The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-02-25

An excellent and conscientious account
of the public schools of New York city
has been written by the Secretary Of tho
Board of Education, Mr. A. Emerson
Palmer. in The New York Public School :
iMacmlansl The immediate occasion for
its compilation is the centenary Of the
establishment OF the free school system
Mr. Palmer tells the story of the public
schools from the Dutch days to the present
time, including Brooklyn, and in narrower
limits The Bronx, Queens and Richmond
Dr. Seth Low writes an introduction. There
are illustrations; perhaps the most sug-
gestive are the first free school Of 1909.
that cost $4,000. and housed all the pupils.
and the 81, 800, 900 building of 1904. with
thousands of children that cannot be adj
mitted. 1t will be very useful book for
reference
VulGarity, cheap sentiment and cynicism
and suggestive title have given the Con
fessions of a Grass Widow" by Katherine
Thyson Mari broadway Publishing Com
panyl. n very large sale. II the publishers
announcement IL to be believed. The
book has been out for some time. and is
now reprinted. II had no literary or other
merits at the outset, and it's financial sue
cess. if il has had one. has certainly not
added any to it.
One of the most thrillingly exciting books
that Eugene Sue wrote was the MYSTERIES
du Peuple." For some reason it never
had the popularity Of The Wandering Jew
or OF The Mysteries Of Paris but the
stories that made il up were excellent Of
their kind. and showed, perhaps. more
conscientious work than his more famous
II 7 ~ al
ist leader. is translating the book into
English with a propaganda object, which
is absurd. as Eugene Sue was a romancer
pure and simple. Parts Of the book have
been translated before, but even the French
original is not easy TO get nowadays. Mr..
De Leon drops the connecting story and
prints the episodes as separate short sto-
Gies, a course in which he is justified. for he
thereby does little harm to the author,
whose framework was pretty thin. Two
parts have come to Va. The Gold Sickle
and The Infants Skull" New York Labor
News Company. There will be nineteen
stories in all French scholars might pick
flaws in the translator's work, but it ia
readable enough and, after all, II ia not
for his style that people read Sue. The
substance is here.
From the manuscripts left behind and
from his printed books another volume Of
excerpts OF Phillips Brooks's sayings
suited to the Lenten season has been made
by Mr.. W NJ. l.. Jay to which he gives the
title Christ the Life and the Light (E. p.
Dutton & Coz. The little volume will
prove acceptable to many outside the
Episcopalian community as well as in it.
Two well done little books appear in a
series called The Music Of the Masters.
edited by Mr. wakeling Day (Brentano's).
They give a deal Of information that will
prove useful TO people who attend concerts
and the opera and who not only wish to
talk about what they have heard but to
have some idea of il themselves. Mr..
Ernest Newman's WAS ner" gives a brief,
ineligible account not only ~ the COM
poser and his operas but also Of other
compositions and should be satisfactory for
all but out and out Wagner maniacs In
dealing with "Tchaikowski' Mr.. Z. Markham
Lee had more difficult task, for it is almost
impossible to describe purely instrumental
music in words. Still he provides his readers
with the material with which to talk glibly
and with seeming intelligence about the
Russian composer
A rather curious book has been pre-
pared by Mr.. Adolf Hepner in Americas
Aid to Germany in 1901" (the Author, st.
Louis. The authors object seems TO be
to bring out emphatically for the enlight
eminent Of Germans the important part
tina. the United States played through
Minister Washburne in the last great Euro
pean conflict. J. is made up Of extracts
from the correspondence of +, B. Wash
burne. printed by order OF Congress in 1873.
with translation into German facing the
English II is laudabe bit of work, that
may remind Germans as well as German
Americans OF some facts that they should
not forget.
Persons embarrassed rs to the manner
in which they shall answer invitations and
other society documents will find help in
"The Etiquette OF Correspondence, by
Helen F. Gavit "a. Vessels Company
which appears in second edition. The
author carries her helpfulness to the point
OF giving suggestions about punctuation
and the proper use OF words The list Of
foreign words and phrases provided had
better be left alone. unless the writer IL
familiar with them, for plain English should
be sufficient for ordinary correspondence.
Mr.. Arthur II Plnero has found an Ameri-
can publisher for his plays in Walter II.
Baker a Co.. Boston. From that firm we
have received Lefty and his latest effort
at Righteousness, "A Wife Without Smile"
The American public did not take to the
latter ebulltion Of his humor, and we regret
to say the play when read seems even fatter
than on the stage.
To every man that loves n dog the new
work put together by Mr.. James Watson
with the title The Dog Book, and issued
in parts by Doubleday. Page d Co., will
be very welcome, II any man knows about
dogs II Ia Mr. Watson. The first part, now
before US, il perhaps tho least satisfactory
part Of the book, because II deals with the
dogs the author can never have known,
the prehistoric dog and those in Assyrian
and Egyptian monuments. The illustra-
tions to that article. however are very
fine. Then Mr.. Watson goes on to tell
about the dog in the house and the dog
on exhibition. which, however interesting
to fanciers, appeal less TO the real dog lover
We look for more interesting matter when
he comes to the different species Of dogs.