The Washington herald., 1917-02-05
A BOOK REVIEW OF 29l7.
What Henrietta Hefne, the Wonder
of Cambridge, Mass, ''Dream-
edv of Future

Gu OF
Henrietta Heine, a direct descendant OF
the German poet, Heinrich Heine, has
created a sensation in Cambridge, Mass.
In consequence of her extraordinary pow
ers of presignifcation. Passing into what
is called a trance, Henrietta, a mere
wisp OF a girl, new in her fourteenth
year. is able TO project her mind hun
dreds, even thousands OF years, into the
future and read from books and news
papers OF the years to come.
Her marvellous faculty has so far been
displayed to a few members OF the So
ciety of Psychic Research. Several au-
thors have also been permitted to test
Henrietta's powers with the houe. Of
course, of discovering whether immortal
ity was to be their lot. 1t is needless
TO say that there have been many who
have been crushingly disappointed. Lit
tie Henrietta's most remarkable read
ing" as her guardian calls it. was from
a New York newspaper Of 2e17. A short
hand reporter took down her trancedic-
tation. She read without hesitation. as
follows:
The six hundred and eightieth edition
Of 'Wilstachs Dictionary OF Smiles has
just been delivered from the press Of
Little Brown and Company. In its pres
ent form this JOY of the plagairists is
composed of eighteen thousand pages, and
by the use of the latest thing in paper
Is a handy volume for the vest pocket.
AS most of the matter which appeared
In the first edition of this world essential
volume was long ago eliminated, we have
been to the pains OF examining the first
edition published one Thousand years ago,
which now reposes in special steel vault
in the public library.
Shakespeare Called BanaI.
We find that a few once popular
writer's. such as Shakespeare. Shelly and
Keats, have been entirely eliminated, on
account of the banality OF their writings,
from the six hundred and eightieth edi-
tioD. 1t appears from internal evidence
that when this Dictionary was issued in
1871 the New York Public Library was
located at the northwest corner Of Broad
way and Forty-second street. This build
ing is now neighborhood reading room
in the slums.
old New Workers would he amazed
could they again visit the glimpses OF
the moon to discover that the center Of
New York City is now located in what
was formerly called Albany, and that the
Public Library of our city is now situ-
ated at what was formerly called the vii
lage of Schenectady. 1t appears from
the first edition of this Dictionary that
there were quite a number of writers who
were then OF great vogue, who are now
completely unknown. Some Of these
writer's were Rudyard Kipling. Mark
Twain. George Ade and George Bernard
Shaw. Having examined some OF the
similes credited to these writers, We are
totally unable 10 understand the favor
I'm which they were held one thousand
nr1N hof hr,f of
the SMILES credited to them are not un-
derstandable to the people OF our day.
These writer's were densely vague and
totally lacking in a sense OF numor. This
criticism applies particularly TO George
Adc and George Bernard Shaw. But these
names We're probably pscudonyms, O.
more likely names invented by the author
to which he affixed some OF hts own dull
witticisms. We find that the person Kip
ling made use of 'impassivc as the copper
head on a penny The meaning OF this
is hard to define. 1t may have some ref
Grence to the 'copperheads' OF the socalled
civil war time Immediately preceding the
| renowned Theodore Roosevelt era
Mark Twain Incomprehensi
Mark Twain, whoever he may have
happened to be, was a particularly in
comprehensive person. For example, he
said: Solid as globe OF mud Even an
]
absurdity of this simile. knowing full well
that mud is never solid.
&c. B. Shaw, who appears to have been
related in some way to the important
tribe or Fenians or Fabisns OF his time,
said: Popular as a film drama The
word film is a stumper. 1t was prob
ably used in the sense Of thin, poor, and
unsubstantial, hence popular in that far
off and benighted age. In one of George
AIDES sfmiles: Her intellect made noise
like dynamo We get a curious glimpse
of crude invention which has gone the
way of polarious, starbeamus, and sum-
dium. 1t was called electricity.
For information regarding this long
ago and discarded and forgotten nlumi-
nation, see the fourteen thousandth edi-
ton Of the Intellect Canea- II is strange
that our ancestors were able TO exist and
put up with such crude facilities of light
ing.
Before war was abolished by the use
of killidium. II appears that there were
many strange and deadly inventions. We
gather this from the famous Anon's
a