The Washington herald., 1906-12-30
BY HECTOR FULLER.

AtNH 4AAAAAA "a us LDSlLAEt AfiiHhlllEs nearly
all its dreaming" Modest New England.
The accusation often brought against
the readers Of manuscript for publishing
houses that they do not really read half
the manuscripts submitted. may or may
not be true, but the Dial alleges that
there used to be publishers reader in
New York who would reject a parcel of
MSS. without untying It on the ground
of smell If 1t exhaled fumes Of tobacco
or whisky, he concluded that no further
knowledge was necessary of the inspira-
ton under which the work was written
Such sort Of snapshot judgment, had 1t
been always In force, would have played
havoc with our literature Marie COrelli
and Ella Wheeler Wilcox might have
been saved-that is, if heliotrope has any
virtues; bat Burns and The Cotter's
Saturday Night" Poe and his stories,
Barrie and My Lady Nicotine" 10 say
nothing Of TennysOn, who constantly
sucked strong clay pipe, would have
been ruled out of court at once.
Still do Andrew Lang's fairy books
lead in popularity all other books called
for at the Public Library by the young
oAtlSs Last WEEK IL WdS tlt Gittli 4 hAt ,
Book and the Violet Fairy Book. The
most popular nOnhction was Bishop Tai
bolts My People Of the Plains" and
Theodore Cooks old Touraine." The two
most popular novels were Ralph Connor's
'The Doctor" and Percy Brebner's The
Princess Martha"
Mr.. Stanley G. Fowler, Of coz G street
northwest. has just issued a little book
let entitled "reminiscences Of Orville II.
Plat, of Connecticut. The late Senator
Orville H. Plat was a personal friend of
Mr.. Fowler, who knew him intimately ia
the good old town of Washington, Itch
field County. Conn. where they were
both born and reared. The author tells
in an interesting way Of Senator Platt's
bOyhOOd. his home. his life at school,
where he was one of the model pupils,
and he cultivated a memory which in
after years seemed TO be prodigous.
When beginning TO study law, Mr.. Fowler
tells US that young Platt recited from
memory the long opening chapter Of the
immortal Blackstone. While carrying on
his law studies Plat became a school
teacher Afterward Fowler and Plat
separated. but the author followed with
interest his distinguished companions
political career. He says that the thing
that impressed him most was Senator
Platt's sterling honesty. and he quotes,
in evidence, a letter written by him In
1881 in which he shows his idea Of the
duty that lay on him:
have Just been having a fearful struggle 70 have
international copyright Law passed IN the Senate.
not that wildly interested IN it. but because It
came before a committee Of which ! g member.
e rrrr-fFf tod
made me its champion. and had = fight TN it, de-
fense / think I believed all that I said IN IFS IA
vOr but vas rather in the situation Of the man who
has a firm belief IN the truths Of Christianity. hut
not enough experience 70 conduct a prayer nesting
IN good SHAPE.
AS an appendix to the little book, Mr.
Fowler appends a poem. "Ye Olden
Times" which gives "a hOmely but in
teresting glimpse of how a veteran looks
on some of the changes that have come
upon the world in this rushing age. Mr..
FOwlers book will. doubtless, be read
with pleasure by many Of the friends and
admirers Of Senator Platt.
The feats of the explorers who have
tried to conquer the arctic circle viii be
made a special feature Of Harper's Maya
zine for the coming year. Other feats in
exploration will also be recOunted. Com
aliaAltiNA + toA - W NDalAA tbAAE an 41ttAtlL
Of his trip in the Roosevelt; Road
Amundsen. the first man In the world 10
take a ship through the long sought
Northwest passage. will tell OF his ex-
periences; DR.. Frederick Cook viii tell Of
his ascent Of Mount Mckinley. the lofti-
est peak in North America. Two other
contributors will be Ejnar Mikkelsen. a
Dane, who is even now on the search for
an unknown archipelago and the other
is Henry ". NeyinsOn. who has gone
among a strange people who are always
in revolt'-that last might mean many
lands between Erin and the TransvaaL
Geraldine Bonner's novel. Rich Mems
Children" seems 10 be stirring things up
In San Francisco. for some are reading
with amusement and some with cOnster-
nation the nonchalant way in which she
prizes open family closets and parades
the skeletons of Mob Hill In her book
is TO be found the statement that the
wealthiest woman in California rub-a-
dUb-dubbed the shirts Of Nevada miners
in early poverty-stricken days. but has
almost forgotten the wash tub in her
present-day duties as mistress OF q mag
nifcent palace. and in maintaining her
place as a leader Of the local aristocracy.
Here. too. is 10 be found the assertion
that the wife of another bonanza king
who is a frequenter OF Washington, was.
In her girlhood, hailed as the prettiest
waitress in the Yuba House, at Marys-
vile, when her miner husband married
her Even in other places than San Fran
cisco people are not overload Of having
such humble beginnings chronicled
The Baconian controversy, carried Ia
its extreme limits a few years ago, prac-
tically killed all popular interest in the
moot subject as TO who wrote the works
attributed to Shakespeare. and the general
feeling on the whole subject seems to be
that it does not, after all, much matter
what name was signed to the plays and
poems, since we have them and can enjoy
and appreciate them. But recently Dr.
Karl BleibtreU, Of Germany, who is writ
ing history Of English literature. has
propOUnded a theory that the real author
was the Earl Of Rutland. who was born
October 6. 1876 and became the sOn-in-
law Of Sir Philip Sidney. DR.. Bleibtreu
holds that the low, common drunkard''
Of the Mermaid Tavern could not possibly
have the wide learning and knowledge of
Italy. France, and Denmark which the
author Of the plays evidently possessed.
He has found that the Earl Of Rutland
made the grand tour in 1886. He visited
France and Italy; stayed at Verona.
Mantua, Rome and Milan: studied law in
Padua, and afterward settled down as
resident OF London at Grays Inn. In
1903 he went to Denmark. whence. thinks
the worthy doctor, he got his "atmos-
phere" for Hamlet" IN Denmark he
actually met a Rosencranz and Guilder-
stein. In the year 1901 he was sentenced
To Imprisonment. and that period, we are
told, is unmarked by the production Of q
single Shakespearean drama.
On the other hand, Mr.. Bronson Howard
and Prof Brander Matthews, considering