New-York tribune., 1907-11-21
literary Vese,s and Criticism,

lAe paper named above he has gone carefully
'iiIouSH thousands Of its columns of these legal
4OOit0S ana answers particularly for the last
fNa leI oI century, sitting out those Of most
Iue ana interest to the merchant the banker,
the real estate dealer the insurer the exporter
OF importer the manufacturer the trustee of
estates or other man Of business The range of
SUDJects considered is wide but the selection
@ "9e4 30 discriminating as to limit it chiefly
70 those matters of business interest that come
Up III everyday life. about which the business
man should be Informed h1,t or, ,rLiob - 20 not
usually practicable for him to consult an a++or-
Hey. commissioner PutzeI disclairs anv nur-
pose 10 have his hook rank among commercial
10" DoohS' because, as he says, at does not
N0'l"ii' 'He principle or the theoretical basis of
Sucn d work. and it is far from its province 1t
Is the actual, applied and everyday usage of
commerce which makes this an essential bool,
oi reference Tor every man in business, and
applicable to all the states throughout the
CI!loN' Ihat fairly epitomizes the character of
TINS work the usefulness of which is obv,tous
Suppose that you are cursed with ,,,,gor
curiosity to find out things for yourself what
happens thenY' asks Olive Christian Malverv
known IN real life as Mrs. Archibald MacKirdy
Her answer to this question SO far as n re-
lates TO England. is given in 800 enter+ain,,e,
pages entitled The Soul Market" CAfcC,lure
Phillips & Coz. The author has yielded ~ an
impulse already grown venerable among writ
ers In search of Tive" topics; she has dipped into
the bottomless stream of ordinary humanity
Circumstances conspired to bring her to Lon
don. where she found without difficulty an end
less variety of social types and denominations
She did the usual thing; found employment in a
score Of humble occupations and collected anec-
dotes while on duty Flower girl, street singer
fruit pedler. waitress. baker, and several other
things in quick succession, the critic of Eng
hsh society succeeded in cleaning at haphazard
a motley array of facts which she narrates as
lncoherently and efmlessly as though she were
chattering at an afternoon tea Few Of +ha
stories she tells throw any new light upon social
conditions in England: the sweat shops of Fast
London, the misery caused by drink the nasti-
ness OF British packing houses and other cheap
food factories the harsh rule Of petty emnIov-
ers, the miserable living accommodations of the
lower working classes are ss well known to the
public who may read '"The Soul Market" as
"Oliver Twist" and the Salvation Army ero
Perhaps the only cluster of anecdotes really
worth while is that revealing the simple but
louchlhg charity Of the poor and downtrodden:
the pauper woman who gave the author half
penny Tor breakfast roll is a fair specimen
OF large class which keeps the writer's faith
in humanity intact. But the rambling NV
poseless style Of the book robs these and many
other stories Of more than half their power
What virtue survives in them is further i'm
paired by the authors obvious lack Of all criti
cal sense. What can we believe in n voIur,a
winch IN an interpoated chapter about a trip 10
America, solemnly assures US that .4n New,
York and the East was begged not n oxnrosa
my admiration for the West; Chicago was not
10 be mentioned in polite society; New Yorl,
foIk pride themselves on their voices and tones
ana sneer at Western people? The writer
should have clung closely TO her profession or
singing. -
Parents and educators should both weloome
0he lruitlon OF President G. Stanley Halls re-
cent resolve TO boil down the contents Of his
two huge volumes on "AdoIescence" int .bo
form Of convenient handbook on Juvenile and
hat mature life In Youth. It's Education
Regimen and Hygiene" Cd. Appleton & Coz
President Hall presents concisely the substance
OF his former work. The changes appearing in
this brief edition almost exclusively those
OF omission; minute and extensive evidences
for various conclusions reached have heen
dropped bodily in many instances The author.
as may already be known, here develops his in
teresting theory that adolescent life recaDitu-
lates the stages Of primitive human deveIop-
444N-4N' NPDiA ILLS view 1TeSlQent halIS advice
concerning the treatment of boys and girls ia
fundamentally based. Special chapters are de-
voted 10 muscular development, industrial edu-
cation and manual training, sport and games
children's faults, lies and crimes and moral
training. The biographies of many famous
young people are quoted at length to demon
strate some typical crazes" Of youth All in
all, the new condensation is more readable than
the original volumes are and equally valuable TO
everybody save a few specialists. President Hall
has succeeded in reducing to a painless mini
mum his homemade scientific vocabulary and
astounding verbosity, which terrified and over
awed not a few would be readers Of ADO
lescence." The handbook is written rs simply
as the subject matter readily allows and should
render material assistance to all persons whose
duty or curiosity impels them to understand
those riddles Of the ages. the small boy and the
hoyden.
A collection of prayers and quotations for the
benefit OF hurried men and women who need 10
begin the day with religious devotions has been
published by Miss Florence Hobart Perrin. \
wide range Of authors and sentiments has been
successfully covered by the compiler Of THE
Optimist's Good Morning" (Boston Little,
Brown & Coz.