Evening star., 1914-10-10

pushing elbowing stories that, II not
read at the instant of their appearance.
spoil-like a cup of coffee, which. If
taken at the second of its perfection Is
a drink for gods, an elixir of life, but,
delayed for a half minute. becomes a
commonplace wash for the ready in
take of food.
With this surprising book now In
hand whole fall and winter may be
spent in occasional anticipatory tast-
ing sips of the delights in store for
its enamored readers. And next spring
when "the red gods call US out and
we must co." we, of the tribe, shall
all set out to put to the proof of
actual participation the joys SO amply
and artfully set out in this volume. The
nineteen chapters here-why not have
made it an even twenty?-make one
captivatingly prolonged fish story. From
Maine to Washington, from the north
ern ocean to the gulf-with bits of
Europe thrown in for good measure
this fishing adventure ranges, turning
the entire area into one vast fish pond
with outlets only for such exacting
members of the finny horde as stand
out for running water to suit their
whimS and fancies. Fishing from every
angle of worm or fly, from every idio-
SyHCTdSy OIL nook ana line IS mere
spread out. The whole is a tonic for
the out-of-doors man, an intoxication
for the fishing sportsman. Along with
DIR. Van Dyke, Latham Crandan is
fisherman as well as a clergyman
both of illuStriouS descent The many
pictures of this book are almost on a
level with the surprising quality of the
book itself
THE AUCTION BLOCK. A Novel of
New York Life. By Rex Beach, au-
thor of The Silver Horde etc. IL
lustrated by Charles Dana Gibson.
New York: Harper & Brothers.
Prior to the sixties. the title of Rex
Beach's new story would have pointed
directly upon the negro slave trade.
Latterly, however, partly from the
facts and partly out of a literary vogue
supported by literary license. the auc-
tion block has come to mean quite an
other thing. 1t: as this novel is meant
to make clear, is now social inStru-
ment- 1t has become system of
weights and measures, SO to speak,
bent to the uses of the matrimonial
market wherein balance is sought
between beauty and money. The stage,
in this novel, is the somewhat familiar
setting of the transaction. Or, to be
perfectly definite at this point, it is
rather the stage entrance through
which the matter progresses. the dress
Ing rooms, the near-morning after-per-
formance suppers. The heroine. like
SO many stage beauties, is probably a
reason the stage itself does not come
into the story. To make long story
shorter, rich, drunken Bob Wharton,
upon an occasion of even more than
his habitual inebriety, marries Lorelei
Knight, the ineffably beautiful and per-
fectly good stage girl of this romance.
Quite as might have been expected, old
Wharton disinherits Bob. Thereupon
shedding for the wherewithal to keep
their respective stomachs supplied with
the requisite amount of sustenance.
Bob, under the uplift of his good wife,
hunts up something that resembles
job. His astounding success in it can
be accounted for only on the ground
that this is a story calculated to please
In an unassailably lawful course of
time a son is born to the WhartonS.
This event reduces grandpas heart to
pulp. and, while it Is in this condition.
the thrills which her beauty and good
ness set astir in 1t. Everybody is
happy, and the adventure comes to an
end This commonplace theme pro-
crosses here with a great show OF brill
liancy. Champagne does most of the
talking throughout, so, to be sure, the
talk is ready, sparkling, tangy. Staid
members of the stock exchange-or one
bility-puy the champagne and help the
stage girls to absorb it, This pleases
the rzader prodigiously. since it es-
tablishes his own acumen in gathering
the conviction that the world is no
better than it should be. But, on the
whole. one comes out of this novel with
the wish that, just as a relief. he
could meet fine dog, plodding along
intent upon his own dignified business.
BY this novel Mr.. Beach attempts to
prove that, good authority to the con-
trary notwithstanding, grapes can be
gathered from thorns and fgs from
thistles. The parentage of Lorelei is
execrable. The mother is black
mailing bargainer in her daughter. The
brother is a plain crook. the father a
fool Overlooking plausibility. neglect
ing consistency, forgetting entirely the
resulative benefits of perspective, Mr..
Beach achieves an extravagant comedy
instead of a believable picture of So
cial life, even in New York,
THE SPELL OF JAPAN. BY Isabel
Anderson. Illustrated. Boston: The
Page Company.
The pictures assembled in this vol
ume were taken from the inside of the
officialsocial life of Japan. By vir-
tue of her position as the wife of an
American minister plenipotentiary to
the mikado's empire, Mrs. Anderson
came into the freedom of this other
wise lmpenetrable part of Japanese
life. 1t is this circumstance that, to a
great extent. gives distinctive color
and direction to her study of the
island empire. For. in the main, it is
around the new Japan that these views
cluster-around the awakened forward
looking empire of today and tomorrow.
Here in swift inclusive sketches and
snug summaries. politics, diplomacy,
education, industry and militarism re-
ceive competent passing attention. But
the new Japan is set inalienably in the
ancient land of Nippon Dai Nippon.
Temples and shrineS, sacred plants
and animals, revered institutions and
ceremonials literally swarm upon this
land of the million swords" And to
these Mrs Anderson pays full tribute
in many a lovely description that is
upheld by legend and tradition and
time-honored record. Here the book
makes a clear call to the poets and the
artists, as in it's other parts it does to
the man interested in current affairs,
to the general reader and the passing
traveller. This is a very unpretentious
story. an informal. clear-seeing and
friendly story. Many intimate years in
Japan have gone to it's making. More
than half hundred pictures objectify
this text. These are so admirably
chosen that hardly a conceivable
phase of japanese life is missed by
them. A part of these pictures are in
color and all of them are of excep-
tional workmanship. That Mrs. Ander-
son has worked a real "spelp' in this
projection of Japan is quite past con-
troversy.
rnOnv-Nsn M. uxYu rnnDvrs mn.