The Minneapolis journal., 1905-11-26
AY o book for long time has ex-
IN cited so much discussion IN

Minneapolis as "The Balllng-
TONS" by Mrs. Frances Squire Potter
Of the University Of Minnesota. That
the book stirs the feelings Of it's readers
is evident from the strong expressions
that are heard from those commenting
upon the various characters. One
reader, a very kindly woman not at
all given to violence, having Ferdinand
Ballington in mind, after going thru
the book, expressed, as already reported
in this department, desire "to maui
some man, almost any representative
of the sex to which Ferdinand belonged.
A more recent comment is by a young
lady, who had not read the book but
had heard much of it from friends who
had. She said to a gentleman who had
read the book: 81 don It know whether
I want to read THE Ballingtons' or
not; I fear that when I got thru l
should want to go out and deliberately
kill every man I saw "Well,' came
the response, ~ felt, when 1 got done
reading the book, as tho I would like
to kill every woman 1 saw; Agnes is
a very weak character'
Certainly book that can call forth
such bloodthirsty sentiments is book
of more than usual power. OF course,
allowance must be made for such exag-
geration as is natural under great stress
of feeling, otherwise society for the
prevention of cruelty to adults would
have to be organized to protect the
innocent from overt acts by the book s
readers.
But really the book is not so bad as
these expressions indicate. That it is a
book to make people think and feel
deeply is evident, and there is room for
a good dead of thinking when it comes
to the matter Of financing "a modern
home.
The author of 'The Ballingtons" is
in England where she has already met
many of Britain s leading authors and
has been invited to visit others. A
second edition of the book is being
issued.
W OW far does fiction go to spread
society," g follies? just now the
Il IL smart set in the east devotes a
large part of it's ''functions to bridge.
Bridge has become a craze. A writer
in a recent number of The Independent
tells of fashionable woman, who, at
a luncheon recently, lost all her pin
money and trying to raise thou
sandsand dollars at bridge, was "held
up by daughter of the house. Tes-
timony of like sort is abundant. OF
course, bridge has found place IN
recent fiction. In 'The House of
Mirth' and HThe Gambler,' two of
the fall IS most widely read novels, it
has a large place. The question is:
How much will the interest awakened
in bridge thru these channels help to
spread the play of the game in other
parts of the country? It will 'helI
some,'' no doubt. Despite a statement
to the contrary, most of us are not
sufficiently sophisticated to over
come the suggestions Of romantic
writer's. Life as pictured in novels does
suggest and people, many of them,. are
hypnotized and follow the suggestions
however pointed the authors moral.
~ lotion reflects social conditions
r. In the nature Of things it coul(
H. not do otherwise. The reflection
that one portion of society gets Of an
other are sources Of various emotions
surprise, alarm, anger, disgust, pity, O.
q minghng of these in varying com
pounds. Mingled disgust and pity conn
from flashing reflection Of "smart ,
society, as Newport knows it, by wa,
of Owen Wister' "Lady Baltimore ,
in The Saturday Evening Post. A par
of the reflection is caught in the follow
ing: ''The rich, new fashionable
we'll, some Of them would, in point o
conversation, greatly scandalize tn
smart demi-monde.' No wonder ther
is reversion to "the simple life,
especially if "simple' means clear
minded.