Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-01-02
OUR LONDON LITERARY LITTER.
uurnnrnnvu uv,n neutrality-suspicious.
Special Correspondence.

Special Correspondence.
London, Dec, 21,-H. G. Wells must
have been nightly disguised, the other
day, to find that the writer Of a work on
a decidedly commonplace subject has
been ahead Of him with the title OF his
new wonder-story Wells latest ro-
nance, "The Food of the Gods" is, Of
course, still a long way from the book
form" stage, AS a matter OF fact, the
advertisements Of 1t as a serial had
just begun to appear in periodicals here
the other day, when there appeared the
announcement Of a volume by Bandon
Head, which also bore the title, The
Food Of the Gods" with the subtitle,
"A Popular Account Of the Growth and
Preparation Of Cocoa
OF course, the coincidence attracted
attention, and It looked at first as If
both literary men must have hit on this
attractive title AT the same time. but
now the cocoa writer declares i'm q
letter that his work has long been in
preparation and was originally an
nounced over a year ago, so THE Time
Machines author Ia evidently out Of
the running. AS yet Mr.. Wells has not
been heard regarding the clash. Per-
haps he has been too busy with poll
tics. Like most of the British
romancers, Wells is deeply Interested in
the fiscal questions, but. unlike Or.
Doyle and Rider Haggard, he is a Free
Trader. and In a vigorous letter the 9TH
eT day referred tn the 'tin.pan I'm
perialism' OF Mr., Chamberlain and his
followers,
The venerable DR.. Alfred Russell Wal
lace, now the only survivor Of that
great group which included Spencer.
Darwin. Huxley and Tyndall, tells a
friend of mine that he is nov mt work
on his autobiography. lie Is, as a rule,
averse 10 being interviewed. but some
one on THE Christian Commonwealth"
persuaded him to break this rule. aud
the result Is an uncommonly interest
ing article this week. DR.. Wallace in
clines to belief In spirits. and says II IL
possible that there may be, Somewhere
I'm Infinite space, spiritual uniyerses in
habited by spiritual beings. "T0 sup
pose he added, that this one particu-
lar type OF universe extends over all
space, is, | consider, 10 have "A low idea
of the Creator and His power. That
would mean monOtony, instead Of In
finite variety, which Is the keynote Of
things as they are known to Us. There
may be a million universes, but they
may all be dlfferent-certalnly, | should
say, not all matter. We are all agreed
that ether " the fundamental, matter
being its product; and 1t IL possible that
ether may have other products which
are not perccptible by us
DR.. Wallace said he believed In the
persistence Of the individual after the
dissolution Of tho body. THE best
spiritual teacher" he said. seems to
Inc 20 be that we are all capable II IN
finite progression, that none are 50 bad
as to be Incapable Of advancement, I
believe that the reason for the existence
of the world and the explanation Of the
problems that puzzle us are that the
earth and lis struggles and pains are
essential 10 the development OF the
highest spiritual natures
DR., Wallace told the interviewer that
his latest work, MANS Place In the
Universe which is perhaps the most
important book Of the season, was writ
ten az the suggestion of your cores
l0udCnt, Curtis Brown.
Sir Gilbert Parker seldom misses the
chance Of u holiday out Of London and
his name is tu be found more often than
that Of perhaps any other writer among
the uotablcs reCreatlng at fashionable
English health resorts, not TO mention
Monte Carlo and Cannes. Now the
uuthor OF THE Right Of Way" IL of
for Spain, and will not return to this
country until the end Of January.
There will be soreness I'm this coun-
try If the original manuscript of the
first book OF Paradise Lost" goes
across the ocean 10 Join the Gains
borough Duchess" ANA the other treas
ures Of European literature and art now
held In the United States, At present
every literary body In this country
from the British Museum down. Is in
slstcnt that the precious manuscript De-
saved from the American Millionaire"
ut an costs-but each Of these organ
ifttions seems t0 feel that ono of thc
others should De responsible for the
costs. Meanwhile. = view Of the prize
has proved interesting The ~ small
leaves Of closely written verse are now
bound In leather. The writing, wt
the o|riglnal corrections as dictated by
Milton, II still perfectly readable, and
lpVoud IA Gavin of the pdueg M fhp