22 THE SA^T FRANCISCO CALL, FEBRUARY THE WORLD OF...
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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 willinglyfollowed 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 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 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 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- 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 ofhis 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 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 fullyillustrated 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'; '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." 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. GROUP OF FIGURES ON A MONUMENT LATELY ERECTED TO DUMAS IN PARIS. 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- 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?" 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 itwas 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 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 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. 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 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. THE SA^T FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1898. 22
Transcript of 22 THE SA^T FRANCISCO CALL, FEBRUARY THE WORLD OF...
THE WORLD OF BOOKS.
A BASQUE IDYL.
RAMT'XTCHO-By Pierre Lot!. . NewYork: R. F. Fenno & Co. Ban Fran-cisco: For sale at .the Emporium.
Dreamy poetry, exquisitely expressedsympathy with nature, more especiallyIn her melancholy moods, an intuitive
ptlon of the heart's most elusivesentiments, 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 Basquepeasant's love. The story is of theslightest, and as Is common with thisauthor, of the saddest. Ramuntcho, thehero, inherits from his Basque motherthe splendid physique, the muscularenergy, the nomadic instincts, the poetic
; melancholy of a Ions; line of in-dependent ancestors devoted to smug-gling, to their time-honored games of thetialid and the "rebot"; devoted also totheir picturesque land with its southernluxuriance in the shadow of forbiddingmountains; yet with the restless blood ofthe wanderer in their veins. From hisnameless, aristocratic father he inheritsthe refinement, the vague longings, thecynical weariness of life, characterizingthe blase French fashionable of these lat-ter days.
This father, in a moment of romanticcaprice, captivated a passionate Basquegirl, who willinglyfollowed him to alife of hidden love in the city, and babyRamuntcho was born in the purple."When his mother saw that her richlover's love was waning she did not awaitdesertion; proud, stern, self-reliant, shereturned 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 astately dignity that at last found favorwith her simple, proud country folk andwon 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 ofthe bravest smugglers and best, pelotaplayers on the countryside, but a badparti for a girl with a family name anda dowry. And so the loves of the neroand of Gradeuse, the golden-haired,dreamy Basque beauty, are hopelesslycrossed. True that the twain have af-fianced themselves almost from infancy,according to the Basque custom; truethat Arrochkoa, Gracieuse's rich youngbrother, favors the match: her mother,Dolores, is bitter in opposition, and whileRamuntcho is serving his three years asa French soldier, lovely Gracieuse, alwaysmystically inclined, is spirited away toa convent for life. The most touchingscene, powerful in its pathos, is the last,when Ramuntcho and Arrochkoa visitthe sequestered convent intending to kid-nap the young nun; impressed by thespirit of still resignation, the traditionsof holiness and self-sacrifice, the atmos-phere of transcendental purity that en-velops them, their hearts quail at thethought of sacrilege, and the hero, moth-erless and wifeless, is left to wander awayalone to American shores.
A sorrowful idyl,hut an idyl in everysense of the word. Pierre Lot! has neverbeen happier than in his descriptions ofthe Basque scenery, the Basque charac-ter, the Basque daily life. Smugglingbecomes less a matter of adventure thanof poetry as we creep with the smugglers
at dead of right, through spectral woods,over mysterious mountains, or along si-lent river; the playing of the pelota, thedancing of the fandango, the gatheringsIn church, are described for us with allthe loving fidelity of a native poet, thevisions of Basque scenery make one un-derstand the Basque nostalgia. And theexquisitely delicate love-making of thetwo children— the hero is only 15 when thoromance opens
—is redolent of purity. Se-
lection becomes well nigh impossible, buthere is a scenic description taken at ran-dom:
"The land of thick branches which theytraverse, under the oppression of veryhigh mountains, which they do not see,Is all in ravines, profound and torn up,in precipices, where torrents roar underthe green night of the foliage. The oaks,the beeches, the chestnut trees becomemore and more enormous, living throughcenturies off a sap ever fresh and mag-nificent. A powerful verdure is strewnever that disturbed geology; for ages itcovers and classifies it under the fresh-ness of its immovable mantle. And thenebulous sky, almost obscure, which isfamiliar to the Basque country, adds tothe impression which they have of a sortof universal, meditation wherein thetilings are plunged; a strange penumbradescends from everywhere, descends fromtrees at first, descends from the thick,pray veils above the branches, descendsfrom the great Pyrenees hidden behindthe clouds."
