The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-07-07
NEWS OF THE BOOK WORLD
italian Villa Haunted by the Very Spirit
! OF Age, the Scene OF Tale that Carries
ltaly'a Own charm-Has Almost the
Flavor OF an AIeeory--vlne. Women
and Song, and Then the Ghost.

who move and speak just wee Bit,
stifrly now and then, and ghost--a most
ghost the very spirit Of age de-
scending upon it's victims In appalling
fashlon-these are the principal elements
IN The Villa Claudia, by John Ames
Mitchell. 1t Is book to entertain and |
yet one to take rather deep grip on one |
Il holds attention both by its charm and
ITS mystery, which is limited at early, and |
the working out Of that mystery in a way
that, with it's varying lights and shadows |
Is wholly in keeping with sunny Italy"
The owner of the villa is an American
woman who, with her daughter, has long
lived In Italy. The girls name Is Betty
Farnham She is out for a stroll in the
twilight when she discovers q young man |
asleep In one Of the marble settees Of the
garden. He proves to be Morris Lane, a
young man she had known as a girl in |
her childhood's chum, in fact |
He had wandered into the garden and sat
down to enjoy the entertainments Of the
scene and had been enchanted into tho
land of dreams. Betty Farnham is a girl
OF spirit with an admiral ton for "the
everlasting struggle, blessing in dis.
gu1se. Morris is practical young man,
with a strong vein Of the poetic in his
emotional makeup. Those are two Of the
four chief characters Another Is santo-
vano, an Italian aristocratic, who Is ode
scended from all the Roman emperors''
and traces his family tree even beyond the
emperors, who lives life of ease and has
lived a life which has among certain
few given him IAN appalling reputation"
and who is to marry the charming and
Wlnsome Betty. The fourth Is Hollowell,
an Englishman, whose philosophy is Eat,
drink and be merry, for tomorrow we
die tho one infers that he would be
somewhat fastidious about his company
and the manner Of his eating, drinking
and making merry.
ha' tfor 90
curean philosophy furnishes the topic Of
a conversation which is the prolog Of
the story's tragedy. 1t turns upon this
Love and wine being the essence Of life, it
Dehooves Cupid and Bacchus to bestir themselves
mat the earth may contain nothing but happy
lovers and the choicest grapes.
The sentiment is one that appeals to
Santovano and Hollowell and they defend
1t, being almost too much for Betty, who
holds 1t IN contempt. Morris remains
quiet until Betty is almost or quite talked
down; then, addressing her, he says:
What a joke upon these gentlemen If they
should become the victims Of their own philos-
"No, the philosophy is rotten. 1t is merely an
ant1dote for the Ten Commandments. It is
blear-eyed, spineless and besotted. Moreover,
you two gentlemen-like all other decent per-
sons-would cut it dead If you met it in the
daytime :,
"Not l." said Hollowell 81 should fan upon
its neck and hug it."
santovano nodded his Endorsement.
(Which means" said Morris, shat to expert
ence during the next few hours the concentrated
Joy of several years you would consent to be
found dead in your beds tomorrow morning."
And then the ghost-but that is tell
ing, and that won't do.
Mr. Mitchell, perhaps unintentionally
has made something of an allegory Of his
story, tho 1t is far from obtrusive "Wine
women and song" and then-the ghost.
Was the ghost ever known to fail?
There are certain diseases which re-
ceive the unremitting attention Of ply
sicians-not only those who attend the
sick, but those working exclusively in
chemical and microscopical laboratories
Fame and fortune await the discoverer
of a. cure for the most virulent ills that
afflict mankind. The relative Importance
OF the latter is well shown In the index
to the seventy-ninth volume Of the New
! York Medical journal and Philadelphia
Medical journal Consolidated, just issued
| which contains 115 references to tubercu-
losis or consumption in it's various forms
| 60 items on cancer, 80 on Bright's dis
ease, the same number on typhoid fever
| 20 on appendicitis and 20 on pneumonia
| Radium is discussed seventeen times
There are but nine references to small
| pOA, .NdCC11ldL1On having ann1n1lated that
scourge wherever general enlightenment
prevails.
Rudyard Kipling has just finished new
lished this fall by Doubleday, Page & Co.. under
the title, 'Traffcs and Discoveries" This is
the first volume Of collected Kiplng tales since
culation than any other book Of short stories
in recent years. It contains one long tale "The
Army Of Dream" hitherto unpublished.
| THE ROAD TO YESTERDAY
Oh, the nursery is lonely, and the gardens full
| Of rain,
But think if should only run with ali NV
| might and main
IL could 60 I leave this dreary country Of Today.
FOR IL cant De far to cross 1t, since came my
| When went to sleep they brought me all the
And T 2, s, very near, they it's almost
So soon could come again to Yesterday.
Over there my boat is sailing all alone upon
must hurry back before she blows astray,
And arbutus flowers are trailing in the pleasant
With the other little lovely flowers of May
And the trees are white with blossoms, and the
air is bright with song,
And the children all are happy there and gay
| Oh want to go to find them now, and you may
come along,
If you'll show me, please, the road to Yester-
day.
Caroline Mccormick, in Harper's Magazine for
July.
"The Rose Of Old st. LOUIS it's author feels,
Is historically accurate as study of authorize.
| tive records can make it. To verify her facts,
Mrs. Dillon consulted all the best records pub
| lished and unpublished, Of the times events and
| people pictured in her book. AS instance,
word of Marbois, Livingston, Talleyrand Ma
poleon and his two brothers, touching the mat
! ter Of the Louisiana cession, Is verbatim from
authentic accounts. 1.-THE Rose Of Old st.
Louis will be issued by the Century company,
early In July.
The Uneasy Chair.
A prolog Is a dangerous reef in author
dom; in fact, a reef that it is wise to
avoid If possible. In the seventeenth
century, when the laws of the drama de-
manded a prolog, the subtle writer's avoided
he difficulty by carefully refraining from
i mentioning anything that really had to do
with the play. Today when there are
no hard and fast rules in the art OF
writing, it Is not probable that any author
would choose a pro1og unless he deemed
i it necessary. In The EffendI thirty six
pages are devoted to a rehearsal Of pre-
Elfminary facts. It is true that it brings
| about the denouement without unneces-
lsary details and thus may have that for
an excuse for being. But let the nrofoe
be Judged by the words Of one Of the
/ characters, who says: