Los Angeles herald., 1905-12-17

taken in hand this delightful duty, and
with infinite tenderness and care he
has garnered the sheaVes of flowers
of his dead wifes intellect, and has
assorted and arranged them. No human
being could have done this SO well as
he has; together, he and she worked
on the same newspaper in the same
office. surrounded by the same atmos-
phere of thought and feeling. He knew
what her hopes and desires and aspira-
tons were, and he penetrated the
depths OF her heart and was cognizant
of her wishes.
SO his, the tenderest hand that could
have done il, took up the work where
she left it off, and gathered the poems
and prose which flowed in a never end
ing stream from her prolific pen, to
give them to her thousands of admirers
and friends in a permanent and suit
able form.
And thus there has come from the
press of the Times-Mirror company a
large volume, richly printed, hand
somely bound beautifully illustrated,
thoroughly artistic in makeup and ap-
pearance. california: Where Sets the
Sun" Inside it's covers are assembled
in proper order, the poems and prose of
Eliza A. Otis. A large book, it is, in
It's square blue covers, with the palm
and the redwood and the setting sun
pictured on its exterior, but it is none
too large for the authors many writ
1ngs, nor does it contain any too much
to satisfy those who knew her per-
sonally, or those greater numbers who
had learned to love her through her
pen. Both casses-and they overlap
till all the former are numbered with
the latter-will find in this book all
that they have sought and have kept
In newspaper clippings, and have
boarded as treasures-trove. The verses
which Mrs Otis wrote-which weled
from her heart in irresistible fashion,
compelling utterance; the prose writ
lngs-not all, but some-and portraits
of her as she was in life All these are
In this book and not a page can be
turned but the lover of Mrs. Otis will
be tear-dimmed with the memories it
calls forth.
And included with all the rest-that
1t may never be forgotten by others
than those who hear the bells-is the
account of the dedication of the chimes
which the Eliza A. Otis Memorial as
ISOLATION recently placed in Hollywood
cemetery to her credit. These bells are
her physical memorial. as this book is
signs and symbols of that deep love
which fills the hearts of those who
manifold good works.
A glance at this volume of Mrs.
Otis writings makes, at first, an i'm
preston of her wonderful breadth of
thought and catholicity of spirit; her
remarkable fecundity; her beauty of
style, and her tremendous power OF
insight. The range her writings cover
is astounding; she seems to have laid
nf auth
sky under tribute. Nothing is too mean
to escape her notice; nothing too grand
to be beyond her ken. With the true
poets instinct, she reached down to
the lowest, and found beauty; she
scared upward to the high heavens
and found inspiration.
Whole sections in the volume are
devoted to special subjects, on which
few Others would find spirit to write
oftener than once. There will be found
poem after poem on the sky, the trees,
the earth; again, the same is true of
the leaves and flowers, the desert,
mountain, gorge and canyon. God
and nature inspire her time after time
in ever new phrase. Life and duty,
hope and joy; patriotism; the Arctic
skies; east and west drought and rain,
the children, mission days, the months
and seasons-all these are departments
full to overfiowing with good things,
rather than single subjects. Eight
separate poems bear the title "Califor-
nia," vet none resembles another; in
her beloved state, the singer seemed
to find infinite variety and never did
II pail or fail to respond to her mood.
This is ones first impression; then
comes another-the note of joy In 1t
all. Mrs. Otis was an optimist; she
ever sought and found the good and
the beautiful, the fine and high and
uplifting. Never a word of gloom or
depression or loss of faith or despair,
Always, with her, the song was of
better things OF the joy of life. the
beauty of it, the blessedness of it.
No room was there in her nature for
the cold. the carping or the contempti-
BILE. If she could not find good to sing
she was silent-and as she sang of all
the world, seldom could 1t be said that
her lutte was riven. The graciousness
of God, the beauty of nature the love-
liness of all the world; the content of
soul and the happiness OF life, the
manifold goodnesses that the Maker of
All has surrounded us with-these
things she portrayed with the persist
ence of purpose and the sweetness of
song that made her so beloved.
And as one reads page after page
of this "magnincat' one no longer
wonders that she was so loved, for
love inspires love i'm return, and she
should have had wealth OF 1t be-