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The Calx's book-reviewer has received an invitation from the Society of the Phil istines to meet Stephen Crane, author of "The Black Riders and Other Lines" and "The Red Badge of Courage," at a dinner which the Philistines propose to give him at East Aurora, N. V., on the evening of December 19. East Aurora is a suburb of Buffalo. N. i V., and is noted as being one of the leading dairy centers of the Empire State. It is also the home of Mambrino King, a very celebrated horse. The cheeses of East i Aurora and the fast-trotting offspring of ! Mambrino King are disseminated over a wide range of these United States. " ••• • • Physicians will be likely to cry out against Ouida's last novel, "Toxin," which being interpreted means poison, and they will be justified in their remonstrances- The book is not strong in its denouement, and the improbability of the "poison" scene is so great that the volume will fail of its purpose, which seems to be to cast aspersions upon men in the higher walks of physiological research. . ..-• tV'^i^^W: ••• • • Of late East Aurora has sprung into note as the birthplace of that very lively, albeit somewhat anomalous little periodical, the Philistine, whose self-appointed task it has been to camp upon the trail of literary humbuggery, cant and pedantry of every sort, and to harry the soul thereof with ex ceeding industiy. This is a greatness to which East Aurora was not born, and which she never achieved; it was thrust upon her, and no voice from out her citi zens has yet been heard to say how she re gards it. Now, to the cheeses, to Mam brino King and to the Philistine is to be j added the ineffable glory of this banquet to Stephen Crane, anther of "The Black Rider?, and Other Lines." Verily, the cheese presses of East Aurora run over! . .; , i '•••' v *- • * • Tlm^e are many reasons why -we should ' joy to attend this banquet. Like the great ] Dundreary," we are fond of cheese. We ad- i mire great horses. We love the Philis tines, and there is that which we would fain ask of Stephen Crane. We should | like to know why, among the "other lines" ; of his recent volume of rin-de-siecle verse, j he has in some places as many as live words to a line when three would have ! sufficed and would have been more eco- \ nomical pi ink; why, on some panes, he commits the wild extravagance of thirteen lines when one, printed very black, could i have been made big with meaning (think • . of the impressive, pregnant silence of that i blank page!) and the book had thereby , been bulkier; and why, on certain several occasions, has Mr. Crane been guilty of the crass solecism of a rhyme! More and further, when the banquet was drawing to its convivial height; when, big and little, the Philistines were in nenial mood, we -would propound, "across the walnuts and the wine, that vexed ques- i tion of the mcb, "Why Philistines?" ••• • • But certain impediments— the fact that j bur own few and feeble lines have not fallen upon affluent places, and the absence I of a competing railroad to East Aurora — | render our attendance of dubious probabil- ! ity. However, on the evening of Decem ber in, we shall turn our eyes away from 1 the Golden Gate and search the sunrise j skies for a roseate tinge suffusing the cir- ' cumambient ether at about the meridian i of East Aurora. , - • .OE THE OBSCURE. After running its serial course in Har per's Magazine under the title of "Hearts Insurgent" Thomas Hardy's latest novel now makes its appearance in permanent form and takes, from its principal char acter, the less felicitous but juster title, "Jude the Obscure." A casual glance through the pages of the book reveals the fact that the prnning which the manu script had to undergo, in adapting it for magazine publication, was vigorous. The present volume is as Hardy originally wrote it, and in it he has handled certain facts and experiences of human life,with a plain directness of English that has not been exceeded by any modern writer. There are probably few critics who will question Hardy's place as the greatest of Jiving novelists. He is past-master of his art. and it 13 a question whether he has ever produced a greater novel than "Jude thu Obscure." It is not a story to be given carelessly into the hands of young people. The author never designed it for such, but as a seriesof impressions of life recorded for the reading of men and women of full age the book is certainly one of the most remarkable that the pres ent century has prodnced. In it Hardy presents for consideration certain phases of the matrimonial situation that are of application as wide as civilization, and. in their influence upon individual humanity, as minute and searching as the still, small voice. In Jude, the obscure hero of the tale, we have a sufferer who might have hoped, through very minuteness, to escape annihilation for disobedience of the dictates of Establisned Order. He has his exits and his entrances on a stage so humble that it were small cause for sur prise had he and his sordid troubles es caped observation altogether, but the story of his life is a traeic study in the entire inevitableness of human relation ships. He is an unimportant atom of hu manity in an unimportant Wessex town, but he is touched with the desire to hold and