Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-04-30
n and
Life II n n n
A.. j. N.

is all tnat is Claimed lof lt-d StIoiS
mastery work measuring fully up tt
expectations raised by The Octopus,
and one can not help lanlenting that thf
author could not have lived to complete
the great trilogy so well begun-"Iht
Epic of the Wheat
From the artistic viewpoint this Sec
ond volume is more perfect than the
former-shorter by over 200 pages, will
fewer characters, less discursive, mort
direct ard to the point.
The Pit" is in a sense a continue
ton of The Octopus story of the
wheat and its power to break down hui
man obstacles hat oppose 1T. Like
everything Norris wrote, 1t is a sermon
IA powerful one, showing not alone the
evil effects Of grain gambling, but also
The futility of human efforts to control
the mighty forces of nature Ice set in
motion.
The plot contains but few characters.
The central figures are Curtis Jadwin,
the Napoleon of the wheat pit, and Lau-
ra, his wife. All others are made SUBJ
servient to these two, n for hat mat
ter. with the exception of Corthill. the
artist, might have been wholly dis
IL Will oSlIl lllGAAs
to the story.
siowly-taken up with the introduction
or characters and the narration Of Incl
dents leading up to the marriage of Jad-
win and Laura Dearborn. and here be-
gins the real story wherein is displayed
the power Of the authorize story of
the battles waged by these two; for
there was a two-fold struggle conn
mercial n by Jadwin down there in
LaSalle street and hat other battle of
the affections fought out by the unhap-
Iy wife, and none the less bitter that it
was waged silently and secretly in the
great lonely house by the lake front.
Back and forth between these two
the scene now shifts with lightning
rapidity.
Jadwin is a big manly fellow, with
head M heart to match his strong
muscles, big hands and broad should
ers, generous, forceful, venturesome,
putting his whole soul into whatever
he Observation-Disclosures business, relig-
don or love,it mattered not, he respected
no obstacle that stood in the path of
success. Small wonder that such a mar
AtN AAS tAS liC III
the Pit. and tasted the sweets Of vic
tory, should be gradually drawn in
deeper and deeper, until the whole man
body n soul, is absorbed to the ex-
clusion of every other interest in life.
All other business, his mission school,
home, wife, love,-everything is for
cotton. There at his desk In that upper
room in LaSalle street, he sits day af-
ter day, night after night. taking time
for neither nourishment nor sleep, por-
ing over market reports, figuring up
statistics until his brain reels with the.
word wheat his eyes see and his ears
hear, but the repetition Of that word
wheat, wheat, wheat! Deeper he
plunges every time to meet with greater
vistory until his ambition is won. He
crushed out all his rivals, has
Swung a corner" in the worlds bread
supply, is crowned Napoleon of the
Wheat Pit" Drunken with success,
he stakes his entire fortune against
the growing harvest OF the world.
Then m the crash. There in the
pit alone. forsaken by all his allies, de-
flying the bears at his throat, going
down to glorious defeat! Crushed and
not by any human foe, but by
the invincible power Of the growing
wheat he has defled. And all those
millions and millions Of bushels of
wheat were gone now. The wheat that
had killed Cressler that had engulfed
Jadwin's fortune and all but unseated
reason itself; the wheat that had inter-
vened like a great torrent to drag
Laura's husband from her side and to
him in the roaring vortex of
the pit, had passed on resistless along
it's ordered and predetermined course
from west to east like a vast Titantic
flood; had passed.; leaving death and
prosperity to the crowded cities of
Europe"
And what of Laura, the neglected
at home in the big house, brood
ing over her welded misery, nursing her
wounded affections with no human
companionship Or sympathy ave that
of Corthill, the artist-a former lover
one who has ever been loyal and
thoughtful of her, who even remembers
with flowers, the wonan's birthday
the husband forgets? This Cort-
hill returns at the right moment, when
the woman's soul, Inundated by her
cruel neglect, rebels, and be-
gins to daily with temptation. She, too,
about in a maelstrom of pas
sion-fighting for her very life, a bat
tie of which Jadwin, swirled amid the
roar of the pit down in LaSalle street,
does not even dream.
This Laura is a fine creature of
a riddle to herself. swayed anon
by judgment, then by impulse, accord
ing to her companion. Confessing her
love for both men, she doesn't seem to
we think the author NEW
which one she truly loves. Jadwin's
power and ability to do things appeal
to her intellectual mind, and always in
his presence judgment rules. CorthilIs
sense of beauty and harmony, the per-
and refinement Of his art, his
sreech, and dres- all appeal :.
her artistic nature, n in his presence
she is governed solely by impulse.
How will the struggle end? Here
surely is suspense enough. One critic
objects that the story is wanting in the
element of suspense. Perhaps that is
tue of Jadwir's speculation We cen
all predict the outcome of his fight, but
no reader can tell how Laura's battle
will end. Not wen the author. we fan
q could decide her fate until he
reached the final chapter.
The author occasionally puts his w
preference into the mouth of another;
e. G., he makes Jadwin unable to toler-
ate any novels except w. d. Howels.' A
-. .y,aa,,1of tor yshOetNy 1anlinp lin