The San Francisco call. [volume], March 17, 1907, Page 13, Image 13

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

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The San Francisco Sunday CalL
BOOKS REVIEWED
Friday, The Thirteenth, by Thomas
. W. Lawson
Vhe J&ystery, by Stewart Edward
White andSamuelHopkinsA dams
Before A dam, by Jack London
The World Machine, 6p Carl Snider
Ibsen, ip Haldane Macjall
Gossip of Books and Who
MCakc Them
Books Received
Lawson's "Friday, the 13th/* -a
Tragedy of the Ticker
THOMAS LAWSON, Boston's "fren
2led financier," celebrated liis
birthday on February 26 of thi*
year in a moj»t unusual manner.
Oo that day his first novel, "Friday, the
Thirteenth," was brought out in book
form, and for the people "who never
read serials" will be a distinct surprise.
It Is almost a sequel to his "Frenzied
Finance," Perhaps it is what he has
long promised — an exposure of how the
operations in Wall street arc carried on.
It i« a grewsome story of death, insanity
and idiocy — the doleful tragedy of the
"ticker." It purports to be the nar
rative of Jim Randolph, a member of a
rich and famous banking house In New
York. Bob Brownley, a college friend
•jb£ a. member of a poor, proud South
ern family, works for him a while, but
later becomes a broker for himself.
Here enters the heroine— a not very
convincing or probable arrangement.
Her father. Judge Lee Sands of Vir
ginia, has lost his fortune to the pirates
of th* "street" and with it several
millions of trust money belonging to
his confiding friends and neighbors.
His daughter, Beulah, has been her
father's secretary and so has learned
business methods. , Consequently he
jrivef her the remnant of his funds to
CO to New York and win back their
losses. The young friend of Randolph,
who has blossomed out Into a broker
of rare nerve and judgment, undertakes
Bculah Sands' business, eren as be
was signaled from the start 'to be
Bvulah's lover. The real story is of the
campaign to wrest from the buccaneers
of Wall street the fortune of the
wrecked Southerner.
Here, in a conversation between Ran
dolph and Brownley, is LaweonV most
telling shot at the Washington end of
the "systeni-."
"That tariff bill is up a' Wash
ington. If It goes through. Sugar
will be cheaper at 175 than at 110."
Again I agreed.
"Standard Oil and the Sugar peo
ple know whether it is going
through, for they control the Sen
ate and the House and can induce
the President to be good. What
do you say to that?" ''\u25a0*"\u25a0'\u25a0'
' *O. 1f.," 1 answered.
•*Xo question about It, is there?"
"Not the slightest."
"Right again. Wlion 26 Broad
way (Standard Oil» gives the secret
order to the Washington boss and
he passes it out to the grafters,
there will be n. quiet ar-^umula
tion Of the Fto°U. won't thrre?** •\u25a0 .
"You've got that right. Bob."
"And the mnn who flrpt knows
trhen Washington begins to take
on Sugar jb the man \vl»o should
load up quick and rush it up to a
high level, if he do>>s It quirkly
the stockholders, who now have It,
will get a juicy slice of the ripen
ing melon, a slice tliat otherwise
would go to those greedy hypo
crites at Washington, who are al
ways publicly proclaiming that
they are there to serve their fellow
countrymen, but who never tire of
expressing themselves to their
brokers as not being In politics
for their health."
Lawson is at his best in his descrip
tion of the roaring battle* between,
Brownley and Hie captains of the
iniquitous "system** on change". These
passages rise to the height of melo
drama and yellow journalism. The
author's critics may say that his novel
is not literature, just as some of the
Wall -street people said that the reve
lations of "Frenzied Finance" were not
truth told for truth's take, but part
advertising and the rest revenge. It
will be generally admitted, one may*
*sy, that Lawson's fiction ha* not the
literary quality of his so-called revela
tions or even of his "market letters."
He doe* not seem to fit the vehicle.
And one might commend him heart
51y for the grim earnestness and power
of his sermon— for this is naught
*;.•*— upon the. woes and horrors cf
speculation, if one could forget that it
J* bis business in life, conducted with
the largest success, to promote gamb
ling in stocks.
Characteristically, the author pub
lishes In the back of his book fac
simile copies of letters received from
his admirers while the story was be
ing serialized. It was a carnation, not
a violet, that was named after Lawson.
(Doubleday, Page & Co., New York.