have as his own some of the facts of human knowledge. He toils and studies, alone and unaided, up to the point where the longed-for opportunity for education seems within his grasp. Then he falls under the influence of an ex perienced girl of his own order of life and by her is seduced and entrapped into mar riage. This means ruin to his immediate prospecte, but in time he is relieved of the incubus that such a wif« was bound to be, and makes another, effort to attain his Books and Bookmakers soul's ambition. He goes to a university town and there meets the other woman whose influence upon his life is crucial. The pair love each other, but the girl has a morbid dread of the deadening effect of matrimony on love. Fiie i? by nature de signed to'be a man's friend, rather than his wife, one of those women by no means so rare or abnormal as certain critics would have us think, with whom, as with man, sexual love is an incident of life, rather than life itself. She loves Jude, but is led by circumstances into marriage with a man for whom she has an intense physical repugnance. She leaves him, finally, with his permission, and takes up with Jude. In time she grows re morseful, and eventually leaves her lover and returns to her husband. Jude's early wife turns up, and. after sundry matrimonial vicissitudes, beincr again dis engaged, retraps the man. who is, fortu nately, soon released by death from her toils. The whole story is a comprehensive summary of the sordid disasters that follow so often in the wake of human passion and are usually the subject of court record rather than of art. There is a wonderful subtlety in the way the im pressionist has recorded the workings of hereditary conscience in two such unlike women as Sue and Arabella— the one an educated, cultivated woman, emancipated from the thralls of orthodoxy; the other an ignorant village liuhtheart, whose dense brain was never touched by a knowledge thereof. Yet both these women suffer, each in her own way, from the consciousness of having acted con trary to the tenets of conventional moral ity, and each seeks, in her own way and with equal ignorance, to undo the wrong she deems herself to have done. Any criticism of a novel like "Jude the ! Obscure" must of necessity appear as a criticism upon civilization itseff. The nov elist obtrudes no purpose, hydra-headed. I from amid the pages of his story — Hardy i is too complete an artist for that. To quote | bis own worcis, he has simply sought to give shape and coherence to a series of hap penings, "thequestionof their consistency or their discordance, of their permanence or their transitoriness, being regarded as not of the first moment." Writing for men and women he has produced an impression of life in which honest men and women I must recognize truth. That there are other ; impressions equally true, from other points j of view equally effective, need not enter into this consideration. Whatever ethical prob lems arise in the reader's mind as an out i come of the book must be settled as most of us settle those of life, according to indi vidual enlightenment, and it is probable most honest ones among us, under similar circumstances, would find ourselves forced to echo the words of poor, bewildered Phillotson, the husband of Sue: "I wus and am the most old-fashioned man in the world on the question of marriage— in \ fact, I never thought critically about its ethics at all. But r-ertain facts stared me ■ in the face and 1 couldn't go against tliem." [Xew York: Harper & Bros. For sale by Payot, I'pliam & Co., San Fran cisco. Price $1 50.] CORRUPTS. Those who read Percy While's first novel, "Mr. Bailey-Martin," will recognize | the same types and scenes in thi^ new i story of his, "Corruption." The issuance ! of such a book as this by a reputable | house gives rise to the question as to ; whether the sponsors of our literature ; have no responsibility. The majority of j people who buy books are guided in a I measure by the imprint on the title page. i "New, Type & Co., Publishers," says the i would-be purchaser. "At least, the book is bound not to be trash." And, judged from literary standards, Mr. White's latest novel is not trash. It would be less dis j pleasing if it were. The writer and pub ] lisher have at all events been honest in i the title they have given the book. It is I as appropriate as the old scriptural cry of j warning, "Unclean! Unclean!" Ttiere is not a pleasanccharacter in the j book. The virtues of Mr. White's saints j are as detestable as are the misdeeds of his sinners. In fact the only ono of the j author's people with whom one can get up the least bit of sympathy is Beatrice, the | wronged. Beatrice the temptress, who be ! comes finally the scapegoat for ah the I rest. It Is a mystery where Mr. White ! could ever have made the acquaintance of j such an insufferable mob of cads as are the j men of his romance; such very unpleasant { women. The book is full of political ! slang and the jargon of the hustings. ; We can only draw from it the inference | that British' politics of the higher order I are but a step removed from the ward variety of the same thing in England, and the principal impression left by the book, J clever as it is. is that the author has taken ! advantage of his position to introduce I among us a number