davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1920-07-04
A Degree for Roger Miff1in

The American Booksellers Associa-
ton at its annual convention held in
Philadelphia has conferred on Roger
Mitfiin, the delightfully."- whimsical old
bookseller of "The Haunted Bookshop. I"
the honorary degree of Doctor of Book
selling. AT the occasion of the presenta-
ton Christopher Morley, the creator of
The Haunted Bookshop," introduced
Roger MilAin, who was impersonated by
Cedric R. Crowell, manager of Double
day, Page G. Co.'S retail bookstores. Mr..
Frederic G. Melcher, managing editor of
The Publishers Weekly" made the
presentation, and Roger Mifln replied
in short address on the art Of selling
books.
I've booksellers are under particular
~ serious obligation to our calling" he
believes, "for it is our privilege to circu-
late the only token of human life that
is reasonably permanent. We deal with
what is most perfect, most precious,
most indestructible-t the thoughts and
AAAaS AHotiohS anu aspirations Oh men.
. There was once humble book
seller in Brooklyn who called his shop
haunted. Ny friends, our shelves are
indeed haunted by the clear spirits Of
men. In those rows of books live again
all the tragedy and courage and glory
and pity Of these last unbelievable
years"
New-York tribune., 1920-07-04

ingly important factor in industry as
we'll as in agriculture, it is becoming
more and more. evident that the race
problem cannot be satisfactorily solved
by mere complacent assumption of
white supremacy. The preliminary to
any genuine solution must be an as
surance to our colored citizens Of their
elementary rights, protection in life
and property, equal educational advan-
eages, equal opportunities for material
advancement and wellbeing. Mr.. Selig-
mann presents conclusive evidence
that these elementary rights are being
grossly violated in many cases. Until
these violations cease the whites must
bear the primary responsibility for the
manifold evils that are inherent in race
hatred and bitterness.
New-York tribune., 1920-07-04
Violet Tweedale Here

Violet Tweedale, an English novelist
and ghost of nc mean repu-
tation. has recently reached our shores
for long planned and anticipated visit
to America.
America" says Mrs. Tweedale. "is
the country that draws me above all
others. My greatest friends have al
ways been Americans, and l feel at
home in their cosmopolitan atmosphere.
During my European travels I am al
ways taken for an American and | am
always loath to correct the mistake"
Mrs. weedale, for many years a stu
dent and writer on occult subjects,
says America now leads the way in
occult thought-"a fact which the vast
majority Of Americans do not realize
in the slightest. yet your occult litera-
New-York tribune., 1920-07-04
The Mass Mind Of America
Hey-Rub-a-Dub-Dub" Confused but Poweru
Interpretation of National Spirit

England) no nation has ever contrib
uted less philosophically or spiritually
to the actual development of the intel
lect ard the spirit. We have invented
many things, it is true, which have re-
lieved man from the crushing weight
of toc-grinding toll, and this may be-
perhaps, the sole mission Of America
in the world and universe--its DESTINY.
its end"
ey-Rub-a-D Dub Dub" is an indis-
criminate, unassorted, heterogeneous
mass of Impressions and reflections,
which freqt ently contradict each other
1t is curious mixture of the journal
istic aud the philosophc 1t is some
times crude and sometimes finely
poetic. 1t is fun of large, vague. float
ing speculations Of the nature Of man
and the universe. But these are in a
sense the background. The true pre-
occupation of all these essays, the core
OF this d!fuse mass, is its preoccupa-
ton with the social spectacle, the
"Ierce, rudirentary mass mind that is
America" Here his mind grows sharp
and hard and bright. Here Dresser is
the real critic-pe perhaps the only critic
of it. And he is the best critic of this
New-York tribune., 1920-07-04
Book Gossip
Mr.. Swinnerton's Popularity

