Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-17
NEW FOUNDATIONS.

DENMARK NORWAY ay,S1fs 'swsbrS nv Will
lam Eeroy Curtis. author Of The Turk and
His list s nr,sn \, es EN- sstra ed Axiom
Mr.. Curtis. whose tra3Sel tstters to tha
Chicago Record, and, RECORD Herald have
form such valuable and Interesting fea-
lures Of those Journals during. the past few
years. spent the summeT of5il901 in Dem
mark. Sweden and Norway. visiting every
city of considerable sizaf,nds traversing IS
much as possible of the'tesioes. He noted
items of interest with ffle ttlained eye OF
the correspondent. and ibis reports of his
observations permitted I; he readers of tho
Record Herald to see tie distant countries
at almost the range of n traveller hims ,f.
This journey was OF especial Importance to
the people of the northwest, which contains
so many residents of north European birth
Mr.. Curtis notes in his preface that there
are million Swedes. five hundred thousand
Norwe2ians and three hundred thousand
Danes in the United States. and he believes
that they as valuable and desirable i'm
migrants as have ever arrived on these
shores. -
Mr.. Curtis has faculty OF obtaining
ffrst-haud inforna ton Regarding irnporta Mt
personages. which gives his narratives an
especial value. In the coItse OF his present
volume he tells OF the personalities Of the
royal families of Denmark and the Scandi-
navian states. until the reader feels ac-
their attractive sons and daughters Th,
folk life. however is not subordinated TO
the story OF the palace for the author APP
precfates the fact that these people among
whom he Travelled may soon be Americ IN
citizens, and that they are therefore objects
of particular concern. His accounts are
brisk and entertaining carrying the reader
along at lively pace and presenting to
him Impressions OF costumes, scenery,
industries and ,pastimes with remarkable
vividneSs.
One of the most entertaining items In the
mass of valuable matter contained in the
large and handsomely illustrated book is
the description of the "steam Kitchen in
the city of Christianfa. conducted as a semi
charitable institution for the cleanly and
cheap feeding OF the people. 1t affords an
impressive suggestion of the possibility OF
a similar enterprise in this country.
by Owen Kildare. Illustrated. New York: II q
Baker Taylor c mpany. Washington: VIII
lam Bal.anyn. & Sons
Nine years ago Owen Kildare stood in
front of Bowery d i've, leader Of his gang,
pugil.st, bouncer, thug, illiterate without
ambition save to gain the means of getting
food and drink-and plenty of the latter
Today he is writer for the New York
newspapers, received in what is styled
good society," capable Of producing ex-,
cellent copy" and wholly redeemed from
tLe lON ME Cl HIS DOynOOu ana young man
hood. His regeneration dates from the last
day he stood in front of the dive, when his
fellows inSulted young school teacher on
her way home. Her indignant exclamation
aroused the latent manhood in Kildare and
he never again Joined the gang, but strove
steadily. though al times painfully, upward
under the gentle, patient guidance of Marie
Deering, whom he came to call Mamie
Rose. They were to have been married
in 1900. but she died month before the
appointed day.
That is the true story. kildare tells it
himself in this book with, an earnestness
and directness and completeness of con-
fession which enforce attention and com
pei conviction. 1t is q strange story, touch
ing and startling, bitter in its revel alton of
the depths to which hunlan nature sinks in
places, yet uplifting in the light of what
has been and can again be done toward the
redemption of these uufortunates to de-
cency and honesty. There are many anus
book, but they are subordinate to the I'M
taxable power of the. narrative. There
is little or preaching in it. and it
would seem that the restoration of the lost
sense of humanity in the man was the work
of this one woman without recourse to the
methods which usually obtain in the Sums.
1t is a powerful Illustration Of the strange
ness Of truth, for for 1t is more ore interesting
than a novel. :" ~ - - III +
FoTRLS-HAND; Story. Of Smart Life in New
York and ait Comftryf ClubI BY Geraldine
Antony. New York: I'd. fAppetSH < Co. 49,:
The title 4snnet wen' thoseff9 It is, as The
book runs, the name gwen by old Mr.. Pen
wick to his quartet Of orphan sgrandchi
dren, but as only two of them figure in the
story to any extent whatever, it is a PAL
pable misnomer to enttle the story thus.
However. there is suggestion in the nam,
of the coaching which is supposed to he 50
inseparable a part of the social smart life,
although there is practically no coaching in
the tale. The story itself is well tod ac
count of how young girl was foisted off
by VIII upon a set of very rich peOp'e who
make the pursuit of pleasure their most Sc
rious business in life. 1t serves to show
that all of this high life is not scandalous.
although some of it may be, that manly
and womaniy characters are to be found
on these lofty social heights. that MONEY
is a wretched bore at times. and that t. ue
love often has a hard time making itself
felt and recognized. But everything comes
out all right and the reader is brought UP
to high pitch of interest at the climax,
even though he has just been saddened by
a tragedy. The dialogue is bright and the
characters are clearly drawn and enter
tanning.
THE POOL IN THE DESERT BY Ms. Egerari
Coates (Sara Jeannette Duncan, New York:
d. Appleton & Co.
Mrs. Cotes' Delightful Americans was
so clear and limpid and altogether delight
full commentary on life in the states
that her admiring readers likely to be
bit disappointed by the involutons and
concealments and ellipses of these four
longish stories of life among the English
residents of India. They are of an awk-
ward length, being neither novels nor short
stories. so called. They require the closest
attention on the part of the reader TO
gather the significance Of some of the dia-
logue and description. This alertness not
to miss the connection Is a strain which
initiates against the continued interest.
But the stories have IN them unmistakable
signs of real force. "A Mother in Ind "a is
an account of the predicament of the par
ents of a girl who was sent to England
while infant and reared by relatives,
so that when she was brought under the
mother wing in her young womanhood she
did not fit into the social or domestic
equation.
THE NEW THOUGHT tIMfT.IFIED. BY Henry
Wood. author Of Ideal Suggestions, etc. Bos-
ton: Lee & Shepard. 5-rrt-
Henry Wood has written a great deal
upon the general subject of the complete
control of the mind over the body and Of
the dominating influence of the intellect,
when trained to >perferfn purposes, upon