The San Francisco call., 1904-04-14

William Dana OrcutL tne carry Nh4 OH
icIes about the hero Of the story, the
Sieur de La Sale. assume an added
freshness in their quaint interest
While a review Of the present authors $
tale of the great voyager is reserved
for the Sunday Calls book page. II is
interesting 10 read from the earliest
edition Of JouteTs Journal Of the Last
VOYAGE of NJ de La Sale" the story
Of the discoverer's work from the pen
Of contemporary. Says the old bis
tOrisn.
Robert Cavelier. commonly calfd
Monsieur de la Sale. q Native Of Roam.
OF a good Family. having been educated
IN Pietv and Learning. went over very
young into Canada and took Delight in
Trade. but more in Projects Of new
Discoveries UP the Inland Of those vast
Countries. Intending to settle there
and make that his Country, he pur-
chased an Habitation in the Island OF
Montreal. where has been built the
second Town Of Canada, sixty Leagues
above Quebeck.
Many Discoveries had been made TO
fhe Northward. before Monsieur de la
Sales Time; but none had ad
Nanc'd far towards the South or South
west. beyond Fort Frontenac. which is
on the Lake Ontario, the nearest this
Way of the five great Lakes.
Something was known Of the ia
NOUS River Mississippi. which it was
supposed might fan into the South Sea.
and open a Way TO il. These Con-
lectures working upon Monsieur DE la
Sale. who being jealous for the Honour
OF his Nation. design'd TO signalize the
French Name on Account Of eXtraor-
dinary Discoveries, beyond all that
went before him; he fOrm'd the Design
and resolv'd TO put il in Execution. He
was certainly very fit for it. and sue
ceeded at the Expense of his Life; for
10 Man has done so much in that Way
as he did for the Space Of twenty
Years he spent in that Employment.
He was Man Of a regular Behaviour.
Sf a large Soul. we'll enough learned,
and understanding in the Mathe-
maticks, designing, bold, undaunted,
dexterous, insinuating, not TO be dis
couraged at any Thing. ready at ex-
Treating himself out Of any Difficult :,
ties. no Way apprehensive Of the
greatest Fatigues. wonderful steady in
adversely. and what was Of extraOrdi-
nary Use. well enough versed in sew
eral Savage Languages. NJ. de la Sale
having such extraordinary Talents,
whereof he had given sufficient Proofs
upon several occasions, gain'd the Es-
TEEN Of the Governors Of Canada; and
Messieurs de COurcelles, Talon. and de
Frontenac successfully expressed the
fame by often employing him in AZ
fairs for the Honour and Advantage
OF the Colony.
The great Reputation Monsieur de
la Sale had gain'd, and his mighty
Projects, Occasional a Jealousy in some
and Envy in others. His own Country
men thwarted his Designs; but he sur
mounted all those Obstacles and re-
turnd into Canada, about the year
1913. He set out at length. and
proceeded 10 the Westward, ana
found the River OF the Illinois. which
he cal'd the River Of Seignelay, and
following its course came into the Mis-
sisipi where the other discharges it
self All along its Banks he
found many Savage Nations with
whom by means Of his Presents he
enter'd into Alliances. and gave the
Country the Name Of Louisiana, to
honour the Name and Memory Of our
August Monarch. At length the
Course OF the Mississippi cOnvey'd Mon
sieur de Ia Sale to its Mouths. and he
arriv'd there in the Month of April
1852 or 1853"
The Scribners announce the imme-
date publication OF a book by the late
Henry Seton Merriman under the title
Of ''Tomasos Fortune and other Sto-
ries." The volume is made up of the
short stories-nearly a score of them
that he left at his death, stories said
to possess in an unusual degree the
qualities that have made his novels
acceptable to a multitude of readers.
The themes are varied-from a Span
ish cafe to a field hospital in India or
South Africa, with an admixture Of
sea stories of an original character.
The treatment is all dramatic. the ac-
ton RAPID the incidents salient, the
figures strongly marked types. Alto
gether the book shows that Mr. Mer-
riman was the master of the art Of the
short story as well as the novel Early
in autumn the same house viii publish
The Last Hope" the novel Mr.. Mer-
riman completed some time before his
death. and the last one which will ap-
pear from his pen Since its compile
tion il has been in the possession Of
his publishers and will be put into
book form without appearing first as
a serial
The novel, which compares in
length and completeness Of plot and
historical setting with any Mr.
Merriman has written. has also all
the power and fascination of his most
notable and popular stories.
The winds that watt fame blow
from the east to the west is a saying
whose truth no one familiar with the
history of American literature will
question, but in the case OF James L.
Ford's "Brazen Calf" fame seems to
be travelling I'm an easterly direction.
and already the book has made itself
felt in London, where IL is accepted
for its serious side rather than for
its qualities as an amusing satire. AL