New-York tribune., 1905-07-22

THE TYRANNY OF THE DARh BY lam EanlIs y
Garland. Illustrated. Emo. PIP. sSs. Harper q
Bros
AT THE SIGN OF THE FOX. 4 Romance; m 5,o53y By
Bnters BssI wige People Of the Whirlpool and
The Woman Errant." limo. PIP. S'2 The MIC
milan Company
When some English publishers were asked the
other day 20 explain why they had not done
very well with the wares supplied by their
countrymen for the spring season of 1903 they
made dark illusions 10 1.-The growing increase or
American books" We may be sure that wnst
they had especially in mind was the American
novel. and by that we mean the work OF the
American author dealing with American lfe'
II is true that this work leaves us, on OCCASION
feeling anything but proud. There is type OF
novelist who seems 20 have got the impression
that II he only manages 70 spin long tale
about the DUH inhabitants Of dead town ln
the Middle West he has produced a piece OF Ut
erature The book which has only its American
ism 10 recommend IL has. in fact, become IA
r,i;ar and q wesrfsome phenomenon. But IL
IA also true that our native studies OF native
snterests and types not only more numerous
rhar ever. but. IN many instances, nave great
merit We are not surprised when we nnd ap-
preciatfve reviews Of these books in English
Newspapers and periodicals. We can realize now
fresh and entertaining they must be to our
cousins across the sea. for. in addition TO such
literary excellence as tney may poSsese' O4oS
have the value Of social documents. This fact has
oftsn enforced itself upon our attention as we
have taken up the new novels Of the moment,
nut rarely has Il been more clearly emphasized
than !n the case OF Mr.. Herricks Memoirs OF
an American Citizen"
Tni. book might almost be described as biog-
rsrhy thrown Into the form OF a fictitious mar
rstsve The hero Van Harrington. is young
nan who makes q mess Of his life at home IN
JssouviiIe Ind and stroIis into Chicago ike
any other tramp. 10 gee II he can pick up Nv
frs there He goes hungry and sleeps out OF
doors end when. IN ali good faith, he and a
ccuarade in distress follow a stranger who has
pvorn,sed them work a situation ensues from
which the uniuclzy lad ernerges only TO ma
himself In the hands Of the law for crime OF
which he is innocent Surely. q novel was never
begun In less promising key. But Mr. Her
rick knows his native land. He knows that this
IS the country in which men rise from obscur1ty
20 fortune, and that without the aid OF magic
and he proceeds 10 set forth in these Memoirs
the development Of what may fairly be regarded
as e typical career Harrington is released from
captivity; the friendly tramp to whom we have
alluded puts him in the way Of getting start
snd presently he is living in hopelessly COM
snonpiace but suficientIy comfortable, boarding
house. and is earning the money TO pay his way
there as a clerk IN q small meat market.
Tbenceforth his progress is steady. He goes
from the shop to larger concern; he passes
from the sphere OF the mere butcher TO that OF
the packer" and he ends as millionaire ana
3 member Of the United States Senate.
We do Mr. HerTick no injustice in revealing
she upshot of his heros entrance into the bust
ness conflict which goes forward in Chicago
The climax of his story is detail foreseen from
the start by the experienced reader Of fiction,
Il L. zrT@g ~l,S IN
ihing in this book is Harrington's way of es-
fablishing himself: IL is there that he is most
vividly representative, most Interestingly type.
Mr. Herrick has firmly grasped the conditions
Of which We hear so much when modern bust
ness methods come up for discussion He has
heard the familiar plea I'VE are only doing
what everybody in business has been doing for
years. and he paints his INSCRIPTIONS Chica-
Fyoan not as q malignant scoundrel, seeking TO
90 evil for the sake of evil, but a man de-
rirous of getting on" and subtly blinded by
that legitimate ambition 10 the full significance
az his decidedly nlegitimate deeds. The otheT
side OF the argument has fits representatives,
and Harrington is forced to listen to unpleasant
home truths more than in the course Of
his masterful rise from poverty TO aff1Uence. and
ne has moments in which he realizes what he
has paid. and must continue TO pay. for his sue
cess But Mr.. Herrick is consistent, and with
true artistic judgment he leaves his hero in a
mood which. If not precisely complacent, is not,
on the other hand, precisely a mood of regret
This is 10 say that THE Memoirs of Ameri-
can Citizen" is truthful bit of fiction. sincere
and. we may even say. impressive page from
American life. II is the impressive for
the reason that the subsidiary figures. quite as
much as Harrington. drawn with fidelity
Jane Dround, the woman who gives TO the hero
The sympathy for which he could not go to his
wife. and gives 1; without any disloyalty to the
latter. is genuine type we have met in
an American novel In a long time
Mr.. Herrick finds his account in the Ameri-
cans interest IN business. Mr. Garland finds his
in an equally characteristic phase Of our social
history. the phase which means spiritualism,
mediums and such like fearful wild fowl. ''The
Tyranny OF the Dark is the story OF a young
woman who. from her earliest years, is sub
Sect OF extraordinary sensitiyeness. She lives in
the Western mining country. where her s'"p-
father is so absorbed in his work that his wiz -
who is only too quickly disposed to dabble in
rsychic phenomena-is left free to do everything
20 encourage the exploitation OF her daughters
dubious potentalties. There is crackbrained
clergyman on the ground. who constantly seeks
the heroine's aid in his spiritualistic investiga-
fions, and incidentally falls in love with her The
book has not mucn plot IL is mostly taken up
with exhibitions of Viola Lanbert's powers when
sn trance and although her love story suffers
the complications always superinduced by the
introduction of rival upon the scene. go
on reading not so much because We care about
the girls matrimonial fortunes as because
wonder just what mysterious thing will happen
next. The Tyranny Of the Dark really reads
more ike q report on some notable case" than
like a novel in the strict sense. The truth is