The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-03-15
THE IRON HEEL BY lack London.
Published by the. Macmillan Co,

of New York. s1.aN.
"trhe Iron Hoei'' is given 10 the read
or in the form az manuscript osten
sielp from tho pen OF Avis ENerllard
I the wife of Ernest overheard, WRITER
shortly after his execution. In tht
spring Of 1892 y. n, and during tn,
last DAYS Of preparation for what wa
subsequently, known as the Second he
Welt. ur tie second effort OF organized
labor 10 throw OFT the yoke OF an oil
Earchy, called in the book, The lroT
Heel
M After the execution Of FSerhard, III.
wife went 10 Wake Robin Lodge, q
small bungalow III the Sonorla Hills ei
California. Here the manuscript Wa:
made up with a view to its puhli-
cation: as soon rs the Second Revol'
Should have overihrown The Iron
Hess" IL the erushing defeat sof the
Second Revolt her hopes as 10 wla:
her husband Ind labored and given his
life for. ended with her being cap
tured and. in her turn, cSecuietl.
But before tina; supreme crisis was
reached. the manuscript broken OF
ere 1t was fully ended. was hidden
By lfeiS .f.h Follow oak ut Wake Robin
centuries during which a third =
fourth and many labor revoltS had
drenched the world in blood and
brought the labor movement at last
into its own. the manuscript was found.
and much that before had been un-
known and unexplained came to light
in its pages.
II is difficult for the mind to project
itself forward seven centuries beyond
1882. or to conceive of possible condi-
tions brought about then. That the
manuscript hesins with February. 1872,
In its narration. and Is abruptly ended
in 1882. is . distinct relief to the imag-
nation striving to see conditions from
Jack Iondon's standpoint.
Avis I1verhard Is represented through
her manuscript as being the daughter
of John Cunningham, distinguished
scientist and professor in the STATE
met the mau she married at dinner
given by her father, where he be-
gan, apparently out of place. surronnu-
ed By a number of bishops and clergy
men, and afterward Interested her oN
the breadth OF his views and his knowl-
edge OF conditions among the working
classes.
The second time he met her they
began discussion on the wrongs OF
the laboring class, and he said 10 her:
Il understand YOU have money invest
ed in tine Sierra NILS Because you
have. the gown you wear is stained
drei, and of strong men is dripping
from your very roof-beanis. j. can
close my eyes now, and hear ii drip,
drop drip, drop. all about me-"
Amazed and indignant she began TO
investigate matters. hoping to refute
his arguments. Before her investiga.,
tions had gone far, she was confronted
with the truth of whathe said. Her
knowledge of the circumstances i'll his
life that had made him what he was
a olutionist-intereSed her in spite
of herself. She ended by loving Ernest
Everhard and marrying him, forsaking
when she did so the class and home
life in which she had been reared, and
throwing in her lot entirely with that
of her husband
She describes the virtual death
thrust to the middle class dealt ~ ths
captains of industry IN the summer o
1872: the destruction of the Granger
In 1913; her husbands Imprisonment
at Alcatraz, an island in san Fran
cisco Bay; his escape, and their lif
together, hidden in the shadow of So
mona: their leaving the refuge in 1917
the failure of the First Revolt duriu
the autumn of that year in Chicago
the fearful scenes enacted there, an
their flight from that city to New Yorl
In depicting the terror of after days
she writes: And through it all move
the Iron Heel. impassive and deliberate
shaking up the whole fabric of tn
social structure in its search for tn
comrades. coraaing iut the mercenaries
the labor castles, and all its secret ser
Vices. furnishing without mercy an
without malice, suffering in silence al
retailiations that were made upon 1t an
filing the gaps in lighting line a
fast as they appeared"
A few more sentences and the manu-
script moves to its unfinished close
The book is written with the viril
Intensity of style belonging character
istically to Mr.. London. 1t will doubt
less excite much discussion and NEE
with much opposition. 1T will h
classed as the extravaganza production
of 9 visionary and dreamer, but new
eftheless, much in It will arrest atten
ton and bring home the realiZatio
that the author is man of world