The Saint Paul globe., 1903-02-01
Of Books
and Writers

4
particular, that Richard Harding Da-
Wis book, Captain Macklin,' is dis
appointing. The hero wooes without
winning and wins without wooing. One
critic writes that "Dickey,'' as she
biasphemously abbreviates him, has
worked the public, and the real story
IS 10 follow in "a sequel to appear in
the summer. Summer, concluding the
last sentence, somehow suggests spring
ana look at the calendar apprises us
sL snal we are only seventy-one days
from spring poetry. Shades of Robert
Cariveau!
IT the popular novelist ever runs out
OF Dlzarre names for his characters
let MN pick up any legal records of
suits and the plaintiffs and defend
ants Will furnish him with a nomencla-
ture Wierder than Dickens and more
peculiar than Edgar. Saltus. Here are
a few OF the titles of lawsuits accord
lsing to the record:
Kitchen -F'ixens.
Thum- Warts.
Lovejoy- DrinkWater.
Bitterly Youngblood
further on we find the case of Sea-
songood against Onions, which must
nave brought tears to the eyes of the
jury. Why Younglove should sue Ham
mock (unless it broke DOWN is prob
lem Why Laughter should pursue
Darling is visible, risible mystery.
That Hare should be after Turnipseed
IS not surprising. Swearing against
Blondes is simply natural reaction
against the peroxide habit. These
| names and countless quaint ones are
not inventions; they are captions of
suits reported by the Northwestern
/ Court Reporter. a stately journal of.
large circulation, but having no coupon
| departments.
There~i is a movement on foot to pub
llsh magazine for the best people,
/ only 1t is mentioned here because of
necessity it must interest all readers of
Tn e q b e.. None but the best fam
fllles may subscribe for 1t and no seedy
| genluseS whose family trees bulge at
the trunk need offer their services.
| Among its firstS contributors will be
| Mrs.5Gen. John Al. Eogan, with a strong
| article on How to Bring Up Girls"
| Baer, of the Reading, with a character
sketch entitled my Side Partner" ey-
| Identity induced by the worthy manner
! In which he has set an example to the
| ruler of the universe; George j. Gould
| on The United States Pension System
| Compared With My Institution for
supporting Young Noblemen." Beyond
| the Border" a dramatic interlude by
| the crown princess of Saxony. The
| publishers announce that they will
| titled Within the Nunnery of My
Quiet Breast" being the auto biograph-
! ical "reminiscences of Mrs. Lily Lang
| try. The subseription price will be
| $25 per annum, single numbers So each.
| In artistic ensemble the magazine win
be most excellent, with heavy asbestos
covers and mons -Shrinkable contribute
ors. 1t will be sold at church doors.
1t is rather curious development
| to find an English magazine complain
ing of the surplusage of humor in mod
ern books. This Is infinitely pathetic,
and somewhat hopeful too, as 1t i'm
plies recognition of humor in a quar-
ter that one does not expect 1t. The
same critic contends that modern hu-
NOR is far below the fun of other days
| IN mirth- provoking qualities. To this
| an English correspondent takes excep-
1 ton and states that far from having
/ too much humor, there is too little
| and, as he puts it, there cannot be too
much. This being somewhat like an
1 Endorsement of Americans, we breath
| easier, as to live without British APP
1 proyaI is but to exist. If those who
| know in England feel the lack of hu-
NOR and are anxious to improve in this
direction, we might find it in our
hearts to loan George Ade, Mark
Twain and "Mr. D6oley'' for g. time,
| in order that they might writesof Eng
lish subjects and make themselves un-
! derstandable, but we should make it
| a condition. that they be returned In
/ tact and with unimpaired goodms pirits
| 1t is significant fact that this com-
| PLANT from Briton of a surfeit of hu-
1 NOR in the books of the day should
come just after the publication of
| Mr. aKrugef's memories and those Of
! Gen. Dewet.
!
/ Now - :,
/ about US and notla day passes but
some iconoclast gives a blow to some
thing We have been cI1erishing, comes
| some rather ruthless person and tells
US that the George Washington cherry
i tree incident is most decidedly not true
and that it is worse than absurd to
! include it in text books for school use
! As the birthdag OF the father of our
| country draws near, all the stories
| written, or those that have come. down
| to us by traditipn,S are rehearsed and
| reprinted, but al writer in one of the
best of the reviews strenuously objects
to the hatchet story. What real harm
| this story can do Ii is difficult to see,
| and in some fHstances it may have
i been an example OF ideal truthfulness.
! This. is sample OF the spirit of those
| so-called worshippers of truth who
| would Danish all fairy stories from the
nursery, tell alIS children that there is
4 AAO SANTA N<lo ucss III d WOEu,- 9QTdS
! them down from a pleasant land of the
ideal, and drop them with a dull thud
on the earth. It@ is. realism. versus
/ ideaiism. 1t seems a strange thing
| that though tTuth-telling is a great
virtue. we fly from the man or woman
! we know Will always tell us the truth
no matter If it kills, and seek the So
| ciety of those kindly Souls who will
soften the blow if possible or conceal
/ the worst by pleasant words. Truth is
many-sided, and those terrible awe
i inspiring creatures who tell what they
think is true on every occasion, are
thoroughly unconscious that there is
another side that they do not dream of
in their self sufficiency. 1t is, however.
rather trying to find that the world
seems to accord to this class of truth
| tellers an honesty and sincerity which
| it denies to the loving ones who make
life easy for those about them. There
is not the slightest reason to suppose