The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-02-23

lear that the novelsis dying out or los
ing In popularity is not well grounded.
1t is the greatest vehicle Of expression
OF human thought in the world today,
taxing the place Of the drama in aI2oth-
er age In spite Ofithe fact that a nov
81 should be a story first, it is very
often the means that persons take 10
exploit their ideas Of ethics, religion,
science and philosophy. Until some
peter way Of reaching the greatest
number OF people scan be devised, the
novel is not likely to decline.
Too Much Relics.
There IS such a thing as carrying
the relic kuslress too far. a ease OF
THIS was recently noticed in London,
where some sentimental person in
Print desired to preserve the bricks OF
Q poruon or the walls Of the old Gaiety
theateF. because they once formed part
OF the building from which Household
WORDS was published Nothing could
be more absurd than this, and relic
hunters must have fallen upon hard
tiIneS when they make such a PROPOSE
uon. another not unlike it is TO save
and rebuild the old house in London
from Which ''AIl the Year Round" was
published. With the above absurdi-
ties it Is gravely stated that the very
graveyard gates in front of which poor
zoe used to stand and by which Lady
Dedlock died, are still preserved in a
vault somewhere, in case some Ameri-
can mlhlon2ire desires to purchase
theM. The reputation which the lat
Ter gentlemen have gained in London as
possible purchasers of everything not
nailed down is shown by this ridicu-
lous matter Here is another chance
for the Minneapolis King of Books
to obtain something of value for his
home town.
Another View of Japan.
Japan being much in the public eye
at present, any new books on the sub
1ect are of interest. One of the best
1s Around the World, Through Japan"
by Walter del Mar, in which he devotes
nearly all his space to a description
Of life in the fiowery kingdom. He
tries to give a fair and diSpassionate
account of the causes of the failure OF
Western civilization in China and ia
pan, and blames some of the mission
aries for it. He says that the main
topic he heard discussed was the con-
dition of unrest in. China. It's virtues, |
which he admits China has, are not |
the virtues most priced in Europe. |
Around Japan, he says, is a halo of |
romance, due, perhaps, to. writer's who
have written of it with an air of nys- |
terry. There is much that is admirable |
in Japan, much that is not. His de- |
script1on of the emperor and empress |
is interesting: He is about the height |
of the average Japanese, and appears |
to be between five feet, nine inches, !
and five feet ten inches. His feet are |
turned in and he seems to walk with
out Strengthening his knees. His coat !
was ill-ftting and his trousers so much /
too long that they not only wrinkled /
all down his leg, but were only pre- !
vented by the golden spurs from get
ting under his heels. Slowly he passed |
by, 'saluting occasionally in response to |
the deep bows, accompanied on the |
part of the Japanese by the sibilant |
drawing In Of the breath, which Is
characteristic of the ceremoniouss sit /
uation. At short distance behind
him walking alone, is the, Empress /
Haro Ko, upon whose cold, sorrowful t
face hickefs a mournful smile.H. She |
is described as having departed some- |
what from ancient customs, as her .
teeth are mot +blackened, and trshe was, /
attired in European garb. = Her fea-
lures are small and refined;s but. she /
walks, the writer says with toes
turned in and with a particularly .llI- d
graceful Waddle. Mr.. Del Mar differs
entirely from Lafcadio Hearn. in his
opinion of Japanese women, and he
quotes Mr. Bryce who said that the
position which women hold In coun-
try, is a test Gifts progress in civil
zatfon = By this test the writer. thinks
Japan still far In the background, shaY- /
ing yet much to learn In the matter !
Of civilized methods of treating wo- !.
men. Mr.. Del Mar is inclined to talk |
out very straight from the shoulder,
and, punctures many an airy tale of /
the beauty of the country. Of the fapJ
famed gardens he has this to- Say:r3
, II o. make an ordinary Japanese gar
7den HOnEy requires a CARLOAD aOf rocks, 4
a. pail Of water, a nlodicumHof ingen-
uity and unlimited imagination, all I
concentration a space the size of a /
mat. To make a more perfect. gar /
den miniature PARADISE" whose cree
alton is, considered half necromancy,"
add dwarf pine tree, tortured out Of
it's natural shape with permanently
bandages and bits of string; aor some /
which the patient gardener" has in
terlaced, tied, weighted down, and
propped up the limbs and twigs. Null
tiply by hundred and you have a |
place of pilgrimage like the two model
landscape gardens of Japan, at the
Kinkakuji and Cdnkakuji temples in
kyoto, which, in the opinion of en- /
thusiasts, entitle the japanese to be
eners of the world" Mr.. Del Mar
questions many things which hereto
fore have been handed down as ira
ditions; one of these is the cleanliness
of the Japanese, which he more than
doubts. He says they wash their skin
OuI 1Ol tIlSlI the WnOio
family uses the same water in which
to battle, and after that 1t is used for
some household purpose. We wish
that Mr.. Del Mar had not told us that
He describes a dinner that he went to
after which all thatsthe guests did not
eat was packed in little boxes and |
given them to carry home. Altogether
this book on JapaniA likely to create
much comment, as the Writer has seen
things with a practical eye unob-
served by romance or mystery and
without a doubt, his deductions and |
statements take away much of the
poetry we have been wont to asso-
ciate with the f1owery kingdom.
Brief Mention.
Gossip about authors tells us that
Gov. Morris, who wrote Aladdin |
O'Brien," is a great grandson of the
statesman of the same name. The
young Morris is a Yale man of SO. His
ancestor, of whom he is naturally |
proud, is about to figure as the hero
in a book by Carter Goodloe, which is
to be brought out by the Scribners.
Like his descendant, the other Morris ]
PICTURE