The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-03-10

lueItADie llltiA bDittI uiNto uo NV NDAtAN
for much.
Robert Kitchens, the author of THE
Call Of the Blood and other notable nov
els. receives a great number of letters
from admirers-and others. one which
he received recently was quite out Of the
usual line. 1t was from a lady In Cuba,
who wTete:
Dear Sir: friend Of mine and myself have made
wager about you. He thinks you are not Cathc-
lie. but I maintain You are. Please let me know
about this at once so that the wager may be de-
clded.
p ST I am wrong. don't bother about letting
NE know.
The quality Of exaggeration in Mark
Twain's humor sens 10 be getting more
marked as the years roll on In the lat
est installment of his autobiography.
when is running in the North American
Review, he tells this on himself:
was always told that I was sickly and pre-
Cari0us and tiresOme and uncTtnin child. and lived
mainly ON alopathc medicines during the nrst
seven years of my life. I asked my mother about
this. in her old age-she was ia her cighty-eishth
yCaI-and SAID,
I suppose that during all that time You were I'm
easy cbout ms5
Yes, the whole time d"
Afraid / wouldn't lives
After reflective pause-ostenshIy to think out the
facts
No afraid you would "
For his first essay in fiction Mr.. Thomas
Lawson. the coiner of the phrase, "fren-
zied finance" has turned out a very cred
table story in Friday. the Thirteenth '
1t is a tale Of Wall street and its meth
DDS, with tense dramatic interest and
some exciting episodes, and through II all
runs the iteration and reiteratiOn Of such
enormous sums OF money that they dazzle
the reader. The placid fortune of Monte
Cristo was as nothing compared TO this
Of gold. The story. as a whole.
though. lacks reserve. ana therefore is
not so powerful as il might have been
II is as If the story had been written in
feyeTish haste and without much fore
thought In its analysis of motives there
IS ii display of weakness life is not meant
TO be juggled with as Mr.. Lawson does.
and the ending OF the book. which.
doubtless, the author felt was strong and
fine, makes but a weak climax TO the
stirring events that come before One
wonders whether II is true that such a
trick or nerve and desperation could
have been worked on the stock exchange
t. D.
peculiar gambling indeed. for in any other
game the chips" have to be on the table.
There have. recently. been many stories
based on frenzied financial operations.
and because the ring OF the golden
counters Is heard IN them ALL they con-
stitute school Of fiction that is popular.
But most Of them. written by men who
know Wall street and its methods well.
take too much for granted a knowledge
Of the argot Of "the street and many
passages are ineXpliCable % the laymau
To Mr.. Lawson must be given the credit
for at least making his meaning clear.
and any layman of ordinary intelligence
can follow the trades he describes in
his novel Friday, the Thirteenth is ii
good. readable. and interesting story. and
if Mr.. lawson finds time 10 write other
novels. one may be sure, from the excel
lence OF this book, that those that follow
ii will be- better. New York. Doubleday.
Page & Coz
a book that it is a delight TO commend
is Nellie Blanchan's Birds Every Child
Should Know'-a book designed for the
eastern section of the United States. and
dealing with the habits and natures of all
the birds that are TO be found in Wash
ington and its vicinity. The text Of Miss
Blanchaa's book is intensely interesting.
and is written in a sympathetic way so
that the youngsters into whose hands it is
placed can hardly fail 70 use their eyes
with new interest and keep a watchfal
outlook for some of the interesting things
the author tells about the birds. Like all
good books for the youngsters. this vol
ume is very fully illustrated. II contains
siXty-three pages of photographs from
real lfe-pictures taken out in the woods
and catching the birds on their nests.
feeding their young or teaching the chill
dren-biCds TO fly. The pictures are unique
and aid greatly in an appreciation Of the
text. Il is one of the best Of all recent
books designed to make nature-study-the
Importance Of which is coming more and
more to be recognized-attractive and fas-
cinating. New York: Doubleday, Page
6 Coz
Those who. not understanding. have
been only too ready 20 denounce Bernard
Shaw as irreIigious because he is unusual
may If they will read the following utter
dnCe Of his on religion. find that the poet
is, as Sir Oliver Lodge declares. ."also
among the prophets Mr- Shaw de-
clares:
II you don't do His work IL won't be done: if goa
turn away from it, if you sit down and say. Thy
viii be done" you might as wcn be the most ire
lgious person the face e the earth. But il sou
viii stand by your God if you VIII say My bust
Is TO do Your vii. my hands are Hour hands ms
tongue is Your tongue. my brain is Your brain
am here 70 do Thy work. aud ! viii do IL You
viii get rid Of other wordness YOU viii got nd If m
rf1F aI5rrfa-1 rrlrf1
for doing nothing, and you viii learn not only "a
worship yolT God, but also to have fellow-feelIns
with Him
This conception that am doing Gods work in
the world gives me a certain observation-disclosures
with the limitations Of my power and the eztrava-
gauces Of my brain or hand-but a certain ssIf-re
spcCt and force IN the world People ike their re
Iisioa 70 be what they call comforting. want ms
religion 10 give me se!t-respect and courage and
can do without comfort without happiness. without
everything else. This sort Of faith really overcome,
the power of death.
"a Beehive Of Song" is the title OF
the slender volume of verse by Imoger
J. Sedgwic5, from the press of Rawstor
& Co, Chicago A frontisplece of tht
author adorns the book. Il shows her
to be a lady of flowing locks and mature
years, not at all the sort of a. parsonage
one would expect to find writing love
verses, Genius is law unto itself. but
that axiom is. perhaps, the only excuse
for q lady industrious enough to turn
out a beehive" of verse, paying sc
little attention to rhythm, meter. on
rhyme. No doubt Miss Sedgwick felt
very strongly when she wrote.
Could win your love, my own,
Could I but speak my soul 20 Your heart:
Then you might know the myrtle I've s5wn,
The frequency with which my tears start.
Into a solitary state / n thrown
Can't just win your love- my own?
That expresses with great feeling {
certain longing that sometimes attacks
the fair sex. even when they are poeti-
CAL but we doubt whether an appeal st
worded would touch even the most ten
der heart 1t limps too much, Miss