of people who in j real life we would go far to avoid meeting. I [New York: D. Appleton & Co. For sale j by Doxey, San Francisco. Price $1 25.] mm volumes of st. mciiolas. To put into the hands of a boy or a girl the two handsome bound volumes of St. Nicholas, which contain the numbers for the past year, is equal to a gift of a half dozen story books. In fact some of thejniost popular books of the year for children have first seen the licht in these pages. Here one will find Palmer Cox's irrepressible Brownies on their tour throueh the Union ; Howard Pyle's brave "Jack Ballister," who got the best of Blackbeard's piratical crew; Albert Steams' "Chris and the Wonderful Lamp;" Napoleon's dashing page in El bridge S. Brooks' "A Boy of the First Empire;" "The Quadrupeds of North America," of all sorts and conditions, de scribed by W. T. Hornaday, and a number of famous horses, historical and legendary, that are very lovingly written about by James Baldwin. There are a series of sketches in a simple and systematic vein of "Famous American Authors," by Bran der Matthews, and Theodore Roosevelt's inspiring "Hero Talcs from American His tory." Aside from these serial features the volumes are crowded with stories, sketches and verses that will help as well as amnse child-ish readers. One of the best of Rudvard Kipling's jungle stories, which THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1895. have already been accepted as classics in juvenile literature, is "The King's Ankus." BESSEETS FOR THE TABLE. The Dodge Book and Stationer}' Com pany has issued a neat little volume of cooking receipts under the title of "Desserts for Everybody's Table." It contains the culinary formulae for many dainty dishes furnished by famous chets. Housewives will find it a useful book. As a sample of its condensed practical information thefol lowing is quoted: Things well to know — Water or jnilk, a pint is a pound; one cup of butter is half a pound; one cup of flour is four ounces; one cup of sugar is seven ounces; one cup of molasses is twelve ounces; two cups of sugar weigh one pound; two cups of butter weigh one pound ; two tablespoonfuls of melted butter is one ounce; two tablespoonfuls of sugar is one ounce; two tablespoonfuls of Hour is one | ounce: butter size of an esrg weighs one half ounce; one tablespoonful of liquids i weigh one-half ounce; one quart of sifted ! Hour weighs one pound; ten eggs weigh I one pound ; live cups of sifted flour equals one pound; eight tablespoonfuls are one gill; one wineglass is half a gill. [Dodge Book and Stationery Company, 107 Mont gomery street, San Francisco.] THE GRASSHOPPERS' PARTY. Among the host of dainty, tasteful Christmas' stories in verse that crowd our table, none is sweeter than the very cleverly illustrated story of "The Grasshoppers' Party," by Helen E. Wright. One hardly knows which to praise most, the sly, deli cate humor of the verse, or the exquisite beauty of finish of the illustrations by A. lE. H. Nothing of the kind from Eastern publishers surpasses this work of local ! talent. It is to b« regretted the name of : the publishers is not given, for their share i in the work is excellently done and is a ! credit to the typographical profession in San Francisco. "That the gnats and beetles, and the bugs and the bumblebee had a ; good time; that the grasshoppers' notes of i invitation on blue and white violets were j welcomed wherever the breezes blew, ! bringing thrones of gaudy fireflies and i sober-suited crickets; the wonderful sun i flower supper table, the cooling drinks and i toothsome cakes; how tired the man in ! the moon became of lighting the merry party— is ali happily told in unhalting rhyme. Children of"? to 70 will be de lighted with Helen E. Wright's pretty book. Price 7"> cents. PARR COMMISSIONERS'. REPORT. The twenty-fourth Piinual report of the Board of Park Commissioners of San Fran cisco is being distributed from the State Printing Office at Sacramento. It contains a concise record of the work done by the Commissioners during the year ending- June 30, 1895. A nandsome tribute is paid to the late W. W. Stow, president of the Commissioners at the time of his death last spring, and a carefully prepared account is given of the improvements carried out duringthe year. It is handsomely illustrated and contai us cuts of nearly all tiie points of interest. While Commissioners Joseph Aus tin, John Rosenfeld and Irving If. Scott disclaim all credit to themselves of the pood work that has been carried on under their supervision during the last year, Su perintendent John McLaren ami Secretary V. V. Bloch are deserving of much praise. Each En his respective capacity has served the Commissioners, the City and the State well. [State Printing Office, Sacramento.] ELEMENTS OF HIGHER CRITICISM. This is not only a book for students, but is designed as a work for the intelligent general reader, on what is called "The Higher Criticism" as a method of Biblical study. The author is Andrew C. Zenos, professor of Biblical theology in Me- Cormick Theological Seminary, Chicago. The scope of the book, the author tells us, is not to advocate or oppose any set of re sults, but to explain the principles and methods of the higher criticism with ref erence to the large and growing periodical and book literature of the