The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-26
 REALN OF BOOKS


Hours In Southern History" written by Prof. J. Lesslie Hall. of William and Mary College. and published in beauti- full form by the B. F. Johnson Co.,. of Richmond.
 The New England Journal of Educa- tion says: NO book could be more well come or of greater service. Prof. Hall was a mere boy when the civil war closed, so that he has none of the re- lationship to that war, for good or for ill which would have been probable had he been born ten years earlier. His university work was at Johns Hop kins, which gave a good blending of northern and southern associations. He Is an historian with a national reputa- tion to maintain and as an historian he writes or course he Is a southern man and he must hold his southern au- dience, which he has certainly done. but he has not done 1t by appealing to l prejudices, but by magnifying, primar- fly, the early glory of the southland. and by making personal heroes of the individuals who manifested bravery in various fields. The methods of treat ment are fascinating. It is the mod erin paragraphers ideal in that each special subject-about 220-is put with all the glory of the essayist. It is a book that will be read by all southern students and should be read as uni versally in the north, It would do us all good
 The book is being received most en- thussastically by southern papers and prominent men of the south. An emi- 1 nent authority on the south says "I regard your work as one of the most valuable to the south, and especially to the young people of the south, that oh ftf,r1 pEv, the war. Thanking you in be- half ot the southern people for the work :"
 The Norfolk Landmark. in an edi- torial, says: He is aggressive, po- lemical, often vehement in the asser- tion of the south's services and sacri- fees. but there is rarely a trace of bit terness in his york;
 T have read Aunt Jane of Kentucky, like old man Harper used to run his horses, from eend to eend and declare 1t to be delightful book-yes, delightful" ," says Congressman Champ Clark of Mis- souri. Tt carried me back to my child hood and boyhood in the hill country of Kentucky. Aunt Jane Is a wholesome i book, full of bubbling and clean humor. !" 1 The publishers now announce third edi- ] ton of Eliza Calvert Halls book. Ap- plications for an English edition were re- ceived in the same mail from two leading London publishers.
 When Sam Walter Floss, the New Eng land poet, was editing the Yankee Blade. he received contributions from a western writer named John H. Whitson, which he was compelled to return, with the apology that the work was "too good for the readers of the Yankee Blade. That was nearly score of years ago. MT. Whit son has since taken up his residence in the east, and has met for the first time former editor Toss, now the efficient librarian of the large public library of the city Somerville, Mass. Since coming eahst MT. Whitson has blossomed out as a full-fedged novelist For while he wrote western stories with good success, but the popularity of "rhe Rainbow Chasers" and Justin W1ngate, Ranch man" is destined to be excelled by that of 'Th Castle of Doubt" his latest novel. Here is a modern romance with so ingen- ious denouement that those novel read CTS who pride themselves in knowing from the beginning how a story Is going to turn out have surprise awaitin gthem.
 No variety of fiction causes so great a strain on the author as stories of mys- tery. The difficulties involved in put ting the puzzle together, taking 1t apart and then putting 1t together again for the readers benefit. are enormous. Prac- ticed hand she is, the problem in The Mayors Wife proved almost too great for Anna Katherine Green. When the labor of composition was over, she found herself on the verge of nervous pros- tration. She has gone abroad for a long and well-earned rest.
 A decentralization by George Middleton of Meredith Nicholson's popular story, The House of Thousand Candles" has been tried out" with great success by a stock company In Worcester, Mass. It will be put on the boards regularly next fall with company of its own.
 "The Port of Missing Men" MT. Nichol- sons new story, continues to be the best selling book in America, with long lead over Its nearest rivals.
 It is to the influence of Hawthorne that Hamln Garland owes 1t that he himself became a novelist.
 He was but a boy, living with his parents on a farm on the plains of Iowa, when his father, man of New England birth, put several volumes of Hawthorne into his hands.
 Garland was fascinated. From that mo- ment he thought of nothing but becoming a writer. At first he dared not aspire to De writer of fiction, however. not realiz- ing that he possessed the imaginative gift, and his early efforts at writing were essays descriptive of life in the west
 Gradually, however he felt his power expanding; then there came short stories; then the novels that have made him fa- nous.
 lis latest book is "The Long Trail.' a story of the Klondike. which Is especial ly interesting from the fact that in 1t he pict tres the fulfillment of his own early dream to be a treasure-hunter
 Among the books which continue stead- fly to gain friends, even months after publication. is that remarkable book on America, published last fall by the Har- per's, The Future in America" by H. G. Wells. Seldom has a book won such unstinted and outspolken praise. from fa- nous men on both sides of the Atlantic.
 And now Dr. Theodor Earth. the dis tinguisbed statesman and editor of Ber- lin, who is now on a visit to america, likewise expresses hims off in highly eulo- gistic words, for fin response to an address of welcome he spoke at some length of American conditions, and in the course of his remarks said:
 I have been reading MT. Wells recent 'book with great interest. He seems to get the psychologist side of the American people. l have enjoyed his volume more than any other work on America since MT Bryce's."
 The Future in America, it may be added Is a keenly interesting description of present-day America. and concerns the future only so far as 1t may be judged from rresent-day conditions.
 pr. W. A. P. Martin, author of "The