Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-21

appears to have advantaged him SO fire.
quently in his later career.
Mr. Phillips serves artistcally as me-
dunn of communication. There is not one
dull line in plain Mary Smith" Woe be
unto the reader who thinks to skip, for he
is likely to miss gems Of the purest ray
serene In the very passages that seem to
the casual eye unimportant
THE HORSE IN AMERICA; a Practical
treatise on the Various Types Com
mon In the United States, with Some
thing of their History and Varying
characteristics. BY John Gilmer Speed
Illustrated. New York: Mcclure. Phil
lips x Co. Washington: Woodward &
Lothrop.
The author of this handsome and care
fully prepared volume believes that there
Is demand for horse book that shall not
play favorites,'' shall not be devoted to
this or that type of horse, but shall de-
scribe the horse in America as broadly as
possible and set forth the established prin-
ciples of breeding and training irrespective
or locality or personal prejudices Such a
book he has undoubtedly produced, and it
meets the need that he dscerned 1t is
possible from reading of this single work
10 gain substantial knowledge of horse
lore which otherwise might require the
reading of half a hundred works on spe-
ciai subjects. Mr. Speed thinks that the
IiIile Is at mana Wflen the morse lovers of
America must strive diligently to keep the
horse on the high plane that many years
of scientific breeding and training have es-
tablished. The day has come when the
horse must compete directly for favor with
new elements the automobile and the va
rious forms of rapid transit There are
many distractions to lead horsemen away
from their first love. Today America is the
foremost horse producing country in the
world. and it undoubtedly includes the
greatest number of accomplished horsemen
Mr. Speed remarks parenthetically that a
nation that cannot breed and then expertly
ride good horses Is handicapped in any
struggle that may come between 1t and
another nation and he cites in illustrat ton
the failure of the Japanese, in the late
war, 10 follow up their successes through
lack of efficient mounts. The work is
handsomely illustrated with horse portraits,
from modern and eontemporaneous prints.
WHERE COPPER WAS KING; Tale of
the Early Mining Days on Lake SUI
perior. BY James North Wright. Bos-
ton Small, Maynard & Co.
In the form of a well planned romance,
Mr. Wright tells a-story of the most vIvidly
dramatic interest, the tale of the copper
mines in the early day of their develop
ment. These mines cost many lives and
their records are filled with instances of in
dividual herosm that rival fiction for in
terest. In this narrative the author fol-
lows CLOSELY the lines OF Idct, as person
ally known to himself, but he weaves a
novel of compelling interest about the mat
tiers of record. The scenes described are
those of the early days of the famous Cal
umet and Hecla mine, of which the author
was formerly superintendent, and the char
acters real people who played their
part in the opening of the Lake Superior
region
Old PROVENCE. BY Theodore Andrea
Cook. MA, F.S.A.. sometime Scholar
of Wadham College, Oxford, author of
"Old Touraine. In two volumes. H.
Illustrated. New York: Charles Scrib-
ners Sons. Washingtons William Bal
lantyne & Sons.
These handsome volumes take the reader
swiftly back to the middle ages. present
him to the ancient order explain to him
the historical changes in the land of the
troubadours, saturate him vita the spirit
Of romance, exa.t his holl with the relics
OF classic architecture, entertain him with
anecdotes of the authors travels and In
struct him with his personal interpreted
tions of the things 70 be seen In Provence
With the aid of numerous and well repro-
duced Illustrations Mr.. Cook conducts his
tour through Provence Systematically. He
Is no guide writer. no dwelier upon the
themes of passing interest. He is an his
torian, an archaeologist, a deliver after ira
ditions. a student capable of nice discrim-
nations and fine balances. In his first volume
he discusses the Phoenicfans. Greeks and Ro-
mans. who have left traces upon the soil OF
France as remarkable as any to be found