Price ILBO.) ___
White-Adams' Story, "The Mys- i
tery," Is Good Joiner Work '
"The Mystery" takes Stewart Ed
ward White of the frozen lands that
gave him his enviable place among the
younger American writers of this day
and it Cives him also a vigorous and
worthy collaborator In the person of
Samuel Hopkins Adams, Journalist and
magazinlet militant. The publishers of
the two-handed tale explain that the
co-authors "have en Interesting method
of collaboration. Each writer prepared
his part of the work Independently of
the other. The two parts were then
exchanged for criticism and fitted* into
the work so Ingeniously that the story
appears entirely-, uniform, although
written by two" persons." "And It Is cun
»lb« jollier work, difficult, Indeed, to be
distinguished as a product of collabora
tion.
It ts a tale of mystery and adventure
pure and simple and there is not a
woman In it. not the rustle of a petti
coat. There are three parts to the tale.
First, a United States cruiser encoun
ters a derelict in a lonely part of the
Pacific Ocean and scnd3 an ensign with
a boat's crew to Investigate and take
charge. The strange, adventures of
these officers and men. leading to the
picking up of a half dead man drifting
in a small boat, make up the first sec
tion. The corona part is more exciting.
The roan picked up half dead proves to
be c newspaper reporter — a free lance,
who had joined a mysterious expedition
in his search of "copy." His tale in
lurid enough to suit the most jaded
taste. In the third part comes the ex
planation of all the phenomena en
countered in the foregoing pages.
The properties of the "thriller" are
all there — the lawful lawlessness of
the wide seas, the melodramatic action
and colorful setting and the secret
treasure — but very much more than
that. Early In the tale there begin
to be manifest huge, fearsome phenom
ena, signs and symptoms of the "mys
tery," ' which Is scientific, one might
say, and yet sensational. It it, of
a truth, a fine, dashing story and most
workmanlike and satisfying in its
manner.
Co-author White is a Michigan man,
and was formerly in the lumber busi
ness with his father, but after living
In a bungalow here In California for
the last two years |he has decided to
join the authors* colony in New York.
It was while he lived on the Pacific
Coast that much of the material was
collected for the present volume.
(McClure, Phillips & Co., New York.
Price $1.50.) ;. . \u25a0• . .
London's "Before Adam/ Long
Way After "The Story of Ab"
One may well suspect that the charges
of plagiarism lodged against Jack Lon
don because of liis "Before Adam" were
a shrewd bit of advertising. Stanley
Waterloo's • "The Story of Ab,~ which
London is alleged to have plundered
for some of the material of ftls new
book, did not yield him much. If the
accusations be well founded. "Ab" was
an infinitely richer and stronger story
than "Before Adam." and infinitely
more suggestive. Moreover, the purely
literary side of it was strikingly su
perior to the London book. But Lon
don's denial of the charge is based on
common sense; there was nothing in
literary morale to keep him from writ-,
ing about a situation like that which
Waterloo dreamed out. And Waterloo
has no complaint. lie. was in the field
before London and got a great deal
more but of it.
The Californian writer . makes his
"Before Adam" — the dream of a man of
this day — a dream that persists from
childhood and is finally, committed to
paper, a dream arising out of trans
mitted memory of the time before
human history began, when the ape
\u25a0was not yet quite the man — the virile,
rugged -London of the northwest; It
fails at every point where that other
London was strong.
The tale is told with a flat and al
most jejune simplicity. It is little
\u25ba more than a few of the evolutionary
theories mad* over into narrative, un
finished, pointless, unconvincing..
The book is well put together — pood
illustration*, pom*' in colors, by Charles
Livingston Bull, and fin* binding and
printing.
(The Macmlllan Company, New York.
"The World Machine," First of ; a
Philosophical Series
In this age of complexities, when
thinking men and women are trying
as never before to read the riddles of
earth and sky. such a book as "The
World Machine," by Carl Snyder, should
be heartily welcomed. With infinite
pains and an Intellect clarified by years
of careful research he has prepared in
simple, smooth-flowing English what
he calls a "historical Burvey" of tho
facts and theories evolved from a con
sideration of the growth of knowledge
of the world. 'Account Is .aken in this
book of every speculation and deduc
tion from the time that. the, earth was
considered flat until now, when • the
mysteries of. the heavens are being. re r
vealed. The question that Mr. Snyder
always has in mind Is: ."What concep
tion can we now frame as to the scheme
and purpose of the world Into which
we are born 7" ( -
"The World Machine" is • the first
phase of the general analysis of "The
Cosmic Mechanism.** Other books of the
series in preparation, are "The Mech
anism of Life" and . "The Social • Mech
anism." Interest will be added to
these books by fitting Illustration.
