The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-20
It is light and bright and charming, clean

It is light and bright and charming, clean and right up-to-the- minute
 The widow in the book, who holds con versations, faithfully reported by Helen Rowland, with the mere-man, was a won der. The conversations sparkle, give one pleasing tonic-effect, explains to us, too, just what many of us think on the subjects discussed.
 The mere-man was endeavoring to con vince the widow that her duty lay in taking up the ''white-mans Cor womans) burden,a towit, himself-and some very fine arguments are presented in the book, backing up the mere-mans claims. The widow could take care of herself, alright; they say, they usually can-this widow while young and charming, likewise pret- ty, was not born yesterday, nor as one can easily see, the day before that
 Says the widow
 ''The marrying fever is like the measles or the appendicitis, liable to catch you at any age or stage and you never know when or how you got it. Sometimes man takes it when he is very young and Iushes into a fool marriage with wo- man twice his age and sometimes he goes all his life up to 50 without catching the eontagion and then gets it horribly and marries his cook or chorus girl young enough to be his granddaughter. Haven't you seen confirmed bachelors successfully resist the wiles of the most fascinating women and turn down dozen suitable girls-and then, just when you thought they were quite safe and entirely past the chance of marriage as well as their first youth, turn around and tie themselves to some fool thing with out a penny to her name or q thought worth half that amount? That was a late attack of the matrimonial fever and the older you get 1t the harder it goes. The trouble is that when a man has the marrying fever he can clcthe anything in curls and petticoats with the illusions he has built around the ideal and put the ideals halo on her lead and imagine .le is the real thing. He can look at led-headed pug -nosed girl from angle that will make her hair seem pure gold and her pug look Creek That isn't any joke,
 --.en what? inquired the bachelor. 'is the science of choosing wife?'
 "Well said the widow first of all a man should never choose a wife when he finds himself feeling lonesome and dreaming of furnished flats and stopping to talk to babies in the street. He has the marrying fever then and is in no fit condition to pick out a wife and un- less he is very careful he is liable to marry the first girl who smiles on him. He. should shut his eyes tight and flee to the wilderness and not come back un- til
 And so on. 4rhe Widow and her friend-lover the mere-man are all right It is a very unusually bright little volume. When Mother Lets Us Cook" by Con-
 stance Johnson (Moffat, Yard & Co)
 This is a book of simple recipes for little folk with important cooking rules in rhyme, togeLner with handy lists of .tI. a1aI f.x, the preparation of each dish. This is no doubt a very useful and welcome book.
 THINGS TO HAVE
 Tablespoons, teaspoons, measuring cup Bowls, plates, knives, all polished up. Egg -beater. lifting knife, baking tin, Sauce pans bread board, rolling pin; double boiler, chafng ash,
 A wooden spoon I know you'll wish flour sitter. a cutter, too;
 A clock to show when the cooking's through.
 An apron to do the cooking ill, And hands scrubbed clean before you begin.
 Stars off all right, doesn't it? There are no stipulations in the book as to eating the concoctions When Mothee Lets Us Cook" but it does look as if such volume would keep little Mary, Jane Kate and son on, busy-when such condition was desirab e-as 1t is certain to be desirable even in the best regulated households-yea, verify! The book Is nicely Illustrated and sent | forth by the publishers. "The Gentleman" by Alfred Ollivant CThe Macmillan Company) This. is a most superior story of 1SO5 | a period when England was in state of some anxiety as to the outcome of | Napoleon's designs upon her and when she felt that upon Nelson rested all her hopes of salvation. These conditions MT. Olivant utilzes to build up the story of a conspiracy of Napoleonfc origin against the life of Lord Nelson and takes as his hero a 15-year-old midshipman | Kit Caryl the son of a former ship mate of Nelson's through whose instru- mentality the conspiracy Is finally de- l feated.
 The action in the book takes place from July to September. 1so6. and con-