Apropos of the fact that Frank Swim
nerton's "September" (Doran), pub
lished some six months ago. is listed
as one of the best selling books in the
forty-two largest cities Of the United
States, comes the news that another
large printing of "Nocturne' has been
called for. There seems to be little
stacking of the demand for this novel,
with which the young English realist
made his American debut, chnrmingly
introduced by his friend, Arnold Ben
nett. it will be remembered. Coming
even as it did in the midst Of wars
alarms, few Americans who are inter-
ested in fiction will forget the stir
"Nocturne" caused in the summer of
1916. "Nocturne" firmly established
Swinnerton's popularity in America, and
was followed by the publication of all
his earlier works and by "September,"
which has more than fulfilled the prom
ise of 'Nocturne." SO firmly did "Noc-
turne" establish Swinnerton's reputa-
ton that there is certain little thrill
the announcement of new Swinnerton
book. One is now promised by Doran
for early autumn.
1t will be recalled that Mr.. Swim
merton is closely associated with the
publishing business in England, where
he is connected with the firm Of Chatto
& Windus, the English publishers of
"The Young Visiters," Of which Swim
merton can claim to be the discoverer.
1t was he who induced Miss Ashford
to publish her youthful masterpiece
and Sir James Barrie to write the pref
ace. "The Young Visiters," by the
way, has never been absent from the
list Of best sellers since it was pub
lished, year ago.
New-York tribune., 1920-07-04

in his work that the world will not let
die"
There is no space here to give q iust
review of this collection, but several
passages should not go unmentioned.
Readers will find that, though pub
lished first in 1894 ("Century Maga-
zine," january, "The Function of the
Poet" title essay of this book. has
much of vital, timely interest in it for
to-day.
but it seems" says Lowell, "to be
thought that we have come upon the
earth too late, that there has been a
feast of Imagination formerly. and all
that is left for US is to steal the
scraps there is always room
and occasion for the poet, who con-
tinues to be, just as he was in the
early time, nothing more nor less than
a seer" .. ut is perfectly true
that this is materialistic age, and for
, that reason we want our poets all the
more" "Demonstra+;c, NAV
lead to the very gate Of heaven, but
there she makes US a civil bow and
leaves US to make our way back to
Faith, who has the key" Till
America has learned to love art, not a g
an amusement, not as the mere orna-
mentatlon Of her cities, not as super
stitlon Of what is CONNIE il faut for a
great nation" (what could be more de-
lightful, say well "but for its human
lzing and ennobling energy, for its
power of making men better by arous
ing in them a perception of thei- own
instincts for what is beautiful, and
therefore sacred and religious" 1--WE
maintain Lowell does not mean ere
ligious" in terms Of protestantism}
and an eternal rebuke Of the base and
worldly, she will not have succeeded
in that high sense which alone makes
nation out of people and raises it
from dead name to living power"
1T is nothing against US that we
are commercial people," "The
lves OF the great poets teach US that
they were men OF their generation who
felt most deeply the meaning of the
present"
"The Cairn of Stars"
Among the seven best sellers listed
by leading New York bookstore for
the week ending May 90 was "The Cairn
OF Stars" by Francis Carlin, author of
my Ireland" "The Carin of Stars"
is collection of Irish songs and poems
and is published by Henry Holt & Co.
Spirits Read Sir Oliver Lodge
A startling spiritual phenomenon In
which spirit read and commented
on Sir Oliver Lodges Man and the
Universe (poran), is described in a
book recently published in England.
Ghosts Have Seem" by Mrs. Twee
dale. She was reading Sir divers
book, and on CHANGING TO lay it down
she beheld the following extraordinary
occurrence:
Unseen hands were turning over
the pages. Several leaves of the book
were turned over rather rapidly, each
leaf making the usual sound which
accompanies such an ordinary physical
action. Then, a if fearing that the
New-York tribune., 1920-07-04
Hospital Stories
of a British
Nurse
. HERE are phases Of the Grea

TT HERE are phases Of the Great
War that have not been clearly
defined in historical works and
in fiction. We have had. and shall
have, books galore on the politics
involved and the fighting Of the armies
the lines there has been, and probably
will continue to be, rather meager
output in the printed page. So it is
refreshing to receive from England,
through the John Lane Company, a
little series Of books published under
the general title "The On Service
Series" Among the items of this series
to date is "Ward Tales" by E. c..
Davies, v. A D.
This little book Of eight stories is
based on the experiences of a hospital
nurse in the British volunteer service.
In play of emotion it runs the gamut
from laughter to tears with an ease
in expression that markts the born
story-teller. It would be easy in a
work of this nature to harrow the feel
ings Of the reader. Miss Davies has
avoided the grim moments of battle
with pain and death. Sc It Is evident that
she has drawn on a fund Of personal
experiences, selected number of in
cidents within hospital walls and
elaborated them into sketches that re-
veal the grit and the humor of the
British Tommy and the splendid optim-
ism and courage of his friend, the
British nurse. Especially fine in Ward
Tales and the two stories "After
Hours" and "The Night Round"
1t is our opinion that coming gen
erations of readers, skimming through
the pages Of multitud;nous historical
backgrounds and campaigns of 1s14-'1S,
will read from cover to cover the books
that open doors to fields and rooms
where the suffering and fortitude Of
men and women are pictured faithfully
and with delicate sense of proportion.
And Ward Tales" Is such book.
New-York tribune., 1920-07-04
A Life of Alexander Hamilton
Anown Facts Presented in an Entertaining
Manner

