The San Francisco call., 1905-01-20

Verne s. imagination is in good working
order, for this new romance OF his is,
If anything even more fantastic than
his other books. Heretofore Verne has
given us adventures in the clouds, in
the bowels of the earth and beneath the
waves, but in 1.-The Extraordi-
nary Voyage" as his new book
is called, he has invented a vehicle
which is an electrical ship, an auto
mobile, a flying machine and a SUBJ
marine all in one. On land, on sea or
in air it is equally at home and goes
at the rate of about $50 miles an hour.
There is treat in store for American
boys as soon as ''The Extraordinary
Voyage" is published at home. as prob
ably it will be before long.
NOVEL DEPARTURE.
A rather novel new feature was
added to the London Mail on the first
day of the year under the heading of
1.-THE Comment of the Classics" ex-
cerpts from the great works of the past
being ingeniously quoted to bear on
current events. For instance, apropos
Of it's recent criticisms of the Drury
Lane pantomime the newspaper quotes
the lines of Juvenal ending his child 6
unsullied purity demands the deepest
reverence at parents hands, and
some rather telling lines from Church
chill's "Rosciad," while the fall of Port
Arthur brings appropriate selections
from Samson Agonistes" and Caesars
"Civil War"
Andrew Lang, who was at some
pains a while ago to explain why he
did not like George Ade, is now at
equal pains to explain why he does not
like dogs. In an iconoclastic essay
which he contributes to the Christmas
number of the Illustrated Kennel
News, the co-author of THE Worlds
Desires" denies the dog practically
is ordinary credited. He says: There
IS rot ore, of the seven deadly sins OF
which the dog is not habitually guilty,
and 1 am unaware of single redeem
ing feature in his repulsive character" !"
Lang denies that the dog is brave
He denies that the dog is faithful, de-
claring that the fidelity is really all
on the side of the man, and Lang says:
"It needs a great deal of fidelity In
man to cling as he does to the dog,
licking, as it were, the paw'(the mud
dy paw which tramples him.
Lang adds that the dog is vain. "The
self-copsciousness and vanity of dogs
he says, might disgust even a minor
poet. I have known a collie-certain-
ly very handsome collie-to pass his
days in contemplating his own image
in the glass / know a dog dandy
which actually makes eyes, being con-
scious that he possesses organs very
large, brown and decorative"
Lang goes on remorselessly: "Who
has not seen dog morally corrupt a
family-reducing them to the slaves
of his impulses? Tip wants to take a
walk; Tip wants to go out of the door:
then he wants to come in again; then
he appears at the window and
scratches; then he fancies the most
comfortable arm chair and Gusts
jaded and middle-aged man.of letters. I"
Lang elismisses all the noble dogs Of
history as myths. And to show that
he Is disposed to be perfectly just, he
says: ANY circumstances of an ex-
tenuating character which affect the
dog would be here mentioned IL could
think Of them"
1t seems that this trade against
dogs, though now published for the
first time, was written by Lang Ave
years ago or more The author saws
that it made Robert Louis Stevenson
giggle when he was very i'll, so he
(I.ang) thinks 1t can't be 30 very bad