Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1906-02-17

Those who are writing biographies of
the late Henry Harland will probably
fall into the common error and state
that his birthplace was st. Petersburg
Such Is the information given in
Who's Who" but Mr., lIarlaud him
self IL the authority for the statement
that II is inaccurate. Mr.. Harland
was born, as who's Who states, In
1851, but the question OF the place IS
compllcaed by the fact that Mr. Har-
land himself disagrees with the records.
Before court OF law, Mr.. Haflana
would have had to confess that he way
born in prosaic Brooklyn, but other
wise would never admit e.. He always
claimed az the place Of HIS nativity.
Norwich. Connecticut which town he
called the rose, not only OF New
England, but of the world" He would
explain this disagreement with the rec
ords by saying that he was horn In
Brooklyn only by accident, not by
rights consultation or authority.
In spite of the candor OF subject
and treatment Of Mrs. II. a. Mitchell
Keays books, He That Eateth Bread
With Me" and THE Work of Our
Hands" the intensity Of her belief ia
the best of life so far outweghs what
might be considered Objectionable Ia
her themes, that she has been receiv-
ing letters from correspondents, UNI
known to her, who acknowledge having
been done as much good by her In some
instances as by the Rev. Charles II
sheldon and In others as by the Rev
George Mcdonald. she is as instlnc-
lively equipped TO write problem-nov-
els" says critic OF her artistic abll-
tiles, 'as Mrs. Humphry Ward"
Octave Thanet has an individual
trick Of continuing her characters from
one book to another. Harry Leroy, for
example the labor leader mentioned In
THE Man of the Hour" appeared in
The Heart of Toll Harry Losing
also In THE Man OF the Hour" fig
ured IN both The Heart of Toll and
stories of Western Town. and ia
beg Rivers head OF the ED -ewater
Steel Works" who helped to bust
the big strike, was the hero of "Th
Conscience of Business Man" These
names give an air Of familiarity to
the pages OF THE Man of the Hour"
In the Easy Chair Of the February
Harper's, Mr.. Howells considers the in
terestlng discussion Of the commercial
lzation of literature. Literature Is no
commercialized, even IN the greedy
souls OF It's authors he says. II
cannot be commerciallzed, unless II Is
made to sell, with an eye single to It's
sale. AS for the publishers or the
booksellers methods they are not YET
enough commercialZed, they are not
vet truly business methods, In most
other manufactures a wel-knoWn
brand brings q better price than a
brand Unknown or unknown. But In
the book-trade II Is not so, A book
by an author OF established repute AMI
unauestloned merit sells for no more
than book by an author OF no liter Z
excellence, or OF no attested worth. Tho
new author, the trashy author, sells
for the same price as the author whose
name Is q measurable warrant OF
worth Apparently the size, shape, and
quality OF the material put into a
book fix Its value. There Is no other
standard known to the trade; and
therefore 1t seems that its methods
are not buslnesslike. The publshiEg
the selling Of books, need to be com
mercialized at vital point. At pres
ent IL IL rldiculously naive. 1t stlll
proceeds upon the theory that a books
a book, although there's nothing In q
II a dealer In dry goods were 10 put
upon his counter "a beautiful line of al
pacas, say. of which he knew nothing
as to material or texture, or OF which
he knew that both were bad, and Of
fered them at the same rate as apacas
Of recognized superiority, what would
be thought OF his wisdom, his morality?
II a dealer In wet-goods las they are
sometimes called were to Invite his
customer TO buy raw or acrld vintage
at the same cost as I fine old crusty
port or a delicately tempered cham
payne OF exquisite bouquet because II
was put UP In the same kind OF bottle
how long could he hope TO keep the
custom even OF the newest millionaire
who was trying 20 educate his palate
! Yet unon nreclsely this principle The