The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-12-02
COMMENTS ON MEN AND
 MATTERS OF THE WORLD
whose insanity assumes a more sombre

whose insanity assumes a more sombrs aspect
 There Is a great rush among the pub fishers to get out their holiday books Time. money and ingenuity will be ex- pended to suit the exactiens of a holi- day trade and the creations of the book maker and publisher this year will no doubt surpass their former efforts. It is noticed that the writer plays a very minor part in the preparation of Christmas books Of course he has to tell the story but almost anybody can do that nowa- days and after the story is related the usefulness of the author ceases. It Is then that the artist the lithographer, the printer, engraver and all those other artisans who play so prominent part in the making of 8 book begin to get busy. The cover design, the marginal dec orations, the Illustrations, the style of type, color of paper and tricks of the ty- pographer are of more moment than any words of a mere writer. The object of the modern publisher is to please the eye even more than the mind and this is especially true of Christmas books
 One is reminded that the street scene in the dramatization of Owen Wister's novel, "The Virginian," is quite realis- tic and Is a faithful portrayal of the small western town but most characteristic feature has been ignored for the sake of producing a stage picture that would be pleasing to the eye. The small west ern town. and indeed, nearly all small towns, usually have but one street. As a rule the railroad runs along one side or this thoroughfare and a row of mercan- tile establishments, saloons, restaurants and cheap shops stand in line down the opposite side, facing the railroad and giving their proprietors a fine chance to sec the trains go by. Many of these little villages along the transcontinental railroads are so much alike that one has difficulty in telling them apart. few bronchos will be hitched about to posts in the middle of broad avenue. while rough characters of the west loiter about the/ doorways of the ugly. monotonous row of miscellaneous shops, saloons, gam bling hells and eating houses. These wretched little spats of civilization are about the homeliest. "scrubbiest, for lorn and altogether God-forsaken places in the world. If they have single line of beauty only the most charita- bly, inclined could find 1t.
 A great many people have an idea that a chorus girl is the same vivacious sprightly vision of big hat and dainty lingerie off the stage that she is in the glare of the footlights, but there they are mistaken. Of course soIne of tha "footlight beauties" have a gay and fes- tive spirit that merits the publicity given them in Sunday papers but others are serious, hardwor1ing young women whose life Is far from being one Hitting song The proportion of stage people who lead hard lives to those who travel about in luxury Is very unequal, therefore a phllanthropic movement to establish a home for chorus girls in Chicago will no doubt accomplish much good It is hard to consider the chorus girl in a serious light, so often has she been a subject for the yellow journals and the comic artists. but there are many who would avail themselves of such home as is planned for Chicago. -P. c.