As will be seen, Pierre T,oti's charmowea little to his translator. M. HenriPene dv Bois has undertaken a task forwhich his command of English does n>->tqualify him. Translation, more especial-ly in the case of a singularly idiomaticwriter, does not merely mean an exactrendering of expressions in anothertongue, 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-ByMaxwell Grey. New York: D. Apple-ton & Co. Fore sale at Doxey's.
This is not the dramatic, psychologicalsort of work we look for from the authorof "The Silence of Dean Maitland." In"Sweethearts and Friends" Maxwell Greygives us a sketchy story illustrating thehopes, fears and trials of the latterday young -woman whose ambitions arenot limited to social gayeties and matri-monial success. The heroine is a verycharming girl who, in defiance of familyprejudice, cuts out a medical career forherself, closing the door of her heartagainst little Love in the belief that hisadvent would imperil her mental salva-tion. But Love wins the day, as he hasdone from time immemorial, and sweetDr. Amy marries the "friend" who has al-ways been her sweetheart, albeit he wentastray for a time under tutelage of a flip-pant fairy whose shallowness seemed tohim more womanly than Amy's independ-ence. This gentleman, alternately dubbedThe Immaculate and Bayard, is a preuxchevalier rather out of joint with modernprose, yet he learns to bt?nd to circum-stances and accepts meekly his wife's de-votion to her profession. The love ofthese twain is literally tried by fire 'andthe scene in which Bayard rescues a childand Dr. Amy rescues Bayard savors alittle too much of the melodramatic to be
taken quite seriously. The real charmof this little book lies in its descriptivepassages; plot Is thin and characters aresomewhat shadowy, but there is pageupon page In which the reader breathesthe atmosphere of the Riviera, dreamsamid the luscious Southern sights andsounds or revels in the more bracing glo-ries of "Westmoreland; among the happiestpassages are those describing the two girlstudents stealing 1 the hours wherein tocon Greek "associated ever after withdelicate beryl-green of afterglow, darkmountains, and glory of the crimson andpurple zenith, with the blackbird's lastnotes."
THE AMERICAN COOK
TTVEIATE LESSONS IN SCIENTIFICCOOKERY— ByMiss Susy Tracy. SanFrancisco: H. S. Crocker Company.
Miss Tracy probably knows why sheprefaced her lessons with the adjective"scientific." As a matter of fact, theyare addressed to students who have notyet mastered the A B C of the culinaryart, and their merit lies in their directsimplicity. The veriest tyro could hardlyspoil a meal when following Miss Tracy'sdirections, but the more ambitious cor-don bleu must go further afield for in-struction. Had Miss Tracy professed toteach only American home cooking, shewould have saved her artistic reputation;as itis, certain of her recipes irresistiblyrecall poor Dv Maurier's definition ofroast chicken, "such a different thingfrom poulet roti." Inlike manner is ourauthoress's bouillon a different thingfrom the French article, being nothingelse but ordinary English beef-tea. Herdirections to steep "French frifcd pota-toes" fn cold water would make the hairof the humblest French cook standstraight on end, while her views on thesubject of boiled fish are an insult topiscine aristocracy; no self-respecting fishcondescends to boil tastefully in plain,unadulterated water. In the matter ofbroiling, too, Miss Tracy might studywith advantage the preliminary use ofmarinades or sauces. But to the unso-phisticated American family cook herhandbook willprobably prove helpful.
MOLLIE MAGUIRES.