g. NtNATOR HARDING'S interest
% IN Alexander Hamilton Che used
~ 10 lecture on the great Federal
's') may lead many Americans to
ssuoy the life OF this remarkable man.
40 oio and new students of Hamilton's
sa'eer we afvise he reading of Pro-
.eSsor Henry Jones Ford's alexander
listed. fA0
N0'hing new has been found in re-
.eH' years in the way Of Hamilton
'-"3' but Professor Ford has rear
.aNeed old material in an attractive
i0Fm' which Is perhaps better fitted to
'"e average reader than an exhaustive
anu erudite biography or the hitherto
-4''''i'~r collection of Hamilton's writ
"ss' his efforts have resulted in a
.0"e1se' readable and sufficiently in
formative life OF Hamilton.
Alexander Hamilton comes nearer
'''"s lne true man of genius In Amer
va" Aistory than does any other figure
u our long roster of worthless. His
's "sa 'ne INDEPENDENT mind, possessed
= 'he power 70 attack and solve intri-
.a'e Political problems wholly through
'"e operation Of its own unaided
'nougnt' What Hamilton accom-
p''N"ea before he was twenty-five
N"'S ''o was total Of miraculous in
expectations and adaptations in af-
airs governnental.
"e chapters IN this book on Ham
service during the Revolution,
'" ms relations with Washington,
lines not entirely unrufiled, and
- MS hrSt approach toward a solu-
r''N u the two problems of - national
'-'1a' system and a close federation Of
''@'eS under q reliable, easily func-
.'0hihg central government have been
''''''eh with careful balance between
interesting narrative and an en-
p'0s '"eht OF historical material in a
measure not overfre;chted
AS early as September 1880, Hamilton
u 'eeh the first to propose consti-
'1''ohai convention He IVES then
J-three years old. Think of il,
Da' IL was not until after few months
uncertainty as to his future, after
0iose OF the war in 1888, that he
's aD's to immerse himself complete
y IN tie tide of national affairs. And
"'en no was once in the current, what
= situation confronted him. AS Pro-
'sSs'f FORD says: at may be doubted
""sIaer In all tha worlds history any
New-York tribune., 1920-07-04
Lowell as Critic
New Side of Poets Genius Revealed in Volume
Edited by Albert Mordell
! FAD "The Function Of the
Poet and Other Essays"
\ by James Russell Lowell

N Poet and Other Essays"
- - by James Russell Lowell
(Houghton, MiAiin), but read
it not with any prsconceived notion Of
determining whether Lowell was
great American critic. Unfortunately,
we think, Mr.. Albert Mordell, who COL
lected and edited this volume, has an
ticipated and partly raised the question:
Will these essays evoke new contro-,
versy upon LowelPs capabilities as a
critic? For Mr. Mordell in his preface
says:
while we are on the subject of the
New England poets a word about the
present Misunderstanding and tendency
to underrate them may not be out of
place. Because it is growing to be the
consensus of opinion that the two great
est poets America has produced are
Whitman and Poe, it does not follow
that the New Englanders are to be
relegated to the scrap heap" Later he
says in like vein: Though some of
Lowell's literary opinions are old
fashioned to US Gone author even wrote
an entire volume to demolish Lowell's
reputation as cr:tic), there is much
New-York tribune., 1920-07-04
The Newspaper in America
Many Absorbing Chapters in Mr.. Pavne's
History of journalism

