The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-03-17
"a HoosIer Chronicle..

q
$40
aii Perhaps US much any writer OF
the present day Meredith Nicholson cX
emplihcs tho age in which he lives.
the environment in which he has re-
ceived his inspiration. the country OF
america, his native land.
"A 11ooSicr Chronicle deals with
social and political conditions ami peo-
pie who help TO make them i'll In
diana nnh in indianapolis. Their
chroniclcr has not scrubbed To write
plainly and To discard tho veil Of mys-
terry formerly employed 10 disguise
localities and people in fiction. Mi.
Nicholson deals with realities sincere
Is and honestly ana is not avcrsc to
giving truthful impressions OF what he
has seen aud known OF personalities
and problems IN Ms State and city.
Mr.. Nicholson has had varied cN
pericnre on the practical side OF en-
istence. having been in earlier life by
turns biographies. Il druggist,
stenographer. u student or law, a
Journalist ana an officer i'll a large
mining corporation. Now he is living
in Indianapolis and writing ont the
experiences he has gathered in for tho
american public to read.
Ills present story extends from The
period of III" nincties down to the
present lie mas chosen u number of
MS narrative and has sct up :, bis
hook canvas for his moving picture
show i'll notion Passing and requesting
are the figures Of Sylvi.. the heroine,
uiio meets hTavely AMI We'll the great
crises in her lie; tho Yale graduate
Mho develops satisfactorily in the.
world OF spaperdom and the pro-
LESSONS OF law and politics. woman,
who, in spite ot advancing years. can
point TO her achievements as a stock
farmer ana a political boss. These
arc all more or less nearly related to-
each other by ties ri interest ana as
ISOLATION and are contrasted With other
important and almost equally siEni-
hcant types Mr. Nicholson has done
his book work froi. ruch n positive
and coryinccd standpoint Of knowledge
and devotion 10 his State. that he has
most admirably Interpreted the ideals
and faiths OF that ccpecial part Of the
Middle West in which he has his home,
~ IA man Of the people he writes to
tile people
In this fact lies MI Nichoison's es-
sential charm and power. He has been
in the midst of wha; he describes He
IS no dilcttante no outsid, and super
fclnl onlookcr. lie has said that "thc
life that surGcs around me, whose
sounds rise from the asphalt below:
the hurryins feet on tho tiles in my
own corridor Of a steel boned tower.
the faint tinkic of telephones. the click
or elevator doors-thesc things and the
things they stand for speak with deep
and thrilling clodueHce. and he whu
woUld best serve the literature of lis
time and country VIII not ignore them.
lie mas fully carried out in ~ Hoo.
eicr Chronicle" this vision of modcrnity
which he secs so clearly iii its beauty
and its uplift. well as its soldidncs,
and gr>ed; in its ideilism. az well as
It's disilusionment: in It's optimism,
above and beyond its pessimism
Mr.. Nicholson has not hcsitated to
emphasize IN his book the increasingly
important part played IN Public affairs
by the intelligent American women OF
the twentieth century. In his chrou-
clcr's postscript picture. where his pei
pie are grouped for . public hearing
by Senntc committee on child labor
nc thus por,rays one OF his favoritr
characters, Marian BAss.tt nuw Mrs
Allen Thatcher. He writes: ''ilaving
known Marian FOR Z Ions time. /, was
almost TOO much Tor my cpmpasure 10
behold her there beyond question the
hsst-dressed woman in the senate
cha nlber. with q sinrle American Beauty
thrust into her coat and a bcwildcrinS
= rose trimmed hat crowning nor fair
head pleasant sieht anywhere on
Earth, this daughter Of the lion. Nor
ton Bassctt, sometime senator from
Fraser; but her appearance in the leg
is.atifc nall long dominated hy h.r
father confirmed my faith in the ulti-
mate adjustments Of the law Of .om-
pansations had known Marian o!
old as an expert golfer and the mos,
tircless dancer at .Waukegan. hu, that
. speech broke aii'her .-cords"
f,n - !.