THE BODYMASTER'S DAUGHTER—ByAlic 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 ofcruelty, murder and sudden death to sat-isfy the most insatiable reader of thesensational. Mrs. Moque takes us toPennsylvania, under the reign of terrorof the "Mollie .Maguires," and gives us
an exceedingly vivid insight into theJoys that befell survivors who intrudedupon regions where there was oppositionto surveying in general and railroadingin particular. The story is not a pleas-ant one: the scenes— more especially thedomestic scenes— in the saloon of Potts-town which was the Magulre rendez-vous, are repulsive in the extreme, yettheir air of reality suggests that the au-thoress has based her little romance onhard historical facts. A v-Jn of poetryis supplied by the loves or Toola. therustic beauty, whose only dissipation isan occasional wagon trip to Pottstown.and Jennie, the refined stepdaughter ofthe "Bodymaster," or chief of the infa-mous Maguire brotherhood; and the life-like personality of Danny, the Bodymas-ter'9 crippled, warm-hearted, viciouslyinclined son, gives opportunity for somevery pertinent theories on heredity. Mrs.Moque is not yet a mistress of style, buther conceptions of character are powerfuland with her capacity for stirring plotwe may look for some fine work from herpen in the future.
THE CENTURY.H. PhelDs Whitmarsh writes in the
Century for February of "The Steerageof To-Day," his article being illustratedby Andre Castaigne. Mr. Whitmarshdraws this picture of one of his compan-ions in the voyage that he made:
Kneeling in an upper bunk near mo, amiddle-aged Irishman was hanging a potcontaining a shamrock plant. Ienteredinto conversation with him, and learnedthat he was going to joinhis son inCali-fornia, to whom he was taking the sham-rock as a present."Ihope it will live," he said, looking
wistfully at the pot as itswung from thebeam.
"'Twas the wan thing the bhoy
wanted. 'IVave iv'ryting," says he in hisletther, 'an' come over. Ihave enoughfor the both of us now,' says he; 'an' Ican make you comfortable for the rest ay
your days. But,' says he, 'fetch me alivln' root ay shamrock ifye 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 aboutthe after hatch, some playing cards, somedancing and some already making love;
but for the most part they lay about thedeck, sleeping and basking in the sun.In the afternoon my friend the Irishmanappeared with his shamrock. He wantedto give it a "taste" of fresh air, he said.At sight of it many of the Irish girls
shed tears; then, seating themselvesabouttho old man, they sang plaintive Irishmelodies until the sun went down. Thesad faces of the homesick girls and theold father sitting among them holding inhis lap the precious little bit of greenpresented a Eight not easily to be for-gotten.
REVIEW OF REVIEWS.In the series of articles dealing with the
Immediate problems which concern thegreat powers of the world, now appearingin the American Monthly Review of He-views, Mr. W. T. Stead writes for theFebruary number a paper on "BritishProblems and Politics for 1898." This is acandid piece of criticism, all the more in-teresting to the non-Kngllsh reader be-cause ©f Its strictly British point of view.
PALL MALL MAGAZINEThe Pall Mall Magazine for February
will be especially rich in fiction. BesidesAnthony Hope's sequel to the "Prisonerof Zenda" ("Rupert of Hentzau"), therewillbe the conclusion of "X. L.'s" thrill-ing story. "The Bird at the Neck." ashort story of to-day, by Mrs. MaryStuart Boyd, emitled, "Wanted, a Work-ing Housekeeper": "An Incident of theBoom," a narrative of the stock ex-change; and the "KaffirCircus," by Jes-
sie Mansergh; and the "Last Experienceof Adam Skirving," by Mary W. L. Fal-coner. All these stories are well illus-trated.
