The San Francisco call., 1906-11-04
WrS. Craigie'S Last Book
Reflects Elbow Grease.
BY Edward F. CahiH.

rOHN OLIVER HOBBIES CMrs.
Craigie) died too soon for her own
. fame. From the beginning her
work SHOWS a steady Improvement,
due. no doubt. TO elbow grease Ia her
earlier books there is constant obvious
straining after effect and the painful
strain was not justified in the achieve
Tnent She had not then the art 10
conceal art. The ideal after which she
strove might be inferred but the
process of striving spelled failure But
before she died Mrs. Craigie acquired
the polish that hard work joined TO
native ability brings as its reward. and
her latest book The Dream and the
Business" abounds in the finest quality
OF humor.
1t is a popular belief that wit and
humor bubble forth like water from a
natural and irrepressible fountain and
are the gift OF some capricious god who
.endows with lavish hand his favorites.
It is all a mistake. Humor. in the nnal
resort. is a by-product of logic. Its
manufacture is as much the result OF
industry as making glass bottles. II
any man doubts this let him compare
the earlier editions Of Sheridan's plays
with their final form and observe the
severe process OF polishing that they
observed by comparison Of Mrs. Graf
giles earlier and later work. In the
beginning the lady spent much time and
labor hunting phrases that she usually
failed TO find. The effort was so obVi-
Gus and results so inferior that the
reader wearied- Compare the fine quail
stv and form OF Mrs. Craigie's humor in
the book under review For example,
consider the following picture of the
British matron's attitude toward bohe-
Snianism:
"a friend" exclaimed Mrs. Twomley,
shocked Surely, Jim, you are not go
ing into that bohemian set2 They al
ways want TO borrow money or they
ask YOU 70 lend them your house for
3 concert. I had TO give them up long
ago. They have no moral sense and
they never tell the same story twice
. tn the same way. Have nothing TO do
with this Lessard or any one of them
e Buy tickets now and again II you can
afford It, I can enjoy a good concert
at any time, bat I don't want TO know
the singers and reciters and players.
They are dreadful creatures.
--Lessard is a genius. People are
proud to know him.
Il never heard his name before in
my life. II he's young and really a
kind OF genius persuade him TO do
something sensible. He can always
sfag in the evenings If he wants to
keen up his music. There's such a
craze nowadays 10 turn play into busi-
s1ess. No good viii come Of IT, Busi-
ness IS business
And art is life" said Jim. who Won
6ered the next instant what on earth
induced him 10 make such remark to
Aunt Gloriana-
Art is life" repeated the astonished
lady, looking by instinct at the works
Of art, as she understood II, on her
own walls. Anything less like life
than art never saw
TT is Lessard's life, I should have
said"
temptuously. Il thought you meant
real life"
1T is as real 70 him, aunt, as your
life IS 70 you"
That's impossible" said Mrs. Twom-
ley. firmly "For example, you are
here; I sit at table you can see;
give you cake you can eat, tea you
can drink, cream that is noUrIshlnS
and wholesome. You see this Mr. Les
ssrd; he sings YOU pretty little song.
hut. after he has sung it where IS it,
What lasting good have you got from
st2 What practical purpose has IT
'serve67 Why, II he went hosrse. the
song would be nothing, even while he
sang st. But II ] am hoarse the table
e. IS stiu unchanged, the cake is stu
cake. the cream is still cream. That
IS life, my dear children. Learn to
face It and do not. like the Ludlers
mistake the mustard for the sandwich.
The sandwich can exist perfectly with
out the mustard, but the mustard
would be nothing without the sand
pgich. Art IS mustard-writ large"
All this is excellent fooling and there
IS plenty OF ii IN the book.
CThe Dream and the Business Pub
Iished by Appleton's. New York. Price
sI.50)