Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-23

tfon Of q .happy ending" but the analytf-
cal reader might be inclined to question tne
entire smoothness Of the years to come ar,
ter the reunion which marks the maj
chapter.
MRS. McLERIE.. By =. J. Bell, author Of Wee
Macgregor." New York: The Century Company.
Mr.. John Joy Bell, who threatens to dis
place Barrie as the popular creator OF
quaint Scotch characters, was destined by
his father to be tobacco merchant. Dut
the young man revolted from the dictates
OF trade and went into the field or letters.
kali yard" school Of literature, for he has
now brought distinctly fresh note into
that atmosphere. His Wee Macgregor
showed signs of genuine talent for deft
manipulation of the dialect, and now MS
MRS. McLerie'' attests to his strength IN
character drawing, and his ability to hold
the attention by means of the thinnest OF
sketches. This book consists OF numoer
of conversations. chiefly between Mrs NC
Ierie and Mrs. Munro, her most intimate
friend. 1t closes with a chapter devoted
to Mr.. McLerie's convalescence. showing
that stern old Scotchman. who has figured
throughout the other sketches by reflection,
in his own light. Mrs. McLerie has fas-
cinating tendency to mispronounce, ana
Mrs. Munro quick way of correcting ner
friend. The two are not always harmoni-
GUS Indeed, the first chapter tells Of their
only violent quarrel which grows out OF
the two womens differing views OF Free
Masonry. Mrs. McLerie will take promi-
nent place hencefOrth among the dear wo-
men friends Of the book readers. She Is
altogether delightful and wholly human.
Notes of Books and Authors.
One of the successful novels of the later
part of the season of 1903 was sally OF
Missouri" story of the zinc boom days in
the Ozark Mountain regions, which has
been heretofore reviewed in these columns.
The name of the author appeared on the
title page as "R. e. Young" strongly sug-
gestive of masculinity. This impression, 1t
appears now, is erroneous for the writer of
sally of Missouri is Miss Rose e. Young,
who has for some years been contributing
to the magazine press under this name,
There have been many instances of women
authors deliberately adopting mems names,
such as Charles Egbert Craddock" Miss
Murfree) and John Oliver Hobbies" CMrs.
Craigie), but this is perhaps the first in
stance, at least in some years in which the
reading public had consistently and without
other hint accepted the businessike sigma
ture of simple initials as the sign manual of
a man author. The disclosure of Miss
Youngs personality and sex has not thus far
affected the popularity of her story. nor is
it likely to do so. There is no present pref
udice against women novelists, as many
notable successes will attest.
Those devoted admirers of Mr. Gelett Bur-
CESS and his remarkable school of illustra-
ton are doubtless not familiar-certainly
not through his pictures-with the fact that
all his artistic training bent him directly
away from the strange curvatures of his
favorite school of anatomy. He started in
life with the intention of becoming a me-
chanical draughtsman, went through the
Massachusetts, Institute of Technology
served in the engineering department of the
Southern Pacific Railway Company was
for three years instructor of typographical
drawing at the University of California and
then earned a livelihood as a designer Of
furniture. 1t may have been a process of
artistic evolution which finally led him to
the creation of the COOP" Just whether
this extraordinary creature sprang from
topography or from furniture is question
But suffice it to say that the COOP came and
stayed. 1t has much to answer for From
1T has arisen whole new school of freak
Illustrations, now to be frequently seen in
the comic supplements of the big newspa-
per editions But the original goop re-
mains Mr.. Burgess own specially, and it
Is the more remarkable for being such an
anlthesls to the straight lines and the
automatically accurate drawings with
which he began his artistic career
1t viii be interesting to readers of The
star 10 know that THE Mark" which is
now appearing serially in these columns
daily, was the 570th manuscript read bv
the experts Of the Doubleday-Page nuh,
llshlng house during eight consecutive
months or the past year. This fact is
stated as an answer to tnat often repeated
question of whether publishers actually
read unsolicited manuscripts. 1t is fur
.. .hermore given out, perhaps, as a hint that
the other 569 novels which came without
bidding went back to their senders This
may AFFORD a line on the proportion of the
unavailable to the available. 1t may
also be suggestive to aspirants for Jiterary
fame to know that Mr.. Kempster's mann
script was his first attempt in long fiction.
Readers of the yellow Book" that re-
posftory Of decadent literature which -four
lshed a rev years ago. will remember that
many or its stories were from the pen of
one who signed himself Sidney I,uska
The present-day admirers OF Henry Har-
land may not know that he is this same
sidney Luska, and many of them will be
pleased to note his return TO his own name
For there Is gulf of some breadth be-
tween the Yellow Book stories and the
novels Of romantic Italian Atmosphere
which he is now producing.
Pen names seldom continue for long their
function as cloaks to identity In these days
of wide publicity and keen competition in
the field of fiction writing. Indeed the rule
is rather that no sooner does an author
achieve a measure of distinction under q
pseudonym than his real name is some
what eagerly disclosed by himself or his
publishers. Just why this pretense of con-
cealment is kept up at all is question for
authors and publishers to answer 1t NAV
be a lack of euphony in the real name or a
timorouS sense of doubt as to the authors
success. One of these early disclosures &C.
ours in the case Of Bruno LeSsing," whose
Children of Men" was one of the recent
issues Of note. The author is Rudolph
Block, who in his routine of work edits
comic newspaper supplements, and whose
stories touch upon some of the Saddest
phases of metropolitan ghetto life. 1t is
possible that this sharp difference between
the two lines of endeavor had caused a
separation of the writing identities Per-
haps Rudolph Block could not write the
sweetly sad stories of the life in the Jew
quarter of New York any more than Bruno
Leasing could conceive the grotesques of
the comic supplements
1t is announced that the Reader, one of