uneasy since the day that Eve
idled in that perfect garden-she found
that she was wanted in the world."
tHfseT' York: Harper & Bro. Si.5O.l
The Washington times., 1902-09-28

heroine. and one could wish to meet her
In book dealing at length with her
early romance. Her ex-husband, the
fiimsy Lord Gloucester, is quite as well
drawn in his way, but not nearly so at
tractive.
AS for the details of the book. all is
satisfactory. There are sage bits of
philosophy and epigram on almost every
page. The most quoted is likely TO be
La Belle Valentines test of conjugal af-
fection. She said:
want to ask every woman who is
mean TO me and thinks herself winning
1t all along the line: Tell me this-does
your husband know you as we'll as the
devil knows you? Would he love you
just the same IL he did,"
A more delicate and pathetic touch of
reflection is this:
1t is often held that it is better to
have trouble in ones youth than in
ones middle age; the fresh heart 1T
is thought. is stronger to bear grief.
But this is not the case. A fresh heart
is also an immature one; II is tender
impressionable. unseasoned. altogether
too delicate for hard blows. No sorrow
is so bitter, because it is so little un-
derstood, as the sorrow In young
mind. The world at once seems squalid
Providence unjust, and when the sense
of suffering injustice begins to dominate
a soul at its first fight the wings grow
heavy. the way looks dark with un-
known terrors. and the ultimate goal
is considered as some probable mock
cry, cruel and desolate."
Most people have met the type of
man here described:
The Washington times., 1902-09-28
VERSES OF ARCADY.

The second volume in 1.-The Arcadian
Library" a series of dainty little vol
umes of verse, is THE Great Posses
sion, collection of verses for and
about children, by Harriet Prescott Spot
ford. The title is the only unfortunate
thing in the little book, which is artis-
tic and charming to degree rare in
these days of mediocre verse. Mrs
Spofford's work is always good. and these
verses deserve vide popularity among
lovers of true poetry. Even the names
are alluring: THE Fossil Raindrops," :"
The Snow Furry" THE Fairy of Early
Fall. Fern Seed" etc. All of the
poems are brief too brief for the salts
faction of the delighted reader. Some
are pathetic and some are quantity hu-
morous. and some are pure sentiment.
One, which is a combination of all three,
is entitled THE Child that Gave Trou-
BILE" This is scrap Of It:
She was sliding downstairs WITH shout and a
shock
Flying all ways at once till you thought
you saw double;
She was filling the vase, she was winding the
clock,
She was vas, Stopping and slipping. and running
And dancing and tripping-the child that
gave trouble.
II the water was running, the bathroom aGoat;
If the fence was atre and was burning like
stubble;
II the rope lad been cut of the leaky old boat,
That downstream was trailing with weeping
and wailing--
You knew without failing twas the child that
gave trouble.
That was she ii the Group gave gasp in the
night
1t was hers il forehead was bruised on the
rubble;
IT was hers, too the clamor that filed you with
fright
And she talked till you maddened, and cried
till you saddened
And laughed till you gladdened-the child
that gave trouble.
(Boston: The Gorham Press. Richard
G. Badger.)
The Washington times., 1902-09-28

neck be Chthonian thunder, this steed Is
brother, too. to that one. born by far
thest ocean swells. whose wild name and
sweeping wings stretch through the firm
ament as light is breaking over earth.
More; these masses of billowy hair
tossed upon the breezes of heaven are
set here for sign that this. though but
one of the beasts that perish. has the
roots of his strong nature in the power
of heavenly life, and is now about his
business who is Lord of heaven and
father Of men. The horse is thus, as we
shall see opposed to certain other signs,
meant for our learning. In the dream
Of horror round this monsters den.
"St. George. armed to his throat, sits
firmly In the saddle. All the skill gained
in chivalric youth, all the might of
soldiers manhood, he summons for this
strange tourney, stopping slightly and
gathering his strength as he drives the
spear-point straight between his enemy's
jaws. His face is very fair, at once deli
cate and powerful; well-bred in the full
est bearing Of the words; Plantagenet
face in general type. but much refined"
And SO on, and so ON. 1t is a Brit
ish analysis of an Italian painting, and
as such, may be taken with grain of
salt, for it may be doubted whether
Carpaccio had any idea of creating
"Plantagenet type" for his st. George,
when it is considered that not one Of
all the multitude Of Madonnas and Apos-
ties of the time is of Jewish aspect
However, the critique is of much inter-
est apart from this debatable point.
Perhaps a more charming bit of Il RI !
ing never was than Gautier's discus
sion of Correggio in connection with La
Notte,'' which is quoted here. 1t is in
part as follows:
can Italian critic calls Correggio
clarified LEONARDO. This remark is not |
unjust. The painter of Parma, like the
painter of Milan, leads from light to |
shade by degrees of infinite delicacy, |
but the quality of the shadow is not |
the same. Black or violet, or at the |
very least, neuter in tone with da Vim
ci. Correggio's shadow is silvery, trans
parent. illumined with reflections, and |
would really serve for light with many
painters; the artist has carried to the
last illusions the magic of chiaroscuro,
a magic of which he is kind of in
The Washington times., 1902-09-28
. pARTIcuLARLf attractive hol