subject, and for use as a textbook for the interested lay reader. For this latter purpose it is very well adapted, and will be found a very useful compendium of information upon the subject it treats. [New York and Toronto: Funk & Wagnalls Com pan v, I Price $I.] THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE. "The Red Badge of Courage," by Stephen ! Crane, is a book which will be best appre i ciated by those who parsed through the bap ! tism of fire of our Civil War. It is a strong and realistic portrayal of the life of the soldier from the day he entered the army i as a raw recruit until the time when as a ! scarred and experienced veteran he fought j his finai battle. The author's descriptions j of camp life, of marches and skirmishes | and general engagements are vivid, while I his recitals of the bluster and badinage of I the camp in the dialects of the various I sections which had supplied soldiers to the regiment are true to the life and lan guaco of the time. [D. Appleton & Co., publishers. For sale at Doxey's; price $1. THE KJHtiHT OF LIBERTY. There is no writer in America who knows better how to make history inter esting to young people than does Heze kiah Butterworth. The historical worthies who move through his pages live and breathe and have their being, for the young reader, almost as truly as they did for their contemporaries in the years gone by. In the present volume Mr. Butter worth has toid a tale of the fortunes of Lafayette and told it in such a way as to bring the hero of the Revolution very clearly before the eyes of his readers. The boys and eirls into whose hands this book may frill may be sure of a treat while liv ing amid the scenea *it revives. [New York: D. Appleton & Co. For sale by Doxey, San Francisco. Price $1 50.] THE BOY OFFICERS OF 1812. Another volume in Lee & Shepard's "1812 Series." In this, as in the preceding books of the series, the author, Dr. Everett F. Tomlinson, has set himself the task, not merely of telling a story, but of pre serving the characteristics and historical values of the time and places dealt with. This he has succeeded in doing to a very interesting degree. The volume is the third in the series, and takes its young he roes through a thrilling succession of real istic and historic events. [Boston, Mass. : L?e & Shepard. For sale by Doxey, San rancisco. Pjico $1 50. 1 SEVEN LECTURES OX PiiOPHECY. In these seven lectures the author, H. Farnsworth, of San Jacinto, Cal., deem?, as he says in his preface, that he has given abundant evidence, gleaned altogether by prophecy, that we are living in the old age of the world, and the Ancient of Days is already upon us. Although, as he says, God has given him a spiritual gift for this purpose, he admits that he may be in error in some of his applications, but asserts that he is in the main right. The lectures deal with Unitarianism in the churches. Antichrist, the Turkish empire and vari ous of the topics dealt with in Revelation. San Jacinto, Cal. Published by the author. TOXIN. A new story by Ouida, in her most Ouida esque style. The principal character is a scientist, a physician who, with the logic that always characterizes Ouida's crea tions, is a fiend by virtue of Dejnq a scien tist. He calmly asserts that while there are some men of science and surgeons whose desire is to console, to amend, and who care for the poor human material on which they work, they are not in the front ranks of their profession, nor will science ever owe much to them. He becomes at tracted by a beautiful woman, kills his suc cessful rival in her affections by scientific means-inoculating him with the toxme of diphtheria— and livpnotizes the stricken lady into marrying himself. [New York: F. A. Stokes Company. For sale by Doxey, San Francisco. Price $I.] _: « AIIT BILLY, ANOTHER SKETCHES. A number of sketches by Alyn Yates Keith which have appeared from time to time in different periodicals are now gathered within the covers of a book. The best things in the collection are the chap ters devoted to the Desultory Club, a society of women in a college town which met once a week to gather up and discuss the loose ends of subjects left t>v the Mon day Morning Club, the Monday Nightclub, the Paleontological Club and the various other organizations that swept the inhabi tants before them through the hours of the week. Some of the-e desultory discus sions are full of practical common-sense, and each of them is interesting reading. NOTES FRO.H A EMERY. "Broken Notes From a Gray Nunnery" is the singular title of a charming volume of sketches by Mrs. J. S. Hallock. The gray nunnery was not a convent of clois tered nuns, but a pleasant old country house so named by the author, who spent several months within its confines. And there it was she gathered the material for the series of interesting word-paintinga in cluded in this volume. There is no plot or story, simply a collection of beautiful pen pictures by a sincere and ardent lover of nature. [Lee <k Shepard, Boston. For sale by William Doxey.j LITERARY MTES. The Fly Leaf is the name of a little pamphlet-periodical of the Chap Book order, hailing from Boston and got up in an attractive form. It is conducted by Waiter Blackburne Harte, a journalist whose work is well known to readers of current literature, and it is