LIBER'S NOTE BOOK

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3024, 10 March 1917, Page 13

LIBER'S NOTE BOOK

A War Play. "Across the Border," a Play of the Present, by Beulak Mario Dix (Methuon and Co.), is a war play which was produced in New York in November, 1914, by a company called Tho Princess Players. A prefatory note informs tho reader that tho people in tho play speak English, but they aro no more meant to bo English than they aro meant to bo Austrian, French, Gorman, or Russian. Miss Dix is, I believe, a practised play wright,* but this particular play, tho object of which, apparently, is to expose the folly and wickedness of war —under any circumstances —is not a very convincing production. A few hours in the trenches would probably cure Miss Dix of tho idea that the average soldier is oithor a bundle ■•* nerves or a heartless brute. It is

fairly safe for even a civilian to como to the conclusion that any officer behaving as does the junior lieutenant in tho play would speedily bo sent to the rear as a "case" of nerve* shock or weakened mind. An officer who is in a continual state of "jumps" would be ■ an intolerable nuisance at the front. Australian Bushranglng. ' Messrs. Angus and Robertson, Sydney, send us a new edition, in two papercovered volumes, of Mr. George E. Bbxall's "History of the Australian originally published in 1899, and, since more than once reprinted. The work may fairly be regarded -as an Australian classic. Altlioivah much has been written on the subject of bushrangin.g, Mr. Boxall's narrative has never been surpassed as a record of this particular class of crime, which had its origin in no small degree in the peculiarly brutal conditions of Australian convict life in the early days of the New South Wales settlement. Thero is nothing deliberi ately sensational or catchpenny about Mr. Boxall's style and his record has a distinct historical value of its own, besides being highly readable. A special chapter is devoted to hushrariging in New Zealand, and to the horrible manugatapu murders. Needless to say, there ,18 a long and detailed account of the notorious Kolly Gang. Tho bushrangers were never a very numerous class. It has been estimated that from the date of the great outbreak, inaugurated bv Frank Gardiner in 1861, to the death of Ned Kelly, tho Australian bushrangers, with their more active partisans, never exceeded threo hundred persons, but tho story of their exploits shows how even a small party can disturb a whole country when the rebels are reckless and determined. In its new and cheaper 'form, Mr. Boxall's work will no doubt enjoy a much wider circulation. (Price Is. 6d. a volume.) How Citizens Become Soldiers. To the already lengthy list of military publications which havo been issued by Messrs. Angus and Robertson, of Sydney, has been added a little handbook entitled "Citizen to Subaltern," by Captain A. W. Hutclin, General Staff, Australia. The author states that the object of his work is to indicate to the ambitious young soldier some of the main essontials of leadership in war. In successive chapters Captain. Hutohin discourses on ambition, leadership, discipline, the principles of training, the art of instructing, regimental duties, and the customs of the service. The book is Warmly.commonded to tlio young soldiers of Australia by Brigadier-General Williams. The author conveys his information and advice in an eminently agreeable style, and his book will no doubt be widely read by our New Zealand soldiers. Survivors' Tales of Famous Crimes, by Walter Wood (Cassell and Co., per Whiteombe and Tombs.) A collection of interesting studies of more or less famous criminal cases. The special feature of the book lies .in.the fact that narratives are related by pereous who were actually associated, generally as witnesses, with the crimes of which an account is given. The.period covered is a fairly long one, for the includes accounts of Palmor's poisonings, which horrified all England in the Victorian 'fifties; tho Tichbome case; the Wainwright murders in Whitechapel; and the murders committed by tho notorious Charles Peace down to such comparatively recent crimos as that of vDr. Crippen, who, it may bo remembered, owed his arrest to the use of wireless telegraphy, and tho so-called mystery of Yarmouth beach. It has been said that truth is stranger than fiction, and certainly these true storiel, under Mr. Woods's capable .editorship, are vastly more excising than most of the detective novels of which there J3 nowadays such a liberal supply in tho bookshops. The book contains several excellent illustrations. (N.Z. price, 7s. 6d.)

