BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 36, 6 November 1920, Page 11

BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

BOOKS OF THE DAY •i —¥ fNlle-to Aleppo." IV>r "Now Zealanders, the- Palestine, Syrian, and Egyptian campaigns must always bo possessed of a special interest, for amongst tho Anzacs, who played puch an important part therein, the gal- , lant "Mounteds" troui the Dominion • .Were ever prominent. In a handsome ! Quarto, entitled "Nile to Aleppo: A I?e----i cord of Travel With the Australian : Light Horse" (London, George Allen and Unwin. Ltd), Mr. Hector \Y. Dinning, 'baptain in the Australian Army, tells a ■Story which New Zealanders will road . with. almost as deep and keen an interest as that of tihe author's own .fellowIcountrrnien. Sir. Dinning writes with' 'justifiable enthusiasm of the splendid work done by those whom ho calls "these !lean, modest, free masters of horses." He mod'estly disclaims any special literary ability, and says "someone with John•Jlasefield's .power of suggesting character ! ouglit to suggest the" Australian Eight. Horsemen to the world." Ilis readers, I end thoro should be many, alike in the ipominion nnd tho ■ Commonwealth, will, i however, if they agree with- me, bo of ;opinion that the .author underrates his ;cwn abilities, for he has a crisp, effective style of his own, and for the pur,pose of his work one could' desire no-. ;thing- better. Mr. Dinning 'traces the iwhole' of the Palestine campaign, aiid 'fives a very picturesque, and, in places, quite thrilling account of Allenby s pro-; 'Kress, a progress accomplished despite .-o Jpiany grave obstacles, in the great task which he finally completed by the capture of Jerusalem, and his march and Aleppo. In the 6econd ;part of his book Mr. Dinning gives us a iseries o£ well-written and very enter-. . taining pictures of. Cairo and the exploits of the Anzacs in Egypt generally. iA specially, good feature of the book 'is the prominence given by the author .'to the human and individual side of the icampaign, and, more, particularly', to !the. participation therein of the Australians, The strong point with the Aus•tralian- Mounted?, as with .'their -cousin* from Now Zealand, was their self-re-'liant. resourceful spirit. These "plain-, ; blunt men. leip, level-eyed, loving their •jiorios, careless of danger.'careless of the jdetail of discipline and of personal i appearance, turning • a sardonic' faco'to monotony and hardship," .were and specially suited for- the. particular .class of warfare-in which they: ,tiok part. 'Mr. Winning's pagssare studded. with many excellent-, and amnstng anecdotes as to tits dare-devil .courage, of" ,tiie Anzac Mounteds, their. l contempt, of danger, their patience under .-circumstances and conditions which-might- well, .'have depressed the most optimistic 'of Tvarriors, their splendid determination to jiut tie job through, to a triumphant iconclusion, no matter at what hazard (or cost/ If' Mr. Dinning's narrative,- is one whioh cannot fail to instruct and enter■tain—Ms descriptions of Cairo i'n 'wartime and of the Egyptian experiences'of •the Anzacs- form an exceptionally interesting feature of' the book—tlua illustrations, V Mr. James M'Bey, the famous young Scots painter-etcher, are beyond praise. For threfe beautiful reproductions' of Mr. Jl'Bey's etchings and' water colours, the volume is alone worth buying. M'Bey, who ranks as an ctolier .-with D. Y. Cameron ami Muirhead Bone, Ifound in- ttyo picturesque cities of Palestine and in the oamp life and mnrohes of the Light Horseman a rich- field for his art. Some of the pictures are in colour—the' original of the frontispiece, "-Tho Silk Bazaar :at Damascus,", must be' a peculiarly 'fine water colour—but for the most part they are in. black and white, in which medium- Mr. M'Be./s strong draughtsmanship 'is sfeen at its best. Ono 0£ the coloured illustrations, a full-page portrait of tho famous European leader of tho Hedjaz Ara'bs, Liou-tonant-Colonel T. E. Lawn-nee., concerning- whom our reoont visitor, Mr. -Lowell Thomas, gave so enthralling an account, ■will be' of special interest to all .who heard the