The San Francisco call. [volume], February 13, 1898, Page 22, Image 22

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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22
THE WORLD OF BOOKS.
A BASQUE IDYL.
RAMT'XTCHO- By Pierre Lot!. . New
York: R. F. Fenno & Co. Ban Fran
cisco: For sale at .the Emporium.
Dreamy poetry, exquisitely expressed
sympathy with nature, more especially
In her melancholy moods, an intuitive
ptlon of the heart's most elusive
sentiments, these are the special charac
teristics which Pierre Loti's name evokes,
and they are to be found in marked de
gree in his pathetic relation of a Basque
peasant's love. The story is of the
slightest, and as Is common with this
author, of the saddest. Ramuntcho, the
hero, inherits from his Basque mother
the splendid physique, the muscular
energy, the nomadic instincts, the poetic
; melancholy of a Ions; line of in
dependent ancestors devoted to smug
gling, to their time-honored games of the
tialid and the "rebot"; devoted also to
their picturesque land with its southern
luxuriance in the shadow of forbidding
mountains; yet with the restless blood of
the wanderer in their veins. From his
nameless, aristocratic father he inherits
the refinement, the vague longings, the
cynical weariness of life, characterizing
the blase French fashionable of these lat
ter days.
This father, in a moment of romantic
caprice, captivated a passionate Basque
girl, who willingly followed him to a
life of hidden love in the city, and baby
Ramuntcho was born in the purple.
"When his mother saw that her rich
lover's love was waning she did not await
desertion; proud, stern, self-reliant, she
returned with her babe to her native vil
lage, bought back her dead parents' little
farmhouse and there, hard-working, lone
ly, silent, brought up her son with a
stately dignity that at last found favor
with her simple, proud country folk and
won back her position.
But Ramuntcho was none the less a
boy, bearing his mother's, not his fath
er's, name; a lad distinguished as one of
the bravest smugglers and best, pelota
players on the countryside, but a bad
parti for a girl with a family name and
a dowry. And so the loves of the nero
and of Gradeuse, the golden-haired,
dreamy Basque beauty, are hopelessly
crossed. True that the twain have af
fianced themselves almost from infancy,
according to the Basque custom; true
that Arrochkoa, Gracieuse's rich young
brother, favors the match: her mother,
Dolores, is bitter in opposition, and while
Ramuntcho is serving his three years as
a French soldier, lovely Gracieuse, always
mystically inclined, is spirited away to
a convent for life. The most touching
scene, powerful in its pathos, is the last,
when Ramuntcho and Arrochkoa visit
the sequestered convent intending to kid
nap the young nun; impressed by the
spirit of still resignation, the traditions
of holiness and self-sacrifice, the atmos
phere of transcendental purity that en
velops them, their hearts quail at the
thought of sacrilege, and the hero, moth
erless and wifeless, is left to wander away
alone to American shores.
A sorrowful idyl, hut an idyl in every
sense of the word. Pierre Lot! has never
been happier than in his descriptions of
the Basque scenery, the Basque charac
ter, the Basque daily life. Smuggling
becomes less a matter of adventure than
of poetry as we creep with the smugglers
CONDUCTORS AS
MODERN BAYARDS.
WE are living in an age of discovery,
and the most recent memorable
exploit of our explorers has been
the bringing to light of the Boston
street-car conductor. Those of us who
remember this worthy of old may not
have known him as a rara avis, but
quite a remarkable number of news
paper articles have recently appeared
about him, and the stret-car conductor
of Boston has been drawn from com
parative obscurity and set upon the
pedestal which his worth would seem
to merit.
He is the idol of the hour. One en
thusiast, writing recently in an East
ern journal, declared that not her cult
ure, but her street-car conductors con
stitute Boston's chief glory, while seve
ral of the New York papers and one
Chicago journal have held the uni
formed factotum up for local admira
tion. Even The Outlook has a good
word for him, and a corresponding
note of disapprobation for his unworthy
compeers in less fortunate cities. To a
man or to a woman — for I suspect
most of these writers are of the petti
coated sex, these personally conducted
ones from Boston hold up the conduc
tors as a model for emulation in the
"Far West." We are told that the
Athenian conductors speak in low, re
fined accents, unlike the rude bawl of
the Westerner. According to authority
they open and shut the umbrellas of
lady passengers, help the children on
and off the platforms, and do not poke
passengers in the back to urge upon
them the impossible duty of "stepping
up forward" in a crowded car. They
answer all questions, and never grow
weary in well doing.
