davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1904-11-13

ten "Off the Highway" A novel Of
manners 1t is, delicately done.
All Of the important characters in the
story save two, good old Mr.. Caven-
dish and his wife, are city people, more
or less transplanted to the free air OF
the country San Francisco manners
and San Francisco spirit are made to
blossom under the radiant sun of the
Sierra foothills From the balmy air
of the red gulches the scenes shift to
this fog-ridden city and back again.
The tilling of a prune orchard and the
filling of a pulpit in one of the city's
largest churches share Importance
equally in the plots development And
about all of these accessories there is
entwined the story of two loves-loves
which have the proverbial devious road
to traverse before all is happy.
The mistake all hangs upon Mr..
Drake Wilmots unfortunate blunder as.
to the identity of the sobbing figure
he finds hiding beneath the folds of
a long cloak with tartan lining upon
the hillside near the Madrono Cross
ing ranch. If it was Marion Whiting,
who was thus giving up to grief after
meeting with a mysterious stranger,
then there is no use for Mr.. Wilmot's
big brother to continue his persistent
suit in that direction. Upon being di-
rectly confronted with the question
Marion Whiting does the natural fem
inine thing, she equivocates and hides,
all unknowingly, the secret of pretty
Agatha Cavendish. Agatha, in turn,
is hiding a secret from her uncle. the
la af,io Of no
tain church. Uncle Cavendish himself
has secret. In short, everybody down
to Ranger, the phlegmatic steed, seems
to be possessed of a secret and things
work at skies and sevens until a bound
ing water butt. plunging down noun
tain grade by moonlight. sets the train
for a solution of the whole crux. Inc
briefly and insurance play the part Of
master key to the unlocking Of the
mystery.
A sketchy outline of a sketchy plot.
this. The real charm of the story
lies in the authors delineation of her
characters. The brothers Wilmot are
not remarkable save in the stern de-
termination to do or die which seems
TO be inbred with equal strength in
each 1t is upon the two women and
the old man of the story that Mrs.
Smith expends her best work. Marion
and Agatha are distinct types of low
able womanhood. vigorous in their per-
sonalities. They show aptly the widely
divergent attitudes often taken by men
and women toward the same phase of
human problems. In Stephen Caven-
dish, the God-fearing old clergyman,
unconscious of self and pledged al
ways to duty where duty calls, Mrs
Smith has created a strong character.
though one almost idyllic. The lesson
this old man teaches in self-efface-
ment and stern hewing to the line Of
righteousness would alone repay a
reading of this novel even were there
no other attractions.
(Houghton. Miffin & Co., Boston;
price 81 50.)
The San Francisco call., 1904-11-13

He knows, he feels always the unsub-
stantiality of the life he is living. for
around him, pressing him on every
side, is the near frontier of that
shadow world which Is for him a place
of terrors. The boy grows to be a
mystic, a dreamer. He knows that the
world about him is nothing but cloud
resting ever so lightly upon the void;
he is impatient with others who can
not realize the thinness of the life she'll.
he is walking on the film of bubble
with a haunting terror ever at his
elbow
Dogged by the shadow of his knowl-
edge, the youth sets himself to solve
the riddle of existence. What can he
do that will best redeem him from the
film of the unseen world and esta ablish
him firmly in the life of the real? A
craft he tries and at first all goes
well until perfunctory love affair
breaks in with sordid materialism upon
the spirituality of his dreaming soul.
Then art offers a fleeting solution of
his problem. The sensuous estheticism
of religious rituals has its brief ap-
peal. But it would be unfair to the
reader to tell how, all of these. props
falling, the man finally does arrive at
the goal of his fondest desires and dis
covers how best he may ally himself
with the life of this world. The last
few chapters, narrating this event, are
filed with beautiful philosophy.
Restraint tempers Miss Underhill's
imaginative force throughout the whole
novel and in that very essence lies the
secret of her artistry. A conception
such as hers in it's superficial aspect
most naturally prompts a surrender to
sensationalism, to the Marie Corelli
extravaganza of the "Thelma" order. A
man who has come back to life from
the spirit world, who knows the
stygian bleakness of outer darkness
and feels 1t almost within finger reach
here is something that even an Ed
gar Allan Poe would probably have
spoiled by grotesqueries. Not so with
Miss Underhill. Her book is not an
exposition of the eerie and the horrible,
but rather an attempt to vindicate the
point Of view Of the idealst and the
mystic She would refute the material
istic tenets OF the realists by giving
realism to some of the mystical possi-
bilities which form life's background
To this the author herself confesses
This she has done In manner wonder
fully compelling.
(The Century Company, New
York; price 81 SOD
The San Francisco call., 1904-11-13
STRENGTH
In Herrick's Novel

