New-York tribune., 1906-07-22
GE)e Nesu'a)ork 04-ibasns.
SUNDAY, JULY y, 1906.

The Editor of 'eThe Atlantic" in an address
delivered not long ago, wisely encouraged his
audience to take cheerful view of the literary
fashions which, like shooting stars, pass and
pass, and disappear" IL he acknowledged that
the sale of any book is often in inverse ratio
to lbs literary excellence, he was at pains TO
show that time and chance and change and
fashion bring the best things round again.
There will always be temporary alterations
in the public taste' he reminded his hearers,
"but if there were alterations, we should not
appreciate so we'll its normal state of sanity.
More copies of 'Peck's Bad Boy it is saids
were sold In a single year than Of Emerson's
Essays In sixty years. but that fact has nothing
TO do with the relative literary rank Of Emer-
son and Peck" Nor does 1t imply that the Es-
says go unread. There are many readers
as ever for the books that are worth while, and
a surprisingly large number of them are brought
forth every year. AS for the great books. who
can regard as without significance the flood OF
reprints that is pouring from the press! we
do not always take into account the fact that
the purchasers Of the trash arc chiefly those
newly born TO a desire to read anything at all
1t is good for the crude and uneducated to
read even trash fer II means that the next
generation viii read something better.
One of the changes In the production OF perl
odcals at the end OF the nineteenth century
was anything but an Improvement The pleas
ure with which people were accustomed TO greet
the arrival Of a new magazine took on tnge
of vexation. The contents Of that periodical
were as beguiling as ever, but-that abominable |
"wire stitching! 1t has made it impossible to |
open a magazine completely, and when open 10 !
hold it otherwise than with both hands-aud
even thus the resistance of the stitching is SO
obstinate that it is with discomfort the reading
is done. We are glad to say that better things
in this direction may now be hoped fOr-if not
a return to the old method, at least the adoption
of comfortable novelty. A new machine (at
present, it is said, the only machine Of the kind
in the world) now in use in England does away
with stitching altogether leaving the magazine |
neatly bound and opening with an ease that Is
delightful to the reader. The sole rights for
England have been acquired by one firm. IL
is to be hoped that in this country they may
be shared by all magazine prOprietors.
OF all the Dogs of Fiction those invented by !
Rudyard KipIing are the most brutality alive.
Nobody who has read that spirited jungle story,
"Red Dog" can forget the sense Of pitiless
cruelty that stirs in it, the horror OF inexOra-
BILE persistence in the pack driving straight |
through the jungle, pulling down and tearing to |
pieces whatever it meets. MOWgl IS nowhere
more clever, valiant and captivating than in
"
uncomfortable insult at the Red Dogs, dattering !
old Kaa, as old Kaa deserves or plunging IN
scathed over the cliff with Death humming and |
buZzing at his back. The murlerOus beasts he |
lures to annihilatiOn have left plenty of friends
and relations in India, If we may believe the
author of an interesting paper in 'The Satur-
day Review" Their ways are, IN truth, as Kip |
ling describes them-the Red Dog is the dead |
Iiest foe to the game animals that is known
in the East He is more than a match for the |
tiger and the wild boar He follows the trail
in silence and not until the victim is run down
does he stop. With the Red Dog in pursuit |
whatever fees is lost; the only chance is to |
make a stand When this Is done the whole |
pack, are told, may apparently die fighting: |
at least "the serOw, a fierce gOat-antelOpe Of
The hillS-haS been found dead along with his !
prosecutors, and this rare and gallant beast has |
the credit OF sometimes beating them off alto !
gether, doubt because he haunts precipices |
and caves where defence would be easier" One
PECULIARLY Of this dog of literature is That Il |
never attacks man, though 1t is not afraid Of |
him.