The San Francisco call., 1910-07-24
A Gaelic American Author-Artist

l1fHQ- "A weak, SELFISH Wllo VI Tile lQiC
rich comes dangerously near falling,
but Is saved by what she terms exile"
to the north woods. The immediate
agency is forest fire, finely portrayed,
which destroys the Big Shanty" her
sterling though somewhat wooden mill
lionaire husband had erected for her,
and forces her to get down to first
principles The love of their enthusias-
tic but conventional daughter and the
woodsmar superintendent forms an in
teresting romance, well drawn. The
men characters are better done than
the women. The story has more force
than finish, and the plot is mechanical
in places. The style. however, is very
fine and there is something very invig-
Grating in it's glorification of open air
life. 1t contains seeds Of promise which
may some day ripen into power to Gre
sate a Captain Joe" or an "Oliver
Horn"
Another contemporary novel which
tells of the way of a husband with
wife is THE Pillars of Eden" by Philip
Verrill Mighels. The curing process is
strikingly similar in its drastic meas
ures, but Mr.. Mighels' book has none
of the wholesome tonic of the woods,
which freshens and makes stimulating
THE Lady of Big Shanty" Yet there
is one moment in each book when the
two husbands swear exactly alike.
1t is with relief that we find Mr..
Smith returning, in his latest book, to
France, his natural environment. "A
Village of Vagabonds," published last
May. is a rosy tale of sleepy little
fishing village on the Norman coast.
This book was also published serially.
Mr.. Smith has written a number of sue
cessful short stories, from time to time,
all possessed with the same rare charm.
Critics are unanimous in proclaiming
the "vagabonds," "by far the best book
far" very slender thread running
through it gives these sketches the
name of story, but it's chief charm is
the same quaint style, now more fully
developed, the picturesque scenes, and
delightful "vagabonds.' These charac-
ters are delicately drawn and finely
penciled. Suzette. the rosy checked
girl in sabots," who sang all day; Nine.
Alice de Breville, with her rare and en-
viable charm; Tanrade, the big souled
musician; Mere Marianne, the worst
vagabond OF them all: the generous
cure. who cuts his mass tiny bit short
to hurry to hts duck blind; Pierre, the
soldier gardener; the miser Garron and
his grim story-all seem to be real
people, not characters in a story.
And SO many of them are, for much
of the book Is from real life. Near this
.lost village by the Norman sea- Mr..
Smith owns a farm on which he grows
shooting expeditions he tells about.
That he is keen lover of this sport Is
easy to see by what he says OF follow
Ing 1t there and also off Bridgeport.
Conn, which he speaks of by way Of
DEPRESSION.
"A Village of vagabonds' is the most
artistically got up of any of his books
and contains an interesting and unique
collaboration of father and son. When
F. Hopkinson Smith visited his sons
farm he made several beautiful
landscape paintings about there. These
he presented to his son as Illustrations
for the new book They appear as
frontispiece, lining pages, and on the
wrapper. The author adds some pen
and ink sketches of his own as chapter
headings.
Mr.. Smith refuses to divulge the real
name of this fishing village which he
calls "Pont du Sable" He says he loves
it too much to see 1t brought low by
the ruthless tourist. AS an example of
pubIieity's direful effects the following
is cited: A few years ago there existed
somewhere near the heart of New York
an obscure German rathskeller, appar-
emily transported bodily from Bohemia.
Nothing foreign to Germany was ever
seen. heard, eaten, or drunk there. One
evening a ferreting reporter chanced to
light on It, Die Lustige Witwe" was
in full swing upon miniature stage,
the audience slipping real Munich and
enjoying Wiener schnitzels at 20 cents
a plate The widow happened to be
of huge proportions, and when she tried
to ensconce herself in the summer
house it was found necessary to split
1t up the middle so that the roof no
longer Joined. 1t was Very crude. but
thoroughly enjoyable to this Saxon au-
dience The reporter saw his chance
and played it up big" The next Sun
days edition had a big story of this
bit OF genuine Bohemia in the heart OF
the American metropolis. It's doom was
sealed A few nights later any one
stroIling in would discover modern
restaurant supplying Americans with
German dishes to the tune of the latest
popular airs. Wiener schnitzels had
risen to so cents plate; other things
proportionately. The proprietor was
making money, but the old German
habitues were no longer to be seen.
Down the center of the narrow restau-
rant was laid long table at which 20
men and women drank champaign
They were "a sight seeing party" 1t
is this fate that Berkeley Smith fears
for his village