The list of their virtues prolongs it
self beyond space here to recount it.
The difference between them and our
Western men is insisted upon, relent
lessly, and to read these curious ar
at dead of right, through spectral woods,
over mysterious mountains, or along si
lent river; the playing of the pelota, the
dancing of the fandango, the gatherings
In church, are described for us with all
the loving fidelity of a native poet, the
visions of Basque scenery make one un
derstand the Basque nostalgia. And the
exquisitely delicate love-making of the
two children— the hero is only 15 when tho
romance opens — is redolent of purity. Se
lection becomes well nigh impossible, but
here is a scenic description taken at ran
dom:
"The land of thick branches which they
traverse, under the oppression of very
high mountains, which they do not see,
Is all in ravines, profound and torn up,
in precipices, where torrents roar under
the green night of the foliage. The oaks,
the beeches, the chestnut trees become
more and more enormous, living through
centuries off a sap ever fresh and mag
nificent. A powerful verdure is strewn
ever that disturbed geology; for ages it
covers and classifies it under the fresh
ness of its immovable mantle. And the
nebulous sky, almost obscure, which is
familiar to the Basque country, adds to
the impression which they have of a sort
of universal, meditation wherein the
tilings are plunged; a strange penumbra
descends from everywhere, descends from
trees at first, descends from the thick,
pray veils above the branches, descends
from the great Pyrenees hidden behind
the clouds."
As will be seen, Pierre T,oti's charm
owea little to his translator. M. Henri
Pene dv Bois has undertaken a task for
which his command of English does n>->t
qualify him. Translation, more especial
ly in the case of a singularly idiomatic
writer, does not merely mean an exact
rendering of expressions in another
tongue, and it often requires all the au
thor's innate eloquence to make us for
get the crudities of his translator.
LOVE LORD OF ALL.
AND FRIENDS-By
Maxwell Grey. New York: D. Apple
ton & Co. Fore sale at Doxey's.
This is not the dramatic, psychological
sort of work we look for from the author
of "The Silence of Dean Maitland." In
"Sweethearts and Friends" Maxwell Grey
gives us a sketchy story illustrating the
hopes, fears and trials of the latter
day young -woman whose ambitions are
not limited to social gayeties and matri
monial success. The heroine is a very
charming girl who, in defiance of family
prejudice, cuts out a medical career for
herself, closing the door of her heart
against little Love in the belief that his
advent would imperil her mental salva
tion. But Love wins the day, as he has
done from time immemorial, and sweet
Dr. Amy marries the "friend" who has al
ways been her sweetheart, albeit he went
astray for a time under tutelage of a flip
pant fairy whose shallowness seemed to
him more womanly than Amy's independ
ence. This gentleman, alternately dubbed
The Immaculate and Bayard, is a preux
chevalier rather out of joint with modern
prose, yet he learns to bt?nd to circum
stances and accepts meekly his wife's de
votion to her profession. The love of
these twain is literally tried by fire 'and
the scene in which Bayard rescues a child
and Dr. Amy rescues Bayard savors a
little too much of the melodramatic to be
tides is enough to make every woman
in the unfavored West wish that she
might go to Boston and place herself
under the protection of Boston's newly
discovered "glory."
Something of this sort I was think
ing the other day as I got aboard an
electric car at the outskirts of the city
1 h;ld ' traveled some distance before
takirg the, car, and my coat was cov
ered with an all-too-palpable powdter
,1 was dabbing ineffectively at my
sleeves, handkerchief in hand, when the
conductor, just a mere Western con
ductor, approached with a little brush.
"Let me brush you," he said, simply,
and leading me to the door he very
deftly and gently removed every par
ticle of dust from my back and shoul
ders. Then, having other duties, he
handed me the brush and I finished the
process in comfc-rt. -
It is a peculiarity of the human
brain that dispraise makes a greater
impression upon It than does praise.