CURRENT LITERATUREA portrait of John Vance Cheney, re-
produced from a drawing specially madefor the purpose, forms the frontispiece ofthe February number of Current Litera-ture. This is by way of illustrating thearticle on Mr. Cheney and his work,which is provided by F. M. Hopkins ashis monthly contribution to the "Ameri-can Poets of To-day" series, so long aninteresting feature of this magazine.Among other good things in this numberare an article on the late Alphonse Dau-det. an account of his life and work, aswell as a reproduction of his exquisitelittlesketch,"The Deathof the Dauphin";spirited readings from Sienkiewicz'slaest novel, "Hania," and from Mrs.Frances Hodgson Burnett's "His Graceof Osmonde"; a compilation of cleverthrusts at the sterner sex entitled "Menin Epigram"; and another, a verse com-pilation, "What the Old-time Poets Sayof Death." The editorials are keen andclever.
THE ATLANTIC.An article in the February Atlantic
which will attract wide attention to anevil hitherto largely unknown and unsus-pected is that upon the relations of thelabor unions to the negro, contributed byJohn Stephens Durham, late UnitedStates Minister to Hayti. Mr. Durhamshows the grave injustice and injury doneto the whole colored race by the system ofexclusion practiced by the labor* organi-zations of the country. He does not con-sider that this was originally a consciouscrusade against color, but that it is partof the general system of exclusion, likethe discrimination against women and thelimitation of apprenticeships. But in ef-fect, the color limit is drawn by them soabsolutely and so strictly that no mansuspected of the slightest tinge of colorIs permitted to join a trade union or towork in company with a union manthroughout the United States. The resultof this sweeping exclusion is to shut outthe colored man, no matter how capableor well trained, from all skilled employ-ment whatsoever, and to degrade him todepend upon unskilled labor or menialservice entirely for his support.
THE ARENA.J. M. Foster, a new contributor to the
Arena, presents an article on "SecretSocieties and the State," which willcom-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 ofGutter Journalism— Faking." The evil dis-cussed by the author is so crying and uni-versal that her protest willcall forth ahearty response.
LADIES' HOME JOURNALA writer in the February Ladies' Home
Journal tells and pictures how to over-come the difficulties of securing goodphotographs of young children. He hasevidently given much study to the matter,and seeks to instruct the parents ratherthan the photographic artist. The key-note ofhis teaching is to avoid putting thechildren in strained, unnatural positions,but to let them assume natural poses.The best way to dress the children and tofix their hair Is also told, making thearticle exceedingly valuable.
FRANK LESLIE'S.The gold regions of the Klondike are
described and pictured elaborately inFrank Leslie's Popular Monthly for Feb-ruary. The article is written by HenryClay Colver of Seattle, who giv^s an in-teresting account of the first discoveriesand of the recent expeditions, and >.ells
in a practical way Just what Is necessaryto fit a man out for a year. The illus-trations are numerous and excellent. Fol-lowing this article is a paper on Alaskaby R. H. Herron, which contains a de-scription of our far-away territory, inwhicn the magical Klondike is situated.Tnis also is richly illustrated. A 16x22-Inch map of Alaska accompanies thesearticles.
McCLURE'S.Dr.Nansen contributes an article to the
February number of McClure's Magazinegivinghis ideas and hopes for the futureof North Polar exploration. As no otherman has yet got so near the pole, by 195miles, as Dr. Nansen himself, with hiscompanion, Johansen, everybody will beeager to read wnat he has to say on thissubject. The article is fullyillustratedwith photographs and drawings from life(most of them hitherto unpublished), byNansen, Greely, Peary, the Arctic art-ists, William Bramord and Albert Operti,and others.
LIPPINCOTT'S. •
The complete novel In the Februaryissue of Llpplncott's Is "A Trooper Gala-had," by Captain Charles King. It con-tains some close and vivid sketches ofcharacter and life at an army post in theSouthwest. The warlike excitement isfurnished by a prolonged pursuit of adangerous band of outlaws.
LITERARY NOTES.TVe have received from R. H. Russell,
publisher. New York, copy of a volumeof cartoons by Homer C. Davenport justissued by him. The book is artisticallyprinted and bound and contains an in-troduction written by John J. Ingalls. Itis 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 alreadysold over 10,000 copies in England. Mr.Clemens has just sent to London for aquantity of the "copy" paper which heis in the habit of using. Itis quarto sizeand rather thin. Like most authors inthese days he has his manuscript type-written before sending It to the printer.Perhaps he appreciates the value of hisautograph to the collector and wants tokeep it for his heirs.