that Colonel Webb had stooped so far
beneath anything of which we had ever
conceived it possible for him to be
guilty, as publicly, and before the eyes
OF hundreds who knew him, to descend
to personal chastisement Of that vii
famous libel Of humanity Of all kinds.
the notorious vagabond Bennett But
it is So"
BENEFITS Feature Story
Bennett apparently made a feature
story out of the encounter His ac-
count of the affair reads:
"As | was leisurely pursuing nv
business yesterday in Wall Street, col
lectlng the information which is daily
disseminated in The Herald James
Watson Webb came up to me on the
northern side of the street, said some
thing which I could not hear distinct
~, then pushed me down the stone
steps leading to one of the brokers'
offices, and commenced fighting with a
species of brutal and demoniacal
desperation Characteristic Of fury.
My damage is scratch, about
shree-quarters of an inch in length,
on the third finger Of the left hand.
which | received from the iron railing
/ was forced against, and three but
tons forced from my vest, which any
tailor will reinstate for a sixpence.
his loss is rent from top to bottom
of very beautiful black coat. which
cost the rufian $40, and a blow in tho
fnce, which may have knocked down
his throat some of his internal teeth.
for anything l know. Balance in nv
laVor' S59.94. AS to intimi-
dating me or changing my course. the
thing cannot be done. Neither Webb
nor any other man can or shall intim;-
date me. l tell the honest truth in
my paper. and I leave the consequences
to God. Could I leave them in bet-
ter hands? may be attacked NAV
be assailed--1 may be killed. NAV
be murdered-but I will never sue
cumo--l will never abandon the cause
The Civil Wars Effect
With the approach Of the Civil war
journalism and politics became more
and more entangled. Mr.. Payne gives
sympathetic sketch of the career of
horace Greeley: his many idealistic ex-
perments, his breach with Seward and
weed, his attitude during the war.
with the possible exception of William
Lloyd Garrison, Greeley was certainly
the most indomitable champion Of un-
popular causes among the journalists
of his time.
The author recalls and vividlv nre-
sents the dominant figures in American
Journalism up to the Civil War, Adams
and Franklin and Duane ard Bennett
and Day. He describes these men and
their work in considerable detail. He
tells US much less of the great editors
OF more recent date. During the last
twenty years many newspapers have
been intimately associated with inter-
estlng political and social movements.
but II IS unfair to be unduly captious
about Mr.. Payne's self-imposed limita-
tlons His story of the newspaper in
America combines warm human inter-
est with political precision and ac
curacy He clearly outlines the i'm
portant and worthy contribution Of
American newspapers to the molding
OF American institutions.
New-York tribune., 1920-07-04
Books Received
Fiction

THE CRUISE OF THE SCANDAL" AND
9uH D,L1a nK sIORIES. BY Victor Bridges.
published by G. r. Putnam's Sons, New
York. e"
Riotous tales Of fantastic adventure
by an English author.
THE FUR BRINGERs. BY Hubert Foot
nsr Published by James A. Mccain
Company, New York.
A story Of the Canadian Northwest,
IN which the famous mounted police
play an important part.
ALE'S r', +, BUTTON. BY W. A. Darlington.
nuoaished by Frederick A. Stokes Com
The experiences of modern ulebeian
Aladdin who does not know how to
make use of the magical powers which
are suddenly given him.
GREY FISH BY ". Victor Cook. Pub
iisned by Frederick A. Stokes Company.
New York.
An exciting story of German subma-
rines and Spanish and Italian seamen,
HELPING HERSEY. BY the Baroness Won
New-York tribune., 1920-07-04
~ HEODORE DRESSER is a SOL
itary figure in literary Amer-
ica. With no tribal affiliations
+n cfva hin, safety and defini