American corespondent's - excellent lecture. '• . • , ..." This book of Mr. Dinning s,' with 'M Bev's -wonderful drawings, should find ■a place in every good library, public or ,private. It is ono of thii few war books ■which are possessed of permanent interest nnd value. Would that' the part played by the New Zealanders 111 the 'Palestine campaign could find an' equally satisfactory chronicling, both literary fend artistic.. (N,Z. price, 255.) > Wheat Production in New Zealand," It must be gratifying to all friends of higher and especially university educatioiP to lwve suoh an admirable proof of ■ the valuable possibilities of research 1 work in New Zealand -as that afforded: 0 by; a recently-published volume, "Wheat; -. Production ?n- New Zealand: A Study- in the Economics of New Zealand Agriculture." The author, Mr. D. B. Copland, •M.A. (N.Z.), is now Lecturer in; History : nnd Economics ill the University of.Tas- ; mania, but received his educational . training in the Dominion. The work i is an" enlargement of a thesis written for ' the honours degree in economics at the New Zealand University, when the author presonted the results of an investigation into the "Progress and Importance of Wheat Production in New Zealand.'" To tlio work, as it _ originally appeared, Dr. Hiljendorff, Biologist to I the Canterbury Agricultural College,-'.has , now added a new chapter on "The Improvement of Wheat l>3 r Selection in New ' Zealand," and Dr. flight. M.A., coii- • , tributes an interesting introduction,.. m which he pleads for the "institution of a ' eomprehensivo economio survey ot the primary industries." Mr. Copland deals with hia subject in a richly detailed and very' comprehensive ivay, examining New Zealand conditions for wheat-growing, from the. selection of seed wheat right tip to marketing and milling. The Tolumo contains a largd amount of carefully tabulatod-and valuable .statistical information. V The mosft suitable wheat-growing land is situated in Canterbury and Northern Otago, and. ._ the author contends that tho possibilities of extended production havo not, as yet, bscn adequately realised. On a yield of twenty-fivo bushels per acre, New Zealand could, he argues, produce 18,750,000 bu6liela annually. "This," he suys, -Bip q«3jß iun ;|noi]}iAi Buop eq p[noo„ turbanoe in tho' present <ytato of rural occupation were sufficient ((implies, of'labour and capital available.' Of recent years however, tho annual averago production has only been about one-third of that quantity. Professor Hilgendorff mipports and strengthens -tlio author's argument that our wheat orop could bo greatly increased, but lays stress upon the necessity for the introduction of mpre scientific methods of cultivation. Mr. Copland's book constitutes a most important and welcome addition to the literature of New Zealand economics, ■find .will no doubt be read with the greatest interest by all who are engaged in tho wheat industry and by public men generally. (Price 95.). "The American Heroes" Series. In the United States there are over one hundred millions of men and women; t-ht vast majority of whura have tho same language as that spoken by Now Zenlanders. However ooraplex be the racial origin of the Amcricnns of to-day, tho fact that they have a'tongue in, common with the people of Australasia—with whom, also, in the Pacifio and. oilier problems their feelings and interests are in indirect hut none'the leas important sympathy—must-render American history; the history' of this great ing race of tho Uniled States of to-day, a subject of-direct und compelling interest to Australians and New Zeahimlprs It-is no reflection upon these latter, of the present-dny generation, that their knowledge of tile elements, forced, and dominant' personalities which have contributed to the making of the present-day American is far from being so deep and general as it might be. In the past, whilst felly enough, in a degree, first atten-, Km liss been PUM in our,schools to the

(By Liber.) Give a 'man a pipe he can smoke, Give a man a book he c&n read; " "And his home is'bright with a calm delight Though the room, be poor indeed.- ■ t —James Thomson.