~ INCE the late Frank Norris in
~ troduced the vogue of the novel
~ Of business with his posthumous
story. The Pit" there have been
many writers who have essayed this
type Of fiction with more or less sue
cess. Stories of the street, the ex-
change. railroad pools and cotton cor
ners have caught a ready hold on the
interest of readers.
Among those who have been most
successful in this endeavor at an in
depreciation Of the sociological and
moral effects of the present day trade
strife is Robert Herrick, whose books,
The Web Of Life" The Real World'
and The Gospel OF Freedom" notab bly,.
have all been aimed at study Of
modern life under the Industrial condi-
tions obtaining. His last story, The
Common Lot" is distinctly his best.
II is among the best Of this kind writ
ten.
The Common Lot narrates the
story Of a young Chicago architects s
obsession TO the power Of greed and
the lures Of social ostentation. 1t is a
keen. cold study of the blighting in
fluences of the insane struggle after
the worlds goods in which the half Of
our men Of business are absorbed. The
development of the plot is done with
such restraint that nothing forced or
unnatural intrudes To hurry on a
climax or cast shadow on a denoue-
ment So natural seems the succession
OF steps by which the man in the story
let's slip his hold upon integrity and
so sequentiai the incidents of his down.
ward career that one reading must
pause TO reflect that here is life photo
graphed in high light-a literary mega
tive untCned and untouched.
Jackson Hart is a vigorous and am
bilious young man, who has returned
from a course in the Beaux Arts TO
begin the exercise of his profession in
Chicago. confident that the wealthy
uncle upon whose bounty he had been
educated would leave him an inheri-
tance sufficient TO insure speedy pros
perity The will OF the dead uncle
awards the young architect only a
nominal sum and, disgruntled, he i'm
mediately determines to win to opu-
Ience by the lines of least resistance.
The favor Of a wealthy woman here
and the exertion of influence there
serve TO set Harris feet upon the road
TO success and quickly he marries. But
his pleasures are the pleasures of the
rich, his aspirations are those of the
gilded few. Finding his income in
sufficient for his growing needs, the
architect enters upon a shady contract
with builder and makes a deal
which will net him thousands Still
social needs press and again a deal" :"
Blinded by the glitter Of success, Hart
becomes obfivious TO the love Of home
and Of honor. Piiing dollar upon dol
lar. he mounts up the dizzy ladder of
aspiration until the tragic destruction
The San Francisco call., 1904-11-13
A WORLD
Or Gray Shadows

BOOK of remarkable and daring
Limagination is Evelyn Underhilrs
1.-The Gray World" Aside from
the recently published cryptic
story They by Rudyard Kipling
I can recall no work of fiction that is
such a tangible picture of matters
beyond our sensing, so vivid and so
real an impression of the unreal In
undertaking the task of turning meta
physics into the channels of story
telling Miss Underhill shows herself TO
be possessed of bold ingenuity. BY her
actual depletion of the misty penumbra
of the spirit world. conceived to be
fringed about our visible sphere Of
actualities, she has revealed an i'm
aginative quality far beyond the ordin-
ary. Transcendentalism always an
element difficult of adequate handling
either in exalted verse or the theses
of philosophers, is herein clothed with
such striking substantially as to be
of vital and moving force. The mystic
fights of Carlyle's "Teufelsdrockh" are
brought down to the readers grasp by
embodiment. in fact.
A little child of the London slums
lies dying on hospital cot. Gradually
he feels his feet approaching the brink
of the vast beyond. DINNER and more
dim becomes the shining brass knob
of his bedstead upon which he has
concentrated his desperate attention
and then-out into the Gray World
slips his soul. A terrible, vasty place
this, dim, cold. and boundless. Rest
less throngs of shades whirl In mourn
full professions, searching ever for the
blessed boon of reincarnation. The
solitude of space terrifies beyond all
measure. The ghost of the little slum
child by the very strength of it's willing
forces itself back to earth again and
finds fleshly garments.
1t is as. the son Of a middle class
merchant that this returned soul lives
another existence. The child is sickly
and queer according to the opinion
of its parents, but in reality upon the
mirror of the boys mind there is ever
that misty image of the Gray World
whence he has escaped and he is afraid.
The San Francisco call., 1904-11-13
NewB0cksReceived

