The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-09-13
BOOKS OF THE HOUR
Continued Fro,.. ~'-+h Page.

OOuCinueU Fr0t.. m rage
ter gracefully eating half pint of salt
ca almonds, with my feet on the bureau
arWays with my feet on the bureau-I
am am Eliminating: The world is made up
Seniehy of positives and negatives. What
Is tS the SKY Not paper, at any rate. What
Is wind? Damned disagreeable. What is
r Ian Respectable notoriety. What is
my heart! The pump-houSe of my SyS-
lem lem what Is my soul? A damnably
harassed, tortured pretense. What do
we Know! More than we are at liberty
TO tell. What are we? The original and
the imitation"
Like Mary. Willie has litany.
/. avon, III ~ persons who know things and
a Hilu OF woman who calls her form her
Ns s91Le, good angel deliver me.
,,or rfron bores; from all other paralytic
genluses; from frauds; from self-conceit;
good angel deliver me-
FROM union suits, from padded hips;
rooHl literary novices; good angel deliver
From the soft persistent fol-lol of dis
oraered minds; from beefsteak and onions;
sood angel deliver me-
Iron. IRON hip carriers; from cambria hand
hefcniets in waists; from the kind Of
95eS1;pie who talk of legs at all, kind angel
From chewing gum; from imperceptible
WAIST VAST lines; from devil men; good angel
deliver me.
nm -'n ny, vulgar language in books; from
poses; good angel deliver me-
=, In these things l am sincere and I
lnI mn the public is with me there"
IhoSe who have read Mary MacLane's
B book, will appreciate Damn" because of
lts clever ssEtire. 1t is undoubtedly the
math.
- The Climax, by Charles Felton, PideIn-
\ published by the G. M. Clark Publish
Ing Co. Boston, Mass.
, freadlng fast on the heels of 'Blenner-
haSsett comes this even more remarka-
.ole work from the pen of Mr.. Pidgin. We
( use remarkable advisedly. For while
+ people may disagree on the exact meas
Is nre of literary merit to be accredited to
Mlr. Pidgin's books, no one can deny to
their author the possession of unusual
Imaginative powers. What Might Have
Been" is the subtitle of this new book,
a subtitle that is more explanatory than
the preferred title.
'Blennerha was partly historical
The Climax is purely imaginary. The
former was romance built about the
NE of Aaron Burr, the author using the
1acts thai, are known to posterity, but
weaving them in and out through the
warp OF his imagination and coloring them
with his own personal feelings. 1.-THE Gil
max ignores entirely the duel that sent
Alexander Hamilton out of the world
and put an end to Burr's political career
Premising that Burr'S life had previously
been a clean and honest one, it preserves
unbroken the thread of his career through
brilliant public life and crowns it with
such political honors as falls to the lot of
shine respondent and his honor to re-
main unblemished through political strife
and power, so Alexander Hamilton's life
is made to appear correspondingly black.
The Han. uton of the book is a political
trickster. Burr is the honorable states
man.
author, in very brief preface, this
work cannot be historically true; but
would ask the reader if he or she does not
Wish 1t were true"
A conversation that closes the book
gives further insight into the object of
the author. The conversation is between
Burr and the woman whom he Weds late
y life, They are discussing the news
>, of Alexander Hamilton's death, which has
4 just reached them. He was your enc
"He was my bitterest foe,", her husband
replied. He did not fight me openly,
but n the dark He made use of spies
and informerS and secret correspondence"
why did you not call him out and kill
him?'' cried Stephanie.
IF had done So" her husband re-
piled, when there was the most cause
Tor taking such a course, the sentiment
or the public was such that his untimely
taking off would have made him saint
ed martyr, and me a political and social
outcast"
when the story opens Burr is running
Tor governor of New York, to accept
which office he resigns the vice presidency.
Hamilton is the defeated candidate. Lat
er Burr is appointed by President Jeffer-
son commander of the United States ar
my and finally he is made president of
the, United States. AS a successful gem
eral he subjugates Canada and makes it
part of the United States. AS president
he Institutes number of reforms, among
othefS limiting president to one term
in Office.
Those who read "Blennerhassett'' with
interest will be sure to read 1.-The Gil
max" with even greater avidity, even If
they are not disposed to wish it were all
true, as the author suggests in his
preface.
In the Days of ST. clair-By James Ball
Naylor; published by Saalfeid Publish
ing Co, New York and Chicago.
DR.. MAYORS book contains all the re-
quisites for q thrilling melodrama. There
is the dark and revengeful woman whose
love mas been Scorned; there is the single
minded and brave young hero whose be-
lief in and devotion to the girl of his
choice brings him safely through dangers
that would daunt the souls of ten ordi-
nary men; there is the superlatively beau
tiSdl and Superlatively good heroine who
is always rescued in the nick of time and
whose courage never fails her until the
danger is over, when she faints away as
gracefully as any heroine of olden times
Lastly, but not least, there are painted
Indians gaiore-the time of the story is
the latter half of the eighteenth century
who howl luridly through the novel and
who commit fiendish deeds with the
usual fiendish delight The dark and re-
vengeful woman causes most of the trou-
BILE Because the hero loves another she
plots the destruction of that other aided
and abetted by her mother.
When the story opens the dramatis per-
sonae are all found in Southern Virginia.
Later the scene is shifted to the North
west territory, where fate takes the hero
inc, first, later the hero and finally the
villainess. The Indians are already there
and they make things lively for all con-
cerned. The, story ends happily. What
melodrama does not? The heroine not
her father as well. The villainess dies
of broken heart. All who like novels of
the hair-raising kind will find In the
Days Of st. Clair" interesting. It Is well
written and as correct, historically, as
the majority of novels of history that
are flooding the literary market.
The Quest of Polly Locke-By Zoe Ander-
son Norris. Published by J. S. Ogilvie
Publishing Company, New York.
1.-THE Quest Of Polly Locke" the lat
Norris, author of THE Color of His Soul"
is a peculiar story very badly written.
Or possibly the author knows how to
write better, and it is her characters
At any rate the heroine is of the kind
of American girl that we blush for, the
kind that says Nothing pleases me-" and
of her girl friends thus: "These men!
What they feel for man is not true af-
lection; it is not genuine love. 1t is some
thing as fleeing as their kisses. That's
why most women turn to God. God is
mythical enough, but he is not SO mythical
as the love of man. Get thee to a nun
: Inery, girl. Man is the same yesterday,
today and the day after tomorrow. Since
the time of Hamlet he has not changed
and he will not"
e' Vet She allows men to kiss her on short
acquaintance. and then forgets about il
J (which is of course, the Wisest thing to
dol. She believes that the easiest way to
get things one. wants is to kick and
meets to make her acquaintance. and YET
she warns her friend to go into a nun