history of that Motherland to whom wo are so proud to owe out origin, there has been some neglect of American •history. Largely, this noglect Ims been duo to the lack of popular lest books, to. tiio absence of infonn.-ition couched in pcpu* la.r terms, as to the great events in American' history and as to the character and achievements of those great men who have built up, through the two last centuries, the America which we know today. As a means to the enlightenment of the English of the Pacific as to tho growth of tho great English-speaking nation of tho United States, a new series oi' books, entitled "Tho Heroes Sories," edited by Charles _Morris ami published by Mesirs..' Lippincott and Co., New York (Wellington, ' "Whitcombe and Tombs) seems to mo to lie worthy of special recommendation to all who arc interested in. educational work in this couiitiy. The. first four volumes of this series are entitled, respectively, "Heroes of Discovery in America," "Heroes of the Army in America," "Heroes of the Navy iii America," and "Heroes of Progress in Auuu'icu." In these four well-printed, fiberajly illustrated, and handsomely-, produced volumes, tho editor a mass oif (angularly well-aJrrangVd and most interesting information, tho whole forming an admirable survey of the heroism which has justly shed lustre upon tho name of America. In the "Discovery" volume are recorded the splendid achievements of that host of heroic discoverers which, commencing with Columbus, Vo.-puceio, the Cabots, Balboa, and Magellan, was continued in Cortes 'and Pizarro, in Hernando de Soto,' in tlio Elizabethan Englishmen, and so down, through La Salle and Champlain, to the daring adventurers who explored the Far West, Boone, Pike, and Fremont. In tho volumes which record the military and naval history of America, a very stirring and historically instructive story is told, whilst in the voCum'o entitled "Heroes of Progress" are set forth the life history and most conspicuous achievementis of various famous Americans "who have contributed to tho political/ sooiat, and industrial development of their .great country. It will be time voll spent for every young !N*ew Zealnnder.to, make himself' acquainted, under the able guidance of Mr.' -Morris and his statt ot contributors, with eucli.men.as Alexander 'Hamilton, the "architect of American • (inan'co," with statesmen such as Henry Clay.. Daniel Webster, and J. C. U - houaj • and, . iii Mater days, >» «- liain Lloyd - Garrison, , tho slave emancipator; "Wendell Phillips, anil Charles, Sumner,- with Lincoln and Greeley,' with Seward and Blaine to say nothing of such notable figures' in tho field of invention and industrial progress as Fulton, of steamltoat fame, Elias . Howe, who'invented the machine, Cyrus Field and Samuel Jlorae, of electric telegraph celebrity, M'Coimiok. Thomas Edison, Andrew Carnegie and others. 'lhe ncroos of mankind are, as Mr. Morris rightly remarks, "not wily tlioeo who lead yi<> torious/armies over prostrate realms, but also those who face hostile circumstances or brave threatening situations, winning through by sheer force of .energy •and intellect:• where men of inferior mould would have shrunk back in -difl' may;""" The illustrations are numerous ana well produced, and tho geneval get* up of the. volume* reflects high credit upon the publishers.

LIBER'S NOTE BOOK TO CORRESPONDENTS. G.H.G. (WaitftVa)—(l) Compton Ifieketts's "History of. English Literature" was not very well reviewed. I prefer Andrew 1 Lang's book on the subject. (Blackwood,- 7s. fid.)* (2)' "The Book of English Poetry, by George Beaumont, I know nothing'of. To my mind the "Oxford Book of English Verse," edited bv Sir A. T. Quiller Pouoh'(Oxford tress.), is the best anthology of this'kind. Some Interesting Dickejisiana. A recent catalogue issued by the. famous firm of London booksellers, Messrs. H. Sotheriui"and Co., gives details of a remarkable ..collection of books and : manuscripts by or relating to Charles Dickens, formerly the property o£ Dr. Jnpp. . One curious item is 'the previous "Memoranda" book, containing the novelist's rough notes for books unwritten and written. As illustrating Dickens's method of authorship tlus ."Memoranda" boot is. most interesting.. On one page, reproduced in facsimile in the catalogue, there arc two notes used in "Little Dorrit." One runs, as" follows: "The unwieldy . ship taken in low by the snorting little steam : tug ("Dono in Cushy and Panks").