The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-09-20

weekly, is not only p4easant, but q
saving of much time md effort, and
the success of the BooHlov9 Is Library
over in this age of hnuh reading.
But to have one or two Qf the very
is sufficient proof that's a. system
tor further says that She private IL
brary has come to be 8neH5nainIy for
reference and Of standard works,
which Is true again. Circulating Ii
braries are not only blessing in many
communities but a positive necessity,
and instead of being on the downward
path or likely to be, sas Mr.. Ewing
seems to think, 1t would appear to the
most casual observer that they are be-
coming more and more popular and
have come to stay. ~
Plot Is Not Necessary.
Time was when the plot was very
important part of novel, but that day
has passed away, and stories with I'M
married heroines are a thing OF the
past. Given a married pair, either
mismated or who think they are,
which amounts to the same thing, a
pleasant man to sympathize with the
wife who is misunderstood or there
would be no story to write, and the
thing is assured. Novels with pur-
pose are tabooed If the reader knows
Of the purpose in advance, but it is
seldom surely that a story is written
without a purpose although some are
more obvious than others. A book
with a purpose for publication" Is
generally we'll let alone by the nlascu-
line sex, but. strangely and unac-
countably, always read by women. A
man, Crabstoun Metcalfe by name, has
lust published a, book, the object Cf
which is, avoWedly to set up love
against fame. He calls his book
Fame for a Woman; or Splendid
Mourning" He contends that fame is
what Madame de Stael calls 'fonly
splendid mourning for happiness" The
story concerns Lendons literary Bo-
hernia, and is the usual style Of the
unhappy wife only instead Of another
man to make life endurabie. she seeks
fame. The sort of stories that are
purpoSeless or at all events are not in
the least peachy, are those Of Richard
Harding Davis, who is made the tar
get of alleged humoriSts because his
characters are always elegant and do
the proper thing. Some one has said
that they all begin thus:
Miss Amory was in a quandary.
The butler was i'll and the second man
had left suddenly. while Miss Amory's
own maid had been called to the hos
pital to sick mother and the under
gardner was the only ablezbodied man
about the place" r-so
Then, said the writer. the readers of
Davis who live in the provinces" know
that they are getting the real thing,
and the stories concern those who are
Davis has his place and there Is a
charm about his inocuous stories
which make even his severest critics
read them to the end. lie is doubtful
if the reading of story OF, Davis ever
did harm anyone, and that is some
thing that cannot be said Of many
modern novels. More power to his ell
bow, then, and reserve your filings,
critics all, for the erotic writer's Of the
day who go into disgusting details
of the emotions of worthless women
whose pitiful souls are laid bare for
the inspection of a faded public.
Paul Kruger's Memoirs.
The reports from London bring the
news of Kruger's memoirs, which are
but the beginning Of much literature
we are likely to have. on the subject Of
the BOer war, now a thing, happily,
of the past. 1t is, said that the Eng
Iish publisher, T. Fisher Unwin, has
paid Mr.. Kruger $4,000 for the book.
which will soon be published. The
next will be the recollections of the
Boer general, Dewet., After that each
Of the more prominent generals will
give his point of view in print.
The death of George Douglas Browne
just after he had made success Of
his first book, 1.-THE House With the
Green Shutters" has made a sensation
in the literary world. Among his pa
pers has been found study Of Ham
let" which is said to be a critical anal
ysis from a novel point of view. and 1T
will without doubt be published.
Much regret has been expressed be-
cause of the early cutting off Of this
new light, more for the promise Of
what he might have done in the flu
ture, than for what he had done, for
his one story shocked and appalled,
his readers though all admitted the
power of his melancholy tale. There
was some ground in the story for MIR.
Crosland's structures upon the an
speakable Scot.
From London, too, we learn that the
October number Of Chambers Journal
will contain an article on the New
York police by President Roosevelt,
and that George Meredith will write
the introduction to the revised edition
Of Lady Duff Gordon's Letters from
Egypt" This is an old Book, but the
new edition is made available by the
death Of several persons concerned and
the possibility of printing their letters
in full. 80 sst ~
Among the books to be published
soon is a little volume of poems by
Beatrice Hanscom, we'll known as a
contributor of light verse to the Cen
tury and other magazines.5 1t may be
remembered that several years ago
Miss Hanscom visited some st. Paul
friends on Summit avenue and was
much made of sociallya She lives in
Marquette, Mich, at present, and the
name Of her first book Is Love, Lau-
rels and Laughter" s&2
A Case of Plagiarism.
A writer in a current review says