The Washington herald., 1909-06-20
REVIEWS OF NEW BOOKS.

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/ The multiplying cults Of the last few
years have somewhat obscured Spiritual
/ ism but now Fremont Rider seeks 10
bring IL again 10 the front by his book.
''Are the Dead Alive?" which. BY all the
/ evidence. is a renewal OF the propaganda,
and IL must be admitted that the writer
is extremely fair in his treatment. not
fearing 10 parallel most OF the famous
exposures Of alleged mediums with bis ar
guments in favor Of the truth OF his be-
lief. The matter IN the book has already
1 appeared as a series or articles IN the
Delineator.
The writer gives a very interesting re
sumo Of the work OF the most celebrated
mediums. admitting that most OF them
had been az some tine detected In some
species OF fraud, but claiming that there
are a few men who have stood the test
Of the most accurate scientific investiga-
ton. and that there is something IN the
work Of almost all OF them that battles
scientific observation; giving the opinion
that In some instances mediums are
prompted by enthusiasm 20 hasten by ar
i tificial means the somewhat slow work
/
they claim 70 be the source OF the mani
festations- This recapitulauon Of seances
he backs up by the phnosOphic utterances
OF renowned thinkers Among the me-
diums ne mentions d. d. Home, the Fox
sisters. William Stanton Moses, Miss
Cook katie King. Mrs. Piper. and Eusa-
pia PaladinO. while among the invesdga-
tors are named Sir oliver Lodge, Count
/ Leo TOlstol. Dr. Caesare LOnbrOsO, Dr..
/ V. Maxwell Prof. William Barrett. Will
lam T. Stead, Andrew Lang. Sir William
/ ICrookes, DR.. Charles Rlchet DR.. Filippo
Botazzi. Camille FlammarIon. and Prof
William James. This Is a very formld-
able list, but IL must be admitted that the
majority OF these men resolve themselves
into statement OF belief in the exist
ence OF the soul and OF something beyond
this life
Socrates and Plato expressed about the
| same belief. and q perusal Of al the dis
courses must convince the ordinary reader
that these profound philosophers and
learned scientists are quite as unable 20
see beyond the veil as any one Is. At
any rate. In few Instances Is stated an
absolute belief in modern spiritualism. the
returning OF spirits 20 earth. on even any
/ thing tangible as 70 the future OF the
soul These questions have bafied the
mind OF man since the beginning. and we
believe that is part Of the omniscient
plan OF the Almighty that they shall con
/ tinue 70 DO until his perfect wisdom shall
open our eyes. Whether be win DO t.
while they are stiu performing their
| physical functions on this earth or after
: ward. We know not, bUt ike most OF the
+. great philosophers, the rank and file. IN
the majority believe that all VIII oe well
To attempt 70 pass beyond the line set Is
/ Ike groping IN the dark. The questions
as 20 The how and why % mans going
are as unanswerable as those as 20 the
how and why of his coming An Of this
/ however, IS no bar 10 mans legitimate in
I vestigatton or desire 10 know something
more about himself HIS mind. and his
I soul The delving into the mysterious and
the unknown IS always fascinating. The
I writer very concretely states the whole
situation in the opening paragraph OF his
| introduction when be says: For cen
/ tuTies man has been puzzled by certain
/ occurrences which have not fitted into his
| established order OF things. Ever since
the beginning. since man groped forward
into a clear belief in the future. there has
/ existed. for instance. q concurrent belief
I that the spirits OF the dead IN the other
/ world sometimes comes back 10 earth.
I sometimes communicate with those they
had left behind here. But ghosts were
/ something that modern science as il grew
Up IN the past three centuries could not
( explain: so science cheerfUlly denied theiT
/ existence"
/ The book. while not furnishing absolute
/ conviction IN any sense Of the truth Of
/ the authors belief 20 the unbelieving.
/ makes mighty interesting reading. which
no doubt leaves the question as thorough
/ " open as before.
THE MAKING OF BOBBY BURNT. BY George
Randolph Chester. Indianapolis. the BoobsMer-
MI Company
George Randolph Chester IS well known
10 readers OF the Saturday Evening Post
as the writer Of the ultra-modern stories
Of substantial interest The Making OF
Bobby Burnt is one of those rapid-fire
dashing romances OF up-to-date life which
might be very suitably called a modern
fairy tale. The description IS used ad-
visedly. Bobby Burnt is the pampered
son OF a deceased millionaire The old
man. in dying. ties up Bobby's fortune IN
such a way as 20 leave no other course
open 10 Bobby than 20 try and develop
his faculty for making money For this
purpose he is handed at the outset GER
advice from any one is set at the task OF
coping with the business world. His
trustee Is girl. in whose sound common
sense Bobbys father had considerable
and abiding faith.
/ OF course. the first attempt fails. and
Bobby loses hts fathers Old-established
mercantile business so quickly that he
hasn't really had time 10 turn arOune,
but Is promptly handed another sum.
which IN turn IS as promptly lost An
other and stiu another time he fails. each
time gritting his teeth with the Burnt
persistency, and keeps on losing money
and gaining experience. In the end. after
six failures. he succeeds beyond even the
readers most sanguine hopes. He not
only gets back his fathers business and
revolutionizes the politics OF his city but
all the failures suddenly turn cut 20 be
good things and nothing apparently is
lost but time. All the while the girl
Agnes EllistOn-has been waiting for
Bobby 20 make good, and he justihes her
faith IN him.
The fairy tale comes N IN this wise.
Bobbys father leaves him as an addi-
tional legacy a collection OF gray envel-
opes In which are written certain grim
commentaries on the conduct OF Bobby
and which, as Bobby opens one by one al
certain crises in his affairs. show a re-
markable perspicacity. and show Bobby S
father TO be possessed OF an almost un-
canny foresight and knowledge OF exactly
how things are going 10 turn out. As
most OF these are Of the Il told you so
character. they rather get OF Bobby's
nerves, but they also set him resolutely
at the task Of proving that he is not cutie
such fool as his father thinks he is
when 10, the final envelope shows that his
father beat him 10 it, as It were. and