The San Francisco call., 1906-06-17

no more Southernef lndh
Northerner" is a keynote sentent
which owen Wister. the popular auth,
of The Virginian," puts into III
mouth Of Northern man who
REPRESENTED as the teller of the stor
in his recent novel. Lady Baltimore
Pray what then?" asks the Southel
girl TO whom he was talking
An American"
This extract. from page 2O6, quici
y gives you the tone of the boo
The Southern girl to whom the North
ern visitor was trying frankly to e.
plain his feelings about Mason az
Dixon line divisions was very charm
ing and high strung and sectional an
The man admired her. He told he
that IL his State seeded he woul
SIDE with the Union against his ow
state. He proceeded: Il shall hel
20 hand down all the glories and a
The ssdnesses: Lees. Lincoln's-ever,
bocy's." She repressed something 81
had been going 70 reply He pr
ceeoeo; If ever ] have children tn
shall know Dixie and Yankee DoO6
A heart and never know the diffe
N5ce"
Thus the Northern young man
tempted TO explain to the Southe1
girl his American creed. The girl v;
pleased. So. also, probably W
nearly all Southern people be please
with the tone OF the book, which
one Of the very best Of those whie
try TO make a good cOmbinatio
Southern and Northern story and Il
hasten into more fourishing bloom the
new era OF good fellowship between
the sections which in the preceding
generation, were so bitterly estranged.
It must be pleasing TO any people.
since they must inevitably be studied
and described and made TO see them
selves as others see them, to have
this presentation done by a broad
minded kindly, whole-souled fellow.
such as Owen Wister shows himself to
be by his writing He gives equal prom
inence TO the virtues and the failings
ot the Southerners, and even where
he condemns it is fully felt by the
reader that there is no hate hidden
anywhere behind the tImost playfully
critical lines.
such kindly fault hnding as he has
with the South is so well offset by
the frank way in which he admits
the mistakes OF the North that his
criticisms seem TO reach far up above
being. sectional and become wholly
american. The way he handles the
negro question is masterful in its
. moderation and good sense Neither
bitter negro haters nor cranky negro
lovers viii get much consolation out
reading, if for no other purpose than
TO get a comprehension of the way
the negro problem looks TO this clever
author after his study Of the South
- people. He means by il TO ex-
press what the majority Of the younger
generation Of Northern people think
on this matter. He makes the North
ern young man explain to the South
ern girl that the youth of his section
greatly modify the extreme views Of
their elders. just as Southern young
people must make playful allowance
for the conservatism OF their elders OF
the old regime.
Besides its value as a study of the
Southern character and as a reconciler
and widener Of sympathy and under
standing between sections, ii is an
exceedingly good love story. He does
not make the Southern girl marry
the Northern man. Thank God for
that" many people viii say, for the
fiction trick Of trying to make a good
combination Northern apd Southern
story by the expedient Of marrying
the chief characters OF the two sec
tions portrayed has been done so
often that we are tired Of the tune
OF IL. Practically such marital n1ix-ups
may hasten the complete ANAL CANA
tion of climatic and sectional char
acteristics into the new era conglom-
crate American" but in a story il is
pleasing TO have a change from the
hackneyed recipe of sectional amfty
secured by marital union OF North and
South
Besides. II we too thoroughly OBJ
literate. sectional characteristics in
this physical way, our descendants may
lose somewhat OF value in individ-
uality and picturesqueness Tor in
sksnee. how much Of the charm and
tiers would vanish IL there were no
contrasts in the picture Of two strong
Faces both with mingled faults and
Virtues, both races noble and both
Kindly in way. and yet interestingly
different by the power of history,
beredity and environment which had
knolded them into strongly marked
Endividualities Of racial type AS we
Bike these contrasts in q book, so we
like them in life's realities.
However, without extensive inter-
marriage in either fiction or reality,
there may be brought about by such
kindly mutual understanding as is
promoted by the spirit manifest in
books like this sort OF racial mar
friage OF minds and hearts that Will
Imake us more united people, and
THAT in this sense the authors way
Iof putting il about being no more 3
SOutherner than a NOrtherner, but
IAN American" will become a uni
versal feeling that will merge minor
differences in a great national family.
OF such a union in spirit Owen Wis
ter seems from the tone Of his work
10 be a product. Reading such OF his
thoughts as he has been pleased TO set
down. one might almost imagine him
10 be the son of a Northern man bat
born of a Southern woman. Putting
Il thus. born Of a southern woman
50 as best to express what seems Oi
joint kinship~to the South and North
in the spirit Of him would be- were
the South telling its appreciation Of
- portrayal Of their character. the
Most chivalrous way Of compliment
ing his authorship. for whatsoever OF
those more finely strung chords which
he South specially loves TO find in
ones character, the South, OF course.
Eould say must Of necessity come from
ones mother.
The title, Lady Baltimore" as man.
Know by this time. refers not to
lady. but TO a cake. IL is kind OF
cake, and in this particular story II
-aa the cake that caused the whole
beautiful love romance that Owen
Wister's genius has told for US. The
cake had begun IL. the cake had con