The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-04-23

3sXfs&34<&a &a-<<.AB22269ER$&zxD unique-the only modern story in which crime and mystery are combined with a high order of literary art
 Mrs Balfame had made up her mind to commit murder" is the opening sen tence of the book; later she is found in situation pointing to her as the mur- deress when the husband is killed-this is the material Mrs Atherton starts with and develops to a remarkable solution.
 Those who loved '"The Conqueror." !" Perch of the Devil" Tower of Ivory" and other Atherton novels will again ad- mire, and new host of Atherton readers will arise.
 PRINCIPLES OF LABOR LEGISLA-
 TION.'
 By John R. Commons, ILL D., and John
 B. Andrews, Ph. D. Harper Brothers,
 publishers, New York.
 The subject of labor legislation, which has rapidly grown to be of the greatest general interest, is now conclsery sum- marized and formulated in this authori. tative book, entitled, Principles of La- bor Legislation" The last five years have brought, among other radical changes the adoption of workmen's compensatory for industrial accidents in two-thirds ot the United States. Eleven states have enacted minimum wags laws. Other pro- tective regulations far-reaching in their possibilities have been the prohibition of the use of an industrial poison by the federal taxing power, the regulation in several states of Seven-day labor, the beginning of effective prohibition of night work, maximum limits upon the rengrn Of the working day for women and in several states the adoption of the in- dustrial commission form of administra- tion. With the increasing complexity of this legislation it is imperativey neces- sary to formulate Fundamental prin- ciples.
 This book, written from the standpoint of the citizen and the student, indicates the conditions which made laws neces- sary, compares methods and shows to what extent enactments are adapted to the industrial and political situation. It is the principles of labor law, not the details which are emphasized. COMMISSIONS OF TWO BROTHERS. John Cowper Powys and Llewellyn
 Powys The Manas Press, publishers,
 Rochester N. Y.
 MT. Powys is without a peer in his par ticular field: that of telling rapt au- diences the adventures of his soul among masterpieces. In these concessions he em- ploys his vision, his irony, his almost savage sincerity, in the dissection of his OWI SlldHSG pSyCHOlOSy. The result IS work of self-analysis which for sheer literary distinction and for compelling in- terest is inferior to nothing from his pen
 Some of the scenes which passed be- fore the eyes of this detached and disil- lusioned spirit are recorded with a scori- ating vividness: we pass from the do- main of literature to that of life itself Convincing is the word which best de- scribes these cinemetographic pictures of odd corners of the world, focused for us on the printed page by the clear lens of mind purged of all cant.
 These confessions" are unique and wonderfully written and the book will be read for it's originality as well as for its literary merit.
 THE UNITED STATES STEEL COR
 PORATION."
 By Arundel Cotter. The Moody Maga-
 zine and Book company publishers
 New York.
 In a "foreword'' to the book entitled The United States Steel Corporation" Arundel Cotter, the author, grves out it's purpose:
 It is not the intention of the author of this history of the United States Steel corporation to compile a work of ref erence for the steel man. Such a task must properly be left to the trade ex- pert. His object merely is to narrate, in interesting form as he is able the principal events leading up to the incorporation of the mighty company to tell it's objects and it's policies and the results therefrom on labor the corpora ton itself and industry generally
 The writer believes that those events contain a considerable amount of human interest, and it is fy1 this form that he has endeavored to relate them. If he suc- ceeds in bringing home to the steel stockholder, to ''the man in the street, what the Steel corporation has stood for, what it still stands for his labor will not have been in vain.
 A very large part of the facts narrated were obtained from the sworn testimony in the government suit for the dissolution of the corporation The whole story of the big company is contained in this mass of testimony, but the form in which it is there told is too lengthy and compli- cated, too full of repetition and technical ities, to interest any but the legal mind
 Of necessity, in order to confine with in the limits of a single volume the his- tory of the greatest industrial enter prise in the world, many facts and events, interesting of themselves and worthy of record have been omitted Only the most salient features have been touched on.
 In conclusion the author freely admits prejudice in favor of the corporation He sincerely believes that it's organiza- ton marked the dawn of a new and bet ter era in industrial history how and why the reader will discover in the story itself.
 "A MANS REACH By Sally Nelson Robins. Three illustra-
 tions in color by Edmund Frederick J.
 B. Lippincott company publishers,
 Philadelphia
 new author has come out of Vir- glnla, and with her story that is quick with the spirit and life of the Old Do- mnion, beautiful girl blooded thorough breds and men with a devil-may-c care at titude It is temperance story with out trace of sentimentaism, a love story that rings true on the human heart: