Los Angeles herald., 1907-09-28
LATE BOOK NEWS

ONE of the commonest experiences in
the mental life of the average man is
~ Irritation at his inability to remem-
Der what so tremendously amused him
yesterday. He knows it was funny. He
even grlns at the recollection of the grin
that is gone. And yet he can't for the
life of him recall the cause of 1t all. Just
recall how often you have said: "Heinie
Thompson told a perfectly killing story
at luncheon yesterday; l can't just
think of 1t now, but 1t was screamer.'
1t looks almost idiotic in cold type-a
statement like that-and yet 1t is COM
monplace for most of u.s. The reason
one leaves for the psychologist to fathom;
the irritation remains and should make
popular such book as Good Stories from
the Ladies' Home Journal (Henry Alte-
mus company, Philadephia), which, to
no uncertain point, is pretty sure to con-
tain the anecdote that you have forgot
ten.
The Ladies' Home Journal Is one of
the most popular magazines in the coun-
try, and one of the most popular depart
ments which 1t has ever run was that
devoted to the good stories, the bright
jokes and the sparkling anecdotes which
its readers in every nook and Granny of
New York as well as in keen Kansas
have heard and sent in to the editors.
Thus the magazine has procured the
cream of the living humor of the Amer
lean people. BY a special arrangement
with the publishers, the present attractive
little volume includes the very cream of
that cream.
Good Stories from the Ladies' Home
Journal. Philadelphia; Henry Altemus
company.
In essaying to give place within the
brief compass of thirty-four pages to the
authors of ''the pure gold of nineteenth
century literature" Professor William
Lyon Phelps of Yale university has, of
course, omitted many names which many
of his critics, no doubt will think should
have been included in his list. The poets
whom he establishes in his hall Of fame
are Keats, Wordsworth, Browning, BY
ron, Shelley and Tennyson; the writers
of prose, Stevenson, Dickens Thackeray,
Austen, Eliot, Hardy, Carlyle, Ruskin.
Macaulay, Lamb and Landor. He de-
votes only page or two to each author
whom he deems representative. At the
outset he says:
There is only one period of English lit
erature that can compare In creative ac-
tivity with the nineteenth century, and
that Is the Elizabethan. But that age
found its chief expression in the drama;
while the age of Victoria bewilders the
critic fully as much by the splendid va
riety of its literary production as by its
extraordinary excellence. Poetry, fiction
and criticism-in these three great depart
ments the last century reveals masters"
The Pure Gold of Nineteenth Century
Literature. BY Professor William Lyon
Phelps. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell
& Co.
In ''The Romance of Mystic Ring"
Constance M. Allen has given us a love
story, the jewel of the ring, set in the
solid gold of so-called occult and mys-
terious truths, practically demonstrated.
The author has aimed high and If she
has not struck the mark she has, at least,
not fallen far short of 1t. 1t was Cyrano
de Bergerac who said that man ito
hit the moon must aim at it." ard Cy-
ramos philosophy has found In Constance
Allen an enthusiastic devotee.
In her introduction the writer explains
her purpose as follows:
'I have endeavored to present the fact
that many Of these occult and mysterious
truths are capable of practical demon
stration; and that the struggles and sac
rifices of which life is largely made up
are what strengthen us. Such expert
ences refine our sensibilities as well as
broaden our charity and invite tolerance
to all. Living in harmony with the laws
of human kindness and sympathy, the
occult forces which surround us are the
better able to shape our destinies into
smoother and happier lines. Sci
ence has not exhausted ALL And not only
that, but science recognizes that there
are many existing facts, so far not alto
gether demonStrable, but which are
gradually coming to our knowledge"
The book is distinct and valuable ad-
dition to modern transcendental literature.
The thread of delightful love affair
runs through the story and serves to hold
the interest to the end. ~
The Romance of Mystic Ring. BY
Constance M. ALLEN. Los Angeles: The
Baumgardt Publishing Co.
In his preface to 1.-The Better City," the
Rev. Dana w. Bartlett of Los Angeles
says:
"In the following pages a study has
been made of a particular city--the one
which the writer knows best-in whose
welfare his life is bound up. While dis
cussing the problems of this city, he has
had a consciousness that he was discuss
ing the problems of city life in general.
For while every city has it's own peculiar
problems, city life in all it's essential
features is everywhere the same. The
average modern city expresses it's high
est ideals in terms of greatness: Greater
New York, Greater Los Angeles. 1t Is
the purpose of this book to concentrate
thought upon the ethical ideal-believing
that city may become as noted for it's
Righteousness, It's morality, it's social vir-
tues, its artistic life, as for its material
resources A better city means a better