The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-04-20

,s..s....s.ssss.sss.ssssss
put in concrete form. The rules are clear,
practical, and easy to remember.
THE work is not based upon personal
opinion, but is founded upon mathemati-
cal facts. The results as given through
his simple rules are startlirgly clear.
Every player should own copy oil
this work
"a STEP ON THE STAIR"
BY Octave Thanet The Bobbs-Merrill
Co., indianapolis
A tale1 that brings with it all of the
spirit Of the Easter season and at the
same time furnishes food for earnest
thought and contemplation is "A Step on
the Stair" by Octave Thanet.
The strange possibilities of life after
death-the experiences of one who died
but was restored to life--are set forth
with peculiar appeal in this strangely
sympathetic little story. The central fig-
ure is a physician. He is stricken sud
denly, sinks rapidly and dies. He UNDER
goes the first experiences of life after
death He rejoins his mother, who died
some wears before. She permits him to
take one step on the stair of the great
unknown and explains to him the mys-
teries he beholds
At the same time, he is In full realiza-
ton of all that is going on in the sick
room. and even senses things that hap
pen elsewhere, of which, in his living
state, he could not have been cognizant.
"A Step ON the Stair is a tale that
possesses a marked touch of the physic,
vet il is full of the tender feeling of love
and companionship. Written in Octave
Thanets inimitable manner, it brings
comfort and consolation, and ray OIL
hope and faith beams from it's pages.
Wonderful sympathy, childike trust, and
mother love lend their appeal and make
the reading of the story thing OF ear
nest pleasure and a benefit.
"sARDOU AND THE SARDOU PLAYS
By Jerome Hart. J. b. Lppincott COM
pany. philadelphia
The London dramatic season closes
about the time that the New York sea-
son opens-in August. AT the end OF the
London season, in August 1872 54 new
PLAYS had been produced. OF these, only
nine were fairly successful. and only four
ran through the entire season. AT the
end of the New York season of 1911
the percentage of success was about the
same.
"Sardou and the Sardou Plays" by
Jerome A. Hart shows that the veteran
dramatist had much higher percentage
of success than contemporaneous drama
lists. He produced plays form 1854 to
lMk. bi XedfS-OQtiY tilOu5ii, iiS~-@N<>e~
number of the London productions OF
1872 His total in the "a years was Is pre-
ductions, including collaborations. OF
these, only about six We're failures, al
though a certain number, of course. were
not up to his great successes. His first
play was an absolute failure. The Lip
pincett publication contains Il number OF
curious details concerning Sardous man
ner of working. From these, it is evident
he was a profound student-not only of
play construction, but of audiences as
well. Most young playwrights think that
a successful play is merely a matter of
genius: they will find from this Sardou
biography that genius in playwriting is
"a capacity for taking infinite pains"
"OTHER BOOKS RECEIVED GRE
VIEWS LATER)
1.-THE WEAKER VESSEL" BY L. F,
Benson. Dodd, Mead & Co.: New York.
1.-THE KINGS BLUE RIBAND." BY
Beth Ellis. George II. Doran Company:
New York.
THE COMBINED MAZE" BY May
Sinclair. Harper Brothers: New York.
SALLY cAsTLETON. SOUTHERN
Err" BY Crittenden Marriott With il
lustrations by w. c. Wyeth. B. Lip
pincott company: Philadelphia.