In one of his recent pleasant "Talks
(>:i Writing English" Arlo Bates told
an amusing instance of this. He said
t<> his audience: "If I were to say to
you that 'The Heavenly Twins' is mor
bid and unhealthy rubbish; that
'Trilby' is a pleasant transient ex
citement; but that 'The Return of the
Native' seems to me the most notable
English novel since Thackeray, you
would have no difficulty in remember
ing that I condemned 'The Heavenly
Twins.' You would have a fairly clear
idea that I had been less enthusiastic
than the general public about 'Trilby,'
and you would perhaps vaguely recall
that there was something else — really
it is astonishing how quickly a name
slips from the memory— which i
praised."
As the audience left the hall one lady
said to another, a stranger, "I beg
jrotur pardon, but could you tell me the
name of the third book that was given,
the one the lecturer said we should for
get?"
THE SA^T FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1898.
taken quite seriously. The real charm
of this little book lies in its descriptive
passages; plot Is thin and characters are
somewhat shadowy, but there is page
upon page In which the reader breathes
the atmosphere of the Riviera, dreams
amid the luscious Southern sights and
sounds or revels in the more bracing glo
ries of "Westmoreland; among the happiest
passages are those describing the two girl
students stealing 1 the hours wherein to
con Greek "associated ever after with
delicate beryl-green of afterglow, dark
mountains, and glory of the crimson and
purple zenith, with the blackbird's last
notes."
THE AMERICAN COOK
TTVEIA T E LESSONS IN SCIENTIFIC
COOKERY— By Miss Susy Tracy. San
Francisco: H. S. Crocker Company.
Miss Tracy probably knows why she
prefaced her lessons with the adjective
"scientific." As a matter of fact, they
are addressed to students who have not
yet mastered the A B C of the culinary
art, and their merit lies in their direct
simplicity. The veriest tyro could hardly
spoil a meal when following Miss Tracy's
directions, but the more ambitious cor
don bleu must go further afield for in
struction. Had Miss Tracy professed to
teach only American home cooking, she
would have saved her artistic reputation;
as it is, certain of her recipes irresistibly
recall poor Dv Maurier's definition of
roast chicken, "such a different thing
from poulet roti." In like manner is our
authoress's bouillon a different thing
from the French article, being nothing
else but ordinary English beef-tea. Her
directions to steep "French frifcd pota
toes" fn cold water would make the hair
of the humblest French cook stand
straight on end, while her views on the
subject of boiled fish are an insult to
piscine aristocracy; no self-respecting fish
condescends to boil tastefully in plain,
unadulterated water. In the matter of
broiling, too, Miss Tracy might study
with advantage the preliminary use of
marinades or sauces. But to the unso
phisticated American family cook her
handbook will probably prove helpful.
MOLLIE MAGUIRES.
THE BODYMASTER'S DAUGHTER— By
Alic Lee Moquo. Xpw York: Q. W.
Dlllingham Company. San Francisco,
for sale at the Emporium.
A blood-and-thunder novel this, in the
good old blood-curdling style; a lale of
cruelty, murder and sudden death to sat
isfy the most insatiable reader of the
sensational. Mrs. Moque takes us to
Pennsylvania, under the reign of terror
of the "Mollie .Maguires," and gives us
GROUP OF FIGURES ON A MONUMENT LATELY ERECTED TO DUMAS IN PARIS.
And so, amid all this queer pean to |
the Boston street-car conductor, the j
accented note, after all, is not so much >,
the praise of him as the corresponding !
i disparagement o-f his Western brother. |
I am glad some conductors, somewhere,
; are getting a little praise, for their po- j
, aition is at best a thankless sort of ;
; one, and I confess that for my own |
I part I have been prone to forget the j
| favors I received at their hands and
I to cherish the memory of the times I j
i have been carried beyond my corner;
| the occasions when I have been
: frowned upon for forgetting to ask
I for a transfer, the days when cars have |
j passed me by, while the conductor
\ whistled and regarded Vacancy, on the
j platform.
