Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-07
SOME LATE BOOK NEWS


The Man with the Spade" Is long /
poem presented by Henry Goodsell OF /
San Bernardino and beautifully pub /
lished by the Citrograpl1 Of Redlands, IL /
being an attempted refutation Of Ed 1
win Markhafn's Famous The Man Win 4
the Hoe In many pages, Mr. Good /
sell, as he says in his preface, has "en- Z
deavored to meet Mr.. Markham's poem /
as nearly as may be, on its own level I
Il admire Mr.. Markham-s poem, The I
Man With the Hoe" he says, for its /
condensed strength and poetic fire;
but l do not like its sentiment. / re- !
alize, as every observant man must, !
that the laboring classes, of which the
man leaning on his hoe is presented
as type, are oppressed by social and /
industrial wrongs which call for re-
dress, but the poem seems to me too /
gloomy, too bitter, too extreme. The /
picture Is powerfully drawn, but I
think that I'm some essentials It is un-
true and It's effect not helpful or good. !
"In undertaking to write a response /
the answer should be a poem. Yet, |
in so far as an answer attempts to ex-
plain or refute, Il must be essentially !
an argument; and in so far as II Is an
argument, 1t can hardly be poetry. Nor /
can 1t have the terseness and strength Z
of The Man With the Hoe A bitter
charge, sweeping denunciation, may
be made with few words; a refutation
may require as many pages"
AS to the effectiveness of reply to
a poem long since dOubly discounted
as the wall of pessimism, 1t hardly
seems apropos. Markham's poem has
served for text in the yellow yawps
till 1t has become bore, and its falsity
is generally admitted. Why spend
pages Of rhymes refuting a dead argu-
ment? Literary merits the poem has,
of a considerable order.
The Man With the Spade. BY Henry
Goodsel. Redlands: The Citrograph,
publisher.
Stewart Edward Whites repute Is so
well established as a clever, honest and
artistic writer that the mere announce
ment of q new book by him is enough
to insure more than ordinary atten-
tion. When it is intimated that the
volume treats of mountain trails and
peaks, interest is focused. And when
1t is further stated that the book now
just issued, THE Pass" tells the story
of trip across the high California
Sierras and that 1t is illustrated by
our own Fernand Lungren-that in
sures the book q most enthusiastic well
come in Los Angeles And 1t merits all
| the cordiality shown 1t. The story is
of a remarkable trip across the high
| Sierras. So vivid is Mr.. Whites por-
trayal that on turning each leaf you
are there with him seeing the wonder
| full panorama of the mountains spread
before you, feeling the cool mountain
| breeze tanning your cheek, and loaf
ing round the merry campfire at night.
| The characters are all typical, natural
! and lovable; the descriptions are clear
and comprehensive and the literary
| quality of the work is fully the equal of
| it's story-strength.
The Pass. BY Stewart Edward
| 10 O1tinor Duh
fishing company.
Since Remains studies in Palestine,
| few so intimate sketches of the en-
vironment of Jesus and his mission
have been presented as Bradley
! Gilman's ''The Open Secret of
Nazareth" 1t is the product of
journey to the holy land on
the part Of DR.. Gilman, and
his studies are full of local color and
enthusiasm. They are given In the
! form of personal letters to a friend at
home and are rich in impressions of
Jaffa, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and espe-
cially Nazareth. Here he sojourns,
studying the --"Open Secret" Of this
birthplace of Christianity. The man
ner of living has remained almost un-
changed since the time of Christ, and
the author finds striking parallels be-
tween the simplicity of this outdoor
Syrian life and the religion which here
had its origin. The teachings of Christ
thus studied in the light of eastern
traditions and customs show new as
| poets which differentiate them from the
tenets of all other religions. The study
is full of suggestion, reverence and
sympathy. The book is enriched by nu-
merous illustrations from scenes in the
| holy land.
The Open Secret of Nazareth. BY
| Bradley Gilman. New York: Thomas
Y. Croweil & Co.
The October issue of the Metropolis
tan Magazine is strong fall number,
In which the best fiction and important
timely articles are we'll balanced. Per-
haps its most interesting feature is the
symposium of papers on the future of
life insurance, argued from the facts
as they really exist. Paul Morton and
Charles A. Peabody each contribute
sane discussions on the situation. An
thony Hope leads the fiction with a
| dashing, clever, sentimental story,
prudence and the Bishop" One of
the most sympathetic magazine arti-
cles Of the month is 1.-The Pond" by
| Sydney Allen. H. e. Rood contributes
a fascinating article on 1.-THE Museum
of Natural History" 1.-The Run on the
Greenville Bank" is a business drama,
which every one who has a bank ac-
! count will Awant to read. "McPike.
! Backslider," by A. M. Chisholm has
been well spoken of. Others who have
stories in this number are: Dorathea
Deakin, T. Jenkins Hams, Ian Mac
Laren, who contributes one Of the best
stories he has ever written, "The Max
ing Of a Man; Frederick Walworth
Brown, whose story, THE Admiral and
the Tug" is of special interest, owing
to the present conditions. in the trop-
les; Anne Warner, Leonard Merrick,
and Agnes Morley Cleaveland.
Gunter's Magazine for October is un-
usually brilliant, not only on account of
its large collection of entertaining
stories and articles, but also because it
contains an important installment of
the sequel to "Mr. Barnes of New
York." "The Shadow of the Vendetta"
by Archibald Clavering Gunter. This
novel is in the same forcefut style as
that of the authors great original
work, and interviewer in a plot of great
Strength and intensity are the delight
fu pathos and vivacious comedy which
make Mr.. Gunter's books SO popular.
In this portion, the action gains pace
afd thin haOtn fo n npan In most