The San Francisco call., 1904-10-23
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and went into the reporters room. A
half hour later. when the city editor
entered the room. he found the new
reporter lying at full length upon the
top of a long table, while the blank
paper was held close to his face be-
cause of an affection Of the eyes which
prevented the eyeballs from turning
in their sockets.
Picking Up a few pages Of the man
uscript. which was beautifully writ
ten and had the hneness of copper
plate. the editor read it carefully and
then laid his hand gently upon the
writer's head. This instantly elected
a snarl like that OF a wild beast. IT'S
all right" remarked the editor. Keep
your temper. You may give US all OF
that stuff YOU can write"
The stranger continued to write un-
I'll long after midnight and his matter
filled three columns. 1t gave all the
details of one Of the most horrible
murders in the history of modern
crlmes-the killing of an official Of the
gas company by an employe. who dis
membered his victims BODY and Gre
mated the fragments in a coke fur
mace.
The description of the crime had
al the fascination of Edgar Allan
Poe's grewsome tales, and the story
or the ''gashOuse murder became a
reportorial classic. The unknovr
who wrote it never had been beard
from before that time, though his
name afterward became well Lrnown
10 lovers Of American literature. II
was the initial appearance in news
paper work OF Lafcadio Hearn.
Miriam, or the Sin OF David" In IN.
correct title Of the new pIav bv Mr.
stephen Phillips. which was at nrst
announced as David and Rathsbeba !"
Ihe theme is clearly Indicated bv tbs
ute but the play opens in CromwelPs
army, instead Of in Jerusalem. ana
Guns its course during the English
civil war.
Inc late Thomas Mast, the cartoon
fst, whose biography by Albert Riq.-
low Paine will be published In Octo-
Der by The Macmillan Companv- disd
In Ecuador in the service Of his conn
Try. He was Consul General thara
when yellow fever broke out ana
stayed at mis- post, refusing TO Ieav.
when others did, and took the fever
and died. The material for this biop-
raphy was conided by him in person
to the author and the book win be
Illustrated with reproductions Of about
400 Of Mr.. Nast's best cartoons.
One OF the strangest literary cofncf-
dences Is the appearance Of Mrs. Bur-
nett's story, "In the Closed Room" at
the same time with KipIing's They
1t Is remarkable that two such noted
writer's should have been seized stimuli
taneously with a desire to express tba
almost inexpressible mysteries Of child
hold. These two stories OF children and
the spirit-world naturally invite a COM
parison- Individual taste will probably
be the only court 10 decide which story
is the better. The general opinion
seems, however. to be that Mr.. Kip
ling has produced a narvelously
wrought cryptOgram; while Mrs. Bur
nett has produced a story crystal clear.
human and very real. Notwithstanding
its mystic atmosphere.
-Four new volumes have tust aD-
peared In the Macmillan Conpany's
new series Of Pocket American and
English Classics. intended for elsmen-
tary schools. These include an edition
OF "Gulliver's Travels" and one OF The
Arabian Nights" each with notes and
an introduction By Clifton Johnson.
Hawthorne's Grandfatherau Chair
and "Old English Ballada-"