New-York tribune., 1906-10-27
Some Examples of Humor in Cur
rent Fiction.


iin0. PIP is. Boston Herbert B. Turner & 60.
.-tTr INCUBATOR BABY. BY Ellis Parker But
Ter Illustrated bE Nay Wilson Preston laino
-rzr TRIALS OF COMMANDER M'rrVTRB. Rv
c :, Cqtclife Hyne l2mo pp sS7. E. P. Dut-
aials Emo. pp s56 The Macmillan Company
THE COUNTY ROAD. BY Alice Brown I2mo
pp 81 Houghton. AIitiin & Co.
THE CATTLE BARON'S DAUGHTER Bv Hsr-
cid Binloss Illustrated l2mo m viii Ss7
Frederick A Stokes & Co.
Hunnor. like everything else is a marketable
comrnodity nowadays. and it is always turning
No in our fiction Sometimes IT is funny There
are genuine laughs to be got out book like the
cne we were reviewing IN this place week ago.
Seeing France with Uncle John" When the
laugh fails 10 come of. it is more often than
mot for the reason that the humorist has relied
700 much upon that faculty of exaGgeration
which aH Americans are supposed to use when
they crack joke. The typical funny story of
the day IS the story that is utterly preposterous
II Is written with exemplary resolution, with
ruaagging yea! IN the invention Of absurd Incl
6ent and the development of fantastic phrases
hit now and then we find ourselves wishing for
tuu1or Of n more personal, more original char
ecrsr in the books that are meant TO amuse.
Take for example. The Cruise OF the Violetta-"
NJ Cotton starts with dro enough motive.
r-hah
m fnding herself possessed of wealth. concludes
20 roarn the seas yacht fitted up with all the
comforts Of her old home in PotteryiIe, Ohio.
she Is as matter Of fact as is OF her
-octing chairs but she is. vithaI q woman of
-onderful resources. She picks up two gentle
non in the course of her travels They are
cverhauIed by some burlesque revolutionists,
Ger guests are rather al q less, but Mrs. Mink
knows what to do. She gives the enemy doc
tored coffee TO drink ties the enemy, puts the
enemy ashore and stroIls off with the enenlys
hoat For a little while NJ. Cotton makes this
sort Of thing funny. Then. ,nhappily such ele
r1en-s o. genuine humor q he can claim take
fight and he falls back upon mere exaggera-
lion The Cruise Of the Violetta' is just funny
enough 20 make Us regret that it is not steadily
funnier-
The author Of Perkins of Portland" weakens
n the same way. There is conicality in the
idea Of an advertising genius whose gifts are
really adequate 10 turning the world upside
down. We are bound TO smile over "PeTkins's
psner Porous Plaster" There is fun. too, in
the situation in which Mr.. S5las Boggs found
himself after he had allowed Perkins TO storm
mankind with his advertisements Of The Cele-
brated Lop-Eared Andalusian Guinea-Pigs. But
before we have got very far into this book we
hear the machinery creaklrg. and some effort Is
required 10 get through Ell Of the stories MI
Butler has better luck with The Incubator
Pabv." In this brief sketch an excellent satiri-
csl roint Is handled with capital pIayfulness. and
the idea is worked out without WEAKNESS TO the
ena The humor here is spontaneous.
There is very quiet, denure humor in Air
C,utlife Hyne's new book. The Trials OF Com
uander McTurk" II is noninally book Of ad-
venture one Of those collections Of short stories
IN which q clever man is subjected to the
chances Of one perilous episode after another
Commander McTurk is an officer Of the United
States navy, temporarily detached from service
for having shown more ardor than discretion
when on duty He is occupied, when we mako
his acquaintance, in tackIng more or less tick
Ash jobs on his own hook He IS ready for al
most any enterprise TO run blockade, to an
rex an island 70 do whatever may bring him
e1citenent and. incidentally, draw the attention
Of the government which has his undying devo-
tion This smacks Of the kind Of entertainment
that the author gave US in his Captain Kettle
stories. and the book has undoubtedly some
picturesque dramatic moments. But its interest
is due in great measure 10 the authors humor-
ous portrayal of his hero. NfcTurk is one of the
oldest figures Imaginable, a tall lanky indt-
vidual whose face has a way Of covering itself
with wrinkles, beneath the shadow OF a des-
perately obvious wig. When this paragon, i'm
maculately dressed. is not risktng his life in ex-
traordinary schemes, he IS painting atrocious
impressionistic landscapes. We follow him part
iy for the sake Of his adventures, but we are al
ways gazing with amused wonder upon his
bizarre personalit'. McTurk is exaggerated. OF
course. An Amer can naval officer even remote
ly resembling him Is unthinkable This time
however exaggeratiru serves very we'll.
'The Amulet" though IT has the bulk Of q
novel. IS scarcely more than a short story eX-
panded. Miss Murfree, going back once more
10 the Great Smoky Mountains. which she
has drawn with so much affection in her stories,
uses them background for slender ro-
nance IL the eighteenth century. Her heroine.
the daughter Of an English officer, is living with
her father and aunt at Fort Prince George, with
Indians all about them. Two young soldiers are
Il love with her, and as soon as this fact is
made perceptibIe the reader prepares himself
FOR such surprises as apt 10 spring from
rivalries in fiction. Hope is in vain. The mar
rative proceeds at leisure!y pace, and next TO
nothing happens. OF course, the heroine has
ultimately 70 make q decision, and her making
II counts for something but there is so little Of
plot, ot action and, what is worse Of character
70 lead I'D 70 the event. that one reads on in
mood Of languid Indifference. The amulet which
gives the book it's title is made the excuse for
Two fairly picturesque scenes. Beyond these we
find nothing that is of any moment Miss Muir
tres has covered more than three hundred pages
without persuading that she has anything
that is new or interesting TO say.
The stories IN Miss Alice Browns book. 'The
County Road" describe New England types Of
the bomespun sort types OF plain living and
EEnple feeling On the very first page we are
told that Abigail Bennett stood by the kitchen
az fYir hny hef llITnTneQ