Stray Leaves. Readers of French works should note ■the. appearance of two additions to that admirable littlo series. Nelson's "Collection Fraricaise." Tho titles arc "L'Oinbro do I'Amour," by Marcello Tinayre, and Erttilo Augier's comedy, "Lo Gendre do Monsieur Poinor." | Marcellc Tinayfo ds easily in tho front | rank of French lady novoliets. She is a graceful writer, whoso work rarely offends English tastes, and ycfc she is neither .prosy nor priggish, as aro so many French novelists whose stories are labelled. ■ "Suitable for family reading." Augier's amusing comedy "Lo Gendre de Monsieur Poirier'.' is well worth reading. All who are old-fashioned enough or have the good taste to enjoy Scott's hovels—a friend of mine tells me he rereads 'The Antiquary" every yearshould make a point of securing a copy of tho "Times" Weekly Literary Supplement for January 11, if only to read a delightful article entitled "The Centenary of Old Mortality." The article gives many interesting particulars as to the genesis of what many Scott admirers consider if not tho best, at least the second best of his purely Scots novels. Coleridge and Hazlitt actually placed it first. The "Timos" writer saye: "It was acclaimed -the first of tho national tales, the Marmion of the novels, tho best of the Waverleys, let-which be the second." A curious point about "Old Mortality" was that the name of "The Author of Waverley",was omitted from the title page. The publisher's name, also, was altered from Constable to Murray. Scott thought, it would seem, to collect opinions as to whether the new Scots novel was from tho same hand as its predecessors. ' ' j Tho Indian poet, Sir Robindrath Tagore, must bo a terribly prolifio writer. Already ho has some seven or eight books of verso to his credit, and now I see Macmillans are announcing yet another collection of his poems, tho title being "Sea. Birds." Somo of my friends \ seem to enjoy Tagoro's poems very much; but he is too mystical for my own taste. Newman has been dead now these many years, but there is still a strong interest in tho great theologian's life and personality. Longmans will shortly publish a volume of "Tho Correspondence of John Henry Newman," covering the eventful years 1839 to 1845. Several of Newman's letters to Keblo will bo included. The letters will, it is announced, be "edited" by tho Fathers of tho Birmingham Oratory. A biography of the famous American negro educationist, Booker T. Washington, is shortly to appear. Tho work has been prepared by Lyman Bcecher Stowe, a grandson of Harriet Beccher Stowe, and Mr. E. J. Scott. Mr. Scott was Booker Washington's secretary for eighteen years. Romain Holland, of "Jean Christopliro" fame, wroto in 1003 a littlo bioju-aphy of Beethoven, with analyses of the famous symphonies. An English translation of the book has just been published in Kegan Paul's "Mu-

sibians' Library" (2s. 6d.). Holland is, in Ilia analyses of the symphonies, rsttlior given to a. certain preciosity of 'phrase rather than to concrete criticism. Thus, of the famous Funeral March Sonata ho wroto:—

It is not a lamentation, but raflier a tragic elcgaic picture set in an impressive frame. One feels tho throb of brass, the blaro of trumpets, tho roll of muffled drums, the impressive pageantry of death. . The opening Andante is beautiful, and in tho variations tho theme breathes as it were through a thin lovely veil. The technique looks backward's rather than forwards, and tho movement ends with a calm phraso. Tho final Eondo bubbles with life ceasolesaly until it disappears in a. faint whisper. A younger generation of readers have a good chance of making acquaintance with a writer who, in his day, greatly delighted older folks, for a new volume of the admirable series of Oxford Standard Authors is devoted to "Bret Harte's Collected Tales and Poems." Short-story writing is nowadays widely cultivated, and some very brilliant work has been done in this direction by 0. Henry and other Americans. Bufc Bret Harte's "Luck of Roaring Camp" and his "Tennessee Partner," to mention only two of tho Californian yarns, which enthralled mo as a boy, will tako some beatinc And in _ humorous verse, "The Heathen Chinee" is surely still quito an inimitable production. In later life Bret Harte (his full name was Francis Bret Harte) wrote much longer stories, but although perhaps more finished literary productions they lacked the fine freshness ef the early tales, and towards the ■ end his work degenerated into very poor stuff indeed.