devoted to the new — to new men, new women, new ideas, whimsies and things. The first number is very promising and iilled with spicy and amusing writing. It contains "The Stir in Literature, ' "The New Mysticism," '•The Yellow Girl," "The Jealous God" and an interesting department of sharp and witty editorial comment. For sale by all booksellers. « — : A BUBBLE. "A Bubble," by Mrs. Walford, is a email book of elegant workmanship, containing a sweet, pathetic story of the love of a poor medical student fora beautiful young girl, in station far above his own, who had encouraged his attentions during a lonely winter in Edinburgh. The story tells of his shattered hopes and despair, when, after returning to Lon don society, she denies him her presence, and he realizes that "she is not for him." i Frederick A. fc;toke3 Company. New York, publishers. For sale by William Doxey, san Francisco. Price 50 cents.] HALF ROOM THE WORLD. This is the title of the latest number of the "All Over the World Library. " by Oliver Optic (William T. Adams), and is out iust in time for Christmas. No writer of juvenile fiction is better known to the hoys of the land than Oliver Optic, and his youthful readers are legion. Young Belgrave, the youthful millionaire who figures as the hero of the story, cannyt fail to entrance the boy readers. "The book is handsomely bound and will make a choice Christmas gift. [Lee & Shepard. Boston. For sale by William Doxey : San Francisco.] A BUD OF PROMISE. "A Bud of Promise" is a well-told, pathetic little story of two schoolboys, one of whom was a precocious child stimulated and urged to unusual mental effort, the other a very ordinary companion who linally came out all right, while "Bud," the family hope and pride, early succumbed to the too severe and trying ordeal of linal examinations', the injustice of which and the injurious effect of school exhibitions being thevmotive of this tale of New Eng land school life. [The Popular Book Store, 10 Post street. Price 50 cents.] A LIEITEMT AT EIGHTEEN. This is another of Oliver Optic's delight ful boys' stones of the "Blue and the Gray" series, just issued from the press of Lee & Shepard, Boston. Many of the in cidents related in the story of the youth ful lieutenant's military career are not contrary to the facts set forth in the official recordsof the States. It is an inspiring tale of courage, true manhood and loyalty, and the lesson taught is wholesome. " [Lee & Shepard, Boston. For sale by William Doxev, San Francisco.] FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS RAMOIfI. David Malcom, the author of "A Fiend Incarnate," has written a thrillin<;ly interesting novel under the title of "Fifty Thousand Dollars Ransom." It is a study in morals and temptations, with plenty of dramatic incident. The story is well written; the English is good, and somo of the descriptive work is powerful. [J. Selwin Tait & Sons, New York]. BOHEMIA INVADED. The latest volume of short stories by James L. Ford bears the title quoted in the caption. Mr. Ford has earned popu larity by his grace and elegance of style, and his "Hypnotic Tales'' and ''The Lit erary Shop" Dave been widely read. The stories are short without being too much curtailed, and the author's grace of diction characterizes them all. [Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York and London.] THE NABOB OF SINGAPORE. A highly improbable yarn, by St. George Rathborne, which is appropriately inclosed ia a bright yeilow cover. The story is ridiculous in conception, ami the author entertains peculiar ideas, wholly his own, it is to be hoped, regarding the grammat ical construction of the English language, that render his style incoherent and un pleasant in the extreme. [New York: Street & Smith. Price, 50 cents.] NUMBER 49 TttKHAH STREET. A rather tame story for young people, b.v C. Emma Cheney, who has also written Remarkable truly y is Art ! See— Elliptical Wheelmen -a Cart! It looks very fair In the Picture up there: But imagine the Ride when you start! a "Young People's History of the Civil War." Her present essay into the realm of juvenile fiction is rather heavily freighted with moral for the carrying-power of the narrative itself. [Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co. For sale by Doxey, San Francisco. Price $I.] STAFF FOR LIFE'S PATHWAY. "A Daily Staff for Life's Pathway" is the title of a small volume of selected poems and prose quotations from the clas sical and standard authors. They are ar ranged with reference to their application to the season, and each day in ttie year has a page to it3elf. It 13 an odd conceit, but Mrs. C. S. Derose has shown taste, judgment and critical discrimination in the selection and arrangement of her quotations. [Frederick A. Stokes Com pany, New York and London.] COURTSHIP BY COMMAND. This is what the author, M. M. Blake, terms a "Story of Napoleon at Play." Business insight is shown in the selection of his theme, for the literary world is in the midst of a universal revival of Napo leonic interest. Everything written about the "Petit Caporal" is read with avidity, and this ably constructed combination bf tiction and historic fact is certain to have a host of readers. There is not a dull chapter in the book. [D. Appletoa & Co., New York.] IVEAL, THE MILLER. Ths book