New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-10-28
Il ROLLING STONE.
The Adventures Of a Man IN TIC
Northeast.

cock l2mo. pp. SIS. Mcclure. Philips Com
panys
When this book was published in pndon
month or two ago the reviewers treated Il as
action. whereupon the author went before
notary public and swore that Following the
Frontier" was not a novel, but an autobiog-
-anhv. From the tone OF his affidavit, which
was 6ulv printed IN the papers, IL appeared that
Mr. Focock was annoyed al the blunder OF his
critics As a matter OF fact. his pages are very
ike pages Of fiction. They overflow with IN
ci6ent The style is colloquial and picturesque
Mr. Pococlx does not strike US kard-bitten
frontiersman relating his experiences. he
seems more the journalist or romancer spinning
good yarns. In short. we are abundan1y
amused by his book. which we commend to those
readers who like to breathe the ar OF 'ne
wilderness or the great plains. AID like 10
watch a rolling stone IN its eccentric olVa6a-
lions. -
~ Poooclx appears TO have begun life with
M money and with a remarkable capacity for
making q failure OF one venture after another.
T5e was OF no use at all TO any one IN LONDON
and so. when stu IN his teens, he found HIM
self presenting a letter OF Introduction TO a
scotchrnan engaged IN helping to build the
Canadian Pacific Railway. The scene was IN
,be Far Northwest The place was called Gravel
because
towering preoipice, in places abrupt from deep
water. The roadbed Of the railway had 10 be
revzn ont along the e6ge Of the lake. and. apart
from costing $4,000 a mile IL was full or
nice little problems for the engineers TO solve
To oircumvent the willy avalanche. to keep the
rock slides from straying across the track those
were the beginnings Of wisdom And after rain
the enbankment was attacked by cataracts oUO
feet high. laundering down from the sky me-
which had to be persuaded TO fail elsewhere
We would like 10 report that Mr.. Pocock played
a competent part in dealing with these matters
But. he confesses my special occupation was
hunting for anethysts. climbing crags, like
q goat for the pleasure Of reaching the top with
IN unbrolzen neck" When he was not doing
this sort Of thing he was in other ways wasting
his time II is not surprising that when an
inspector appeared upon the scene, my boss
reported himself as q camel and me as a straw
The young fellow proceeded upon his wander
ings-
10 doubt his conduct was reprehensible. but
Il is as the needless vagabond that he is in
teresting, and makes his book readable. In
due tine he sought the favorite resource Of the
srrayed Englishrnan in those regions and Joined
the mounted police at Winnipeg. Several pas
sages OF his narrative at this point are quotable
but we must be content with one dedicated TO a
companion OF his on the force:
Dutchy Koerner was q horsethief and a des-
Verate criminal driven into the mounted police
as his only refuge from justice. Afterward he
deserted. and was riding into the United states
on z stolen horse when he met with a vigilance
committee out the warpath after despeTa0OeS-
He had always with US professed his contempt
for Vigllantes but this committee was certainly
most efficient. for they recognized Dutchy ana
hanged him. That same cOlrmittee called later
at a ranch owned by two Of our eX-constaoles.
In the corral the committee found a punch OF
stolen cattle and without Formally dragged one
of the partners out OF the house and hanged
him. Then The other eX-poiceTnan rode IN from
the plains, and, knowing nothing OF the lynch
sng hailed the Vigiants with & shout OF vel
come Glad to see you, boys! Been out a-hunt-
ing for you. Ne ana my partner have rounded
tlp q bunch Of stock that must have been stolen
somewheree; we've got them waiting for you
IN the corral. why. boys. what's wrong with
vou?'' And then he saw!
This well illustrates the general character OF
the material out Of which 8Ir. Pocock has made
his book He deals with rough life and por-
trays rough types He is not altogether novel
in doing this. But Following the Frontier has
a freshness which puts ii in q category by itself
Something in the authors attitude. something
half humorous and half bitter in his tone some
thing Of originality in his way OF writing-aL
fhis makes US read him with new sense Of
pleasure