New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-12-02
Current Talk about Things Present
and to Come.

ana 10 come
The IngersoII lecture will be delivered at Har-
ward University this year by Professor Wilhelm
OSWALD. the distinguished German physicist OF
the University Of Leipsic, with whom Professor
Peabody. OF Harvard. is exchanging The GATE
of the lecture is December u, and the subject
individuality and Immortality" 1t viii be pup
ished in book form by Houghton. Mifiin d CO.
in the early spring
Mark Twain's SEVENTEEN birthday will be eel
ebrated on December at Delmonicos by a olli-
rer given in his honor by George B. NJ harvey
of Harper & Bros. MT. Clemenss real olr''.-
dav however was celebrated quietly by hiIilseIi
on Thanksgiving Day, he was born on NO
,,er,b.r "a 1885. To the larger affair only
writers of imaginative literature have been IN
wired but without distinction Of sex, and nearly
one hundred and fifty have accepted the invita-
ton to be present.
How authors work" is a matter about which
more mas been written than the subject war
rants since after all, it is the work itself that
counts and the method or lack of method by
which It is accomplished has no real bearing on
+be result Authors write they individually
riease If they can: and if they can't they Write
ANYHOW. Yet Joel Chandler Harris's way is
su1n1ciently odd to merit paragraph. He has
no settled library no study, 10 desk no work
room OF his own we are told, but in every room
in his house is to be found table with pen, ink
and paper upon it, so that if the happy idea
comes to him it can be caught, so TO speak on
the wing.
IN .sThe Hand by Lewis Dayton Burdick,
published by the Irving Company. Of Oxford.
n Y the author gives, in entertaining fashion
a survey of the facts. the legends and the be-
Jiefs pertaining to manual ceremonies. cove
pc freaf IF hand
the executant Of the brain. a symbol of life
and Of authority as an Indicator of fortune,
as a means OF prinitivs reckoning and in va
rio,1s other official and symbolic functions. he
has plunged deeply into the sea of myth, as vel
as that of history, and extracted great deai
that is interesting and suggestive In regard to
that useful and significant member. Thus the
author relates curious African betrotha4 cere-
inony noted by Park:
me man took seat by the threshold Of his door,
snd the woman brought a caiabash OF water an3
50 she drank the water as pledge OF her fealty
and love
Covenanting in marriage with the finger nails
is mentioned by writer early in the seven
+eenth century, 4
The Antient Frenchnen had a ceremone. that
when they would Marie the bridegroome should ,f
which done, they lived together afterwards as man
and wife
IN BENJAMIN Franklin with the expectation of
delivering it in Chicago He was prevented by
III health from keeping his engagement, and the
address was laid aside and wellnigh forgotten
nv him in the pressure of official duties Since
his death the article has come to light again,
and win be published in an early number OF
The Century Magazine"
The series of articles on "The Negro and the
,-o+ior, !" nv George B. Merriam. which appeared
originalIv in THE Springfield Republican" have
baen collected in book form. ard will be pub
Iished early this month by Henry Holt q Co.
The articles were distinguished by both wit and
scholarship. and treat Of the work and history
Of the Afro American from slave trade days to
Tuskegee Mr.. Merriam is also the author OF
.aThe story Of william and Lucy Smith and of
"'The Way of Life
The thoughts of the worlds great teachers on |
+ba subject of teaching form the contents OF a
volume entitled Great Pedagogical Essays,
lust issued by the American Book company,
The conpiIer, F. V n. Painter, professor OF |
modern languages in Roanoke College, has made
q selection from the works Of distinguished /
pedagogues from Plato to Herbert Spencer,
prefacing each with biographical sketch OF
the author. The volume is intended to introduce
the student to principal documents Of educa- |
4ional history and to meet the demand for
knowledge Of the original sources of educational
principles. E#@ =@sz.# !
q B. Lancaster. the author of Sons o Men,"
: collection of short stories Of life among the |
.74w-ZeaIand sheep herders, just published by |
Doubleday. Page & Co, is woman, and one |
Who is deaf to the Establishments of the literary
nress agent In reply to request Of her Amer
Jean publishers for the story Of her life and |
photograph Of herself (electros, fine or coarse
mesh gladly furnished on apphcauon), she /
writes: Il regret that cannot supply you with |
The information you desire. have no suitable /
,,botograph: and any account Of my life, which /
nalonRs almost entirely to New-Zealand up
country would not make interesting reading
We'll. We know that much about her. anyhow.
Alfred Russell WaIlaces autobiography, My i
fife. A Record of Events and Opinions" IS
scheduled for publication to-day by Dodd. Mead I
& Co. in two large octave volumes. with forty
illustrations /
, Theodore O'Hara's famous martial elegy, The
T3ivouac of the Dead has Just been reprinted |
an small volume issued by the Grafton Press,
+oge+her with his poems THE Old Pioneer and /
tine sound of a Voice That Is Still,'' and with /
2 biographical sketch and appreciation Of the
author by George ". Ranck, author OF The
History of Lexington KY The Travelling
Church" and other books. The poem is much /
more widely known than its author, and the
facts here gathered together were mainly OBJ
tanned from papers and documents placed, for
the first time, in the hands Of Mr. Ranck by /
the family of the poet.