The San Francisco call., 1904-11-25
WORK DAYS CONE BUT SELDOM
TO AUTHOR OF "PR0D|GAL SON"
/ Caine Is in Poor Health
Interesting Gossip Concerning Literary
Lights Heard in English Capital.

ject of football. 1t seems that her lee
ture, which was on behalf of the Leices-
ter Infirmary and Homes for the Blind,
was under the auspices of a football
league. Miss Corelli confessed that she
knew nothing about football. but said
she noticed that fair play was always
insisted on, and supposed that was
why 1t was such a national game She
said, too. that she did not believe that
men who played football as Britishers
played 1t would be capable of behaving
after the fashion of certain Russian
naval officers who are now on their
way to the Far East.
Future American visitors to Denmark
may have to forego the pleasure-which
so many Of their countrymen have en-
joyed-of seeing "Hamlet's Grave =
The so-called grave, which is at Ma
rienlyst. near Elsinore. is threatened
with destruction by new railway line,
and ii seems possible to DO
nothing TO preserve it. Great indig-
nation at the desecration. as 1T is called
is felt in Denmark, although-in spite
of the fact that tourists from all over
the world visit the spot every year
there is no evidence whatever that the
bones of Hamlet lie there.
OELBRIDGE ABBEY.
Literary associations of uncommon
interest surround Celbridge Abbey, the
ancient mansion in County Kildare,
Ireland, whose contents are about to be
sold at auction. 1t was at Celbridge
that Dean Swift's famous admirer va
nessa" took up her residence in order
to be near the author Of "Gulliver's
Travels" and there that he visited
and finally parted with her. "Vanes-
sas" real name was, of course, Van
homrigh-"her only ugly feature" ;"
Swift called it-and her presence at
CeIbridge Abbey must have been rather
embarrassing to the Dean of St Pat
riek's when there was "Stella"-his
other fair friend-just on the other side
of the Liffey. 'Vanessa' died in 1923,
leaving directions in her will that
Swift's rhymed account of their ro-
nance should be published. In Miss
Vanhomrigh's time Celbridge Abbey
was called Marley Abbey, it having
been built by q wealthy Anglican
Bishop of that name.
American readers may be interested
in hearing the names of the six best
selling novels in this country at pres
ent. Since this list was drawn up
day or two ago Hall Gaines new ro-
nance has appeared and probably leads
in point of sales at the present moment.
Previous to it's appearance. however.
the six best sellers were as follows:
"God's Good Man." by Marie Corellf;
"a Ladder of Swords, by Sir Gilbert
Parker; John Chilcote, M. p" by X.
c. Thurston; Kate of Kate Hail." by
Ellen T. Fowler; Double Harness. by
Anthony Hope, and "Traffics and Dis
coveries," by Rudyard Kipling.
While inspecting girls school in
her country the other day. Roumania's s
literary Queen told for the first time
how she came to choose her pen name
of Carmen sylvia" The royal poetess
said that as a child she used to roam
about in the woods and listen to the
singing Of the birds. These excursions
used to be her great delight and the
cause of long day dreams, which de-
veloped in her the craving to write po-
etry. So, feeling that she owed her in
spiration to the singing of the birds,
she adopted her pen name in memory Of
Carmen, "the song" and Sylvia, "the
wood" HAYDEN CHURCH.