-The words in brockets represent ft later entry. A second note illustrates the caro with which tho novelist worked up his "local colour": Our house. . Whatever it is, it, is in a' . first-rate- situation, aud a fashionable neighbourhood. (Auctioneers called it- "a gentlemanly rcsidonee.") A series of little closets sciueozed upon the corner of a narrow. dark street—but with a Dllkr, 8 mansion just round the corner. The whole house in just large enough to hold a vile smell. The air breathed in it at the best of times—a- Mnd of distillation of Kews. And then a later note ("Done in Hie Barnacles"). Those who know their "Little Dorrit"- will at once • rccogniso tho importance played in the shaping of tho novel by the first of tilio aboveqnoted notes. The collection,• which ilnclmlcs over a hundred autograph letters by Dickens, also tributes to his .genius in letters from Thackeray, Stevenson, and others, is priced at 5000 guineas. ' A snecially valuable item is n long 'Fories of letters from M iss Maria BeaHnell (afterwards Mrs. Winter)., who was the original of "Dora" in "Bnvid Copperfield" and "Flora" in "Littlo Dorrit." Bertrand Russell on Bolshevik Methods. The Hon. Bertrand llussell's recent visit to Russia nppeai'3 to liavo, had the efl-'cot of very seriously modifying and altering his previously held favourably opinion of Bolshevism. In "Tho Nation" of July 17 he Ims an article on ' Lemn. • Trotsky, and .Gorki." ,lfe says, inter • alia, "I went to Russia believing myself a Communist, but contact with those ' who have no doubts has intensified a thousandfold my own doiibts-Miofc only of Communism, but of evei-y creed so fumly held 'that for its roko men are willing to inflict widespread misery. In an interview with the Editor of the ' "Athenaeum." Mr. Hussell described fonr Rcarceorow Petrograd professors, who cahie to see him. Their aspect waa nnlieliovable, their clothes in tatters. Only when they spoke could be r?"}I'®1 '® J" 11 ' they were men of the higheßt lnteUnetua distinction. Yet they were all emnloycd in teaching men of the working clauses. That distinguished rrofessorß should he kept at auch work is w> tragedy in itself. ... Alexander Wok, a famous poet, ir engaged in teaching aesthetics. Witn Ins pupils lie was more than content. But the Government insisted that the doctrines he eapotfsed mußt bs orthodox and Marxian. JCarxlan aesthetics! It would be a Bub* lime Joke, but for tho .underlying horroi 1 . In their vendetta against the intelligentKia Hie I3ol.s]ievikg» aro only following, so L might point out, on the linos of tho English Jack Ctulc. If Mr. liussell hk turned-up a copy'of the second part of . Henry VI lie would have found that Lade i cohdojnned "the Clork.of Chatham to ho ; hanged "with his pen niul inkhom round ; his neck" "because "he can road " lu , write and cast- accompt/' whilst Ijora , Say was similarly condemned because ho could speak Latin/' Colonel John \\ard, the English Labour M.P., has put it on record that in one of the Russian towns • lu viflitod.be found that n sho&makcr and his wife had been shot for teaclnmr i soma middle-class children. Mr. .Berk • , rand ftuescll tells us t'uat "Gorky, who ; "lias done all that cno man could do < to. preflorvo the intellectual and artistic- . life'of Rufleia, ia dying, and perhaps it is » drlntr. too/' Mr. Russell's article, ,