Some time ago I had occasion to go
to a part of the city with which I was
; quite unfamiliar. Seeing, a block or |
more away, a large building in course
'of construction, I asked a conductor
; what it was to be. He told me, and
when, a few seconds later we passed
another half-completed structure, he
i volunteered the information that it was
a new orphanage, and during the rest
of the trip he called my attenetion to
several features of the district that
were unknown to me. All this with no
an exceedingly vivid insight into the
Joys that befell survivors who intruded
upon regions where there was opposition
to surveying in general and railroading
in particular. The story is not a pleas
ant one: the scenes— more especially the
domestic scenes— in the saloon of Potts
town which was the Magulre rendez
vous, are repulsive in the extreme, yet
their air of reality suggests that the au
thoress has based her little romance on
hard historical facts. A v-Jn of poetry
is supplied by the loves or Toola. the
rustic beauty, whose only dissipation is
an occasional wagon trip to Pottstown.
and Jennie, the refined stepdaughter of
the "Bodymaster," or chief of the infa
mous Maguire brotherhood; and the life
like personality of Danny, the Bodymas
ter'9 crippled, warm-hearted, viciously
inclined son, gives opportunity for some
very pertinent theories on heredity. Mrs.
Moque is not yet a mistress of style, but
her conceptions of character are powerful
and with her capacity for stirring plot
we may look for some fine work from her
pen in the future.
THE CENTURY.
H. PhelDs Whitmarsh writes in the
Century for February of "The Steerage
of To-Day," his article being illustrated
by Andre Castaigne. Mr. Whitmarsh
draws this picture of one of his compan
ions in the voyage that he made:
Kneeling in an upper bunk near mo, a
middle-aged Irishman was hanging a pot
containing a shamrock plant. I entered
into conversation with him, and learned
that he was going to join his son in Cali
fornia, to whom he was taking the sham
rock as a present.
"I hope it will live," he said, looking
wistfully at the pot as it swung from the
beam. " 'Twas the wan thing the bhoy
wanted. 'IVave iv'ryting," says he in his
letther, 'an' come over. I have enough
for the both of us now,' says he; 'an' I
can make you comfortable for the rest ay
your days. But,' says he, 'fetch me a
livln' root ay shamrock if ye can." "
All Sunday we were in smooth, water,
running under the lee of the Irish coast.
The day being fine and warm, the steer
age swarmed on deck in full force. Men,
women and children all crowded about
the after hatch, some playing cards, some
dancing and some already making love;
but for the most part they lay about the
deck, sleeping and basking in the sun.
In the afternoon my friend the Irishman
appeared with his shamrock. He wanted
to give it a "taste" of fresh air, he said.
At sight of it many of the Irish girls
shed tears; then, seating themselvesabout
tho old man, they sang plaintive Irish
melodies until the sun went down. The
sad faces of the homesick girls and the
old father sitting among them holding in
his lap the precious little bit of green
presented a Eight not easily to be for
gotten.
REVIEW OF REVIEWS.
In the series of articles dealing with the
Immediate problems which concern the
great powers of the world, now appearing
in the American Monthly Review of He
views, Mr. W. T. Stead writes for the
February number a paper on "British
Problems and Politics for 1898." This is a
candid piece of criticism, all the more in
teresting to the non-Kngllsh reader be
cause ©f Its strictly British point of view.
PALL MALL MAGAZINE
The Pall Mall Magazine for February
will be especially rich in fiction. Besides
Anthony Hope's sequel to the "Prisoner
of Zenda" ("Rupert of Hentzau"), there
will be the conclusion of "X. L.'s" thrill
ing story. "The Bird at the Neck." a
short story of to-day, by Mrs. Mary
Stuart Boyd, emitled, "Wanted, a Work
ing Housekeeper": "An Incident of the
Boom," a narrative of the stock ex
change; and the "Kaffir Circus," by Jes
familiarity, but with a perfectly frank
and friendly wish that I might see all
that was to be seen of a very interest
ing part of the city.
It was a gripman on this same line
Who, during the Christian Endeavor
Convention here, confided to a friend of
mine his anxiety lest the Endeavorers
should catch cold during their stay
here. They ain't warmly enough clad
for this climate,'" he said. "I've been
advising 'em to get warmer under
wear."
On one of the park lines, recently, I
noticed a child of perhaps 2 years, In
charge, apparently, of her father. The
little one wore a baby-tormentor, in
the shape of a bonnet •with a mon
strous frill that fell down over her face,
completely hiding her eyes and render
ing her vision an impossibility. She
kept throwing her head back and peer
ing from under her shelter tent in the
endeavor to see something of
her surroundings. The conductor was
rather surly looking. I heard
him speak with quick decision to
a passenger who persisted in stand
ing, without holding on by a strap
while the car rounded a curve, and the
two had a little dispute, the passenger
sie Mansergh; and the "Last Experience
of Adam Skirving," by Mary W. L. Fal
coner. All these stories are well illus
trated.