is one of a series for young readers., dealing with American history, by James Otis, who is recosnized as one of the best juvenile writers of the day. The story cannot fail to be both interesting and instructive to every patriotic young Amer ican. [Estes (t Lauriat, publishers, Bos ton. 75 cents.] A DAUGHTER OF THE MM. "A Daughter of the King," by Alian, is an answer to '"The Story of an African Farm." It is a powerfully written novel, and, while upholding the sacredness of marriage— the true union of souls— gives a picture of the wedded state without love. [F. Tennyson Neeiy, Chicago and New York.] HILL lidiM, This is a readable tale of love and the usual incidents and episodes which enter so largely into all histories of the grand passion. Mrs. Julia Colliton Fiewellyn is a graceful writer, and her transcripts are of the human heart. [Arena Publishing Company, Boston.] YOIM MASTER KIRKE. Miss Perm Shirley's latest effort in juve nile fiction, titled "Young Master Kirke," is in her usual pleasant style, and reminds one very much of the writings of her sister. Sophie May. The story ifT well told and contains a good moral. [Lee & Shepard, Boston. For sale by William Doxey.] DESIRE OF THE MOTH. v-i Capel Vane ba.s taken a line from Shel ley for title of his latest novel, "The De sire of the Moth for the Star of the Night lor the Morrow." It is a simple, pretty story, well written and the sentiment is of a healthy tone. [D. Appleton & Co., New York. For sale by William Doxey.J WILD ROSE. This is a tale of the Mexican frontier by Francis Francis, and is one of the best written and most interesting stories of pioneer minim: days that has ever been given to the reading public. The book is beautifully bound. [Published by Mac nulian tte Co.. New York. For sale by Wiliiam Doxey, San Francisco. Price $I.J THE PURPLE HYACINTH. A beautiful little fairy story b.v Juniata Salsbury. The story is simple, natural and well told, and the illustrations, by Will Phillip Hooper, add greatly to the charm of the lovely volume. (New York and London: The Transatlantic Publish ing Company.] CHRONICLES OF COUNT ANTONIO. After having been syndicated throughout tli is country and England, this latest romance of Anthony Hope's is now issued by the Apple tons in a handsome book, pierced from cover to cover by a redoubtable blade, presumably the sword of Count Antonio liimielf. It is a question among the critics as to just what place in the world of letters should bo accorded Anthony Hope. At all events, he has at the present moment a very high place in the pop ular fancy, and it is rather more than probable that he will have lived his day and been su perseded by some other popular favorite before the critics have solved the rroblem of classify ing him. Nevertheless, while he lasts, Anthony Hope is capital. He is what the younger of "Helen's Habies" would call so "lovely blugsjy." He cuts heads off and sends sword thrusts through hearts and rescues his bloodthirsty heroes from such creepily perilous positions, with such enthusiasm p.nd ingenuity, us to be altoKetherdelightful. There is nothing complicated about Anthony Hope's people, nothing tin do siecle, and, in fact, nothing really human- When lie assays to draw real, live, modern folk he is as tiresome as the best of us. But on his own particular stamping ground, the realm of romantic fancy, he is so restful and delightful that there should really be some sort of a literary police soldiery with discretionary powers to keep him on his reservation. T4ie "Chronicles of Count An tonio" is aromantic talc of the days of chivalry. The Count is a sort of robber-bnndtt-Lanceloi who lias taken to the hills with a troop of fol lowers, who are able to rout whole armies aud make tpnr.s with the rulers of church and state. There are no politics and no problems la the book, and about tin; whole hanj; ? such a delightful air ot improbability that onefo s lows the doughty hero from lirst to last of hi t sanguinary adventures, with no more though of weariness than he has himself. [New York: D. Appleton >fc Co. For sala by Doxey, San Francisco. Price $1 50.] PEOPLE WE PASS. There are problems enough in this volume of short stories by Julian Ralph to satisfy the most insatiate of literary college settlementers. They are stories of the street and the tene ment; of courtships on the roofs and in the doorways of those great rookeries of humanity that tower in certain districts of New York and other great cities. The problems, how ever, are not of Julian Ralph's raising. He simply tells his stories in true newspaper-re porter, touch jiud go fashion that gives one the impression of listening to the execution of a popular melody. One can predicate to a hair just when Mr. Ralph will push in the stop marked pathos, and just when he will pull out that labeled humor. Most of his stories are either overdone or underdone. In only one instance— the story of "Love in the Big Barracks" — does his work arise to the dignity ot art, or become anything better than excep tionally good newspaper reporting. But the stories are there and the problems are there, and Mr. Ralphs newspaper instinct serves us more usefully, perhaps, in this particular line than a higheroiderof artistic perception could do. It enables him to gives us a vivid, hard picture of "how the oiher