The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-03-02
NEWS OF THB BOOK WOLRD
THE UNEASY CHAIR

"A LIES TRAGEDY FRIGHTENED
BY LOVE; TALE OF SIBERIAN EXILE.
The truth that Watts picture, Love
and Life and Drummond's lecture, The
Greatest Thing In the World teach, Is
the essence of Hearts In Exile, by John
Oxenham.
Three characters of high character and
refinement are the center Of interest. Two
men love the same woman. One of the
men Is rich, the other poor. The woman
Is the friend of both, but chooses to
marry the rich man, because of the good
she may do with his wealth. The poor
young man goes away to Moscow, there
to give such aid as he can to his fellow
Muscovites in need. Being philanthropic
In Russia proves disastrous. and the two
men, for their good deeds, the rich young
man having been drawn willingly into his
wife's benevolent schemes, are, secretly
ex1led to Siberia, even the wife not at
first knowing what has become of her
husband. The poor young mans sentence
sends him to the provinces, the others
sentence sends him to a penal colony,
whence there is much less hope Of escape.
They meet on their way east, and, when
chance offers, agree, under a new guard,
TO change names and sentences, in order
that the husband may return to his wife.
If possible, by the easier way of the prov
1nces. The plan is carried out, but before
it Is completed, the wife sets out to follow
her husband into exile. The complications
that result make a. story Of striking and
unusual interest, a story Of suffering,
Frightened by love and Self-sacrifice,
Mr.. Oxenham handles the story. with
skill and tells it we'll. He shows again
that Russia has a record Of oppression that
1t will take a long, long series of good
deeds to blot out, He does not, how
ever, rise to the demands of the tremend-
m q nCio al HrySf1o ioh h.
works. 1t would take. a Tolstoy to handle
adequately the march Of the exiles across
Siberia to Kara. Nevertheless, Mr.. Oxen
ham paints a stirring picture and handles
his brush with g. sure touch.
One Of the things he describes is a
hunger strike" in a Siberian prison. A
hunger strike comes about thru the OPP
preston of prison officials. The oppressed
say, 1--WE prefer ito die.'h Being denied
other means Of taking themselves off,
they add, I'VE will die Of hunger" and
they refuse to eat. # they die in large
| numbers, the officials know there will be
an inquiry and trouble for themselves
Yet, il they yield too soon, control of the
prisoners will be; at an end. And so the
dreadful duel goes, on. #on the one side
threats and futile attempts at forced feed
ing, followed in due course by. promises
and on the other side, the long drawn
agonies Of slow starvation and the irwin.
chile determination {. to- die sooner thar
give in"
| The pen Of master would do more
than sketch. such an, incident. Perhaps il
is just as we'll, certainly it is less harrow.
ing to the reader. that It is not pictured
with too great fidelity to detail.
.~ Dodd> Mead & Co.. New York.
WHERE GEORGE AIDE GOT HIS
! SENSE OF HUMOR-The author of ga
bles in Slang,'' rThe Sultan of Sulu,
'The College Widow, and other goot
things, was sitting beside little roun|
table at certain New York club few
nights ago, when a friend asked hin
where he got his, sense Of humor. MI
AIDE thought over the matter for a min
ute and then replied that he thought tha
it was inherited from. his father. Yes,
he said, II guess get it from dad. Yo,
see, dad once went out and settled dow
In little Indiana town of a few thou
sand inhabitants. After while he start
ed a bank. He capitalized it at $25, 900 an
called it the National Bank Of Mort
America" =" T.