The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1903-01-11


Several Of the large book lebbers In New
York city arc responsible for the statement
that Rudyard Riplins's lust SO Stories" with
the possible exception Of one popular novel, IL
the best selling book they have Mr.. Kipling
should be happy for he said before the stories
were published that he would rather than any
thing else write books that children would
want he remarkable uniformity OF praise from
the press Of both continents should also be
qualification even TO an author OF so much OK.
perienee as Mt. Kiplihg. Doubleday Page &
Coz
The London Academy says one car not help
feeling that the rush Of such life as that Of
the late Frank Norris has something TO do with
his early death. He lived his life to the full
he saw much and remembered what &c saw.
From Harvard he went to Paris, where he
studied art he represented a San Francisco pa
per in South Africa at the time Of the Raid.
and he was in Cuba in 1898 for New York
magazine. II is, however, perhaps enormously
stated that he wrote "McTeague one hundred
andtwenty- Thousand word novel ia eighty
nine days. Before his death he had planned to
take passage in wheat ship for the Medier-
ranean, to get material for the last novel in
the Epic Of the Wheat" The Pit" the story
Of Chicago wheat gambling, 10 be published next
month is the second Of this series Several
years before his death he lived in New York and
had a desk for awhile az the house Of his pub
fishers, Doubleday Page & Co
The word employee is now fully Anglicized,
and best spelled as an English word and pro-
nouneed as English. AS an English word it is
useful eorrelative of employer. The attempt to
! treat the word as French leads TO sbsurdities
as, "A strike took place among the female eu1-
ployes" instead of employees, the feminine form.
/ The true French pronunciation of employee
not be indicated by English phoneties and
scarcely be attained by an English tongue Bet
ter plain, downright English than barbarized
| French.-From Better Soy.
An article in the Spectator under the heading
Of "Finger-prints as Detectives" is interesting
as recalling the customs Of various nations in
their forms Of sign-uanual.
The subject is to the fore in England just at
this particular time because of Mr. Francis Gal
tons recent writings and demonstrations prov
ing that the imprint of mans thumb is an alb
solutey sure criterion Of identity.
Mark Twain in "Pudd'n-head Wilson" has Of
late years faniliarized the American public with
the fact. he writer in the Spectator, being
an Englishman, naturally refers to . novel pub
lished in Chambers Journal, developing and es-
tabshing this theory of hnger-prints unm-
peachable evidence Of criminals identity,
Citing historical instances Of finger
prints used signatures the Spectator goes
ut has even been suggested that one Of the
| apparently meaningless forms Of law may
be traced TO a survival OF some forgotten antici-
patton Of Mr.. Cations discoveries. Laying the
finger on a wafer as you remark that you de
liver bond your act and deed possibly al
ludes 10 an ancient practice OF leaving finger
print the document Just in some savage
tribes a mystic value is attributed TO the i'm
preston Of a chiefs CORY hand on a sacred stone
| or weapon. The ancient sovereigns OF Japan
| cd N wifi he ir1pr giD1
of the royal hand in vermillion, Bewick, prob
ably acting on his own idea, authenticated some
of his books and receipts by an engraved thumb
mark, But the first practical use of thumb
marks signatures is due 10 Sir William
Horschel Bengal civil servant, who began to
use them about 1860 with view to checking
the native taste for forgery and personation.
His first idea, borrowed from a native con
tract on which 4 thumb-mark impressed, was
TO brighten the willy Bengal by attaching a
magical significance to the act, but he speedily
noticed the value OF the finger prints a nat
ural signature that could not possibly be forged
In a land where as Mr., Kipling observes, 4
complete murder case can be purchased, inelud-
ing the corpse, for hfty-four rupees such a
, check to fraud was most valuable, and Sir vii
liam Hersches experience has been largely
utilized by his successors. In 1896 the post
master general at Bengal decided that postof-
fee orders should IN future be authenticated by
. the impression of the receivers thumb Hin
doc has natural genius Tor forging a signature
but no amount Of study has yet enabled him 10
, adopt the markings on another mans fingers
; In this country such system would happily
not lie worth the trouble that its introduction
. would cause but there are large possibilities
before the study of fnger.prnts. The whole
, Tichborne case for instance, would have faller
, TO the ground at the outset IL the missing bar
onet had taken the precaution of leaving an i'm
preston of his thumb with his banker, and the
, easv method of Identification which is thus pro
vided must appeal TO all who have found by ex
perienoe the difficulty Of persuadins foreign au
thorites If trouble arises that they are really
the men named on their passports or letters Of
credit. Forgery too would become lost ar
If the hnger-print were made compulsory sd
dition 10 the signature Of wills and other i'm
portant documents. In that case II would sp
pear that Sydney Smith was really an uneon
scious prophet when he assured an heraldio in
ouirer that the Smiths had no arms, but al
ways sealed their letters with their thumbs
Il may be mentioned, too, that most seuptor
have the interesting habit Of giving the hna
touch (by way Of signature sometimes) to thei
work before it goes to the marhleeutter in wha
is called the thumb nail mark
q Probably the most beautiful book sent on
C during the holiday season IS the Harpers edi
IS ton Of Richard lie Galiennes An Old Countr,
}. House"
2 Ii is by no means the costiiest or most strik
ii ing but in binding letter press and style am
/. perfection Of detail in the pictures that occu
" ON its every page, this volume makes eomplet
IS artistic harmony.
s. This latest expression Of lie Gallienne'