Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-26

ocrity, and so marked him as leader that
to refer to him an ordinary man eie-
waited to his position by accident Is grossly
erroneous. or weakly invidious. for men do
not attain positions of such Importance by
accident Some great quality. whether OF
heroism political management, leads 10
their preferment. No verse In poetry ever
written expressed the truth more forcibly
than the lines:
Z" The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight
But they while their companions slept
Were toiling upward In the night.
ROCK IN THE BALTIC. By Robert
Barr, author of THE Triumphs of Eu-
gene Valmont," &c, Illustrated In col
ors by Herman Heyer. New York: The
Authors and Newspapers Association.
Washington: S. Kann, Sons & Co.
An English naval officer, cruising In the
Baltic, tried practice shot at rock 1ut-
ting out from the surface of the sea, far
distant from the mainland. To his intense
surprise, the rock fired back at him, and
from that moment he and his friends wero
in a serious predcament. First he was
requlsitioned by the Russian government
from England, and his release was refused.
Then he was tried by court-martial and all
but lost his commission. Then the chan
celleries of Europe buzzed excitedly and
eventually that rock in the Baltic played
a vitality important part in many lives. In
setting forth the thrilling tale of intrigue
and love centering upon that lonely bit of
sea-swept stone MIR. Barr has brought
into play all his arts as a story teller
There is not dull page from start to fin
ish. That finish, by the way, will be print
ed In tomorrow's Star. this story having
run Tor several weeks as a serial The pub
LEGATION of the novel in book form Will give
opportunity to readers of The Star who
mis- inst llf,aor1 raal
UP the thread of the narrative. The edi-
ton is handsomely Illustrated in colors.
CARTOONS AND CARICATURES. BY
Clifford K. Bergman. Washington:
H B. Thomson.
For several months past one of the daily
features Of especial entertainment in the
Washington Post has been a series Of car
toons and caricatures of the business and
professional men of Washington, drawn by
Mr.. Clifford K. Bergman. With excep-
tional fidelity to feature and characteristic
expression Mr.. Bergman has set forth the
ltneaments and suggested the diversions
and avocations of some three hundred of
the best known citizens of the capital. The
caricatures have occasioned mrth and have
served at the same time TO introduce in
pleasant and informal manner a large num-
Der of the busiest members of the commun-
in person. The cartoons and caricatures
are now assembled into a handsome vol
ume, with an artistic binding in soft leath-
er. forming valuable souvenir of the men
who are developing the District, and re-
fiecting very high credit upon Mr.. Ber-
ryman for his success in depicting the men
of today as they are known by their friends
and associates.
HOLLAND; as Seen and Described by
Famous Writers. Collected and Edited
by Esther Singleton. Illustrated New
York; Dodd, Mead & Co. Washington:
Brertano's.
Miss Sfngleton's exceptional facility for
assembling the best available materials
about any given subject has enabled her
to do III the case of Holland that which
should greatly accommodate all tourists
and those who delight in travelling men
tally through strange countries. She has
already prepared books of this same sort
descriptive of Russia and Japan. Holland
has always been a favorite subject with
writer's and artists and there is conse-
quently a. wealth of materials for Miss
Singleton's purpose. Contributing herself
when her own knowledge has effectively
filed a gap, she draws from the English
French, German, Dutch and American
writer's, classifying the many subjects into
five general groups, dealing with the
country and the race, the history of Hol-
land, special description of places, manners
and customs and finally painting, closing
with a supplementary chapter by herself.
giving statistics of Holland. The book is
profusely and beautifully illustrated by re-
produced photographs of a high order.
THE MECHANIC. By Allan McIvor. au-
thor OF The Overload" New York;
William Richie.
The successful fight of a young man
against the strongest combination OF capt.
tai and criminality ever formed by man.
That is a subject to stir the Imagination.
Mr. McIvors Imagination has been equal
to the test and the book he has produced
stands as a vivid, eloquent document in the
Indictment of the rapacity of the trusts
He has covered the faces Of some OF the
most conspicuous men In the world of high
finance with masks so thin as to be almost
transparent. His versions of their ca
reers 90 not in all cases conform strictly
TO the facts as known. but the larger fig
ures OF the field may be easily recognized.
In John Worth, the youthful David of the
combat with the giant, he renders strange,
complex character determined upon re-
venge upon the men who caused the death
of his parents and his uncle. Taken alto
gether. The Mechanic while in places
unconvincing as a tale is powerful In
dfctment of the underground methods and
the constituencies crookedness of the giant
corporations dealing IN the commodities of
human necessity.
THE OLD AND THE NEW MAGIC. BY
Henry Rtdgely Evans. Chicago: The
Open Court Publishing Company.
In THE Old and the New Magic Henry
Ridgely Evans presents in a graphic and
entertaining manner a series of studies Of
m,agiclans and prestidigitators from the
Cheyalier Pfnnetti who mystefied the court
OF Louis XVI~ Of France. and CaglIostro,
the prince of charlatans, to the late Alex
ander Hermann and the present-day ilu-
s!onists and conjurors. The work covers in
succession the history OF natural magic,
which was praetced remotely as 1868
&c: the romance of automatic second
sight and ghost making, The author Is
himself a magician of ability, and has
broug 1t to his task the ardor of the stu
dent An introduction to the book is writ
ten by DR.. Paul Carus.
THE HEART OF THE RAILROAD PROB
LEM, the History of Railway Discriu-
nation in the United States the Chief
Efforts at Control, and the Remedies
Proposed, with Hints from Other
Countries. By Prof Frank Parsons,
Ph.D., author of The Railways, the
Trusts and the People" Boston: Lit
tie, Brown e. Co.
Prof Parsons believes that the heart of
the railway problem consists In the fact