DOUBLE MANIFESTATIONS Hope;
Mcclure, Phillips & Co.. New York;
price 81 80.
IN THE CLOSED ROOM-Frances
Hodgson Burnett; Mcclure. Phillips &
Co., New York: illustrated IN colorg
price 81 so.
CAPTAINS OF THE WORLD-Gwen-
dolen Overton; the Macmillan Company
New York; price 81 80.
ZELDA DAMERON-Meredi Mich
olson; the Bobbs-M Merrill Company, In
dianapolis; illustrated; price 81 50.
YOUR LOVING NELLY-Mrs. Nelly
Gore; Funk & WagnaIls Company, New
York; price 81.
MUNCHAUsEN xx-The Barons
published by the author. Chicago.
OFF THE HIGHWAY-AHce Pres
colt Smith: Haughton. Mihiin & Co,
Boston; price 81 so.
UPLAND PASTURES - Adeline
Knapp; Paul Elder & Co.. San Fran
cisco; limited autograph edition in half
leather, with frontispiece by Keith;
price $3-
SELECTED POEMS OF HERRICK-
Introduction by Alice MeyneH; H NJ
Caldwell Company, New York; The
Red Letter Library.
POEMS BY WILLIAM COWPER-
Introduction by Alice Meyneli; H. NJ.
Caldwell Company, New York; The Red
Letter Library.
THREE WEEKS IN EUROPE-John
V. HiginbOtham; Herbert l. Stone &
Co, Chicago; illustrated.
OLD LOVE STORIES RETOLD-
Richard Ie Gallienne; the Baker & Iay-
Ior Company, New York; Illustrated
THE APPRECIATION OF SCULP-
TURE-Russell Sturgiss; the Baker &
Taylor Company, New York; illus
trated: price 81.
THE ART OF CARICATURE-Gr
Wright: the Baker & Taylor Company.
New York: illustrated; price 81.
STORY OF THE CHURCHES-IHE
COPALIANS-Daniei ID. Addlsoni
the Baker & Taylor Company, New
York: price 81.
A QUINTET OF GRAY COATS-Ef-
fie Bignelle: the Baker < Taylor Com
pany. New York; illustrated; price 81
WHAT PAUL DID-Etheldred b
Barry: Dana Estes & Co, Biston; IL
lustrated: price 50 cents.
THE AIERRYWEATEER E
Richards: Dana. Estes & Co, Boston,:
Illustrated. price 81 %
MCCLURE 5 CHILDREN ANNUAL
-Edited by T. W II. Crosland and W.
Collinge. Mcclure. Phillips x Co, New
York: Illustrated
OITR BIRDS AND THEIR NEST
IINGS-Margaret Coulson Walker: the
American Book Company, New York;
Eclectic Series.
The San Francisco call., 1904-11-13
SIERRA
Setting for Plot

~ RS. ALICE PRESCOTT SMITH,
well known member of local
women's clubdom, is the latest
SSan Francisco writer to be ad-
mitted to the sacred fame of the pub
fishers approval. Over year ago her
first novel, The Legatee," received a
notice among book readers not usually
accorded to first efforts. 1t developed
out of a new field-the pineries of Wis
consin-a forceful and dramatic story
OF business affairs and love, unusually
well written. Now comes Mrs. Smiths
second book, "On the Highway"
novel having a familiar California
background.
Nothing pretentious in the matter Of
plot is attempted in this story The
movement is one of quiet comedy
rather than that of strenuous activity
and somewhat blatant heroics which
marks so many novels of the hour. To
make a searching analysis Of character
under the contrasting environments Of
city and country and to picture some
of the nobler impulses that spring from
the topsy-turvydom of our hurried
modern existence Mrs. Smith has writ
The San Francisco call., 1904-11-13

