Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-31

derin' what dat dorg was gwine to do wild
dem kyars when he kotched EN-" 1t is
evident that neither of these soldiers, says
Cen Gordon, believed in the wisdom of
any serious effort to capture Washington
at that time.
At the recent unwilling of the Sherman
statue in this city considerable criticism
of Gen. Lees generalship was INDUCED In
for not uniting his forces with Gen. Joseph
E. Johnston and crushing Sherman's army.
Gen. Gordon shows that union with john
ston's forces was considered by Lee, but
the latter declared that neither the con-
federate government nor Gen. Grant would
allow it. Gen. Gordon tells of a conference
with Lee in the last winter Of the war.
Lee had asked for his opinion of the best
thing to do, for confederate affairs were
getting desperate. Gen. Gordon replied:
General, it seems to me that there are
but three courses, and 1 name them in the
order in which 1 think they should be tried.
First make terms with the enemy, the best
We can get; second, If that is not practical
BILE, the best thing to do is to retreat,
abandon Richmond and Petersburg unite
by rapid marches with Gen. Johnston in
North Carolina and strike Sherman before
Grant can join him; or. lastly, we must
fight, and without delay
Lee said, Il agree with you fully" He
then pointed out why only the last course
could be adopted.
LIE "REMINISCENCES OF AN ASTRONOMER
By Simon Newcomb With portrait. Boston:
Houghton, MiHin & Co. Washington: woodward
& Lothrop.
Prof Newcomb is easily today in the
fore-rank of modern astronomers and men
of science. He has participated actively in
scientific researches of every description
during many years and has been ever ready
to foster any movement or organization to
increase human knowledge of the nature
and workings of the physical laws. In
this volume of "reminiscences he tells of
the stages of his development in a most
interesting manner. quoting at length from
a letter written by his father, who at the
time of the child Simon's birth was a coun-
try school teacher in Nova Scotia, to show
that a youngster he was regarded as
unusually precocious Prof Newcomb
states these matters deprecatingly. He
modestly declares that it was in conse-
quence of Inherent qualities that he
learned to meet personal antasonism brave
ly and openly. so that he has gotten along
in life almost without making" $50 far as
he Is alvarez "a personal enemy
His scientific training came early and led
him into association with the men who
were making the Nautical Almanac"
This firmly bound him to the study of as
tronomy. He loved the work and devoted
his life to it. His success is known to the
whole world. For many years he has been
attached to the government service having
resided in this city for more than four
decades During his official labors he has
had frequently occasion TO visit the Old
World in capacities which have caused him
to meet the most interesting public men Of
the day. At home he has been constantly
in contact with the leaders of the political
forces, and some of shis accounts of the
struggles to secure appropriations for the
governments scientific work are highly
amusing.
In the course Of his "reminiscences Prof
Newcomb takes occasion to speak of the
development of the capital city, and this
leads him to recital of the troubles
odd years age. He states the case of the
Shepherd regime with evident prejudice
against the former governor and draws
deductions from his accounts of the facts
which will arouse Indignation among those
Washingtonians of today who believe that
the city's present high standards and ad-
Fancement are due to Alexander Shepherds
labOrS and sacrifices.
Prof. Newcomb's scientific labors have
touched some of the most important events
of the past half century. He tells of them
with consideration for the general readers
lack of unfamiliarity with technical terms.
His accounts of the transits of Venus which
were observed for the government in 1874
and 1852 under his direction are especially
interesting despite the fact that he deals
with vast and strictly scientific questions.
daily routine Of the scientist who is for
ever the target for the criticisms of the
unlearned and the unbalanced His chapter
devoted to cranks and their queer concep-
lions OF the universe is one of the most
readable portions of a generally instructive
and interesting volume.
BORLAsE AND SON; Novel. By T. Baron Rus.
sell. New York: John Lane.
This is an excellent story of life in COM
mercial London. The same author pre-
viously produced story entitled "a Guar
dian of the Poor" which introduced Bor-
lase, Senior, as an interesting type of the
self-made man who dominates his metro
| politan suburb In this story some Of the
characters in the former are continued, al
| though the action is kept distinct. 1t is
in no sense a sequel A terrible picture
| is drawn of the atrocious methods of
sweating employer, who under-feeds his
workers and fines them the slightest pre-
text In sharp contrast to this establish
ment is shown another where the workers
are treated better than they deserve and
| tyrannize each other. There is no love ele-
! ment in the novel, which chiefly describes
| the evolution of a young mans character.
1t is interesting throughout.
MORE GOOPS, AND HOW NOT TO BE THEM;
Manual OF Manners for Impolite Infants,
Depicting the characteristics of Many Naughty
I and Thoughtless Children, with Instructive
Frederick A. Stokes Company. Washington:
Brentano's.
J The coop" must be seen to be under
stood and appreciated 20 Yet it is doubtful
if any one ever saw a ''goop." outside of
Mr.. Burgess books. He draws them with
increasing naturalness and humor, and now
he has made some more goops" and &C
companied them with short verses and pre-
| sented them, as he says, as a manual of
| manners" The child who looks at these
goOps and reads the advice given to them
and absorbs all the morality of the text
| will be a paragon of Juvenile virtue. The
adult who encounters the collection will be
highly entertained, for. Mr.. Burgess works
on the border line between the young and
the old and is welcomed by all.
MRS. wIGGs OF THE GARAGE PATCH
LOvEY MARY. By Alice Hogan Rice. Holiday
edition. Illustrated BY Florence Scoval Shinn
New York: The Century Company.
These two phenomenaiIy successful stories
| are now presented in HOLIDAY dress. rich
ly bound uniformly, with two dozen Illus
trations each. half of them In color. Mrs.
Shinn did the pictures for1;t the original edi-