An English trade Journal says: "TheKlondike Morning Times is, we shouldsay, the dearest paper in the world. Theprice per copy Is £1 10s. Here are a fewselections from its advertisements:'California ham at Soapine Sam's, onlylOd an ounce"; 'Cariboo steak with onlonaat the Greyhound Restaurant, 12s';
'shave. 6s: ciose shave, 7s fid; hair cut,13s; hair cut, London style. 16s'; 'Fourmen wanted at La Due's sawmills. Noth-ing to do but work. Pay £3 a day andthree drinks.' 'Mule cutlet, 4s 2d'; 'dog,tenderloin, 10s 3d.' The Times has apoetical department, humorous Illustra-tions and a thrilling account of an as-sassination In a saloon over cheating atcards."
More than six months ago DavidChristie Murray went out Into tho desertplaces of North Wales to devote him-self to a work of fiction, animated by aserious purpose, which has long lain atthe back of his mind. This book is to becalled 'Despair's Last Journey," and willrepresent the writer's own view of thefacts of life; it will probably ba finishedIn time for publication in the spring.Mr. Murray has also recently seenthrougrh the press a volume of tales andpoems shortly to be Issued by Messrs.Uhatto & Windus of London. This willbe the first collection of Mr. Murray'sverse which has appeared.
"Book News," which publishes in eachissue an expression of opinion from lead-ing authors in regard to their own per-sonal view of their work, gives in its Feb- iruary 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 choiceof a husband parents are apt to considera man's means, manners and positionrather than his principles or ideals. Ifhaprove to be a good fellow in society theyare content to inquire no further. Manymen of excellent manners in public aremen of most corrupt mind, whose con-versation Inprivate is a continual sourceof suffering to their wives. Iwrote 'ThaBeth Book' to show what a retined wo-man must suffer when forced to associatewith such a man, the inevitable blight,the certain deterioration that settlesupon her even when she has the force ofcharacter to escape absolute corruption.The critics have almost all missed this,the one purpose of the book, and pouncedupon something quite incidental, andmerely introduced by way of illustration,and as the vivisective incident, to whichthey 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 ofwhich Iwas writing; she could not haveavoided them, and, therefore, no pictureof her would be faithful that ignoredthem; but it is in the conditions of herlife, not In her Intellectual pursuits oropinions, that the real significance of herstory is to be found."
THE BEDS OF FLEUR-DE-LYS.
PRESIDIO, SAN FRANCISCO.
HIGH-
LYING sea-blown stretches of green turlWind
-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 bendDwindling 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 lightrobes blown aside.For the blue lily-flowers that bloom so wide
—The beds of fleur-de-lys.
—Charlotte Perkins Stetson.
GROUP OF FIGURES ON A MONUMENT LATELY ERECTED TO DUMAS IN PARIS.
CONDUCTORS ASMODERN BAYARDS.
WE are livingin an age of discovery,and the most recent memorableexploit of our explorers has been
the bringing to light of the Bostonstreet-car conductor. Those of us whoremember this worthy of old may nothave known him as a rara avis, butquite a remarkable number of news-paper articles have recently appearedabout him, and the stret-car conductorof Boston has been drawn from com-parative obscurity and set upon thepedestal which his worth would seemto 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 oneChicago journal have held the uni-formed factotum up for local admira-tion. Even The Outlook has a goodword for him, and a correspondingnote of disapprobation forhis unworthycompeers in less fortunate cities. To aman or to a woman
—for Isuspect
most of these writers are of the petti-coated sex, these personally conductedones from Boston hold up the conduc-tors as a model for emulation in the"Far West." We are told that theAthenian conductors speak in low, re-fined accents, unlike the rude bawl ofthe Westerner. According to authoritythey open and shut the umbrellas oflady passengers, help the children onand off the platforms, and do not pokepassengers in the back to urge uponthem the impossible duty of "steppingup forward" in a crowded car. Theyanswer all questions, and never growweary in well doing.