by fire of one of his shoddy hotels
brings to- him realization of the thing
that he has done. Then out of terrible
remorse and detection the broken man
is led back to right living and doing
by the hand of his wife, once neglected.
A grim picture of Chicago manners
and Chicago morals is this that Her
rick gives. The atmosphere of the
whole story is that of the unscrupulous,
unquestioning rich. The successful
men" and successful women" that
move through its pages are those
counting results only and taking no
thought of means. The character Of
Mrs. Phillips, a woman compounded of
vulgar ostentation and transplanted
French morals, is forbidding but ad-
mirably well done. Her world of cyni-
cal qualification and supreme self
ishness is not pleasant TO look upon as
Herrick depicts it. Mrs. Phillips
daughter, Venetia, a young woman who
would like to be sport" and "a
good fellow" is another strongly drawn
character. In her the author has en-
bodied the familiar attributes of that
class of society that depends upon new
and untoward amusement to safe it's
jaded taste.
strong, unvarnished tale Of city
life is this; a tale which catches the
epic significance Of the din of dollars
which sounds to the exclusion of every
softer strain in our present day ex-
istence.
CThe Macmillan Company, New York;
nrice 81 50)
The San Francisco call., 1904-11-13
NOVELS
As They Are Writ

HE lady who. under the name Of
George Madden Martin. made
Emmy Lou" known to every
household that cherishes an
abiding love for children. has de-
narted- somewhat from this strain in
her long novel, The House of Fulfill
ment." No less than in the little
book about baby girls heart has
Mrs. Martin shown herself in this
story to be the master of delicately
sympathetic style and thorough
workman in the field of human emo
The San Francisco call., 1904-11-13

OF buQCnism. When this philosophy
found its way from China to Japan
in its very early history it lightened
the stern austerity of the primitive
belief with gentler precepts leading to
worship of the beautiful in life.
Architecture, painting, sculpture, en-
craving, landscape gardening, even.
all followed in the train of the new
teaching. With careful notifications
the Chinese religious polity was graft
ed upon the older social structure un-
til, as Hearn AYERS, the marks of the
welding. the lines of the Juncture, al
most totally disappeared"
In tracing the effect had upon the
japanese people by the sudden as
sumption Of Western civilization up
on this firmly rooted base Of tradition,
Hearn has fears for Japan's future
A break with ancient ethical custom
will be fraught with disaster, for upon
that is the nationality of modern
Japan established. Because from her
accepted traditions Japan cannot as
sumo the great weight of modern in
dustrialism without a turning away
from old ideals, the author believes
that in making such assumption she
menace yet hangs heavy.
The writer closes his book with a
bitter fling at the arrogance of the
Chrsstianizing propaganda as ii is now
being pushed in Japan. A sudden
break on the part of the whole peo-
pie from the traditional scheme of an
cestor worship is, according to Hearp,
something beyond possibility. Here
is the writer's opinion badly put:
Perhaps this book, in spite OF
many shortcomings. will not fail to
convince some thoughtful persons that
the constitution OF Far Eastern So
ciety presents insuperable obstacles to
the propaganda of Western religion.
as hitherto conducted; that these OBJ
stacles now demand, more than at any
previous epoch, the most careful and
humane consideration, and that the
further needless maintenance Of an
uncompromising attitude toward
them can result in nothing but evil. 8"
CThe Macmillan Company, New
York; price s2)
The San Francisco call., 1904-11-13

Just last word on something more
savory than even the salt OF fiction
Paul Elder & Co. of this city publish
two handy books Of dainty receipts
compiled by May E. SOuthworth,
"1O1 Beverages and "101 Salads"
Just the mere reading OF either OF
these little booklets is enough to make
one believe that life between meals or
between drinks is naught but a barren
desert at best
The San Francisco call., 1904-11-13

Jessie Juliet Knox, a San Jose
woman. whose early literary efforts
appeared ins The Call, has had pub
lished her first book, Little Almond
Blossoms" a volume Of short stories
for the little folks. Mrs. Knox has
made a unique and a successful de-
parture from the beaten path OF Juve-
nile fiction IN these stories. all OF them
intimate sketches Of little Chinese tots
here in San Francisco's Chinatown
Having had the good fortune to be ad-
mitted into the inner circle OF some OF
the better Chinese homes, the writer
there studied at first hand all Of the
joys and sorrows that combine to make
the days round for young All Sid.
These she has pictured in pleasing
and graceful style. Older people Will
read the book when the children have
finished with il.
Oittle, Brown & Co., Boston; illus
trated; price 81 500
The San Francisco call., 1904-11-13

young widow who has always been
under restraint either by her parents
or her selfish and fortunately short
lived husband determined upon a try
at the gayety Of some European capi-
tails. With only the SOLDERING influence
of maid to stay her. this charging
young American fits her way through
the bathrooms of Germany and France
and the rest Of the gay Continent gem
orally, seeing many things, both agree
able and otherwise. and having adven-
lures ditto. What might have hap
pened 10 this frivolous and dainty
moth had she not very greatly against
her will fallen in love with a young
Englishman, better than the average
of his class, the reader can only ven-
ture TO conjecture. Her uncOnvention-
ality certainly is distinctive.
(Dodd. Mead & CO.. New York;
price 81 50.)
The San Francisco call., 1904-11-13

