New-York tribune., 1906-04-22

What's the matter with kanSasT asked
william Allen White, not many years ago.
'.N0t much must be the answer IL IL is to
De found in the pages OF his book Of short
s-at5hes just issued under the title OF "Our
Town" Herein the editor OF Tine Euporia
Eazotte" gives the benefit OF = bird's-eye
-w Of a typical Kansas town as seen-and
where can il be better seen?-from the eyrie
OF a local newspaper Office Many Of the incl
dar-s recorded centre IN the Office itself. and
rat The least interest in the volume is due 10
-le intimate revelations Of the inside workings
2 + a provincial daily. But the newspaper
may be regarded as one of the important nerve
centres Of q locality, so its ganglia interpene-
t~a-e and everywhere reflect the life Of the
place and Of its people II is not a perfect
town that is revealed TO US in the authors
kindly. inquisitive, frank yet syTnpathetically
c1uelserate style The most heroic Of the char
aete-s are seen TO have their limitations and
t1atr faults, and the least heroic are shown to
D. not wholly bad, TO deserve our pity even
when we may not withhold our censure. Ny.
White transforms even the most individual
character into a type, so that our Town,
with al its local qeculiarities and idiOsyn-
c-as.es. Is seen 10 have a wide Significance
Truth, humor and pathos are blended in his
tales. and the result is a delightful collection
Of studies OF character
Mr ILoyd's snapshots Of life in a rural Penn
syIva1ia neighborhood are as humorous in their
way Is Mr. Whites Kansas sketches. He has
caught The fun, the sentiment, the oddly, the
quantity peculiar and intellectually limited
cLa-a cteristics Of an Isolated country settle
re1L There is perhaps a greater sense OF ar
-lnseCent- Of composition, in the views be
gives Us. than we feel in Mr.. Whites unaffected
--a-scri1ts Of human nature. Each of Mr..
L-Ioy5's little stories CT Impressions, is q care
fully constructed incident capable Of being
tod in . few words and afOrding entertain
r.ert apa-t from the local background against
aI5h he has Ieen pleased TO set it This, Of
course makes the volume no less readable, even
il there Is Z greater suggestion OF artifice, OF
working for an effect Mr.. Lloyd's method and
stE.e are less ripe than Mr.. Whites. but he
F1es far 10 make up II his breadth Of treatment
and Intensity Of local color for what he lacks
81 v4riety and insight
re Two Masters" between whom the hero
q Nj Bradford's story wayers, before finally
giving in his allegiance. Wealth and Ser
vice. Bis Inherited and acquired tastes and
his sense Of duty, which pull him now one way
and now the other are apparently too evenly
balanced 70 bring him 10 a decision until senti-
-nent comes TO his aid 70 turn the balance
Harvey Phelps is young. very young, Har-
ward graduate, who marry his cousin and
inherit his uncle's fortune and banking business
he has fallen under the influence Of an Episco-
a clergyman Of a decidedly ascetic type. De
spite his physical strength Phelps is drawn as
a rather fabby individual spiritually, and pc
culiarly susceptible TO feminine influences The
story is well constructed. and the suspense as
70 the direction IN which nis affections VIII fall
and so decide his career is wei kept up. The
various types too are wel drawn and sharply
differentiated and we wonder why the book
Is not more Satisfactory than il is. The reason
ts probably 70 be found II the callowness Of
= the leading characters and II the uninpOr-
tznce OF the leading incidents
Mildly exciting and somewhat drawn out n
me telling IS the nevertheless very short novel
..te OF intrigue which Dr. Mitchell has en-
t1ced "A Diplomatic Adventure" Il Is con-
oe-ned with the abstraction Of some compro-
missing French state papers by a young Amer
tcan woman resident IN Paris in 1S62. and the
contest Tor their possession by secret service
officials Of the empire and the American lega-
,ion Brief Is the story is, II would be better
- - were still more condensed Apart from the
bIe style IN which II Is written II de-
80 Sc chief interest from the study OF the
.--,-0eas narrator's French valet himself q spy
~ the imperial government but even more de-
o.e5 n the interests Of his personal employer.
. vein Of romance runs through the tale. en-
,.o,i-,- SIC darker Incidents, which are ODD,