The Alaska daily empire., 1920-12-15
HAYNES WRITER PRODUCES GOOD
 ALASKAN BOOK
ess fTI n ., Adventures of H. Rutzebeck Entertainingly Told in @ Alaska Mans Luck" "

IS the ldtcSL DOOh Uy du Aldohet-i author to make it's appearance and G is receiving considerable attention from Eastern reviewers. The New York Times recently gave it a whole nge in its book review section.
 sThe story is written in diary form, and tells of the experience and ad- ventures of Hans Hajalmar Rutze- beck. who is building a farm oil government land near Haines. The diary begins with February IA, 1914. and the last entry is May 19. 1917 The diary of course, in the first per son, and the name used by the author is Svend Norman, but the preface explains that the adventures and experiences are those of the author. The book is we'll written, the in cidents quickly and directly narrated. the descriptions entertaining and true and the philosophizing not at ali tiresome, and confined strictly to the deductions of an active mind from actual experiences as they are re- lated.
 The writer is a native of Denmark and was still in his twenties when he closed the book He had quit schOo. as boy and gone to sea. Later he enlisted in the United States Army, and came to Fort William H. Seward. This is brought out ip the preface end in the subsequent entries in the diary. The actual story begins with the author in Los Angeles, lately honorably discharged from the army. There he meets girl, who becomes the idol of his dreams. She agrees to wait, without promising directly to marry him, for him to return tc Alaska and make a home. From this time to the end the entries ia the diary take him through three eyentful years, and tell the story of his life, together with the every day experiences which are told in a way to rob them of any hint at common place, and testify to his unwaverinS devotion to Marian, surname never mentioned, nor other details, except of course, she is beautiful, sweet and brave.
 The author beats his way north ward .by stealing rides on railroads, works in a logging camp for mont. in Oregon, and finally lands at Hain- es. He secured work in a Porcupine mine, makes prospecting trip, goes broke, and then proceeds over the Dalton trail to Whitehorse, where he is unable to find work. and is under suspicion by the Northwest Mounted Police. He gets to Skagway, with, cut a cent of money. Denied pass age to Haines. too proud to beg, he breaks into store at Skagway to get some food Once in the store realizing that he is burglar, a criminal, he goes a step further and robs the cash register of SIS. TheE follows his experiences as an outlaw during the course of which he breaks ;ail three times-once at Skagway. once at Whitehorse and once at Juneau. He testifies to the efficiency of the Northwest Mounted Police an4 the American officers of the law in the story of their pursuit and recap. ture of him time after time. He makes characters of his fellow pris- oners, tells interesting stories Of them, and has little but praise for his captors and keepers. Those of them whose names he mentions are spoken of by their real names including old Jack Egan, (the "old" is the authors who would not dare call Jack Egan "old") who captured him at the time of his last escap, and who, though he did not treat him badly, was very much in earn est and never gave him an oppof- tunity to get away, notwithstanding the difference in their ages and phy- sical prowess.
 While he does. not mention his name. twice his story testifies to the kindly heart and thoughtful in terest of Judge Jennings. Once when he tells of the interest the Judge showed when he related the story of his life in open court, pend ing sentence for his crime, and the second time when, after he had work ed for a month at the Perseverance mine, when he called on the Judge to ascertain whether or not he had forfeited his citizenship and would be ineligible to take up homestead. In the first instance Judge Jennings, notwithstanding that the author had pleaded guilty to burglary and had broken jail three times, took into account that he had served honorab- ly in the army and lived decent life before his Skagway adventure and gave him a jail sentence of fifteen months instead of a long term in the penitentiary. The second time the Judge, he says, was very kind. told him that he had not forfeited his citizenship and offered to help him if he needed it. He told the Judge that he had plenty of money and went away pleased to know that even Judge can have heart. From that time on the author works on his farm at Viking Cove. near Haines. makes money fishing and UOrkiDU at Ckacuav Not hstand-