Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-01-24
CURRENT LITERATURE

True stories of important movem1tse
and of good, healthy combat are the domi-
nani traits of AlcClurc's for February.
Even after the peep behind the curtains
/ afforded by the sessions of the Interstate
/ Commerce Commission, and of the legis-
/ lativo insurance investigation and by the
/ upheavals of last falls political campaign,
there are disclosures IN this number con-
cerning railroad abuses, life insurance Jug
/ Cling and political tnckery which will take
/ hard hold of every citizen There is the
case OF Everett Colby, "Ihe Gentleman
from Essex, told by Lincoln Steffens,
which is fun OF the sturdy effort of honesty
! and youth. II shows now young man,
! with aggressiveness and conscience can
/ beat the machine to a standstill and wins
for himself more than the machine dared
/ give him because he was honest. Ray
/ stannam Baker, continuing his series
! "lhe Railroads on Trial. tells the aston
ishng story Of how Armour, through his
private car line monopolized the fruit
/ transportation business OF America, prac-
/ tioally told the railroads that they might
ms well burn their own refrigerator cars,
and, turning to the shipper reaped golden
harvest by daring and open methods.
/ Then he writes of the revolt of honest
]
under the title Manufacturing Public
! Opinion lets in a little light on the
shadows of the publicity making methods
which have gilded the rotten structures of
The life insurance companies, and of
the get-rioh-quick-and- get-rich-at-any
cost corporations
In addition to these vital theses the num-
Der contains articles of scientific and gem
ernl interest and fiction which meets the
! Mcclure requirement of excellence. An
thony Fiala, the Arctic explorer who,
| after his friends had given him up for dead
was found and brought back to civilza-
ton, tells the story Of his two years fight
against the North shipwrecked and I'M
pusoned above the Slst degree. Carl
Schurz continues the fourth instalment
of his "Reminiscences of a Long Life "
this time dealing with his own part ia the
Revolution of 1915, his narrow escapes,
and the first Of the cumulative events
which drove him from Germany to
| America "Ihe Day of Precious Penal
tie" for the precocious Pettison twins by
| Marion Hill, cold Bernstein and de great
| Fiddle by Ernest Poole; "Ihe Praying
skipper by Ralph ID. Paine; the second
story OF the "Arzona Nights series by
Stewart Edward White; and "Wld
Waters by Lloyd Osboune furnish
strong interest for fiction lovers. "The
Railway Yard by Florence Wilkinson;
"song for a Cracked Voice" by Wallace
Irwin; and "a Question" by Mabel Mahin
are the poems which balance the number,
which is the most timely, instructive, and
entertaining any magazine has issued in a
long time
"Frenzied Finance" Mr. Lawson's re-
markabe history of financial crimes. closes
with bang i'm the February Eveybody's.
10 Is not unlikely that this instalmont,
with It's brilliant side-lights on the story Of
Bay state Gas, IFS candidly humorous
! description of that marvel of financial
| luggery, a voluntary associations" its
| uniorgettable pen-portraits of those emil
nent personalities. j. Edward Addicks
and George Wharton Pepper will be con-
sidered the most fascinating Mr. Lawson
has ever written. DO you believe in
government ownership of railroads.&c. There
may ibe reasons for and against this
system: in Germany, according TO Charles
Edward Russells brilliant narrative,
Soldiers of the Common Good il is an
unqualified success. Tho system of COM
pulsory life insurance for German working
men Is also included in Mr. Russell's highly
readable instalment. The most interest
ing monarchin the world today is Alfonso
Alll of Spain, that picturesque boy king
who is about to be married TO "a Princess OF
battenherg. Vance Thompson tells his
| hio-story, explains his character. sets forth
his pastimes, his habits, describes the
qualities that make his people love him, in
a remarkable illustrated article, ellis
Majesty, the King of Spain" Hartley
| Davis, in his second article, "Reporters of
| Today, relates adventures of newspaper
men oil over the United States. Sir Gil
bert Parker's "lhe Stake and the Plumb
Line, novelette, in two parts. begins in
tins number and is sure to attract wide
attention. Rex =. Beachs powerful
Alaskan novel, "Ihe Spoilers has an
exciting instalment; Chester Bailey Fer
nald has a highly dramatic story of a
father and son, called "lhe Bow" and
there are unusual humor and charm in
Henry NJ Rideout's story, "Ihe Padres
| Volcano "Doll Mildred is an affecting
story Of children, 10y Anne Story Allen;
The StmtogistN is an admirable story by
| -. Crayton McCants and there are vivid
Little Stories OF Real Life by Arthur
Chase c. W. Ogden and Anne O'Hagan.
| Wallace lrwin's impressive story in verse,
How Muchco You Pay'?" is one of the
most notable contributions TO this success
tul number; and the usual departments
maintain their interest.
The Macmillan Co.'s Spring Announce
mont List, out this week, brings word of a
number of important and interesting forth
coming books of which the following are a
! lew of the more noteworthy: New novels
! by Winston Churchill Owen Wister. Eyer
ton Castle and Eden Phillpotts; the
biography Of "Lord Randolph Churchill, "
| by Winston Spencer Churchill; the first
volume OF DIR. Henry G. LEAFS "Hstory Of
! the Innni.iIinn of Snnin.n nNnnnlnnn md