The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-11-24

I
! a titanic struggle between two strong
1 rivals, who make the very earth trem-
1 Bile in their efforts for mastery,-for
such g one this is book well worth
while. An English engineer is sent to
I Athens to discover the cause of the
/ theft of electricity from the Athenian
Electric Power company, and after
i time he dOes,-but that is only the be-
ginning of his troubles and of the story.
He is an inventor as we'll as an engi-
neer. and all the resources, both of his
wit and of his skill, are brought into
play against the clever cunning Of his
adversary, who also has marriage in
his heart. The scene later shifts to
| London whittier the stolen electricity
Is shipped by vessel in accumulators,
followed Dy an underground electric
siege of that city as a necessary mea-
sure for the subjugation of the engi-
neer's rival-and the winning of the
hand of a beautiful girl.
Howard Chandler Christy's aAmeri-
can Girl" which Moffat Yard & Com
pany are just publishing. happily ex-
presses in words. as his pictures do in
line and color, his own personal view
of his fascinating subject The book is
unique in this double expression of the
artists point of view, and the reader
Will be interested to find a remarkable
similarity of spirit and style in his two
otherwise widely differing forms of self
experience.
Folk Lore OF Women" written and
compiled by T. F. Thiselton-Dye has
recently been brought out by A. G.
McClurg & Co. 1t is an encyclopaedia
for all who wish to speak or write on
the most absorbing topic man has
found for discussion in all ages The
research involved has been enormous,
and the resulted obtained are some
times astonishing. For example. it Will
be learned that Eastern proverbs are
highly plimentary to women" and
the fact is proved by a number of CT
tat1Ons. A Sanskrit adage says, "WO-
mon are instructed by nature, men by
books. The Burmese says, ''Woman's
intelligence is four times that of man;
her assiduity six times" In Hindus-
tani is the observation: What cannot
a woman do? What cannot the ocean
contain? What cannot the fire burn
What cannot death destroy?"
When a writer undertakes to explore
Grub Street-that indefinite neighbor-
hood which produces to order "syndi-
cate-stuf." Sunday-special. rhymed
ads" and every other conceivabl
brand of literary merchandise-he is
in the way of making some interesting
discoveries. In the November Atlantic
James H. Collins describes THE Amer
lean Grub Street, and his account of
the ways of the free-lance community
in New York makes fascinating read
ing. Surely no side of modern city life
has more variety or picturesquenes
than this,=with its uncertain returns,
its high am billions and good fellow
ships, its disappointments and sue
cesses. 1t is a life which sets a pre-
MUM on brains; the man who can
jump with the cat-or little ahead
takes the big stakes. incidentally the
writer tells some most amusing stories
OF the Great Man and what happens
to him when he offers his epic or two
volume romance for sale on Union
Square.
In this country there is hardly a
more original illustrator than Miss
Blanche Ostertag. and her work has
found ready acceptance by several
leading publishers and by the public.
In past holiday years several volumes
each season have been enriched by her
brilliant decorations, but this year her
admirers viii find only one book in
which her pictures in color have been
featured. This is 1.-The Stained Glass
Lady" published by A. c. McClurg &
Co., and it is doubtful whether any
more beautiful gift-book will be on the
/ holiday counters. Blanche Elizabeth
/ Wade, who wrote "a Garden in Pink"
/ is the author, and the charming mag
4 NATIVE story of the friendship between
a lovely girl and a small boy of ro-
mantle mind has the qualities Of Ger
/ tain popularity.
'OnIy to the poets vision IS the
Grand Canyon revealed; only to the
poets touch do it's mighty harmonies
. respond. For this sublime spectacle is