The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1906-11-11

has belonged to the daily press and 10
the magazine. It is 10 be hoped. however
that the novelist Of utility win be careful
to get his facts straight; even Kipling
has Numbered in some of his pseudo-sci-
entifc stories, and the greatest among
writer's have made themselves ridiculous
through their blunders. La Fontaine
for instance, in his fable of THE Fox
and the Cheese" makes the moon shine
in the bottom Of a WELL when to do so
the moon must have been near the zenith
a condition impossible in the latitude Of
which he wrote, as VI. Flammarion
pointed out. Lamartine made the planet
Venus rise in the evening, and even Dau-
det has a shepherd in one of his stories
pointing out Sirius and Orion TO a girl at
midnight in the month of July.
Style in literature is a fetch over
which many a writer stumbes, as if
style were thing separate and apart
from the writer's subject The best
example of style fitting the story, per-
haps, is Kipling The flavor of THE
Gadsbys is the flavor of Anthony Hope,
because the subject is light and frothy;
the flavor of The Man Who Was or
''The Mark Of the Beast" Is another
matter People are fond OF talking OF
Kipling's style, as II it were a set thing
that could be analysed and picked TO
pieces. but as a matter Of fact IT Is 50
various that his sea stories. his East
Indian yarns, his technical stories. his
animal tales, might. so far as the varia-
ton in style is concerned, have been
written by different persons. His style
has changed greatly within recent years,
because the style OF the bOokman is
bound 10 be different from that Of the
man OF action. His earlier stories Kip
ling lived and felt through every fiber
Of his being; his later tales are the work
Of the student, and have mUsty flavor
vastly different from the vigor Of the
old days We are told that browsing
among old times in a Sussex bookstore. /
in a village near his farm. he came across
an ancient Chronicle of Sussex which
he could not resist buying. Mrs. Kip
ling, like most wives whose husbands
keep on loading the house down with
books. objected TO the latest purchase. /
and il is said that Kiplng justified IL
by avOwing that he was going TO dig
a new book out of those ancient tOmbs. /
the result The story bears the stamp
Of truth, for, though the tales OF Puck
have a certain interest, they have a stale
and musty taste-neitheT their style nor
their interest comes up 10 the Kipllng
Of real life; the Kipling Of the days
that was as Mulvaney used 10 say. |
But speaking Of style in literature. the
best example Of it, according to Andrew
Lang. is in the story about the sailor
who was called before his captain and
asked 10 account for a furious fight that /
had taken place on the lower deck We'll, /
sir" said the sailor. "all ! said was, |
Thomas, will you please be Kind enough /
to get out of my hammock and allow /
me 10 occupy it, " Says Mr.. Lang: The 1
contrast between what the sailor must 4
really have said to bring on the night I
and the company language he reported /
to the captain shows very decided sense /
Of style"
There has been more than d little I
curiosity as 10 the identity Of the writer /
who signs his work, &c. 3. Lancaster" /
But something has been done 10 lift the /
veil from this mysterious personality. An I
adnlirer Of this writer's works wrote TO /
the publishers asking G. B. Lancaster for /
a photograph and for a description Of /
the personality OF the hero Of his most /
recent book, The Spur" In reply the cor /
respondent got a letter from New Yea
land, which seems to TX the authors /
place of residence. and this letter. which /
seems to fix her sex: DO not give my
hero a stiff collar or a daily shave. / /
can't have them myself.
Speaking Of New Zealand. which in all 1
matters pertaining to municipal and /
county government is one Of the most
on earth. there has recently
returned there. one John McNab. minis
ter of lands. who has been on a visit TO
the United States. He mas been telling
the New Zealanders now sadly they are
behind In the matter Of library faciu-
ties. He has told them so much of the
of the American library. that
there will probably be an immediate at
tempt to better conditions in New Yea
land. Among other things that struck
Mr.. McNao was the ACCESSIBILITY OF eX-
tending the uses of the public library, so
that it may benefit the children Of the
primary school, as it Goes in the United
States. He also spoke Of the nOiseless
mechanical conveyer of books in use at
the Congressional Library. and compared
it 10 the labOrioUs book traffic Of the
numbering trolley in the British Museum
Library. Although New Zealand is one
Of the most loyal Of the British colonies.
It IS said that the loyalty will not extend
to the continuation Of Great Britain's OBJ
sC.ete methods of library management.
Il IS interesting to learn THIS recently
in Japan MaeterIinck's ''Monna Vana"
was acted in Yokohama by = conpauy- of
japanese actors. This play. dealing with
medieval Europe. one would think would
have little appeal to the japanese mind,
but il is declared that the acting Of It
was stnkingly good. The performances
We're at the MeiH Theater. an institution
partly supported by the government. and
the best actors Of the empire are en-
listed The acting of Sada Yakko as
Norma Nana was highly spoken Of Ka-
wakami played the part of Marco. and il
Is said that in the parJ Of Girido the aC-
tor Fujisawa presented the traditional
face and figure Of the splendid historical
family of the Calomma whose latest de-
in Rome to-day might be taken
for a brother of the japanese player.
play was. Of course. altered
in many essentials to suit it to the Japa-
Dese temperament and as the climax Of
the play contained no motive which Jap
anese audiences could appreciate. the
adapter took the liberty Of making Norma /
Vana die. as PrincivaIle was led away
to prison. and the cheers Of the people
she had saved were echoing nOisily from /
the streets. Il must have been an inter-
esting experiment.