Evening star., 1903-10-24
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

NEW PUBLICATIONS.
MY OWN STORY: with Recollections Of Noted
Persons. BY John Townsend Trowbridge. illus
trated. Boston: HOughtOn. Miftlin & Co. wash
fngton, William Ballantyne & Sons.
The boys who read J. T. Trowbridges
earlier stories when they made their
| first appearance are --iddle-aged men today.
They will be glad to learn now the process
| of his evolution into a producer of juvenile
| fiction. The boys of today who still eagerly
read his charming tales will be glad as well
to learn something of the man who has en-
tertained them SO highly and wholesomeiy.
'own story is quite as fascinating as
one of the romances of his devising. His
has been a placid life. wholly devoted to
literature, but it has, nevertheless. been
filled with incidents, the telling of which is
intensely interesting. 1t Is a striking fact,
commented upon by Mr.. Trowbridge. that
he started with the avowed intention of be-
coming an author He had his eye fixed,
Of course, upon the pnnacles. He pro-
posed to produce poetry of a high order.
He went to New York with a very small
amount of cash, intent upon launching his
bark upon the waves and trusting to his
good fortune and his genius to steer him
into port But an interview with Major
Noah, then editor and proprietor of the
Sunday Times convinced him that poetry
would make but poor ballast for such
voyage. He turned his attention to
prose. and thanks to the kindly interest
of Major Noah, he succeeded sufficiently
to keep himself afloat. The pages devoted
to his New York life with a French family
are among the most fascinating in the
book. He came near to getting adrift into
the industrial doldrums, by taking up with
an engraver and almost learning that trade
But he returned to literature. and finally
went to Boston, where he succeeded admir-
ably. There he met and became familiar
with the intellectual giants of the day
Emerson, Lowell. Longfellow, Alcott
Holmes. and the others of the school which
made Boston the center of American Htera-
ture. He came also to know Walt Whit
man and to admire his work. He tells of
his association with the good gray poet
here in Washington and of his unsuccess-
full Intervention to secure for him posi-
ton in the treasury, under Secretary
Chase, with whom Trowbridge was closely
acquainted. Lesser literary lights twinkle
on the armament unrolled by Mr. Trow-
bridge, such as Halpine and Shillaber and
Ward, and close-range views are given of
the publishers, including Daniel s. Ford
the developer of the Youths Companion
which has for many years been issued un-
der the purely fictitious firm name of Perry
Mason & CO..
An interesting chapter Is devoted to Mr..
TroWbridge'S journey through the south
after the close of the war to prepare a SUBJ
scription book which, as he says brought
him good money returns. but added little or
nothing to his literary reputation. In con-
clusion he reviews his life rapidly, asking
and partly answering such questions as
whether he would have scored higher if he
had had a thorough scholastic education or
If he had stuck to the production of poetry
Through his "reminiscences runs a vein of
regret that he found himself forced by cir
cumstanceS into the role of a writer of
books for young folks, although he recog-
niZes the great value of such literature in
a nIl al inr mol T
to read, in the course of his reflections on
his poetic efforts how he came to write
THE Vagabonds.' n poem which has been
recited perhaps as often as any other in the
English language, and which has caused
him to be visited by scores of elocutionists
who wished his appraisement of their rem
dluons. Throughout the book are bits of
information which appeal to the reader al
most with personal force, so intimately
acquainted does he feel with the veteran
who, In his calm autumn days, now sits
down to write what Is perhaps the most in
teresting volume of all.
THE STORY OF RAPID TRANSIT. By Beckles
Wilson. Illustrated New York: D. Appleton
Co.
Modern rapid transit is Of such compare
lively recent development, ard so swift have
been the changes within the present genera
ton that doubtless the steps whereby the
present high stage has been reached are
half forgotten by many people, while the be-
wildering advances have dimmed the knowl-
edge Of the beginnings, when man began to
aid his locomotion by mechanical means. In
this compact volume is told the .'story of
rapid transit in a manner calculated to
augment the marvel. by defining more pre-
cfsely the contrasts between today and a
few decades ago, when the horse and the
crude coach were virtually the only means
of transit beyond the human legs It goes
beyond the limitations of mere physical
| transport. telling also the story of the tele-
graph and the telephone, thus including the
rapid transit" of thought In the category.
The chapter of telesraphy naturally in
cludes a consideration of the wireless
method, which is now generally accepted as
an ordinary fact of the modern business
world More might be desired In the way
of Illustrations. although many of those
| given are interesting as showing the be-
ginnings.
THE h HEART !, = oT ROME; Tale Of the 'T.ost
Watar;" oy BY Francis Marion Crawford, author
Company. Washington: Brentano's.
| Under Rome run streams Of water Of
mysterious origin and course. Archaeolo-
gists as well as biologists are puzzled by
these subterranean rivers. They appear
and disappear, rise and fall without ap-
parent reason. Excavators on the hunt
| for relics. of the ancient Roman life en-
| counter them. often to their discontinue.
/ Mr.. Crawford has woven an interesting
| tale around one Of these streams which
! flowed beneath the palace Of the ruined
| family of Cont. When the bankrupt dow
ager princess and her degenerate son and
| her daughters have been driven out by the
| creditors the property is placed on the
| market, and many offers for it are refused
| by Baron Volterra, formerly q money
| lender and now a power In the kingdom
| The baron shrewdly suspects the truth of
| traditions of buried treasure In the secret
| vaultS nf the Casa Cont oh
| young archaeologist with the task of To-
| cating 1t. The latter succeeds In unearth-
| ing two beautiful statues of great value.
| but involves himself and the younger