Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-24
THE BITTER CRY OF THE CHILDREN.

Macmillan Company Washington:
Brentanos.
II Is indeed q bitter cry that rises from
the tenements and the slums-a cry OF
neglect starvation. filth, disease and sur
fering It IS the cry of the underfed IN
fants. the bent-backed little mothers, the
neglected boys. 1t Is the cry OF the
rising generation of Il very large percentage
of our population. Mr.. Spargo heard 1t
with sympathetic, but. better still, with
discriminating ears. Trained In sociolog-
teal research and reformatory effort, he set
out to investigate the condition of the chill
dren Of the poor. the very young children
OF the very poor, He examined into
the home conditions and found want and
dirt and disease. He found that despite
bhe advance of late years there are insufh-
Client provisions In the large cities for the
day nursing OF the children OF working
mothers. There is lack of legal supervi-
sion over the food supplies. What has
been done in the line OF remedial and pre-
ventive regulation is only a beginning. and
a dishearteniugly meaeer beginning In
some places compared with the need and
1he danger. Such book as this. If widely
read. will make for reform In the best
sense 1t is impossible to go through its
pages, even hastily. without feeling the
argent demand for stronger laws and more
thorough inspections ana more humane
methods. Mr.. Hunters introduction strikes
fhe keynote or the pr0pa ganda for the res
cue Of the children of the poor when he
writes Of Mr. Spargo's work:
I am convinced that il Will mark the
beginning Of an epoch Of deeper study and
Of sOunder philosophy. ! look To see IN
the near future some effort made to estab-
lish standard of physical well-belng for
the children. I EXPECT to see the COM
immunity insisting that some provision shall
he made whereby every child born into the
world shall receive sufficient food to en-
aDle him to possess enough vitality 10
overcome unnecessary and prevcntahie dis
case, aud 10 grow INTO manhood physical
3y pable of satisfactorily competing in in
fusJral or intellectual pursuits I do not
believe that this IS a dream impossible Of
realization. About n hundred years ago
our InrefathCrs decided that there should be
n universal standard of literacy. To bring
this about the following generations OF men
established a free school system. which was
meant 10 assure To every child certain
minimum Of education. IL that can he done
for tHc mind the other thing can be done
for tine body. And when II is done for the
body We shall make another striking adj
vance In civilization not unlike that re-
corded in the history OF mankind, when
the free people of this American continent
established Il system of free and universal
education
THE DAY DREAMER; Being the Full
Narrative of The Stolen story BY
Jesse Lynch Williams New York
Charles Scribner's Sons. Washington:
Woodward < Lothrop.
Mr.. Williams is utilizing his material to
the utmost His short fiction. The Stolen
Story was a great success. being rated
rs one of the best productions Of it's class
in years. He turned it into play. taking
the title and one incident as the nucleus.
Finally, he expanded the original tale to
the proportions OF novel and It was pub
lished in a magazine as News and the
Man" Now It comes in book form under
stin another title. Those who read the
original story of ten years ago will be Just
at first while those who missed the shorter
Version viii be treated to a delightful sur
prise. 1t is a tale of New York news
paper methods, centerlng around the er-
ratio and brilliant Billy Woods, star re-
porter on great metropolitan daily Woods
has bad habit Of disappearing for days
IN the thick of his work He does so In
this instance and Is discharged from the
staff while all New York is agog over a
certain sensational political development.
Only Woods Is In a position TO solve the
mystery, ana when he turns up at the
psychological moment and is turned away
he Is Immediately captured by self-ap-
pointed emissary OF rival sheet of SEN
satOnal proClivities. He gets the fun story
Of the great mystery and absent -mfndedly
turns in at his old Office and proceeds to
write H. Mr.. Williams eXcels in such worl,
as that which he does here in describing,
how Billy Woods Is kept from realizing his
mistake and how his old paper secures che
biggest sensation Of the year 4 fascinat-
Ing love theme IS woven into the narrative
Eough somewhat ovcrdrawn, the story
affords suggestive picture OF the inner
workings of that complex machine a New
York newspaper Office.
A LAME DOGS DIARY; Novel Bv 8
Macnuughtan. author OF The Fortune
OF christina McNab,' &c New York:
Dodd, Mead & Co. Washington: Wood
ward x LOthTOp
Handicapped by an tnprepossessing and
misleading title. this novel Of English life
IS Of a sort 70 win many enthusiastic read
ers. The lame dog is an ex-offlcer of the
English army, whose leg was shot off at
Magersfontein. lie Is the Interesting in
valid Of the village and hears all the gossip
ana is the coufdant of most Of the secrets
One by one lie brings the persouages Of the
little community into view. the punctnious
Tracey sisters, who entertain their guests
at a dance with diluted claret cup: the
Jameson family, active capable, cheerful
girls with their pirate boy brother; the
Taylors whose maternal uncle has recently
been kuighted for distinguished military
services and who consequently put on ire
mendous airs; Mrs Lovekin. the self-ap-
pointed co-hostess OF every village social
function; the sisters Blind. the one hope
less invalid bereft OF the power Of speech
and the other her noble. self-sacriicing
nurse There are others, especially Mrs
Fleideu. whom everybody loves. including
the lame dog himself, although strangely
enough he does not realize il until toward
the end Of the story, when he proceeds to
ediJ his diary which she has persuaded him
t. write as a means OF diversion in his
illness And the last words in this delight
fuI romance. IN which there Is no villain
and all is gentle and sweet are these that
fall from Mrs. Felden's lips: But Hugo,
dear. why did you not tell me long
egO2'
THE MAN FROM AMERICA; a Senti-
mental Comedy. BY Mrs. Henry De La
Pasture. author of Peters Mother"
81. New York; Z. p Dutton 81 Co.
Just why the publishers should preface
this story by an introduction which is
virtually review by one whose name does
not strike the eye that of a notable
critic. must be left to the imagination. The
three pages of comment add nothing 10
the readers deIectation in his perusal OF
what stands by itself charming and al
together readable story. Mrs. De La
Pasture has not attempted a high fight,
but has cOntented herself with graceful