The list of their virtues prolongs it-self beyond space here to recount it.The difference between them and ourWestern men is insisted upon, relent-lessly, and to read these curious ar-
tides is enough to make every womanin the unfavored West wish that shemight go to Boston and place herselfunder the protection of Boston's newlydiscovered "glory."
Something of this sort Iwas think-ing the other day as Igot aboard anelectric car at the outskirts of the city1 h;ld
'traveled some distance beforetakirg the, car, and my coat was cov-
ered with an all-too-palpable powdter,1 was dabbing ineffectively at mysleeves, handkerchief in hand, when theconductor, 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 verydeftly and gently removed every par-ticle of dust from my back and shoul-ders. Then, having other duties, hehanded me the brush and Ifinished theprocess in comfc-rt.
-It is a peculiarity of the human
brain that dispraise makes a greaterimpression upon It than does praise.In one of his recent pleasant "Talks(>:i Writing English" Arlo Bates toldan amusing instance of this. He saidt<> his audience: "IfIwere to say toyou that 'The Heavenly Twins' is mor-bid and unhealthy rubbish; that'Trilby' is a pleasant transient ex-citement; but that 'The Return of theNative' seems to me the most notableEnglish novel since Thackeray, youwould have no difficulty in remember-ing that Icondemned 'The HeavenlyTwins.' You would have a fairly clearidea that Ihad been less enthusiasticthan the general public about 'Trilby,'and you would perhaps vaguely recallthat there was something else
—really
it is astonishing how quickly a nameslips from the memory— which ipraised."
As the audience left the hall one ladysaid to another, a stranger, "I begjrotur pardon, but could you tell me thename of the third book that was given,the one the lecturer said we should for-get?"
And so, amid all this queer pean to |the Boston street-car conductor, the jaccented note, after all, is not so much >,
the praise of him as the corresponding !i disparagement o-f his Western brother. |Iam glad some conductors, somewhere,
;are getting a little praise, for their po- j, aition is at best a thankless sort of ;; one, and Iconfess that for my own |Ipart Ihave been prone to forget the j| favors Ireceived at their hands andI to cherish the memory of the times Ijihave been carried beyond my corner;| the occasions when I have been:frowned upon for forgetting to askIfor a transfer, the days when cars have |j passed me by, while the conductor\ whistled and regarded Vacancy, on thejplatform.
Some time ago Ihad occasion to goto a part of the city with which Iwas
;quite unfamiliar. Seeing, a block or |more away, a large building in course'of construction, Iasked a conductor; what it was to be. He told me, andwhen, a few seconds later we passedanother half-completed structure, heivolunteered the information that itwasa new orphanage, and during the restof the trip he called my attenetion toseveral features of the district thatwere unknown to me. All this with no
familiarity, but with a perfectly frankand friendly wish that Imight see allthat 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 EndeavorConvention here, confided to a friend ofmine his anxiety lest the Endeavorersshould catch cold during their stayhere. They ain't warmly enough cladfor this climate,'" he said. "I've beenadvising 'em to get warmer under-wear."