tho f 'Athenaeum," "should bo read tunl a taken to heart by thosa who philander t with tlio idcu of Holshcvikisiu ha a i pauacon." Stray. Leaves. ' 1 have to tlianic a correspondent at ♦M )Ul » |n oa, for a onpy of Ilie "Samoan limca of a recent date, containing-an interesting letter from Mrs. Isabel Md (s-opdauglitoi- of the iato Robert Louis , Mevenson). Jlrs. Field enters an indiguantly worded protest against some remark* recently made in the course of a • lecturo by the well-known Scimoan missionary, the Ecv. Mr. Clark, belittling , tlio novelist's work mid making some personal lefemices, which Jlrs.' Field 1 fightlj describes as being in vcrv Questionable taste. ■" Satirically lamentiiiK lack of timo to read all the new memoirs a nd reminiscences by German generals which ari now appearing, tlio "Literary Lobbyist" 01 N.Y. "Evening Post" says: "We'sigh 111 vain for Caesar Borgia's own account ' of that Sinigaglia affair, ami tho execssively raro 'What I Know About Cleopa- 1 trn' by Julias, Caesar!" Wellington lias a few book-loyers who don't look twice at a 1 few sovereigns where a new edition of their favourite author tempts them. A local book-sell-ing firm booked six orders for tho new ' complete "limited" edition of Joseph Conrad within threo days of "Liber's" paragraph appearing, giving details of tho edition. The edition is in 18 volumes. The New Zealand price is about .KM! Under the title, "A Steepleiack," James Hnneker, the veteran New York writer oji art, music, and literature, whose "Iconoclasts," "Supermen," • "Melomaniacs," and other books of _ essays, are occasionally to ba seen on Now Zealand book-shelves, has written his autolnog- ' raphy. Huneker throws his adjectives— and such weird adjectives some of them are—about a little too freely at. times, but I know of no English writer _on modern art and music who can rival him in his ability as a critic. Arnold Bennett is nothing 11 not versatile. The author of "The. Old Wives' Tale" (a latter-day classic, if evor a novel' deserved the name) has Jong had watercolour painting as a hobby. . .Recently, as that delightful book, "From the I-og of the Yelsa," proves, h*. lma 'takon to yachting, and now t read of liis concocting an entirely, r.ew scenario for a kineina play. Personally,' T shall always thiulc Bennett is at his l>e?t in his "Five Towns" 'yarns.' I. Would give a dozen such novels as "Tthe lioll Call or 'Jho Pretty Ladv" for nnothor such' yarn as "The' Card.'" One misses, in his-recent novels, the old ironic humour which made "Tlie'Card," "Anna of the Five Tpwns, and "Clnyhansjer" eo delightful Some of the-now American Socialists writers write very queer English. Hero is a sample sentence from an esßay by Thorsteiu Veblen, who I believe, regarded in certain 'circles in tlio stales as the very latest 6ocial and political prophet: ' If we aTO eettinsr rcßtloßP under tlie taiomonv of a monocotvledonons wnee doctrine and a crjyitOKiuuic theory of interest. with involute,. loculicidal. tomcntoub. and moniliform variants, what Is tlio cytoplasm, centrosome. or . ltaryoKlnetio process- to which we may Turn, and in which we may find surceane from tlio metaohyßics .of normality sn'd controlling nrincipk'H? . I don't flilnk I will add the works of Sir. Thorstein YeMen, "twentieth century .prophet.' , though he may ue, to my shelf oi bsdslS'e books. T should ic*\r iiigh'i- i mare after a perusal ot such cryptic jargon as the above. ■ Two of the earlier and 'most toilsing of 'Hilaire Belloc's books. "Caliban's Guide to Letters," and "Lambkin's domains," .'.which have been out of print for some time past, have now been republished, in ; one volume, in Duclc--1 'worth's "Headers' Library," that excellent series once published at 25., but th? English price of which is now fivo

shillings. The late George Meredith was giver to tlie composition of inordinately long sentences—there Js one of thirty-two liiife ; in- tlie' first chapter of "One of Our .Conquerors"—and the lato Mr. Henry James could imi occasion ho terribly prolix. Ono would, scarcely expect to find long sentences in tho journalism of to-day, which; ton<l« to run to what is called the "bright and snappy style, A sentence of 110 fewer than 281 words, In' the London "Times" account of tho Fisher memorial service at. Westminster Abbey, comes, therefore, as a surprise. It is it is pointed out, 11, perfectly clear and well-balanced sentence, but for length it must surely marina record in recc.it journalism. ■ • , . 