Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-23

had many adventures. She was command
ed by Skipper Dick Smiley, and Dick had a
cousin, Henry Smiley, likewise q schooner
captain. and he also had q sweetheart named
Annie. In an ingenious manner Dicks for
tunes are brought by the author into ter
rible tangle. and he IL very near to the
But the winds shift and the skies clear and
he sails his schooner at laSt-owning II all,
and not one-quarter. as at first-with
happy wife awaiting him on shore. and be-
a stirring, tragic adventure with Illicit dis
tillers, smugglers and desperate men. 1t is
a story to stir the blood and disclose new
possibilities for romance In an apparently
prosaic phase Of life.
THE PANCHRONICoN. By Harold Steele
Mackaye. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
Washington William Ballantyne Sons
1t is perfectly obvious that IL a man goes
westward AROUND the earth, chasing the
sun. and overtaking 1t if going fast enough,
he win lose a day with each revolution. AS
meridians are meridians, wherever they
happen to fall on the eartaas surface, 1t is
quite plain that II a man could cut across
all $50 of them at the pole in pursuit OF the
sun he would be accomplishing his END just
as surely as though he cut them at the
equator. But he'd do 1t faster. That set
tied, 1t remains only for the creation Of a
enough to enable the time-gainer--it de-
ponds upon the point of view whether he is
a ttme-gainer or a time-loser-to dive back
into the past before he freezes to death
Well, such a machine is ready-made In this
story, and the reader Is not worried by
technical details There 1T is, and 1t does
the work, and the three New Englanders
Copernicus Droop and two spinsters, man
age by means of it to plump themselves
down into the heart of Old England in the
year 1898, and to get mixed UP in the court
affairs of Queen Elizabeth and the financial
difficulties Of Francis Bacon and to find
out for certainty that Bacon did not write
Shakespeare. 1t is truly Stocktonian
conceit, an application, as 1t were, OF the
negative gravity idea, and 1t Is cleveriy
handled, with one diverting situation fol-
lowing another. Never for moment
does it call for the least credulity.
A LITTLE UNION SCOUT. BY Joel Chandler
Harris, author Of Gabriel Tolliver," &c. IL
Illustrated by George Gibbs. New York. Nc
Clure, Phillips & Co. Washington: Woodward
& Lothrop.
Tales of women scouts who served both
sides during the civil war are by no means
rare, but Mr. Harris has taken this one and
made of it tender little idyll of the great
struggle. in which the characters appeal
with strong human interest to the sympa-
thies of the reader. The scene Is laid in
Tennessee where the federal and confed-
crate forces were often in very close touch
and the mpathizers with both sides were
ineXtricably mixed. There Is much that
suggests the need Of further explanation,
as for instance why Gen. Forrest permitted
the finally captured Union scout to slip
through his fingers. but it all goes to make
up the love story and that's the thing,
after all. 1t reaches the heart and that Is
better than red tape, any day.
THE AMERICAN IMMORTALs, the Record
Of Men who by their Achievements in State
craft. War. Science Literature. Art, Law and
Commerce have Created the American Republic,
and whose Names are Inscribed in the Hall of
Fame. By George Cary Eggleston. Illustrated.
New York: q. P. Putnam's Sons.
The Hall of Fame stands on the grounds
OF the New York University, in the city of
New York, and within 1t are tablets on
which are now inscribed twenty-nine names
the first contribution to the permanent
record of the great ones of the republic
This hall is the result Of an anonymous gift
designed to stimulate patriotism and high
endeavor by concentrating those virtues
III persons who have passed away, and by
collecting in a museum busts, portraits
and other mementos of the great. Mr.. Egg
gleston's work is series Of essays upon the
twenty-nine present 'Immortals,' brief ap-
precautions Of their works and qualities and
the parts they played in the great drama of
the creation and development of the Ameri-
can nation. He prefaces them with an intro
ductory statement explanatory Of the in
stitution itself. briefly covering the ground
Of the creation of the Hall of Fame and the
circumstances attending the first selections.
One hundred men and women. chosen with
great care to represent varied intellectual
activities In the life of today, formed the
jury Of selection. To them were submitted
two hundred names while they themselves
nominated thirty-four more. From this list
each Of the hundred voted for fifty the
number of Concentrations" to be allowed for
the election of 1900. No name was to be In
scribed on the tablets unless supported by
an actual majority of the jury. Only
Twenty-Five SO received a majority. The
elections are to occur every five years No
name Is to be chosen save that Of one who
has been ten years dead.
Mr.. Eggleston notes the criticisms aroused
by the announcement OF the jury's balloting
Thus, there was much amazement among
scientists that Asa Gray was elected by Just
hfty-one votes. while his greater master
John Torrey, whom the botanical world re-
veres and to whom he always bowed. re-
ceived not one vote. Benjamin West was
not even nominated for consideration among
the painters, despite the impress he left
upon the native art. Elias Howe was not
there were other apparent miscarriages of
historical justice. No woman and no physi-
clan or surgeon was given a place on the
tablets. Mr.. Eggleston notes these matters
and refers In passing to the clamor which
was sought to be raised by the inclusion of
Robert e. Lee in the list of the chosen. His
essays are written in a broad spirit of APP
probation, and follow the lines Of the best
Judgment from the available materials with
occasional criticisms tempering the praise
which would naturally be expected to be
dominant in work descriptive OF the oc-
cupants of the American pantheon, The
work serves q valuable purpose in thus pre-
senting portraits and biographies OF the
men who, by this process OF selection stand
at the pinnacle of western fame.
THE PICAROONS. By Gelett Burgess and
WIN Irwin. New York: Mcclure, Phillips &
Co. Washington: Woodward & Lothrop
No more entertaining set OF rascals and
story-tellers could we'll be assembled than
those who form the round-table group pre-
scented by Mr.. Burgess and Mr. Irwin In
their delightful "Picaroons." Periodical
publication of these stories has not robbed
them of their freshness or diverting quail
ties. and now that they have been done
over into book form they are even more
welcome than though this were their first
appearance. For now the reader can ac-
quire a perspective view Of their elemental
qualities and compare rogue with rogue