CURRENT LITERATURE
A portrait of John Vance Cheney, re
produced from a drawing specially made
for the purpose, forms the frontispiece of
the February number of Current Litera
ture. This is by way of illustrating the
article on Mr. Cheney and his work,
which is provided by F. M. Hopkins as
his monthly contribution to the "Ameri
can Poets of To-day" series, so long an
interesting feature of this magazine.
Among other good things in this number
are an article on the late Alphonse Dau
det. an account of his life and work, as
well as a reproduction of his exquisite
littlesketch,"The Deathof the Dauphin";
spirited readings from Sienkiewicz's
laest novel, "Hania," and from Mrs.
Frances Hodgson Burnett's "His Grace
of Osmonde"; a compilation of clever
thrusts at the sterner sex entitled "Men
in Epigram"; and another, a verse com
pilation, "What the Old-time Poets Say
of Death." The editorials are keen and
clever.
THE ATLANTIC.
An article in the February Atlantic
which will attract wide attention to an
evil hitherto largely unknown and unsus
pected is that upon the relations of the
labor unions to the negro, contributed by
John Stephens Durham, late United
States Minister to Hayti. Mr. Durham
shows the grave injustice and injury done
to the whole colored race by the system of
exclusion practiced by the labor* organi
zations of the country. He does not con
sider that this was originally a conscious
crusade against color, but that it is part
of the general system of exclusion, like
the discrimination against women and the
limitation of apprenticeships. But in ef
fect, the color limit is drawn by them so
absolutely and so strictly that no man
suspected of the slightest tinge of color
Is permitted to join a trade union or to
work in company with a union man
throughout the United States. The result
of this sweeping exclusion is to shut out
the colored man, no matter how capable
or well trained, from all skilled employ
ment whatsoever, and to degrade him to
depend upon unskilled labor or menial
service entirely for his support.
THE ARENA.
J. M. Foster, a new contributor to the
Arena, presents an article on "Secret
Societies and the State," which will com
mand general attention and perhaps pro
voke controversy. A most valuable num
ber is the article by Mrs. J. B. Montgom
ery-McGovern on "An Important Phase of
Gutter Journalism— Faking." The evil dis
cussed by the author is so crying and uni
versal that her protest will call forth a
hearty response.
LADIES' HOME JOURNAL
A writer in the February Ladies' Home
Journal tells and pictures how to over
come the difficulties of securing good
photographs of young children. He has
evidently given much study to the matter,
and seeks to instruct the parents rather
than the photographic artist. The key
note of his teaching is to avoid putting the
children in strained, unnatural positions,
but to let them assume natural poses.
The best way to dress the children and to
fix their hair Is also told, making the
article exceedingly valuable.
FRANK LESLIE'S.
The gold regions of the Klondike are
described and pictured elaborately in
Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly for Feb
ruary. The article is written by Henry
Clay Colver of Seattle, who giv^s an in
teresting account of the first discoveries
and of the recent expeditions, and >.ells
insisting upon his right to do as he
pleased. The Conductor had not looked
amiable, but presently he came into the
car, bent over the baby and very gont
ly folded back the big ruffle, smoothing
it down so as to give the child unhin
dered vision. 'There," he said to the
father, "now she can see out." The lat
ter was not offended. He smiled, and
when the frill fell down some time
after he turned It back again. But I
do not believe that even a Boston con
ductor ever showed a manlier bit of
consideration for the comfort of a little
child.
I do not think that it could be suc
cessfully maintained that her street
car conductors are San Francisoco's
chief glory. The city has one or two
other features to which her people may
point with pride, but for just mere
men, the majority of whom do not
"speak with a cultured, accent." most
of our knights of the bell-punch do
very well indeed. Now and then one
encounters an unamiable one among
them, but as a rule they are honest,
kindly men, who make up in patience
and willingness to serve what they
lack In culture and opportunity.
ADELINE KNAPP.