When this great work Is finished Carl
Snyder will hiva deduced a sort of syn-
The Sunday Call's Book Page
thetic philosophy that will command
one of the first places among the books
that take Into account the attitude and
capabilities of the lay mind for ab-'
sorblng scientific knowledge.
What could be more alluring than
the very opening of the first paragraph,
which says: "Some morning afield,
when you seem peculiarly alive, a mind
all open to the clamor of sensations,
impressions, ideas, let your eye range
the sky — it is taciturn; the hills— they
are cryptic; the sea. if It be there — its
murpiuring voice i* confused. \u25a0" Reflect
then a little on what could bo our Ideas
of creation, what sort of a world image
could we form, if we had found no sup
plements or aids to the primitive sense
with which we are .born. If wo had no
miracle-working lenses and prisms, no
unjjle measures— no strange magnetic;
nr/>dles. no Euclid,'' no long line, before
us of explorers and discoverers to write
that ample; page of knowledge which
the. pressed types' make now the uni-.
versal heritage, of x the " race. As it
would be to us,' so it" was to men and
minds like yours and mine ten/twenty
thousand years ago."
The writer draws a pen picture. of
the enduring things and the ones that
change imperceptibly,, and then says:
"What has so wonderfully changed
In these ten .'or : twenty, thousand years
'Is the human mind and its outlook on
the world."
' Anthropology, calculation and experi
ment, are the three, great factors ac-~
: centuated in, this work. In ono way
and another a" very considerable stock
of knowledge has been stored up for.
a working basis. The beginning of the.
twentieth century-gave man a true pic
ture of the. world— the cosmos. as it Is.
At this period the students classed the
universe "' as > a cyclic process — "an^un-/
ceasing machlno with no beginning and
. without any end." Emphasis Is placed \u25a0,
on the discovery of the telescope, which
has been. such a' helpful Implement iq
solving' the big problems. In one ef
fective conclusion, "and « the : book",
abounds in "them, Mr. Snyder says:
•"I doubt not that . a future age will
accord to our own something like;- a'
clear and somewhat detailed concep
tion of the cosmic reality. . In 'any.
event, whether. this prove true or no,
this surely is certain; that our present
day ideas of creation represent ;, the
highest flight, or in varied metaphor,
the loftiest monument of the human
mind, we possess." •'•s' 1 '
Air. Snyder's plan of study traces, the
path and the method by. which these
ideas, these results, have been reached.
In each contention -he presents an ar
gument, describes a doctrine and points
out what may be regarded as the moral
of the tale. he says, "Is
the "world \ riddle," as it has always
been. It-is a simple formula that de
scribes*its action., but the writer says:
"When we try to conceive how across
a hundred million ' miles of,: seeming
empty space it can hold a colossal body
like the earth to a rigid path, through
out long ages o£. cosmic time, .we are
baffled still." . .
\u25a0 Man seems a s>mall Incident in
sideration of these great mysteries,* hut'
Mr. Snyder does not his 'in
fluence in the great world machine. He
is traced from'the "micro-man"' to. the
beginnings, of certitude, and taken
through each 'phase' of development.
After- the generalizations, "The World
Machine 'considers , each of ;the x great
steps advanced by scientists' In con
vincing detail. The chapter relating to
Archimedes and /the first ideas , of
gravitation is quite naturally one of
the most' fascinating. in the book. The
men of science as well as the systems
they, presented arc; reviewed.
, This big. subject Is broken, up; into
short chapters, and wisely so," because
tho human mind can. speculate just so
; long on ; the mysterious.'. -. Mr. > Snyder
understands the .psychology of atten- ',
tion. - Again, "-"-the paragraph
of each chapter is so' well constructed,;
so - full ; of suggestion, ':'\u25a0, that once read
its ' statements - must be followed to "the
end. As an example^oftthls take^; the
; first of the chapter on Copernicus, fur
'thcr designated as the true system of
tho .world: "If ,' We '.search the' later
annals' of mankind for its most pi votaj,;
most momentous "event," we shall mark
beyond doubt; the voyage , of Columbus.
