The Washington herald., 1913-03-16

that a future will not see lofty ideals
Of democracy realized south of the Rio
Grande-
THE NIGHT BORN lard other stores,: By Jack
L,udon. New YurS-The Century Company.
Farce. meIodrama and tragedy tostie
one another in the ten short stories
which, gathered from various magazines.
have gone to make Mr. London's latest
book The title story takes us to the
X Iondike about which we have already
learned so much from his facile pen and
glowing imagination. In another We
visit the South Seas; third scene Is
Ceylon. while in the remainder We ac-
company the author to Ecuador. Mexico
and the country about San Francisco
|, And in one OF them. which bears the
word War" as its title, We have de-
scriptive sketch of the ironies of fate.
In each of these stories. The Madness
of John HARVARD" When the World
Was Young" punches of Knuckles,
The Benefit of the Doubt" and the re-
manning six may he found evidences of
the observant eve the keenness of mind.
the swiftness of verbal movement. the
knowledge of the world that combine
to make Mr.. London master of fiction
the elementary instincts OF man fire.
ouently give Mr. London his inspiration,
and he seems never happier than when
he is telling tale of revenge. -Four oi
the stories of this collection deal with
II. In The Benefit of the Doubt a re-
spectacle student OF social conditions
strolls into a drinking place, is set upon
by the proprietor and receives no redress
when he brings the matter into court
The harroom keeper has political infiu-
ence while he has none, and the result Is
that when a counter charge is brought
against him. he is held up to public de-
rision in the daily newspapers. and Is
relea sed only because each teStlnes that
the other is the aggressor and the judge
does not care to discriminate as to which
is the liar.
In Winged Blackmail." a flying ma
chine is utilized by the author for the
tracking of a criminal in a fashion that
is more fantastic than realistic. and in
when the World Was Young, we are
given an account of what happens when
a civilized man inherits passions that
make him a pre- Adamic creature by night
and a normal American twentieth CEN
fury citizen by day. The early even-
ings he spent socially, but as the hour
grew to nine or ten an irresistible rest
lessness overcame him and he disappear
ed from the haunts of men until the next
afternoon.
II is undeniable that despite THE Sea
Wolf and Martin Eden Mr.. London
is at his best as short story writer.
He has the power of condensation, the
knack of expressing much into little, and
his love for the primitive and the virile
in man finds its best outlet in the brief
narrative Of incident. He Is neither re-
Elective nor retrospective, and in day
when the psychological and analytica!
story is all prevailing Mr.. London's un-
,N,,. fuIn aSnaria1lv lnytUOr-
ating.
POOR DEAR MARGARET KIRBY: BY Kathleen
Norris. New York-The Macmillan Company.
Cheerful. optimistic. pervaded by a
spirit of good cheer, full of life. with
characters not the typical people Of fic
ton. but the every day people with whom
all of us constantly are coming in con-
tact, are these stories by the author OF
the well remembered Mother which
made many friends for Kathleen Norris.
Though Mrs. Norris has become widely
| known through her two novels. 1t was
through the short story field that she en-.
tered the ranks of fictionists. Her sue
cess in demonstrating that the creation
of the short story is an art in itself
| makes the publication of this collection
Of tales from her pen more interesting.
Here is gathered together the best OF
the work upon which her reputation
rests Stories of sentiment, of purpose
humorous stories stories rejecting the
more serious phases of life and stories
which evidently were written just be.
cause they afforded their author pleas.
| ure; all find a place in this versatile
| volume.
lANTIETAM AND THE MARYLAND AND vIR
GINA CAMPAIGNS OF 1867: BY Isaac NJ
Heysinger former cartan. L. S. A. New York
The Neale Publishing Company. Price. $50
| "Antietam' may be called THE Case
of Mcclellan VS.. Popular History" Tn,
| book is clear, logical. and Unconditional
| why did not Mcclellan finish up th'
war in 1892 askes Capt. Heysinger. An,
/ he answers stanton" Or. in more
| words Because of the almost irresistibl,
power of the malific civilian cabal a
\ Washington to which Lincoln himself
was subject" Then. concise and logical
he tells the inside history of this ''maliAt
civilian cabal" following the events oi
she Maryland campaign from March. 1851