'It is'curious to read that- the heirs of Auguste Jlaquet are demanding that his name should appear alongside that of Alexandre Dumas on the title pages of those novels in which he collaborated. There has long l>een bitter controversy as to the exact jiart played by Minuet in his collaboration with "le grand Alexandre," but, as tho lfite . Andrew Lang, pointed-out.' many years ago now, it is a curious fact- that whenever Jlaquet wrote under his own name liis work was commonplace'and barren of that vivacity and wit of which thero is sitch a rich store in such novels as "The' Three Musketeers." "La Dame do Honsoreau," and others, for which Maquet, so it is admitted, "devilled lip" the historical facts. A TPmarlmWo sale of aulnpraplis and i library curiosities took place at _ Philadelphia in' July, wlu>n the collections-of Sir Stephen Coleridge wore sold. Thf> owner, who says he has included nothing which he has: inherited or has been given I Mm, declares that the reason lie- sold his tTf-iiMirPc was that- half his income has been "taken in. war taxes, "fpart. with tliem," he adds, "not as tlw result of my own prolliuaey, but as .% necessary consequence of a. just, and glorious war waged in n noble nml, grave spirit to a glorious victory." Amongst other notable. items in the v nollec(ion were Charles Lamb's letter to" Coleriflse. in which lie writes that he could wish his poor afflicted sister, Mary, were dead, ft poem bv 7?" bert Burns, inscribed to Miss Cruiokshank, and the autograph maniiEcripWjOf Byron'.'"Don Juan," Canto 8. SOME RECENT FICTION "Salt.". : To those of our New Zealand educational mandarins, Loth official or merely self-iiccerdited, who brieve thai American institutions and methods urn specially worthy of being copied or followed in. this, country, X would recommend tho ' perusal of a recently-published American novel, "Salt," by lir. Charles Nonis - (Constable ajid Co.; per Australasian . i'uhliahing Company and AVliitoc-mbo and" Tombs). It will como, I think; as a perfect eye-oponer to those who have cherished the illusion that "they manage .these things bettor" in America. Liko his brother, tlie late l'rank Norris, who . gave us those dramatic and interest-com-pelling novels, "The Tit" and "Tho Octopus," Charles Norris is nothing if he is not a realist; Ono feels that every incident in his story of tho youth and early manhood of Griffith Adams, his hero, couid lie "deuumented" by records of real happenings. Not oven Zola or Flaubert, or, amongst latter-day writer*, Arnold Bennett, could be more moticulous in detail, more suggestive of having drawn, hia chavnotors from living figures. "Salt" has, I. believe, created quite a mild hullabaloo,in educational, especially university oiroles in tho United States. And I don't wonder at its having dono so, for a more crushing indictment of ■ certain phaEes and features of.American secondary school and univoi-sity life could not weli bo imagined. It is not altogether a pleasant story, this narrative of ' the mental development and moral evolution of Griffith Adams. There is none of that smug and sickly sentiment which wo have como to associate with latterday Amorioan fiction, and even such humour as is present is of an nJuioit: bitl'orly ironic kind. Mr. Norris has evidently boon intensely in earnest in tho writing of this novel. His methods are not thoso of 11. A. Vaohdl, or Compton Maekennie, nor even those of Alee AVnugh, whose "Loom of Youth" caused such a fluttering in sundry linglish educational dovecotes. Some of Mr. Norris s renders may consider him too brutal, but ono thing is certnin. that here m a story which lieam Iho hallmark of oombined truth and earnestness on its every page. The interort is not wholly educational, for t.1>.0 second part of the story is devoted to American commercial life and its methods, but the Griffith Adams who lends hinuwlf to such d»- ■ vious devices as those resorted to by the staff of tho great railroad corporation bv which he if, for a time, employed.