THE BEDS OF FLEUR-DE-LYS.
PRESIDIO, SAN FRANCISCO.
HIGH - LYING sea-blown stretches of green turl
Wind - bitten close, salt-colored by the sea,
Low curve on curve spread far to the cool sky,
And, curving over them as long as they lie,
Beds of wild fleur-de-lys.
Wide - flowing, self-sown, stealing near and far,
Breaking the green like islands in the sea,
Great stretches at your feet, and spots that bend
Dwindling over the horizon's end —
Wild beds of fleur-de-lys.
rhe light, keen wind streams on across the lifts,
Thin wind of Western springtime by the sea;
rhe warm earth smiles unmoved, but over her
[s the far-flying rustle and sweet stir
In beds of fleur-de-lys.
And here and there across the smooth low grass
Tall maidens wander, thinking of the sea;
\nd bend and bend, with light robes blown aside.
For the blue lily-flowers that bloom so wide —
The beds of fleur-de-lys.
—Charlotte Perkins Stetson.
in a practical way Just what Is necessary
to fit a man out for a year. The illus-
trations are numerous and excellent. Fol
lowing this article is a paper on Alaska
by R. H. Herron, which contains a de
scription of our far-away territory, in
whicn the magical Klondike is situated.
Tnis also is richly illustrated. A 16x22-
Inch map of Alaska accompanies these
articles.
McCLURE'S.
Dr. Nansen contributes an article to the
February number of McClure's Magazine
giving his ideas and hopes for the future
of North Polar exploration. As no other
man has yet got so near the pole, by 195
miles, as Dr. Nansen himself, with his
companion, Johansen, everybody will be
eager to read wnat he has to say on this
subject. The article is fully illustrated
with photographs and drawings from life
(most of them hitherto unpublished), by
Nansen, Greely, Peary, the Arctic art
ists, William Bramord and Albert Operti,
and others.
LIPPINCOTT'S. •
The complete novel In the February
issue of Llpplncott's Is "A Trooper Gala
had," by Captain Charles King. It con
tains some close and vivid sketches of
character and life at an army post in the
Southwest. The warlike excitement is
furnished by a prolonged pursuit of a
dangerous band of outlaws.
LITERARY NOTES.
TVe have received from R. H. Russell,
publisher. New York, copy of a volume
of cartoons by Homer C. Davenport just
issued by him. The book is artistically
printed and bound and contains an in
troduction written by John J. Ingalls. It
is sold in two editions — the popular, price
$1 75, and the library, price $2 25.
Mark Twain's "More Tramps Abroad"
("Following the Equator") has already
sold over 10,000 copies in England. Mr.
Clemens has just sent to London for a
quantity of the "copy" paper which he
is in the habit of using. It is quarto size
and rather thin. Like most authors in
these days he has his manuscript type
written before sending It to the printer.
Perhaps he appreciates the value of his
autograph to the collector and wants to
keep it for his heirs.
An English trade Journal says: "The
Klondike Morning Times is, we should
say, the dearest paper in the world. The
price per copy Is £1 10s. Here are a few
selections from its advertisements:
'California ham at Soapine Sam's, only
lOd an ounce"; 'Cariboo steak with onlona
at the Greyhound Restaurant, 12s';
CALIFORNIA AND
MANIFEST DESTINY.
AN early decree of "Manifest Des
tiny" was that the great West
should some time become a part
of the empire of the United States.
With American history there be
gan a mighty expansion of the Anglo-
Saxon race, which was destined to con
tinue till the farthermost Occident
should be reached.
Benjamin Franklin In 1754 prophesied
that in less than a century the vast
trans-Alleghany country must become
"a populous and powerful dominion."
Washington caught a true vision of the
West, and his sagacity and knowledge
of remote regions served him well in
public and private life. Wolfe's vic
tory at Quebec was a door opening to
the Anglo-Saxons an infinitely vast re
gion.
Napoleon "lightly offered the province
which had come to him so cheaply,"
and all Louisiana was acquired. By tne
treaty of 1819 Florida was ceded to the
United States. Notwithstanding Span
ish possessions and the claims or covet
ous desires of England, France and
Russia, "Manifest Destiny" had decreed
that the great California territory
should belong to the United States.
