Los Angeles herald., 1907-10-08

| I'm "a Woman's Journey Through the
Philippines" Florence Kimball Rus
Il sell views the islands through pince
nez the glasses in which must have been
Colour de rose. She speaks glowingly
of the ideal summer weather OF the
islands, which lasts from June into April.
and also praises the winter Evidently
| the army women, who declare the cli-
mate wretched, must have been suffer-
ing from tropical livers, complaint
which would make pessimsts of the best
natured humans alive. The Philippine
winter climate, as the author describes
it, is what someone has defined as the
climate of heaven, warmth without heat
and GOODNESS without cold, when men
sport linen and khaki continuously and
women wear lawns and organdies
throughout the season. with light wrap
added thereto at night-if it chances to
be becoming. In few years, the author
says, 1t will be to these southern seas
that the millionaire will bring his yacht
| for a winter cruise; 1t will be In these
| forests that he will hunt for wild boar
and deer or shoot woodcock, duck or
snipe. On these sunlit shores invalids
seeking health will find It, for despite
the tale of pessimistic travellers no love-
| lier climate exists, she says, than can be
found in the Philippine coast towns from
the middle of November until the last of
March.
The author speaks also of the islands
commercial possibilities and of their value
| to the historian, antiquarian, naturalist
and ethnologist
| A Woman's Journey Through the Phil
ippines. BY Florence Kimball Russell.
Boston: L. G. Page & Co. Los Angeles.
c. C. Parker
Edward Peple, who has written num-
ber of novels. but is chiefly known as the
author of that most delightful of plays,
THE Prince Chap" has done a preten-
tious and praiseworthy piece of work in
a novel of Nineveh, "Semiramis. The
tale of the great Assyrian war queen is
told splendidly. The people of that far
remote day are made living entities and
the narrative interest is surprisingly sus-
tanned.
The story starts with the girlhood of
Semiramis, in Syria, and her love for
Menon, the governor, and subsequent
marriage to him in spite of the opposi-
ton of King Minus The wit and subtelty
of the girl are as great as her physical
courage, and she comes to the court of
Nineveh and forces the king to acknowl-
edge her as wife of Menon. In the war
against the Bactrians and at the siege
of Zariaspa it Is Semiramis who, by her
reckless courage and military wisdom,
brings victory to the Assyrians. King
Minus himself falls in love with the war
rior maid and secretly crucifes Menon.
Semiramis, not knowing of his cruelty
toward her beloved husband. finally mar
ries Minus and reigns with him for a
score of years. Then at last she learns
of the fate of Menon, whom she had be-
lieved to have been slain in battle, and
wreaks vengeance on the king. Semiramis
is left by the novelist at the outset of
her great career as sole monarch and
war leader of the Assyrians.
The romance of the first great female !
sovereign is certainly one of the most |
in all history. Her progress |
from peasant girl to the then most mag
nificent throne of the world is not |
equaled in the chronicles of any land. |
OF course 1t must be taken for granted |
that the Semiramis tale is largely Legend
ary, but it is certain that such a queen |
lived and ruled. Mr.. Peple has made her
quite mortal and understandable, wo-
man of wonderful qualities, but not an
impossible woman. He casts aside legend
and tradition in making her good and
lovable but shows at the end that he
does not set himself above the apcients
who told her story. When at last, de-
prived of all that she holds dear. but
of the throne of the world. she
prepares herself for never-endipg wars of
conquest. Semiramis becomes the tigress
of tradition.
There have been few better novels of |
ancient times than this of "Semiramis."
Mr.. Peple has studied his Assyrian archie
ology carefully and appears quite at
home among the gorgeous scenes of his
setting. There is no pedantic exploita
ton in learning, no learned digressions
atmosphere is always real, the point of
view never lost. 1t is a doubly difficult
task for an author to write a good story
and at the same time create an entirely
strange setting. one which must be
wholly unfamiliar to the majority of his
readers, but in both endeavors Mr.. Peple
has succeeded
semiramis. BY Edward Peple. New
York: Moffat, Yard & Co.
Howard Bell Wright is the author of
one of the really good books of the year.
1t is called 1.-THE Shepherd of the Hills"
and is a tale of the Ozark mountains.
But more essentially 1t Is story of men
and women, powerful and analytical |
study of character, and it's setting is of |
minor Importance. Yet the wilds of the I
Ozarks are fitting background for the
drama.
There is some mystery in the story |
some violence, much love making. Yet |
most striking excellence of the book. |
1t is in the study of men and women |
that Mr.. Wright is at his best.
In spite of it's western flavor 1.-THE |
Shepherd of the Hills is not book |
Of thrilling adventure, neither is it, as
might perhaps be judged from the title,
an exposition of how to be good and
you'll be happy. 1t is. perhaps a story |
with a purpose, but that purpose is not
preached at the reader.
The Shepherd of the Hills. By Har-
old Bell Wright. Chicago: The Book
Supply Co.
''Who Killed Lady Poynder?" is
clever story of criminal mystery. 1t
is not a detective story There is no
sleuth to dominate the interest by his
wonderful shrewdness. Lady Poynder,
an Englishwoman, was killed. The cir
were so clouded in mystery
as to leave no clew, except very pal
pable one, which, of course, was false,
and which the reader knows to be false.
Then the author goes on and skillfully
builds up, one after another, several
very plausible cases, one at last that
seems a certainty. Meantime an innocent
GIRL Claire Seton, is in jail, with the