The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-11-17

A new book by Edward B. Lent, the
iuthor OF Being Done Good and en-
fitted 'Cupid's hliddleman." has beer
published by Cupples & Leon, III FIFTH
avenue. Manhattan
The world of readers who remember
the merry jests and mOrdant humoI
with which Mr.. Lent described NJ
experiences and 4sufferings in the Yair
pursuit for relief from the physical Ills
that afflicted him, will be eXpectant te
find good thing in the new book MOI
will they be disappointed. "Cupid's Mo
oleman,'' which very different sort OF
book from Being Done Good IS 1ul
OF the same spirit of cracking humoI
and crisp fun. The plot OF the story i
quaint In conception, almost to the polnl
OF grotesquerie, and is carried out with
a clever originality and with a stimulat-
ing interest that steadily increases I'M
til the climax of the tale is reached
One wonders a little how it is possi0ie
that one who has so much reason foI
looking at life from its most serious
viewpoint should be able to meet IT'S
slings and arrows with such seeming
light heartedness.
1t is probable that not many readers
of Being Done Good" sensed the fact
What under all that banter and clever
1ooling and fun-making there was told
what was really a bit of human tragedy
The author is really a sufferer from
has had the effect OF gripping him to a
very serious degree, and the things
which he described in that book We're,
between the lines. very real accounts OF
very real happenings. 1t takes courage
OF very high orders to do what ne dld
then; not very many folk have the
strength of character that makes It pos
sibIe
Being Done Good" was a narrative
of personal experiences; "Cupid's Md
a. ,4af ho l.
thor has put something of his knowt-
edge of the world and of men, for the
man VINO now turns novelist has had a
varied experience He began his ne as
a boy in the office Of the brooklyn
Times, then graduated from St Law
renee university, and then became a
member OF the Brooklyn Daily Eaglv
staff. Later he was secretary OF the
Brooklyn civil service commission, and
was one of the founders and first secre-
tary of the Brooklyn league. He was
engaged in a large business house, When
he was stricken with the nysterlouS
form OF rheumatism which has so ser
iousIy crippled him But as his books
testify. 1t has not taken the edge from
his mental equipment nor dulled the
point and temper of his humor. Physi-
cal stress Is as unable to tame him as
it was impossible to tame Stevenson
"Cupids Middleman is entertaining
throughout. 1t was the Mark Twain
flavor of sly fun, and is not one of those
boisterous funny books that make you
weary by the effort to sustain climax
interest in every sentence 1t Is more
like Mark Twain's "ROughing IT. now
an American classic. And yet the style
and the story are wholly original If a
book is wanted TO furnish entertain
ment to the jaded man or woman, this
is the volume to call for now
VIII Paynes new novel. when
Love Speaks comes at an opportune
time. Dealing as it does with the
problems Of political corruption and
reform, it was fttingly published the
day after the election There is much
in the book which might furnish food
for reflection to some of the disap-
pointed politicians Important as is
this political setting, however. it is
subordinate to the main interest of the
book. which Is first of all a story and a
powerful study Of character.
s'Washburn Ballads is the title of
q small volume, attra ctively gotten up,
now on sale in local book stores. Miss
Elizabet n. Barr of FlorahOme, Flor
ida, who is a student at Washburn, is
the author Many of the verses are
clever parOdies of popular Kipling
have a good sale among Washburn stu
dents to whom it principally appeals
Half the first edition has already been
sold.
The Macmillan company will short
" recublish under the title 1.-The War
riOr Spirit in the Republic Of Cod
book by Anna r. Brown Lindsay
which was first published in 1903, un-
der the title, THE Warriors" This
book, which is a strong call to a pro-
gressive religious policy for the times
has had a curious history. 1t was pro-
3eeted and outlined before the Span
fish War in the belief that we were at
the dawn of a new religious era. The
author has had the remarkab bic expert
ence Of seeing a number of her most
advanced thoughts fulfilled before this
new edition, which in Mrs. Lindsay's
words will reappear 'at a time of deep
religious inquiry and spiritual unrest
Moffat. Yard & Company announce
that Her Brothers Letters has been
placed with a prominent London pub
Usher who Will bring out a large edi-
ton this autumn
Paul Elder & Company from their
New headquarters in New York have
Issued their Cynics' Calendar Of re-
vised wisdom for 1907. The illustra-
tions gaily printed in red and black
are hardly less diverting than the text.
''The First Cynic" and THE First
Quarrel are quite as clever as The
First Monday of the last years vol
ume, the success that was pirated and
plagidrized to an unlimited extent: and