There is no other single* act, no circum
stance, no happening, so", fraught^with
vast; issue." - Its effect upon Europe' was
simply, dramatic." 'After the " threVkth'ou- "
sand, five thousand years known to his
tory, after perhaps' ten or. twenty thou-'
sand' years of timid groping,': of piece
UNA H. H. COOL
by piece conquest and discovery,,where
in a chance "wind or storm may. have
played' the ruling, part, the ranges of
the "-earth were suddenly doubled. -In.;
ten" or twenty years they had been.ex
tended or forty; fold;; the ships
of .effected an actual "cir
cumnavigation of the earth. The truth
that-- it was a ' globe had been experi
mentally and irrefutably demonstrated.
Europe began again to think, to won
der, to reason." '
'.. The significance of the discovery of .
the New World has never '•- been moro
concisely or satisfactorily recorded.
"The "World Machine" wasi begun- in
London a\id completed in Berkeley; Cal.
Green & Co., London.) J
Haldane Macfall's ; "Ibsen" Is a
'.'Disappointment v
\ Haldane Macfall's - reputation as a
'critic, and ' biographer gains nothing
by his. "Ibsen," heralded; as' and confl
. dently i expected to be a book of ': con
sequence." To * say that . it ' Is hopelessly
commonplace is doing.no injustice. Mr.
Macfall'would seem I Xt> attempt to!conr
vihee, his audience that he" himself is
-thei only true admirer and, 1 in fact, -the
bona fide discoverer "of 'lbsenl Obviously
lie has given much tinift to reading
other men's! works" on Ibsen, the man,
but has failed ; to finely anything ; nctv- in
the plays. ' though they have been writ
ten upon -by such -intelligent -critics as
Archer, Georg . Brandes, Hurieker and
Nordau. to . say nothing of Shaw, who
does not often find it in his heart, to
praise .anything. •;;;.,
Mr.' Macfall's style is not pleasing.
There, are pages and. pages of .para
graphs one line long, cut short, per
haps, to give the < effect of terseness
and for emphasis, but failing entirely
to impress. Again there are long, in
volved passages where ' subject and
predicate are- divorced beyond all
reconciling. ' '\u0084
..The chronological, index of Ibsen's
career and work and the page devoted
to his genealogy are more interesting
than any which come after them. The
pictures are* done by Joseph Simpson,
"tha noted, artist of London." They
seem fantastic and characterless.. As
for the book itself it could not be me-
chantcaily improved — fine, large print;
good paper, and an excellent binding of
boards covered with gray vellum stock.
The publishers ' deserve credit for a
most artistic volume.
(Morgan-Shepard Company, New
t York and "San Francisco. Price $1.50.)
Gossip of Books and . People
Who Make Them .
v Kate Douglas .Wiggins', story. of "Re
becca of Sunnybrook Farm" has jiist
been;issued in-Leipzig in a: somewhat
abbreviated form.
The- agitation that has : once more
sprung ;np,.- as. .voiced by t the .newspa
pers, "In", regard • to ;,"ljad. better".'; or
"woulfl better"— many \wlio would fain
consider themselves experts taking the
stand : that, ''would .bettor" *Is the only,
correct" form-7-is, a reminder -that , Pro
fessor, LounBbury.'of Yale, "Tmono of his
striking particles - on I. the v English lah-*
guage f which \u25a0 have i;been appearing In
Harper's*,. Magazine, has shown -conclu-"
slvely -that V the " form of "had * : . better",
has ; behind *; it \u25a0> an imposing . array
great - ; .writlers, ~: both of '.past genera
tions/and the* present,.; who -have 'given
ltfthe weight of -their -usage." ';.-.",
Hainlin Garland,' loyal -Westerner that
he is. finds the charms of New York,
as compared with the charms of Chi
cago, not to be sufficient to Induce per
manent residence. Mr. Garland has
been hesitating between the two cities,
and for a time was on the point of de
ciding for the East, but the call of th»
West 'was too strong. He has just pur*
chased a house at 6427 Greenwood are*
nue. Chicago, and will make his horn«
there. He also has a farm in Okla*
homa. besides a country house at Madi
son, in his native State of Wisconsin.