We are indebted to the question of
slavery extension for the accession of
California; slavery extension owes its
downfall to the admission of California.
It has become an admitted principle
in American politics that free States
could come into the Union only when
accompanied by slave States. After
the admission of Texas, when there
were fifteen slave and fifteen free
States, a vital question was that of
the disposition of California. "Mani
fest Destiny" answered the question
and forever turned the tide against
human slavery. Neither the climate,
nor the soil, nor the production of any
portion of California was adapted to
'shave. 6s: ciose shave, 7s fid; hair cut,
13s; hair cut, London style. 16s'; 'Four
men wanted at La Due's sawmills. Noth
ing to do but work. Pay £3 a day and
three drinks.' 'Mule cutlet, 4s 2d'; 'dog,
tenderloin, 10s 3d.' The Times has a
poetical department, humorous Illustra
tions and a thrilling account of an as
sassination In a saloon over cheating at
cards."
More than six months ago David
Christie Murray went out Into tho desert
places of North Wales to devote him
self to a work of fiction, animated by a
serious purpose, which has long lain at
the back of his mind. This book is to be
called 'Despair's Last Journey," and will
represent the writer's own view of the
facts of life; it will probably ba finished
In time for publication in the spring.
Mr. Murray has also recently seen
througrh the press a volume of tales and
poems shortly to be Issued by Messrs.
Uhatto & Windus of London. This will
be the first collection of Mr. Murray's
verse which has appeared.
"Book News," which publishes in each
issue an expression of opinion from lead
ing authors in regard to their own per
sonal view of their work, gives in its Feb- i
ruary number the following remarkable \
utterance by Sarah Grand in regard to
her purpose in writing "The Beth Book,"
in which, as will be seen, she touches up
on the errors of the critics:
"In influencing their daughter's choice
of a husband parents are apt to consider
a man's means, manners and position
rather than his principles or ideals. If ha
prove to be a good fellow in society they
are content to inquire no further. Many
men of excellent manners in public are
men of most corrupt mind, whose con
versation In private is a continual source
of suffering to their wives. I wrote 'Tha
Beth Book' to show what a retined wo
man must suffer when forced to associate
with such a man, the inevitable blight,
the certain deterioration that settles
upon her even when she has the force of
character to escape absolute corruption.
The critics have almost all missed this,
the one purpose of the book, and pounced
upon something quite incidental, and
merely introduced by way of illustration,
and as the vivisective incident, to which
they attribute an exaggerated impor
tance. The subjects discussed came in
evitably into the life of an intelligent wo
man situated as Beth was at the time of
which I was writing; she could not have
avoided them, and, therefore, no picture
of her would be faithful that ignored
them; but it is in the conditions of her
life, not In her Intellectual pursuits or
opinions, that the real significance of her
story is to be found."
slave labor, and slavery had not ex
isted in Mexico since 1829.
Although there were early indica
tions of gold, a favoring Providence
concealed the illimitable stores of
wealth until after the American con
quest and after hope of slavery exten
sion had faded. The fortunate acci
dent of Marshall gave to America the
gc-lden wealth of California. And now
for fifty years California has been a
most influential factor in the world's
development. In the dark hours of
civil strife it was our gold that sup
plied an indispensable element of
strength and steadiness to our Federal
finance.
The "Manifest Destiny" of California,
so far as it relates to past days, is not
merely a trumped-up expression of to
day for retrospective use. Numerous
prophetic utterances of the pioneer
press and observant travelers afford an
instructive commentary on subsequent
history. Read in the Californian and
the Star, beginning with 1846, and in
contemporaneous speeches such expres
sions as these: "The destiny of Cali
fornia is fixed — she is to become a free
and independent State. She is to mako
her own laws, manage her own re
sources, and found those institutions
in which her children are to find a hap
py home." "This (English) is to be the
language of California. The vast tide
of immigration from the United States
will inevitably make it so. It becomes,
therefore, every parent to have his
children taught this language." "Who
can now doubt the importance to which
California is destined?" "Our com
mercial capital, San Francisco, is des
tined to be the center of the exchange^
of the world, and is destined to suppi^
the world with a large share of its cur
rency."
"Manifest Destiny" is calling to-day
for native sons and native daughters of
moral fiber and excellent virtues.
ROCKWELL D. HUNT.