half lives" in New York tenements, and while his stories iv their art lire largely suggestive of the folded pano ramic collections of "Views in Chinatown," they do not arouse us to real, humane sym pathy with that "other half" ot whose life we cannot know too much. [New York: Harper & Bros. For sale by Payot, Upham &, Co., San Francisco. Price $1 50.] A COMEDY E SPASMS. Readers who remember lota's former novel, "A Yellow Aster," and who look in the present volume for a similar series of triangular hys terics, will be agreeably disappointed by the absence of anything of the sort. Despite its unpleasant and apparently unappropriate title "A Comedy in Spasms" is an entirely sane and not particularly out of the ordinary story of English life. There is a wealthy colonial Jam- ily suddenly left fatherless and transported to England and poverty. The eldest daughter, to rescue her loved one's from the latter difficulty, marries a man whom she honors and admires for the thoroughly honorable and admirable fellow he is. hater she finds that she loves an other honorable and admiranle man, who als<o loves her. The two recognize the situation, admit its discomforts, call to mind the various obligations imposed upon them by the facts of life and do what seems them right — each one taking'up the tnread of his life and winding it on without complication, remaining true and steadfast to the duties of existence amid peo ple who trust them. This unexpected turn of events just when the reader is expecting them to swerve in the opposite direction is as refresh ing as it is rare in fiction. One really feels a sense of gratitude to lota for the unwonted sensation her story affords. The book fairly bristles with epigrams and the impossibly clever sayings of tlie people who figure in its pages. [New York and London: Frederick A. stokes it Co. For sale by Doxey, Ban Francisco. Price $1 '25.] RED MEN AND WHITE. Under this title Owen Wister has collected the clever sketches of Western life that during the past two or three years have appeared from his pen in sundry of the lending magazines. As a tenderfoot in this wild and woolly region Mr. Wister has seized upon a number of picturesque features of life in the North and SouthWest and has woven them into clever, semi-humorous narrative. None of the stories is wholly satisfactory. Mr. Wister is too wholly aloof from the life which he records and too little in human sympathy therewith to be a rinisned artist. But he is essentially clever and a shrewd observer and more clearly than a more sympathetic onlooker could per haps have done he has drawn for us his sketches of life in Arizona and tbe Northwest. In particular he translates the localities with which he deals with a fidelity and an ac curacy of touch that few writers possess. He portrays for as the modern Indian as no other modern writer save, perhaps^Charles F. Lum mis has done, and his stones, though they leave a certain impression of artistic lack, are interesting a:id entertaining. The illustra tions, by Frederic Remington, are full of spirit. [New York: Harper & Bros. For snle by Tayot, Upham & Co., San Francisco. Price $1 50.] NURSERY ETHICS. The author of this book of studies in child life, Florence Hull Wintcrburn, editor of "The Nursery," says, justly, in her opening chapter: "It is a most difficult and delicate matter to lay down rules for domestic government, be cause it involves admonitions to the parents concerning their own conduct, and while people acknowledge, reluctantly, that ex ample is a more potent force than precept in training the young, they can scarcely be brought to admit that faultiness in them selves unfits them for the position of dis ciplinarians." This very difficult and delicate task she does, however, .succeed in doing, if her helpful and suggestive chapters of counsel upon the development of childish minds and bodies can be called a laying down of rules. The book is one that will heartily commend itself to thoughtful teachers and parents. [New York: The Merriam Company. For sa'.e at the Popular Bookstore, San Francisco. Price $I.] THE STORY OF THE INDIAN. This ig the first issue in a series of "The Story of the West" which Appleton <fe Co. pur pose issuing and which are intended to trace the earlier development of the country west of the Missouri River. The author of the present volume. George Bird Grinnell, ivho has writ ten one or two other books about Indians, gives us in this one a very intimate and real picture of the modern "red man." The scenes which he describes were witnessed by himself. The stories he tells have been told him by the Indians themselves. The book is full of inter est and the story of the Indian, in his home, of his recreations, his marriage, subsistence, hunting, wars, beliefs and disbeliefs, is well and sympathetically told. [New York: D. Appleton & Co. For sale by Doxcy, San Fran cisco. Price $1 50.] DOfflA PERFECT! A translation, admirably done, by Mary J. Serrano, of Goldo's tragic story of life in rural Spain. Donna Perfecta is a great story in the picture it gives us of the experience of a mod ern youth in an interior Spanish community, still rooted amid the traditions, bigotry and superstitions of medievalism. The chnractcr of Donna Perfecta is drawn with exceeding skill, nnd the whole story, to its sad