New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1908-05-30
contrasts Betsceen Truth and Fiction
Il, Stories of Crime.

in the Dead Of Tsha By John MsInssre ss,
pfTb a1e9 P j. B Lippincott compa ny
Vera the Medium BY Richard Harding Davis
m PIG Charles Scribner's Sons.
me Double Mystery, BY Charles Edmonds walk,
CHICAGO: A. c Mcclurg & Company.
aSsr GgGose ,p BY ss Ar'hT s MeSre t oo
Pany-
The popularity of the story of crime is at its
height: 1t is no longer necessary that the hero
~ such story should he Sherlock Holmes
a Raffes Those masters. it is true. would be
errer than ever of warm welcome to-day. but
.be motives illustrated in the tales OF their ad
ventures have achieved such vogue that there
is now room for almost any book about crime
and its detection. matter how il may COM
mare with the works of Sir Conan Doyle and
NJ f W. Hornung. Everybody is writing
about burglarious and similarly sinister mys-
ferries In every hatch of new novels the clever
criminal or detective Is duly represented. 1t is
worth while therefore. to consider some of the
broad aspects of this part Of current literature.
and the inquiry is made the more interesting
al this time through the publication OF Mr. Ar
thu- Trains True Stories of Crime The
novelist in this field might justly claim that he
locks for his standard TO writers like Poe or
rshoriau but the truth goes TO the testing of
every work Of the imagination. and book like
N- Trains is not only an effective but iegit-
mate touchstone to use in examining the sort OF
fiction have in mind
II IS a good book. amusing as il is edify-
;ng The author relates history, and he notes
that in the majority OF the cases he cele-
F-a-es he conducted the prosecution himself. IF
he has dressed up" his narratives at ALL to
rive them better literary form. he has done
0f y. &c nvd
Abiding 10 this point he says. The writer must
MEAD guilty TO having fallen under the spell Of
ire romance Of his subject" This is an easily
hle plea The romance is there; of that
-here can be no question. In some instances, no
doubt the theme is merely sordid. as in the
story called The Woman in the Case, an &C
count Of a swindlins enterprise in New York
But there are genuinely romantic clements in
number OF the other tales 1t seems incredible that
q man should be able 10 persuade number OF
Frenchnnen that they entitled to an estate Of
FIVE hundred million dollars in America, and bleed
-her7 through considerable period for funds
supposedly 10 be applied TO the establishment OF
their rights Such scheme is obviously fan
-astic 10 the point OF absurdity, but Mr.. Train
shows Us with what success it was once carried
o-7- His story Of Confidence Men Abroad" In
which one of the men recites his experience IN
The hands Of French law, reads like something
out Of Stevenson-only the whole thing actually
happened So. in his chapter on the struggles
of a detective TO bring the man Dodge from
Texas to New York in the Morse case, sheer
fact is made as astonishing and exciting as
ANYTHING in fiction AS for Mr. Trains last
story. "A Case of Circumstantial Evidence, 1t
is 2 composition Of which any novelist treating
Of crime could afford TO be proud In its way
this tale OF Italian intrigue and murder, with its
6
niece Mr. Train tells il with really striking
ability He has in fact, a gift for writing Of
this kind He adapts his method TO his subject
Whether he is treating the five hundred million
Dollar fraud. story OF the Bolts Strad1Tarius'
the crimes Of Miller and Ammon, those of Pat
rick and Hunrlel. or the extraordinary perform
apce of Antonio Strollo, he strikes just the right
note. creates just the right atmosphere
What light does NJ. Train throw on the whole
,-,estiou Of stories Of crime? In the first place
h. shows that the writer Of such a story may go
- almost any lengths. Anything that You
choose may be assumed Of wicked human nat
,~s THERE'S no crime conceivable by the nov
erfs- that might not be committed. In the light
of Nj Trains careful statements OF fact II Is
main that the niles OF the criminal leave the
invention Of the most ingenious novelist Tar De
hind But in giving the novelist carte ttdnche, as
il were Mr.. Train enforces the fact that mar"
-atiye Of crime TO be convincing must hang
together throughout; that the device Of coinci-
dence must he sparingly used. II USED al ALL
and that the question OF motive must receive
The closest possible attention. II seems. per-
hans little cruel to subject stories professedy
fictitious 10 comparison with Mr.. Trains rec
o-5s bllr after all this only brings into sharper
relief defects which would in any case be no
ticeable
Take for example In the Dead Of Night"
This Is a truly absorbing story. one OF the cev-
crest We have read. in long time. 1t starts
with erisodes that Immediately pique the read
er's curiosity The hero. who has been taking
part in a South American revolution and has
worked his way 10 New York in the stokehole
q ship stands at night in Broadway. tapping
his hand with a newspaper in which he has just
read that the colossal fortune Of one stephen
Austin is hanging in the balance AT this mo
rTert woman in a hanson invites him 10 seat
himself by her side and though. 10 the best OF
his knowledge no one in New YORK shoulo
know anything Of his affairs. she shows that
she is acquainted with them and takes him TO
the deathbed OF Stephen Austin! There ne II
committed 70 a mysterious enterprise ana loF IN
with has the wild adventures which go to the
making q fiction like this. Dreadful things &C
cur They hold the reader. But remembering
AIr. Trains book he asks Mr. Mcintyre 10 JUS
tfy himself. on TWO counts Mr. Mcintyre fails
The coincidence which brings Kenyon 10 New
York At the psychological moment, where ne
gives unconsciously. a signal for which the
woman in the cab is on the lookout, is natlF
rrepoet erous Furthermore, We are asked 10 De
Neye that rnrlti-rnillionaire in New YORK conio
de amongst his enemies in circumstances OF uhe
most naelodramatic character without the sus-
picions Of the police and the pubic pe.he