THE Flight Of a Moth" by Emily
Post, is lively book. full Of keen wit
ticisns and not a little genuine satire
Though the author has rather unfor-
tunately utilized the hackneyed old
style of conveying her story through
long and wordy letters, 1t must be ad-
mitted that very few Of this kind Of
novel surpass THE Flight of Moth"
in sprightliness of style and breezy
comment
These letters relate how certain
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1904-01-13
THE FIELD sssso OF LABOR.

and the dag before tho officials Of the
union and the executive council OF thex
teamdriyers have been auditing the books
OF the business represenuve OF local lso
Mr.. l.. A. Grace and have found that new
or before I'm the history OF the local havo
they been kept In such good condition
The method used In keeping them was so
simple that when a new candidate was
tried he easily could tell every proceeding
that had transpired. The work WAS 30
nicely done that 10 was voted 10 recon-
mend at ths next meeting Of the local
that vote OF thanks be extended TO tho
business Official or the body for such an
open method as used.
BARTENDERs Label. RECEIVED.
The members or the Bartenders union
are anxious that the public be notified Of
the arrival OF the new labels for the year
The design OF the affair Is very unique AZ
well as attractive and should be sought
where ever one OF the members OF the
union sees At TO go.
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1904-01-13

inst. At e.30 p. m, al his late residence.
% Priscilla avenue. Relatives and
friends are invited to attend
oRAHAM-In this city. 11th inst, Alice
Elizabeth. daughter Of the late James
and Hannah (Cronshaw) UdeIi. and
wife Of William Graham. aged 3s years.
II months and IL days.
KELLY-In this city. on the I2th inst.
Ann r., daughter Of Thomas and Ellen
Kelly. aged 3 months. days.
KENNEDY-In Moosup. Conn. Jan. Il.
1904. Joshua s. Kennedy. aged so years.
Funeral Thursday, Jan. IL, at p. m.
from his late residence. Rela atives and
friends are invited to attend without
further notice.
LlNpALL--rn Washington. r. l.. llth
inst. Hannah p. wife OF Hiram Lin
DAN. In the nth year OF her age.
Funeral Thursday. the 14th inst, at 1
u. m. from the Knotty Oak church.
Relatives and friends are invited 10 at
tend without further notice.
MAILUY--In this city. on tne 11th inst.
Julia j.. daughter ~ Hannah and the
late Maurice Malley. aged 10 years. s
months.
Funeral Thursday morning tho 1ith
inst at O'Clock. from hor mothers
residence ss East Transit street Rela-
tivcs and friends are invited To- attend.
MANN In Florence. Mass on the n
inst. Mari s. widow OF Arnold Mann.
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1904-01-13
OF INCEMOIARY ORIGIN


Lowell. Mass, Jan. ls.-The police and
fire marshal today began an Investigation
of the fire which last night destroyed the
large department store OF o'Donnell and
Glibrdge and adjoining property here.
There is an impression that the Are was
the work OF ar incendiary There IL no
doubt as 20 the source OF the blaze. but
the cause "a not known. and In view of
the recent mysterious fires In Lowell the
incendiary theory prevails among many
people
Monday morning ST. Patricks church
was burned, and the exact cause Is not
known. Early Saturday morning. nre
started in Odd Fellows hall, and II nee
essitated a general alarm. The cause
OF the FIRE has not been explained. II
was thought that the fire started from
the kitchen where a lunch had been
served at a fraternsl meeting on Friday
night, but Il has since been learned that
there was no fire in the kitchen.
Sometime ago. a big fire broke out IN
Davis and Sergents building hero and
the cause OF that fire has not been set
forth. The FIRE marshars aid has now
picious character.
The police are not by any means GER
tain that last nights spectacular blaze
was the result OF incendis rfsIn. but II was
decided before tho FIRE was distinguished
that a careful investigation was neces-
spry