The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-10-24

If fairness and pleasantness in the story,
telling line are measures one for the other.
Waily- Wanderoon- Uncle-Relnus Harris
must be a candidate for the Fat Mems
club. But the stories are not all by ma
chine. It turns out several Of the really
truly old fashioned kind, but Drusilla, the
kinky- haired, pigtailed little pickaninny, is
chosen as the medium of expression for
strom (Wno is a son of Count Cedarstrom,
first brought recognition to Joel Chandler
Harris. Altogether, ''Wally Wanderoon
and his Story Telling Machine" is a no.
table addition to the list OF new 9uVeniie
books Moreover, the stories are So di-
verse in. subject that they will appeal to
a variety of tastes The Illustrations by
Karl Mosely are clever adaptat tons of
those peculiar to the good old times
that manage to elude Wally Wan rld'1 Q
Mr.. Curtis, author Of Denmark, Norway
and Sweden, has Travelled with keen OBJ
serving powers: thru ?. many lands; ms
book narrates his: travel experiences IN the
Scandinavian countries, and it is dedl-
Gated "to the sons and daughters OF the
Scandinavian race in America TO ,Whom
he pays fine tribute. The volume en-
bodies the letters Mr.. Curtis wrote to
the Chicago Record-Herald on his jour
hey in 1901 Beginning with Denmark.
he tells much about the royal family. The
and his habits. and about the people he
rules and of Danish art and literature.
The old king was appointed to succeed
to the Danish throne by the parties to
the treaty of London in 1852 and was a.
poorly paid captain in the Danish army,
when the death of King Frederick VII
lifted him to the throne, altho he was
only a very distant cousin of Frederick
This was in 1868, and for forty years he
has. been. a careful ruler. liked more out
side his kingdom than by his own people.
AS a ch-maker he has been a great
success. Mr.. Curtis gives an interesting
account of his visit to Elsinore, the home
of Hamlet, and an island near the Danish
coast, where may be seen the castle Of
Kronborg, the scene of the tragedy Of
Hamlet. The chapters on Norway and
Sweden are of deep interest There is
an account of Norway's way of solving
the servant girl problem which. will in
terest Americans, as will the account OF
PATHS present husband, Baron CEDAR
strum (who is a son Of Count Cedarstrum,
an army officer and proprietor of small
estate in South Sweden). The baron
served in the Swedish army awhile and
then went to- London and established an
institution for physical culture on the
Swedish plan. Patti went there for treat
ment to reduce her weight and she fell
in love with the baron and, the author
affirns, proposed marriage and the baron
accepted her Doubtless he did not blush
and defer his decision. Thru all the 500
pages there is not a dull line. and the
volume is profusely illustrated.
There is abundant municipal reform
suggestion in the reports of the Detroit
Good city government conference and. the
proceedings of the. National Municipal
league, in session at the same time in
Detroit, published by the latter organizs-
ton. The national league, since it's or
ganization a few years ago, has brought
about much serious thinking and effective
action as to the reform of city govern
ments. The subject Of nomination reform
is intelligently discussed in the reports,
and it's importance is shown by Horace
Deming, who points out the tremendous
advantage Of eliminating the boss from
his usurped position of sole power to de :
termine the candidate for public office
and transferring that power to the will
of the people. Mr.. Blair, of the ST. Louis
Ear, gives a sketch of the revolving cor
ruption in that city in the form of bribery
Of members Of the municipal assembly to
obtain franchises and privileges. Mr..
Woodruff, in his account of the national
leagues work, refers to the Ames business
in Minneapolis, highly complimenting
IIovey G. Clarke of the grand jury and
Actlng mayor u. +. Jones for their iii
terest in good government, and w A.
Frisbie, city editor of The NIinnea polls
Journal, contributes paper on 'The Min
neapolis House Cleaning, which is a
most interesting sketch of the Ames
graft. The papers on municipal account
four in number, reveal the palpable de-
ifscts of most OF. the municipal book
keeping.
Amanda Douglas new story. for young
people, Helen Grants Schooidays, has in
it all the elements which make a book
popular, and it is safe to say it equals
the best of the books she has written.
It tells how a much scolded girl. with very
restricted, and unsatisfactory surround
ings was lifted to a broader existence
a more useful life.
Madame Antoinette Sterling attributes hel
splendid health and her marvellous powers OF
endurance almost entirely to the fact that she