The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-04-16
OF BOOKS
AND WRITERS


siderable attention in the book world,
partly because Mr.. Russell seemed to
| De doing a very successful business,
particularly in the special newspaper
features which he controlled, and part
ly because the amalgamation of such
wide range of publishing interests as
the Harper house now enjoys looks a
little like an approach to the much-dis-
cussed publishing trust. AS a matter
OF fact, of course, it would require the
consolidation of many times as many
interests to form an adequate publish
ing trust, yet this one house now has
under its immediate control more peri
odicalS than any other one firm, and its
establishment of newspaper syndicat-
ing business and its enlarged opera
lions in book publishing give it a big
field Mr.. Russell gives his reasons
! for giving up his business and joining
larger organization, as follows:
The past year has been the most
| prosperous that l have ever expert
enced as a publisher, but the tendency
| OF modern business has convinced me
| that it is only a question of time when
| a publisher doing a limited business
| with an organization necessarily small,
| and without the advantage of period1-
calls under his direction, will be unable
| to compete successfully with a larger
| mouse having these accessories. HaV-
! ing very large manufacturing plant
J of its class in the world, and the use of
| hIgh-clasS periodicals, a publisher can
| reach with comparatively little expense
the entire American reading public, and
| his advantage over any publisher who
| is obliged to pay cash in large amounts
| to accomplish the same purpose Is such
| that successful competition will GER
| talnly soon become, if indeed it has not
| already become, practically impossible.
| Ihere has been no severance of my
| personal relations with any Of the au-
| thOrs l have mentioned, but, in Justice
! to them, knowing that l could not fur
| nish the advantages that he could offer
| as rewards for their work. 1 considered,
| and so did they, that it was desirable
! from all points of view to accept Col
! Harvey's proposition, which was not
| only fair, but liberal. 1 hope and be-
| lieve that as member of his big or
! gan1zaton l shall be able to do work
along my special lines on a much
broader scale, and in a much more eff
! fectiVe manner than would be possible
| In any other way. In any event, the
| prospect is most satisfactory and pleas
! ing to me-"
Dumas Novel Factory.
Last year, when the centenary Of
! Dumas was celebrated, 1t was recalled
that some 1900 books bearing this au-
| thor'S name dumas. the elder had
1
| stories were told of the Dumas novel
| factory, in which the famous romancer
| signed as author. There has recently
been published in this country q life
| of Dumas, by A. F. Davidson, which
| gives many additional stories of the
man along with most entertaining
! account of his remarkable life The
| biography goes far to show that Du-
| mas lived more fanciful. romantic
| life than did his great creation, "The
| Count of Monte Cristo." For some
! years he spent more than 100000 a
| year-he died miserably poor. In the
days or his prosperity, he was accus-
toned to keep his money stacked In
gold coins on his mantelpieces, and his
| friends were privileged to help them
| selves as often as they wished.
| Mr.. Davidson relates the following
| characteristic stories:
| One day friend called on Dumas
and asked for a subscription of Is
| francs towards the funeral expenses
| OF a constable. The great man pulled
handful of money from his pocket:
| You ask for Is francs to help bury
| one of those miserable bill collectors. !"
he said. Here take 80 francs and
| bury two of them"
| My father is so vain. said Dumas
the younger that in order to make the
| public believe he keeps black servants
| ne would put on livery and ride on the
! footman'S seat of his own carriage"
| When Dumas, broken in health, for
| tune and spirit, left Paris for the last
time he took with him his total for
tune-a single gold souls. A few days
| before his death he pointed to the sin
gle coin as it lay on the corner of the
| mantelpiece.
See there he said. calling to his
son, fifty years ago, when 1 came to
Paris. L had 1 louis in my possession.
why have people accused me of being
| prodigal? 1 have preserved If and
have 1t sttll-look. there it is"
Dumas the younger was shrewd and
acqu1s1tlve where the father was reck-
less and prodigal.
If my father does not let me set
good example, said the younger man
on one occasion. he at least provides
me with good excuse"
{ Weeks Best Book.
The best book of the week in prom
Use of popularity is David Graham
| Phillips Golden Fleece" the adven-
| lures of a fortune hunting earl in
America. Mr.. Phillips has been most
daring in giving his picture of a GER
tain phase of social life in this country
! and people of New York, Washington,
Boston, and Chicago will have no diff
ficulty in recognizing some of the So
| cial leaders of these cities as char
acters of the story 1t is not because
the story is primarily a satire, or be-
cause of any scandal in the story that
readers will like the book: 1t merely
gives an amusing picture Of "seething.
senat ional social life" The Earl of
rockingham. a distinguished. but
| poverty member of English
| nobility, comes to this country in
search of a wife. Thus far the plot is
| ordinary, but no farther. Mr. Phillips
| has made his earl entirely frank in his
purpose, and the American characters
thoroughly understand his mission.
| More than this. American high society
| puts forth it's best for the earPs in
! spection. The New York millionaire
heiress who first acquires the earl
| throws him over because she has sub
| sequently fallen in love with a young
American. In Boston the earl al
| most succeeds and the story of his de-
feat is curiously interesting. Then he
| tries Washington, wins a daughter of
| a rich senator who decides that he can
| afford the price of the title. His adj
| ventures terminate In Chicago with a
| real love affair. after another tempo
rary engagement and the reader is left
| with the feeling that. after all. the earl
/ Is not such a bad fellow and that
| American society is probably more to
| blame for such ridiculous turns of the
| marriage market than are the titled
| foreigners who are attracted to our
shores. A characteristic bit Of the
| story is the view of Washington aris-
| tocracy. The earls dinner companion
| speaks:
do you see that intellectual looking