finale, is full of tragic and dramatic interest. The translation has a preface by W. D. Howells. [New York: Harper & Bros. For sale by Payot, Upham & Co., San Francisco. Price $I.] PRANG'S AMERICAN ART. L. Prang & Co. of Boston, Mass., have issued their usual assortment of holiday art pictures and calendars. The American "touch" is given to everything turned out from the press of Prang <fc Co., all their designing, lithographing and painting being done in this country. MAGAZINES OF THE MOOT. Midland Monthly. The Midland Monthly, issued by Johnson Brigham, from the Kenyon Press, Dcs Moinei, lowa, contains a lot of good literature. Its art work, however, is scarcely up to the mark. This is notable so far as the half-tone pictures are concerned. The most characteristic thing in the December number of the Midland is "A Patch of Barbarism," by Samuel B\ Evans. The Cosmopolitan. Israel Zongwill has one of his peculiar pro ductions in the Cosmopolitan for December und«r the title, "The Choice of Parents." Cali fornians will be interested in C. F. Holder's orticle, "Game Fishing in the Pacific." Most of the exploits relate to Santa Catallna Island and the waters adjacent, barah Grand, Ouida nnd others afford jrood amusement. Edited by John Brisbane WalKer, New York City. BOOKS RECEIVED. Good fur Nuthin 1 , a Tale of a Christmas Promise, by William R. A. Wilson; vellum illustrated, 52 pages, price 75 cents. The Peter Paul Book Company, Buffalo, N. V.; for sale by the Popular Bookstore, 10 Post street. Hill Crest, by Julia Colliton Flewellyn, cloth, 304 pages; Arena Publishing Com pany, Boston. A Daughter op the Kino, by Alian; paper 276 pages. F. Tennyson Neely, Chicago and New York. Cvstody of State Funds, by E. R. Bucfcley. Published by the American Academy of Politi cal and Social Science, Philadelphia. Paper, 15 cents. Railway Departments fop. Relief and In surance of Employes, by Emory R. Johnson. Published by the American Academy of Politi cal and Social Science, Philadelphia. Paper, 35 cents. Heart?, by R. F. Foster. New York: F. Stokes Company; 50 cents. The Laureates, by Kenvon West. New York: F. Stokes Company; $150. Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: F. Stokes Company; $1 50. Considerations" on Painting, by John La Fare. New York: Macmillan & Co. the Invisible Playmate, by W. Canton. New York : S. Tait & Co. ; 75 cents. Nim and Cum, by Catherine Brooks Yale. Chicago : Way & Williams ; $1 25. The LiTTLR Room, by Madeline Yale Wynne. Chicago: Way & Williams: $1 25. The Sheik's White Slave, by Raymond Raife. New York : Lovell, Coryell & Co. ; $1 50. Round the Yule Log, by P. C. Asbjornsen. Boston: Estes & Lauriat; 50 cents. Lakewood, by Mary 11. Norris. New York: F. Stokes Company; $1. The Tragedy of Othello, with preface and glossary by Israel Collins, M.A. London: J. M. Dent <fc Co.; 45 cents. In the Sanctuary, by A. Van der Naillen. San Francisco: W. Poxey; 50 cents. Anything to Beat the Company. "What station was that?" demanded the passenger in the rear seat, suddenly rous ing himself, straightening up and project ing his voice through the dimly lighted car. The conductor, who was corning down the aisle, stopped and held hia lantern clos>e to the speaker's face. "It was Bragdon," he replied. "Ain't you the man thai wanted to get off at Sraallville?" "I an\" rejoined the passenger. "I asked you to wake me up when we got there, and you said you would," "I did wake you up." "Oh, you did. did you? How far have we gone past Smallville?" "Fifty-rive miles." "And" you waked me up? Strange I didn't know anything about it!" "I shook you, called out the name of the station, and you said 'all right,' and reached for your hat. I supposed you were wide awake. Several passengers got oft' there and I took it for granted you were one of them." "Well, I wasn't. I'm pretty hard to wake up. You ought to have been sure about it. I had friends waiting for me at the station. It'll make an awful mess. I wouldn't have this happen for $1000." "You can telegraph them, can't you?" "I suppose I can. What's the next station?' 1 "Flaxwood." "Does the next train back stop there?" "Yes." "Well, you give me a note to the con ductor, can't you, telling him to pass me back to Smallville? Its as little as you can do. It wasn't my fault that I got carried past." The conductor scribbled a few lines on a piece of paper and handed it to him. "We're coming to Flaxwood now," he saidf looking at him sharply. "Are you sure you're awake?" "I'll get off here, anyhow," responded the passenger, grabbing his valise and starting for the door, "whether I'm awake or not." As the train pulled out of Flaxwood the brakeman standing on tbe rear platform of the last coach heard a voice calling out in the darkness: "Hello, old fellow! l was afraid you wouldn't be here to meet me. I came all the way on a 50-cent ticket. There's more than one way to beat a railroad, b'gosh !"— Chicago Tribune. NEW TODAY. Read ANNIE LAURIE'S The Little Boy Who Lived on the Hill. Illustrated by Swinnerton. Mailed postpaid on receipt of ONE DOLLAR, by WILLIAM DOXEY PUBLISHER 631 MARKET ST. SAN FRANCISCO j Tbe most certain and safe lain Remedy. Instnntly I relieves and soon cures all Colds. Hoarseness, fore ' Tbroat, Krorx-hitis. Congestions and Inrtamm*- I tions. 50c per bottle, Hold by Druggists. 21