(mil who, in Uio long run, ia morally cleansed by vu<lo adversity and downright suffering, i», as aio doubt iijie novelist iuteiuls l\im to be, the direot product of his faulty und vicious early training. "Salt" is a vory powerful, well-ivntton, ;m<l remorkablo novel. "The Mahogany Ship." A Rood "treasure story" is always welcomed by adult as well as youthful readers, and "The Mahogany Ship."' by i'V. "Williams (Ward, Look and Co.,'.per Whitcombc and Tombs), is, in its own class, a peculiarly satisfying ;uid successful effort. That it may, m somo degroe, seem to owe its inspiration to Robert Louis Stevenson and John llasefiold, does not in the least discount its general excellence as a romance of trcasuroseeking. The scene is laid on the Australian coast, and the ehiof actors aro ail old recluse, a literary man with a special taste for history and archaeology, some adventure-seeking young Australians, and a party of Jesuits who seem just a trifle out of the picture in this twentieth , century. They belong rather to Hie period of "Westward Ho," and suggest ioo close a study of certnin of Kinsley's characters to be in keeping with present-day probabilities. Mr. ■Williams is not altogether to be acquitted of that "Tnshery," concerning ' which Stevenson waxed so satirical, but although, in places, both incidents and dialogue mny smack of melodrama, it is only fair to say that he lias a vigorous effective style which well befits thesensational character of the story. Mr. "Williams must be credited with having written an exceptionally interesting story on the always welcome thome of a search for hidden treasure. The author is. I understand, a Queonslander by birth, who graduated at the University of Melbourne. His futuro work in notion will be awaited with no small curiosity and interest, for "The Mahogany • Ship" is docidedly a story of most excellent promise. "The Voice." Pan 1 Pardoe, a member of a wealthy family of coal mine owners, is cast ashore, the sole survivor from the wreck ol tin.. steamship' C'omiemara, 011 an. uninhabited coral island. There he finds, not the beauteous maiden who is the customary product, of South Sea island paradises, as the average novelist imagines thwiu, but a.n ancient copy of tho Bible. Pardoo "reads, marks, learns, and inwardly digests" tho contents, of the Sacred Book, and hears, as he considers, n voice calling him to a better, less selMsh life ehoulil ever, ho be rescued.. Kesc'Jio comes, after tin exile of Ave years, and t&a mine owngr returns to his native Sciuvick, just in time to attend hia brother's funeral and to iind employers and employees in the midst of a fierco industrial .'atriigglg. The ex-island recluse make-s a determined attempt to quench tho fires,of clh*s hatred. He puts into practice those principles of tolerant, charitv, and brotherly Jove has leavi't from iToly Writ, and is able, in the lo«J? run, to prove,nt a gifcat national strike vlio'fih would have paralysed the industrial activities of the country at a critical crisis. How all these 'lungs occur is set forth in the pages of a well-written,

if 'not always canvinoini, story, "T'is Voice." (Hoddpr and Swughton, per Whiteombo mid Tombs.) Some Welcome Reprints. [ "When a now book appears I always read an old one." said llnriitt, and riltlioiijjh it would be bad news for a host ot very worthy people were it announced tiiat 110 now- novels would be published c a clear twelve months, the number ot really excellent stories which tho greedy applicant for "tile very latest" lias not read must btj very great. It is not all of us who can afford six shilllngs- for the "very latest," and tliat patrons of the many admirable series of naif-crown reprints constitute a reading public specially well worth catering for is proved J>y the big piles of these books 11 6 i ßt '. ll . ' n our bookshops. Some notable additions to the series published by i / 0 ' ln Murray and Jlessra. Hoddor and Stoughton liavo recently reached me. l'i'oni Mr. Murray come new editions of S?? °/> ® iu ''' n sr Gould's finest novels Mehalah: A. Story of the Salt Marshes," a peculiarly original and impressive story, with the dramatic and tragic »ie,lient emphasised; one of the best of Mrs. Maud Diver's always popular stories, Unconriuered'-'j and that very human study- of a woman's heart, tried in tho crucible. o£ marriage, "Tho Heart of 1 Michael," by Kathleen Norris. whose Julia l'age,' "Martie tho Unconquered." and "Sisters." have all been so warmly commended in these columns. To Mosst®. Hwider and .Stoughton's halfcrown series, which includes so inany oxeollent stories, hate been added one of Mr. A. G. Hnles's );nvr famous M'Glusky yarns, "President M'Glusky." This story, reviewed at length in The Dominion on its fu'6t appearance, luas a South American background, and exhibits the redoubtable Soots Australian in a lout; sericfi of astounding adventures ill which love, war, and politics are all factors. "A Daughter of thj> Dons," by William Macleod Haines, has' for itg motif Uiv love of a fine young American miner for a Spanish lady, /to whoso ostato lln> hero has an inherited claim. Mr. linings yives us full measuro of both sensation and sentiment, and his story is one of tho most readable "Wild West" yarns T havo read for some time. Alice Diier Millar's "Come Out of tlUj Kitchen," from tlie samo publishers, ia a gaily humorous little bit of domestic comedy, with that liberal allowaneo of sentiment favoured by so many readers of tlio lighter fiction of the day. A kinema version of this story has had a huge success in America. (N.Z. price, 2s. Cd. each.)