The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-27

to the construction of the canal, and, when shown q list of the chapters pro- posed. he asked that the one headed "The Man at the Helm be omitted. The author felt that to bow to his wishes in that matter would be to fail to tell the whole story of the canal, and so Colonel Goe-
 thals did not read that chapter.
 Every American is proud of the great
 national achievement at Panama. If,
 in the case of the individual, the book
 is able to supplement that pride by an
 ample fund of knowledge and informa-
 tion, it's object and purpose will have been attained
 .1DYLLS OF THE SOUTH"
 By Mrs. Bettie Reyes Chambers. The
 Neale Publishing Co.,, Publishers, New
 York
 In her delightfully."- refreshing and
 charming book of poems, entitled "Idylls of the South, Miss Bettie Reyes Cham
 bers says in an Authors Note'' prefac- ing the book, the following:
 This story was begun in the closing days of the civil war. In it I have at tempted to delineate the character of the true southern woman, and to give express sion to her heart-throbs from the be- ginning of the war until 1878, when the terrible yellow fever swept over the south and the north came with generous help to the sufferers.
 "I beg of those who may be tempted to read my little poem to be kind enough
 to read it all before passing judgment"
 FAMOUS AMENITIES OF HISTORY"
 By Lyndon Orr. Marper Brothers. Pub fishers. New York. Anthony and Cleopatra: Abelard and Heloise; Queen Elizabeth and Leicester;
 Mary Queen of Scots and, Boutwell,; Gay King Charles and Nell Gwynn; George | " and Mrs. Fitzherbert; Queen Christina of Sweden and the Marqus Momnaldesch; Maurice of Saxony and Adrienne Lecou- vreur: Empress Catharine and Prince Dotemkin; Marie Antoinette and Count Fersen; Napoleon and Potemkin; Marie Antoinette and Count Fersen: Napoleon and Marie Walewska; Empress Marie Louise and Count Neipperg; Lula Montez | and King Ludwig of Bavaria, Leon Gam betta and Leonie Leon; Lady Blessington and Count D'Orsay, and others-their love affairs and their lives are told of in Lyn- don Oris are very readable and charming book entitled Famous Affinities of His tory"
 MAY VERSIONS CAREER"
 By Elizabeth Jordan. Frontspiece. liar | per Brothers, Publishers, New York. ! May Iverson's Career" a novel by | Elizabeth Jordan, is one of the popular books of the season. The new book re- | lates the experiences of the grown-up May Tverson, whose girlhood has been pie tured in the authors previous books. IL l is, however, a story in itself, and can | be read and enjoyed by not only the younger readers who have followed the earlier development of the heroine but | by the more mature ones who meet her | for the first time May Iverson comes | to New York and starts out as cub re- | porter. There Is a sharp contrast be- | tween the convent girls point of view
 and the big human experiences she is 'up against
 LITTLE WOMEN LETTERS FROM THE HOUSE OF ALCOTT.'' l Selected by Jessie Bonstelle and Marian | DeForest. With Portraits and Fac | similies of Original Letters. Little, | Brown & Co.,, Publishers, Boston. | Miss Bonstelle was the fortunate person who secured the dramatic rights to Lit | tie Women" and presented the play, and Miss deForest made the dramatization. While preparing the play they examined the private letters and journals of Bron- son Alcott and his family, and both real | ized immediately the value of these docu- ments in their reflection of Bronson AL cott's wife and ideals and those of his wife and daughters.
 The extracts from the Journals bear clear witness to the high quality of mind and spirit that pervaded the Alcott home, 1 and the letters show the unusually beauti- l ful eomradeship that existed between the | parents and their daughters The reader gets glimpses of the system" on which l Bronson Alcott based his daughters edu- l cations, an dof the results on their va l rious natures. One realizes anew the I clearness of vision that made Bronson | Alcott man years ahead of his time, | and the courage and wonderful devotion of the mother, who stood always as the l connecting link between the fathers dis regard of practical matters and the very material needs of a family of growing girls Mrs. Alcott, though less known to 1 the public than her intellectual husband and her gifted daughters was a woman l of remarkable character, reconciling all l differences and achieving such har- honious atmosphere as made the story l of the Alcott lives and fortunes as told I in Little Women" the ideal for home I life the world over. In these letters, too, one comprehends the girls themselves, | and the various qualities that have en-
 deared them forevermore to American girl readers.
 UNA MARY.
 THE INNER LIFE OF A CHILD" By
 Una Hunt. Charles Scribner's Sons,
 Publishers. New York.
 ! Tn Una Mary the author. Uno Hunt. avs of the book and its object:
 This is the true story of the inner life {. of my childhood. It is the story of the | life of my imaginative child, differing from others only in details of the ma terlal which came my way and from which I built my life, my friendships, my world. and by beliefs-with the needs felt by every sensitive child. the same searcf1- ing for an explanation of life and the universe and the same hunger for a re- l'gion through which to become part of
 what I saw and felt to link me with the