The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1915-10-07
Literary News and Notes.

Francis Perry Elliott, author of "Pals
First" attributes the popularity of this
! latest novel to the necromapcy Of his
black cat. He stoutly avows the cat
! helped to write the book. This is how
it happened He lad decided to tell the
story of the old vagabond, the Dom
inie, in the third person, and had press
ed down the shift-key of the typewriter,
preparatory to writing "He." AT that
moment, the cat, which had been watch
ing operations from the vaAfage-p point of
the authors shoulder, slid down into his
j lap and mewed inscrutably. Then he
clambered out upon the keyboard and the
| next instant vivid app had been i'm
printed instead of He" "That settled
| it, " MIR. Elliott concluded solemnly 81
| couldn't turn down a hint as plain as
! that-not from black cat.
The Wide World Magazine for October
| is so full of adventure and thrills that in
reading this number of the livest man S
! magazine published one is for the time
| being completely taken out of himself
| and experiences, or seems to, at least,
more things of life than it would be pos
| slble for any one man to do in lifetime.
| OF special interest is an unusual article,
wonderfully Illustrated with remark able
| photographs, of misunderstanding with
Camera" Other particularly fine arti-
/ Giles and stories include 'The Mad Mule, :"
! having to do with an occurrence in the
Montana silver mines Fighting Giant
| SawFish," in Florida waters; Gan Ac-
cessory After the Fact" thrilling
murder story of Mexico; The Buried
Treasure, located in North Carolina;
| 'The Eruption at Ambrim,' with very
remarkable photographs; and the first
| installment of very important nara
/ tive which will run for some time to
come in the magazine, Down the ANA
ION from Source to Mouth" There are
numerous other striking features, in
GLIDING "Odds and Ends" illustrated
from photographs, from all part of the
world. The number is beautifully illus
! trated.
Means and methods of transportation
have had so much to do with human de-
velopment that it is not strange that a
large amount of inventive ingenuity
! should be devoted to locomotion Every
number of Popular Mechanics Magazine
contains something new in this line In
the October issue many unusual vehicles
are described, with illustrations, Among
these are racing motorboat of ar
entirely new type; gigantic aeroplane
| with twin fuseages and carrying ma
chine guns, now being used by the Ger
man aerial corps; small low priced ma
chine CHASING somewhere between 6
| motorcycle and toy auto; binding ma
chine with big hoop for negotiating
| flooded fields; new type of motorboa1
for recovering torpedoes; motor gypsy
van of luxurious proportions and fur
nlshings; cart drawn by team of foul
| trained pigs; and several others. Besides
these many of the most interesting feat
| ures relate to transportation in one way
or another. For instance, the new annu-
lar periscope which is the theme for the
| handsome October cover design, enables
| the observer in submarine to scan the
horizon as well as view specific objects.
! Are there any cultivated people left in
| America? This is the subject which
Katharine Fullerton Gerould attacks ir
! the October Atlantic under the title,
1.-THE Extirpation of Culture" Hel
answer-backed up by impressive facts
brilliantly presented-is not reassuring.
The fallacious democratic theory, the
cult of science, the immigration of in.
ferior people, and materialism have COM
bined, says Mrs. Gerould, to fool Ameri-
cans into thinking there is a royal roao
to learning, and not trying very hard te
find it.. Culture is steadily diminishing.
There is startling truth in Mrs. Gerould'
bitter criticism of American society; and
there is truth as well, but OF a more
cheerful kind, in Meredith Nicholson
paper on "The Open Season for Ameri
can Novelists. Mr.. Nicholson defends
our native fiction, nowadays so malignec
by foreign critics, and drops few pro.
phetic suggestions as to what fields il
must conquer before it can achieve true
greatness. Mr.. Nicholson writes with
rare charm and emphatically knows
whereof he speaks; his remarks will gair
a wide and appreciative hearing The
Atlantic contains as usual several fresh
and readable articles on the war: ''The
British Admiralty vivid sketch BY
Alfred G. Gardiner, of the group Of
men who control British naval policy
1.-The True Germany" Kuno Francke's
touching defense of the spirit of his
fatherland; ga Y ear of Wars Emo
tions,' a thoughtful essay by the mimi.
table Simeon Strunsky; and a paper or
Secretary Lansing by James Brown
Scott.
In the October American Magazine
Olive Higgins Prouty begins new Sc
rial novel entitled 1.-The Fifth Wheel. -
1t is the story of the revolt of Ruth
Vars, New England girl of good fam
lily, who tired of the conventional pros
pect before the ordinary woman decided
to break loose and live her own life
This is the story of her personal ane
business adventures. Norman Strong
writing under the title "Growing Old al
Fifty" tells how he made himself owe
physically and mentally when he hat
reached the late forties. He was old a
forty-six, with death just around tn,
corner. At fifty he was ten years young
er. well, strong and more youthful, sim
ply by following a few simple rules
Stanley johnson gives the second install
ment of his series, youth Leads the
Way" in which he tells of the tremepd
Gus work done by boys and girls unde
the direction of the Department of Az
riculture. Jerome Travers, present one
and four times amateur golf champion
of the United States, tells many storie
of great golf plays and players unde
the title of Heroes of Wood and Iron.
More fiction is contributed by John Tair
tor Foote, Ruth Sapinsky, Philip Curtiss
: Edgar L. Hampton and Alice Wood
| To~oo MOpt rornorv ri a ury dco. =. .---