iCa. WIN no tTlDat HullatiCnS
to give him safety and defini-
.on. with no derivation from a school
ar group TO mark his place, he remains
,arcslv unsss;milated in our American
literary scheme 1t is possible that he
confuses the radicals a little more than
he does the conservatives. They, be-
;,e more orderly minded, are the more
easilv upset g. Dreiser's apparent con
tfsdictions.
"Hey-Ruh-a-D Dub Dub" (Boni & I.iv-
eright) is seemingly the rag bag into
which he has thrown everything that
has engaged his mind in recent years
sll the philosophic speculations and
beliefs and impressions with which his
mind has adventured These essays
represent curious mixture Of the
nhilcsophio and pseudo scientific and
mereig Journalistic. They are often
confused and contradictory, vague and
naive. but they have in them the drive
Of strong ard restless mind. There
is no doubling the vigor of Dreiser's
;r.agination aad he extent to which he
is occupied with the social phenomenon.
In his perception of the narrowest
social milieu there is an active sense
OF the cosmic background, of the bio
logical processes that have gone into
its making Il is a view Of life which
turns The scientific conception of the
universe TO a. essentially romantic pur-
pose. He sees life as something fuid
mysterious and ungovernable In Drei-
sers decalogue the primary virtue is
to be aliye-and the intensity of vi
tality in a men is the measure of vir-
tue. That IS why mis- Imagination is
SO deeply stirred by our Titans of
finance They are figures OF heroic
force. and he comes close to the pagan
in his worship of natural force.
But though he is immensely critical
Of the form 10 VIII i these Titans have
pressed our civilization. he bewilders
and irritates the radical as much as
the conservative For if he scorns the
bourgeois ideal, neither does he sub
scribe TO radical ideaiism. his quarrel
is precisely with the illusion Of ideal
lsn, with the faith that men can be
subimated by the mechanistic process
Of any phrase In the idealism Of the
radical and tae morality of the con-
seryative he sees the same assertions
Of fniteness "a fniteness which life
denies al every turn, Nature is ruth
less and endlessly experimental, and so
IS society. though if its creed is other
wise that conscious creed is, as ne
regards IL, a sort of escape from the
evidences OF life.
Nowhere are these assertions of
ldealism and morality more arbitrary
than IN this country, and nowhere is
raw force so abundant and all-con-
quering. Here in America, by reason
Of an idealistic constitution. which is
largely work Of art you see a
nation dedicated to so-called intellectual
and spiritual freedom, but actually de-
voted with an almost bee-like industry
% tne gathering end storing and artic-
ula'ing and organization and use of
purely material things. In spite of our
oass-crum announcement of our serv-
lSude TO the inteile :tual ideals of the
world copied mostly, by the way. from
New-York tribune., 1920-07-04
Business English

TF YOUR dict,on is in need Of a
spring house-cleaning. we recon-
mend as renovator John B. Op-
dycke's The English OF Commerce,
(Scrlbner's). This volume is intended
as textbook, but convenient index
makes it available as a guide TO settle
odd points Of usage. The author oives
brief and simple rules to indicate TIE
best practices IN commercial English.
Piaygoers, in passing, will be glad
to md the names OF Quentin Todd.
Joseph Lertora. Paisley Noon and other
musical comedy and vaudeville favor
ties used in the illustrative letters
New-York tribune., 1920-07-04
A Little Girls Poems Abroad

Before publication in this country
Hilda Conkhngs charming book of
verse, Poems by Little Girl" was ac-
cepted for English publication. The
English publisher writes that he read
the poems in a state of wonder and
amazement that child of nine should
be able to express herself thus, but at
the same time convinced that the work.
in its nalyete and natural beauty.
sprang from the consciousness of p
child. He looks forward to great sue
cess for the book in England
New-York tribune., 1920-07-04
erica Gives the World Nothing Spiritual Saws Dreise1

tion the black mans case is forcefully
presented by Herbert j. Seligmann
in The Negro Faces America" (Har-
per's). The author assemblies an i'm
posing body of facts to prove that the
stigma of racial inferiority is often
imposed upon the negro chiefly in order
to Justify or conceal hs economic ex-
ploitation.
In support Of this contention Mr..
Seligmann cities the race riots which
broke out last year in Phillips County,
Ark. Northern and Southern news
papers at this time were full of
alarming rumors about negro plot"
to massacre all the whites in the State
of Arkansas and to seize the land. The
author shows that the pilot" was an
Imaginary creation and that the sys.
tematic cheating and oppression Of
colored tenant farmers by white land
owners was largely responsible for the
outbreak
Mr.. Seligmann discusses very frankly
the sex question, which is almost in
variably raised in lynchings and race
riots. He declares that the Washington
and Omaha riots we're provoked by per
slstent false reports Of attacks on
white women by negroes. He OBJ
serves rather bitterly that white men
have never been very solcitous about
the honor Of negro women, and recalls
the peculiarly atrocious Georgia lynch
ing, in which an aged negro was done
TO death for protecting two colored
girls against two drunken white men.
AS the negro is becoming an increas-
New-York tribune., 1920-07-04
Harper Reprints

This week Harper & Bros. are re-
printing "Bismarck's Autobiography"
volumes and II, Being the Reflections
and "reminiscences of Otto, Prince Won
Bismarck, Written and Dictated by
Himself After His Retirement From
Office" Other books of which they are
preparing new editions are MARIA" by
Jorge Isaacs, the translation from the
Spanish of a colorful story OF South