The Washington herald., 1907-01-20
BY HECTOR FULLER.

trated with many pictures taken by the
author is in the form OF letters back
home. and these give an intimate and in
teresting idea OF the various Mexican
towns visited. Mr. Edwards is a skillful
traveller, and one who keeps his eyes open
! for picturesque beauties. as is testified By
his previous books: I'm to the Yukon" and
Through Scandinavia to Moscow" Take,
for instance. the old. old subject Of bull
fight. Nothing could be more trite; every
one who has ever seen one seems obsessed
with the idea that he must write about It.
and yet on such a subject as this Mr.. Ed
wards has been able to make a most in
teresting chapter, a faithful and accurate
description, and therefore a little grew
some. Many places In Mexico the author
of this book visited: Monterey. SaltillO.
Patzcuro, Orizaba. NuevO Laredo, Yuca-
tan, San Luis PotOsi. Santa Clara. JOrullO,
/ the China Mines. Buena Vista. and many
other places, and Of all of them he gives
us an interesting and Informative glimpse.
To one who has never been in Mexico this
volume will give clear and accurate idea
| of many Mexican customs, fetes, ceTe-
monies. and ways of living. for the author
has decidedly the gift OF narrative and a
clear style which makes his book
plain and entertaining. The many pic
lures which he secured and which are adj
mirably reproduced aid his narrative
greatly. Cincinnati: Jennings & Gra-
ham,.
There is one literary department of our
foF
stood by the general public, and that is
| the work of the superintendent Of public
documents. whose report TO the Public
Printer has just been made public. This
/ department Of the service complies the
official catalogues Of the United States
government. and at present the law is so
constituted that it requires n great many
/ duplicates, adding nothing 10 the value of
/ the service. but greatly 10 the expense.
This department distributes the publica-
| tions supplied for State and Territorial
| libraries. and designated depositaries, and
| this work is enough 20 occupy a larger
/ force than the superintendent % docu-
ments has at his command In addition
| TO this the department Is required 10 act
as a daily boOk-shOp. AMI II receives or
ders from all over the world. orders for
| books new and old. which average at pres
ent about $50 a day. Besides this, il has
| TO compile price lists and library reference
/ lists. special tables, bibliographies. and
check lists. The department has charge
/ of one of the most valuable libraries ex-
tant; at present Il amounts to no less than
| .3g1, ,695 volumes AS the superintendent,
/ Mr.. William L. Post, says, the work here
tOfOTe has been carried on in a haphazard
way, and there is need Of reorganization
and a complete systematiZing The de-
partment is one which is capable Of great
usefulness. which at present it is unable
/ to fulfill. and those who use the docu-
ments under the charge OF the department
will hope that new and up-to-date
methods may be devised which Will widen
/ its sphere OF usefulness.
Besides his many other activities Kip
| ling now seems to be blossoming out as
a Shakespearean student. He has ex-
pressed the opinion in the Spectator that
! Shakespeare might have received the sug-
gestion Of The Tempest from a half
tipsy sailor who had visited the still
vext Bermoothes." Mr.. Kipling SAYS fur
ther that those who 90 to-day TO a GER
tain beach. some two miles from Ham
ilton. will find the stage for Act II,
Scene 2, Of THE Tempest"
a bare heath. with the wind singing through
the sCTuh at the lands edge gap In the reefs
wide enough for the passage Of Stephsn0s butt oi
sack. and these eyes have seen it, a cave In the
coral within easy reach Of the tide whercto sacf
butt might be conveniently rolled my cellar is
in a rock by the seaside. where my Wine Is hid D.
II wei done that, after three hundred years.
a stray tripTe-. and Shakespeare scholar. recog
nized in fash that old first set Of all.
a specially illustrated magazine entitled
Prosperous Washington has just been
issued by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
1t is as comprehensive and handsome a
magazine as has ever come out Of the
West. II is printed on high quality book
paper and is filed from cover 10 cover
with special articles and illustrations
setting forth the advantages of the
Northwest. II tells about the industries
Of Washington-mining fishing. agricul-
ture, manufacturing, and so on. tells OF
the growth OF her cities, and the advan-
tages to the homeseeker. Among the
contributors to the magazine are Gov
A. E. Mead. J. c. Rathbun, Sam H
Nichols, secretary Of state; ex-Gov
JDilH II A1CItdWy NlIllaTu hickman
Moore. mayor Of Seattle, and many
others
The record Of the week at the Public
Library on popular books shows that the
most popular fiction has been THE
Fighting Chance" by Robert Chambers
and Winston ChurchIls "Coniston." The
most popular nonhction works have beer
the autobiography of Gen. Lew Wallace
and Honadays Campfire In the Cana.
dian Rockies" The two popular Juvenile,
were Eggleston's Stories of Great Amer.
leans" and Andrew Lang's yellow Fairy
! Book"
The announcement is made by Double
day, Page & Co. that they viii bring ou
Thomas w. Lawson's book, Friday, tht
: 18TH on February 26 The book is called
''an epic of the market" and by a coincf
denCe will be published on the anni,-er