The sun., 1919-02-02

largely to the oversentimentallzed tale,
and here the writer has teleseoped tTo
engagements, with a result fatal to the
story. The plot skids down hill to the
deplorable twice happy ending in man
ner as remote from life rs from art.
The Education of Paul Cant, by How
ard Mumford Jones, in the Smart Set,
is story sincere in substance and in form,
pieasingiy contrasted with the merctri-
cious cleverness of the other stories in its
company. This is telling piece Of satire
Of q man who slaves to get u Ph. ID. and
then tries to live on the salary paid col
lege instructor would make good
reading for college presidents and trus-
tees. No one could have written this story
or could appreciate it save one who has
suffered the pains and terrors incident to
a doctors degree and has tried to live up
to fixed social and intellectual standards
on an impossible salary. The scene OF
the oral examination is extremely vivid.
Giring 1t 4 uay, in the An Story Weekly.
is another of f. X. Means's clever negro
dialect stories. Here the plot is too neatly
constructed to seem real, too we'll turned
for the slipshod actuality of darkey psy-
chology, and in so far the story fails to be
credible But the dialect and the char
acteriZation are realistic and convincing.
Mr.. Means is doing something worth while
in bringing back to favor the negro dia-
lect story, which has lapsed from poPu-
larity for some years. His descriptions
Of the colorcd persons in their unlettered
rusticity w,uld probably be amusing to
any one, though Southerners would enjoy
originals.
I'm Morse Doc PanJ, by Edna Ferber,
in Golfers, showing the gulf that lies be-
tween the small town girl who stands still
while her lover experiences dazzling dan
ger and learning in France, touches more
lives than that of little Tessie Golden. Miss
Ferbers stories reveal human emotion and
also leave the residuum Of thought in the
readers mind.
The Final Crop, by Albert Payson Ter
hume, in the Green Book, is rather trite In
its diction, but shows considerable feeling
in its character drawing. "Old Misery"
and his son are worth while In their
simple manhood and devotion to each
other The atmosphere of the Kentucky
mountains is good and the court scene
where the son makes his novel speech in
defence of his father is affecting
The Black Gull, by NJ. Emery Hall, in
the current number of the Ar9osy, IS a
good story Of the sea, with the mariners
superstition well brought out in the I'M
canny incidents and atmosphere.
Her H'Tely Duty, by Helen Z. Martin.
in the Pictorial Reriea, is delicious In its
characterization of the young wife revolt
ing against circumstances and her. spouse.
Her husband and his family, being Men
nomtes, hold serious and purely utilitarian
views concerning woman's place and
duties, but the spirited young wife is
finally goaded into SCATTERING their eco
nomic scheme to bits and letting fate re-
mold the fragments nearer to her ideas
Of the desirable. Her arguments with her
husband as to her duty on divers points
show excellent character comedy. Helen
r. Martin knows the mind and life of the
Pennsylvania Dutch and is at her best
when she is reporting their humors. She
is very much more worth reading when
she merely attempted to tell a story, as
here, than when she has her fiction mount
a soap box and assail social conditions at
large, as she has shown distressing ten
dency to do of late.
The Slk Hat, by Julian Street, in Nc
Clare's, is q rather big story, with losi-
cal unfolding of plot and inimitability Of
outcome. It is satirical characterization
of a wealthy publisher with 8 string of