*•\u25a0 • -
When Mrs. Flora Annie Steel VU
asked for information about herself *h«
summed up her life in these wordst
"I have been married; I have bars*
children: I have. two grandsons; X hay«
lived through the life allotted to woman.
and the only novelty before me Is
death." ' - y: -. \u25a0 -;<• -*..'- .'.''•
There is always rejoicing" amonr.tlM
literary folk -when a ! new publishing
house Is born. One of those occasions
is just at hand, for the Lyceum . Pub
lishing Company of 4» Court street.
Brooklyn. N. V., has made announce
ment of Its first book, "The Hypocrite,"
by . Bmghaxn Thoburn Wilson, due to
appear about April 1. Mr. Wilson's ex
cellent work is already known, and th»
Lyceum people promise a handsome
binding.
\u25a0 . E. Phillips Oppenheim.of London has
been able to live up to his contract of
writing two books a veax without low
ering his literary standard. His Ameri
can publisher reports a steady demand
for his older stories.
The Indianapolis- News insists that
for really original and- picturesque lit
erary criticisms one must look to th«
newspapers of 'the -West. An expres
sion of appreciation is due this publica
tion. .If It keeps looking it will flnd
other good things coming out of the
West.
On the phrase attributed of late t©
some French public oSclal. "Nous avons
chassr cc Jesus Christ" (we have drlv*..
out this Jesus Christ), Alice Meynell
bases this little poem. "The Fugitive,*"
in the Saturday Review:
Yes. from the ingrate heart, the street
Of garrulous tongue, the warm retreat
Within the village and the town:
Not from the lands where ripen brown
A thousand thousand hills of wheat;
Not from the long Burgundian line.
The southward, sunward range of vine.
Hunted, he never will escape
The flesh, the blood, the sheaf, the
grape.
That feeds his man — the bread, the wine.
Ernest Thompson-Seton's wife is giv
ing him a run for family laurels. Her
recent book. "Nlmrod'a Wife." will
stand comparison with his best.
C. K. Shorter's assertion, "for a novel
io sell well in these days It is essential
that it should be badly written," ought
to get the reading public into his hair.
His is the talk of a man whose own
work has been turned down. The fact
is that every year brings a more exact
ing standard In English. The cheapest
literature gives denial to Shorter's
claim.
Mary Moss, in her review of the last
year's fiction in the Atlantic, gives th«
place of honor for the year to "Puck of
Pooks Hill" Of the, author she says:
"With all his glitter (which we orice
feared might degenerate into glorified
journalism), with all his restless plot
ting.from land to land., his experiment-
Ing, his weakness, for panache — his
Sousa* - moments, so to speak — looklngr
back upon his career It Is now plain
that he. the man, has been constantly
growing." 3§2B§j
Newfoundland is to be the subject of
a remarkable . book by J. G. Mlllais,
son of the late Sir John Everett MHlais.
the painter. The author. has spent many
months -in- traveling \u25a0 over Newfound*
land, and his book is to be enriched by
a great number -of drawings In wash,
line and color. The book "will be tha
most important that has* been pub
lisheJ on the subject. Mr. Millais U
now busy with the drawings.
Books Received
The,. Carrier Crisis, by Augustus Gal
lagher; F. J.Heer Printing Company,
Columbus, Ohio.
Friday, the Thlrt»«»th, by Thomas
W. Lawson; Doubladay. Page & Co.,
New, York.
-Before Adam, by Jack. London: Th»
Macmlllan Company. New York.
The Cage, by Charlotte Teller; I>.
Appleton & Co., New York.
Building. Business, by C.-.N. Crawd
son ;'D.- Appleton fc Co.. New York
... East of. Sues. ; by Frederick .Courtland
Penfleld; The Century Company, New
York:tSH6snßBSßBHpP4r^ s( *wH
• Running Water/ by A. E. W. Mason;
The Century Company.' New York.
Organic Evolution. Henry Druramond.
Memorial, by. Mrs. Anna Augusta Gas
kell:-'A. A. Gaskell., Chicago.
A Bit of Bible When— .by Lucy Rldtr
Meyer; Jennings & Graham. Cincinnati.
.Religious. Liberty .in :South America,
by. John Lee; Jennings &. Graham, Cin
cinnati.
"The "Spirit- of .Labor, by Hutchins
Hapgood; Duffleld & Co.. New/Toxic
. Success In Life, by E mil Raich; But -
field & Co.; 2few Tork.