~ A PARTICULARLY attractive holl-
IA day volume is Famous Paint
1 4 ings as Seen and Described by
Famous Writer'S collec-
tion of pictures and critiques edited
by Esther Singleton. author of sew
eral similar works, and translator of
The Music Dramas of Richard Wag-
ner." 1t is rare, indeed, to find SO fine
a collection of illustrations at SO mod
est price. and the text adds much to
the value of the book. A further merit
of the volume lies in the fact that many
of the paintings here reproduced are un-
familiar 10 the general public. but new
ertheless are of the first rank.
There are in all something over forty
illustrations, critique accompanying
each one. Among the painters repre-
sented are Raphael, Murillo, Velasquez.
Frans Halls, Van Dyck, Turner, Rem
brandt, Perugino, da yinci. and. in fact,
Among the writer's from whose works
selections have been made are Ruskin,
Gautier, Monkhouse, William Sharp,
Walter Pater, Emile Michel, F. A.
Gruyer. and Henry Jouin.
No lover of art can fail to delight in
the illustrations. which are selected
with great care, and reproduced with
skill. The comments. selected, as they
are, from books of criticism inaccessi-
BILE to the average reader, and repre-
senting, as they do, the thought of the
best and most sympathetic judges, must
prove equally delightful.
Not the least attractive thing in the
collection of eritiques is the variance
of nationality, French and English con-
noisseurs being about equally repre-
sented. The characteristics of the art
criticism of the two races, Gallo and
Anglo-Saxon, are brought out clearly
enough to anyone accustomed to look
for racial traits. Generally speak
ing, the French critic is occupied with
the technique and the personality of
the artist. the English critic with the
sentiment. significance and history of
the picture. The latter has the quicker
eye for an aliegorical meaning. the
former for dramatic effect. 1t is in
the main the difference between Ruskin
and Gautier in style and personality.
The Washington times., 1902-09-28

He is libertine. Oh not the
swashbuckler, the villain of novels, the
Lovelace; he is sentimental soul
hunter; specialist in souls. He be-
lieves that he is in earnest, whereas
he is as fickle as women are supposed
to be and are not"
Love and the Soul Hunters" is not
a great novel, but it is good one,
and sure of steady popularity. tNew
York: Funk & Wagnalls Company
The Washington times., 1902-09-28
George Browne.

1t is said that George Douglas Browne,
for whom untimely death followed hard
upon the heels of sudden fame left no
work far enough advanced to admit of
its publication or completion by another
writer, and therefore his title to re-
membrance will rest upon the one novel
which won him international fame.
"The House With the Green Shutters"
The Washington times., 1902-09-28

the motive of the tale, and lifts it from
an atmosphere more or less squalid to
one of fanciful poetry.
The other fanciful element in the
book, the fulillment of the curse pro-
nounced fifty years before by an outcast
girl upon her betrayer and his house.
The Washington times., 1902-09-28
Juvenile Stories.

One of the books for young people is-
sued this year is Round Robin con-
tanning stories. poems and anecdotes by
such weli-known writers as May Hart
well Catherwood. Margaret sansster.
Alfred Henry Lewis. Garrett Nawkirx,
Roswell Field. Margaret Bouyet. etc.
The Washington times., 1902-09-28
Tales of Provence.

Thomas A. Janvier is hard at sork
upon book which Harper q Bros. are
to bring out before Christmas. Provence
is the country of Mr.. Janvier's heart, so
the title of the book, THE Christmas
Kaiends of Provence" suggests work
done con amore.