Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-26

disagreeable medicine for the purging OF
the American municipal system of some OF
its evil humors
Mr. Stenens adds to the original text a
valuable summary in introduction. in the
course of which, explaining the scope OF
the articles, he says:
Thus. as st. Louis exempliied Doodle;
Minneapolis police graft: Pittsburg, po-
lfticaI and Industrial machine, and Phila-
dephia, general civic corruption, so Chicago
was an illustration OF reform and New
York of good government. All these things
occur In most of these places. There are,
and long have been, reformers In st. Louis,
and there is today police graft there Min
neapolis has had bo0dfing and council reform.
and boodling is breaking out there again.
Pittsburg has general corruption and Phila-
deiphia a very perfect political machine.
Chicago has police graft and low order or
administrative and general corruption which
permeates business, labor and society gen.
orally AS for New York, the metropolis
might exempify anything that occurs any
where In American cities, but no city has
had for many years such good admins
tration as was that of Mayor Seth Low
Then. after nara ting briefly how his ac.
cusations were received by the people OF
the cities. he concludes:
1--WE Americans may have failed. We
may be mercenary and selfish. Democracy
with us may be impossible and corruption
inevitable but these articles. II they nave
proved nothing else. have demonstrated
beyond doubt that we can stand the truth;
that there Is pride In the character or
American citizenship, and that this PRIDE
may be a power in the land. So this little
volume, a record of shame and yet OF self
respect; q disgraceful confession, yet
declaration of honor, Is dedicated In all
good faith to the accused--to all the citizens
of all the cities In the United States.
THE TEST. By Mary Tappan Wright. New
York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Washington:
william Ballantyne Sons.
Many things happen IN this story. and
it must be said that most of them are de-
cideIy unpleasant things. But they are all
in the way of life, as 1t Is to be observed
in the smaller cities of this country. "A
young man jilts his fiancee on the eve Of
their wedding and marries another woman.
The Tilted girl later suffers awful PEN
atty for her indiscreet confidence tn the
man, and out of the circumstances thus
created arise many new conditions which
cause much social earthquaking before the
surface is again smooth. after several years.
In the readjustments ordered by a. kind
providence men and women alike are
strengthened and softened. They pass the
test in their several ways and within their
limitations. Mrs. Wright's narrative of
these happenings makes strong appeal to
the sympathies of her readers. Her theme
is distinctly and frankly disagreeable. But
1t is perhaps the function of the novel, re-
vealing life as it is and not as the ideal
lists would have 1t, tt us occasionally to de-
pict the darker scenes. throughout "The
Test runs fine vein of subtle discrimi
nation which makes for power and COM
mands attention. 1t Is book to live while
the ephemerals are passing.
L; IN WHICH A WOMAN TELLS THE
TRUTH ABOUT HERSELF. New York:
d. Appleton & Co.
1t is understood that the publishers of
this book really do not know who wrote it,
and that the manuscript was received by
them through middleman, who has been
sworn to secrecy forever. There are two
possible reasons for this mystery. One Is a
by no means novel desire to arouse the
curiosity of readers, which leads sometimes
to large editions. The other is a shrinking
from avowal. In 1.-The Confessions of a
Wife the author preferred to remain anon
ymous. II it were an autobiography, how
ever disguised. that motive would suffice.
This story of a tempted but finally sue
cored woman may be in the same class in
point of authorship as it is in some striking
lines similar to the other in point of state
ment. In Il, however. there is a positive
villain. not merely a negative scoundrel
like the weak husband in Confessions"
This man. a vastly wealthy and powerful
Boston railroad magnate, sets an elaborate
trap for the wife of a young architect. The
story of how she all but falls into it. es-
capes. suffers and finally triumphs ever
herself and wins happiness is told with
skill and delicacy, albeit frankly. 1t is
suggestive statement of perfectly posi-
BILE case and diseloses rare powers of self
analysis. If this is merely literary fake
it is cleverly done. If it is Human docu-
ment' it is an important socio-psychoIogi-
cal study.
THE WOMAN. BY Charles Kennett Burrow
New York: John Lane.
This is a typically English novel of coun-
try life. The theme is not new one, nor
are the characters distinctly different in
the main from the type which has been
made more or less familiar in past fiction
The yeoman himself is of a sort unknown
in this country, and the American magma
ton must therefore undergo a process of
geographical projection. This man stands
for the intense love of the land felt by the
farmers OF England who have been born
and bred such for many generations,
the class just below the gentry, proud as
Lucifer in their birthright of hard work
and small profits, but perfect Independence
In this case, despite the similarity of the
theme to others which have preceded it,
the author has worked out story of such
complexity and. tenderness that it appeals
with an undenfable power to all readers
whether English or American.
THE FAT OF THE LAND; the Story of an
American Farm. BY John Williams Streeter
New York: The Macmillan Company Wash
iDgton Brentanos.
DIR. Streeter was ordered out of profess
sional life in 1895 by his own physicians,
who found that he was near the breaking
point. He went to farming both as cure
and as an occupation. He now tells in a
fascinating manner the story of his farm
ing experiences during seven years, and he
not only makes a good book in SO doing.
but he almost persuades the doubter who
Is inclined to scoff at the notion of the
gentleman farmer" DR.. Streeter went at
his farm-cure with physical vigors with.
many theories and with abundant capital
Against him stand thousands of farmers
who, with vigor. actual experience and no
capital, have made bare living off their
farms. But he had courage to adopt a pol
icy and stick to it. and that carried him
over many soft spots in the road-and then.
too. he had the capital That Is the key
note of his evidently big success-the cap
ital. He spends his thousands as the ordi-
nary farmer spends his dollars. He puts
in big plant and strikes for the creation
of factory farm" for the production of
butter. eggs, pork and fruit. No hay or