The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-06-29
WHAT THE BOOKMEN ARE
DOING AT THEIR TRADE

Cespotisn and Den1ocracy-A Study in
Washington Society and Politics.
Mcclure, Phillips G Co, Publishers.
For sale by st. Paul Book and Sta
tiOnery Co.
After reading this book it is rather
difficult to see how the name of it APP
plies, and yet as this is the case with
nine-tenths of modern books, it ought
not to appear strange with this par.
Ucuiar one. The writer, who is anony-
NOUS, gives a very good picture of con-
ditiOnS in Washington, under, it is sus-
pected, the present administration. 1t
is hardly possible within the limits of
4 story 20 give an adequate idea of the
many sided Washington, for there is
the social life of the old set, cave
dWellers,' as they are called, also the
official set, and the army and navy
contingent. But the writer has made a
readable story of a few senators and
representatives, and has done one cap
ital bit Of character drawing in por-
traying the career of Mr.. Crane, OF
Circleville. Crane has a charming wife,
but he is bitten by the society bee and
has become intanSled with some po-
litical sharps who draw him into a
mOney-making scheme, and he is to be
rewarded for his betrayal of a friend
by being made senator from his dis
triCt. His wife, who is great deal too
good for him, he allows to remain in
CircleNille with her children because
he fears she will handicap him socially,
and he becomes very devoted to Con-
stance Maitland, who is sensible
woman and shows him the folly Of his
way. His conscience wakes up at last
after he has sent for his wife, and her
good influence brings him back to the
path Of virtue and honesty. The most
interesting persons in the story are
Miss Maitland and Godfrey Thorn
iR,Nr
fair of eighteen years before is taken
up IN the story and continued to a
happy conclusion. AS a picture of GER
tain phases of Washington life and of
political intrigue, the box is excellent.
Mary North-By Lucy Rider Meyer.
The Fleming H. Reveu Company,
Publishers. For sale by the st. Paul
Book and Stationery Co.
This story, had it not been published
by a good house and put in excellent
binding, would have done we'll for one
of the Fireside Companion series of
novels. AS a thrilling melodrama it
would also be a startling success.
Mary North, as q little GiTi II a cOun-
try town of New England, is snow
balled by some rough street boys, and
she is not only able to hold her own,
but puts them to rout. Unknown to
her they promise each other to be re-
y,
years after that occurrence and Just
before she goes up to Boston to study,
she encounters a supposed Frenchman,
who, by his grimaces and great polite
ness, makes an impression upon her
and she gave him permission to call
upon her in Boston, whittier, strangely
enough, he Will also spend the winter
Left alone in the house of an unsus-
pectInS old woman in Boston by her
guardian, DR.. Sheldon, the villain
again appears upon the scene and sets
the trap into which the innocent girl
falls. This would-be Frenchman can
give stage villains cards and spades
Billy Sloan, eX-convict and all-round
bad man, as we'll as the boy whom
Mary put to flight when she was a
child. His game is to take Mary to
pretended minister and make her think
he is marrying her, and then to get
mold OF the deed she holds to her home
In the country. The success of the viii
lain is beyond the widest dreams of
Villains, as Mary is much in love with
her Frenchman and has absolute faith
in him. The story of her awakening is
extremely painful, and when she finds
herself deceived and betrayed she gets
upon a train leaving Boston for the
West and arrives in Chicago, where
she begins a pitiful search for work
The few chapters devoted to the life
of the working girl in Chicago, her ter
rible temptations, and the efforts she
makes to live decently upon a pittance,
make valuable. reading for girls who
feel that their homes are cramping
and who want to start out ito see the
world" The description of the meth
DDS of the big department stores is one
that taxes credulity, but it is doubtless
a truthful one and shows the terrible
dangers to girl who goes to a large
city alone. When Mary is finally found
by her people and taken home by
Stephen, who has always loved her,
her mind is full Of the horrors she has