Los Angeles herald., 1909-09-12

q TORIES of school days when the
- students have some contention,
~ some unhappiness to overcome or
some difficult financial burden to shoul-
der are always interesting to young
readers. In 1.-THE Girl of the Limber-
lost" both these features are intro
duced. One sees the little heroine
starting off to school clothed in ILL
fitting, inappropriate clothes OF cheap-
est material, hair slicked back ana
tied with a skimpy little ribbon bow
and shoes so heavy that they clump
numerically as she walks to and from
the blackboard.
The reader shares the teachers pleas
ure in the excellent solution ana ex-
PLANTATION which this brave giTl oilero n,7
in the mathematics class, and Iater on
her charity and helpfulness when her
own cares are lightened make her still
more lovable and delightful:
The boys and girls who think that
lack of money or lack of friends is sur
ficient excuse for sitting back and al
lowing education and advantages 10
slip by them will find great iesson III
the courageous effort this girl makes
The manner in which she turns INTO
money those creatures of the swamp,
the moths, butterflies and other IN
scots rare and beautiful will open the
ewes of many boys and girls to the ad-
vantage of having some one lad OF
snecial form of knowledge with when
funds may be procured when neces-
sary.
The book is beautifully illustrated in
color by Wladyslaw It. Benda, and
printing and binding are delightful ex-
amples of the publishers art.
The Girl of the Limberlost. BY
Gene Stratton-Porter. New YORK:
Doubleday, Page & Co.
Everett McNiel's books for boys are
always interesting to those young
readers for whom they are specially
written, and they are frequently found
in the library of girls who like stores
of daring and adventure instead OF the
sickly sweet tales which are SO otten
offered to school girl readers.
In 1.-THE Boy Forty Miners Mr. NC,
Mel has woven a tale of plains ana
mountains which carries with it much
of the actual life of the early pralrle
schooner days. 1t imparts to the boys
and girls who read it some knowledge
of the Drawn and brain and courage
which went into the upbuilding OF thls
great west of ours. The story SHOWS
one of the important phases OF the
westward movement. 1t is dedicated to
the boys and girls of the greater Unit
ed States, but l am sure that 1t VIII
be read with particular interest by the
boys and girls of the great southwest.
The quotation from Joaquin Miller
the "poet of the Sierras," leads the
foreword and suggests the character
of the book
The long chained lines of yoked and patient
steers,
The long white line that pointed to the west
Beyond the savage west. the hopes and fears
OF blunt untutor'd men who hardly guessed
their course.
The history of the first discovery OF
gold in the Sierras is given with pic
turesque but brief manner. To quote
briefly from the foreword:
Prom cities and villages and farms
men hurried to the mines, careless or
regardless of the dangers and hard
ships to be met if only they could
reach the Land of Golden Promises.
The greater number chose the more di-
rect way across the great plains and
mountains and deserts of the then un-
known west, travelling in covered wag-
ons drawn by oxen, mules or horses
and following the trails made by : the
buffalo, the Indian or the hunter.
"The journey made by Arthur and
Ray and their companions was jour-
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