On one of the park lines, recently, Inoticed a child of perhaps 2 years, Incharge, apparently, of her father. Thelittle one wore a baby-tormentor, inthe shape of a bonnet •with a mon-strous frillthat fell down over her face,completely hiding her eyes and render-ing her vision an impossibility. Shekept throwing her head back and peer-ing from under her shelter tent in theendeavor to see something ofher surroundings. The conductor wasrather surly looking. I heardhim speak with quick decision toa passenger who persisted in stand-ing, without holding on by a strapwhile the car rounded a curve, and thetwo had a little dispute, the passenger
insisting upon his right to do as hepleased. The Conductor had not lookedamiable, but presently he came into thecar, bent over the baby and very gont-ly folded back the big ruffle, smoothingit down so as to give the child unhin-dered vision. 'There," he said to thefather, "now she can see out." The lat-ter was not offended. He smiled, andwhen the frill fell down some timeafter he turned It back again. But Ido not believe that even a Boston con-ductor ever showed a manlier bit ofconsideration for the comfort of a littlechild.Ido not think that it could be suc-
cessfully maintained that her street-car conductors are San Francisoco'schief glory. The city has one or twoother features to which her people maypoint with pride, but for just meremen, the majority of whom do not"speak with a cultured, accent." mostof our knights of the bell-punch dovery well indeed. Now and then oneencounters an unamiable one amongthem, but as a rule they are honest,kindly men, who make up in patienceand willingness to serve what theylack In culture and opportunity.
ADELINE KNAPP.
CALIFORNIA ANDMANIFEST DESTINY.
ANearly decree of "Manifest Des-
tiny" was that the great Westshould some time become a partof 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 Occidentshould be reached.
Benjamin Franklin In1754 prophesiedthat in less than a century the vasttrans-Alleghany country must become"a populous and powerful dominion."Washington caught a true vision of theWest, and his sagacity and knowledge
of remote regions served him well inpublic and private life. Wolfe's vic-tory at Quebec was a door opening tothe Anglo-Saxons an infinitely vast re-gion.
Napoleon "lightly offered the provincewhich had come to him so cheaply,"
and allLouisiana was acquired. By tnetreaty of 1819 Florida was ceded to theUnited States. Notwithstanding Span-ish possessions and the claims or covet-ous desires of England, France andRussia, "Manifest Destiny" had decreedthat the great California territoryshould belong to the United States.
We are indebted to the question ofslavery extension for the accession ofCalifornia; slavery extension owes itsdownfall to the admission of California.It has become an admitted principle
in American politics that free Statescould come into the Union only whenaccompanied by slave States. Afterthe admission of Texas, when therewere fifteen slave and fifteen freeStates, a vital question was that ofthe disposition of California. "Mani-fest Destiny" answered the questionand forever turned the tide againsthuman slavery. Neither the climate,nor the soil, nor the production of anyportion of California was adapted to
slave labor, and slavery had not ex-isted in Mexico since 1829.
Although there were early indica-tions of gold, a favoring Providenceconcealed the illimitable stores ofwealth until after the American con-quest and after hope of slavery exten-sion had faded. The fortunate acci-dent of Marshall gave to America thegc-lden wealth of California. And nowfor fifty years California has been amost influential factor in the world'sdevelopment. In the dark hours ofcivil strife it was our gold that sup-plied an indispensable element ofstrength and steadiness to our Federalfinance.
The "Manifest Destiny" of California,so far as it relates to past days, is notmerely a trumped-up expression of to-day for retrospective use. Numerousprophetic utterances of the pioneerpress and observant travelers afford aninstructive commentary on subsequenthistory. Read in the Californian andthe Star, beginning with 1846, and incontemporaneous 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 makoher own laws, manage her own re-sources, and found those institutionsin which her children are to find a hap-py home." "This (English) is to be thelanguage of California. The vast tideof immigration from the United Stateswill inevitably make it so. Itbecomes,therefore, every parent to have hischildren taught this language." "Whocan now doubt the importance to whichCalifornia 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-dayfor native sons and native daughters ofmoral fiber and excellent virtues.
ROCKWELL D. HUNT.
THE SA^T FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1898.22
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![Ditson's music for the photoplay [by] Otto Langey [and] … · AVEMARIA. Cello solo R.Gruenwald Suitable forreligious andquietscenes. 329.ALOVE STORY. Idyl HarryPab«t Forlove-making](https://static.fdocuments.us/doc/165x107/5adf15a67f8b9a97518b802f/ditsons-music-for-the-photoplay-by-otto-langey-and-cello-solo-rgruenwald.jpg)
