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EDITED BY
INEZ MAC MARTIN MYERS

LI TERA TURE

Literature as a Vacation
The Modern Novel (Prize Paper)
Woman ’3 Place in German Literature
The Inﬂuence of Women on Legislation

\ingleCopyﬁ I NQVEMBEB 'Bytheyeaﬂs

MIB‘ 1930

"100,000
More Subscribers by
January 19] I !

INTRODUCTORY .
CLUB.OFFER , "

In clubs of TEN or
more we will make a
special rate of One

Dollar a year.

Single trial offer six months

for ﬁfty cents.

16)

HEN one comes down to the last
analysis, the writer, any writer, in
the true sense, is a message-bearer.
Whether his work be in poetry or
prose; whether it be immediate, or
permanent, wheth er it be in
romance, or in history, biography, essays,» whether
it be the work of the moment in daily journalism,
or the great work of play-writing, or novels, or
whatever form it may take,-— the writer is, primari-
ly, a transmitter. He must have something worth
transmitting. it may be in the highest creative
work: it may be in the reportorial tasks of daily
journalism,» but its keynote is significance. * * *
Whatever the difﬁculties, the obstacles, the hard-
ships, he must

“Follow the Gleam."

He must keep faith with his ideals.

Now this is the spirit, absolutely the only spirit in
which Literature, which is both an art and a pro-
fession, a vocation, primarily, and an accomplish-
ment and an acquirement, secondarily, can be
pursued in any light of real success.

For that success is not what one gets out of it!

That success is what one puts into it!

——LILIAN W HI TING

in Literature as a Vacation.

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N.‘ 4.31......_. .'. ..

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“A Magazine of Inspiration for the Modern Woman.”
Oﬂiciat Organ Louisiana Federation of Women’s Clubs.

VOLUME ll. NOVEMBER, I910 NUMBER 2.

0111:11an

Literature as a Vocation - - - Lilian Whiting 578
The Modern Novel - - - ' Julia Ashley Rich 582

Prize Club Paper

Oldest Women's Club on the Paciﬁc Coast, Goldie Robertson Fun/e 594

illustrated

Era Club - — .— - fudith Hyams Douglas 599
Inﬂuence of Women on Legislation - Nanette 3. Paul, L.L.D. 6] 1
President Ceneral's Message - - Eva Perry Moore 632

PERMANENT DEPARTMENTS

Reviews and Illustrations.

Social Hygiene ................... 6| 7 Club Work ..................... 63]
Arts and Crafts .................... 622 Literature ......... . ............... 64]
Music ................................ 626 \X/oman Movement .......... 646 /
Civics ............................... 628 Editorials ......................... 652

rPublished Monthly Except luly and August by

WOMANS ERA PUBLISHING COMPANY
432 CARROLL 5r, NEW ORLEANS.

Yearly subscription 51 50 in advance: single copies 15 cents: Canada 52.00 yearly.

Entered as second class matter January 22. 1910. at the posinﬁice at New Orleans. La.
Under the act of March 3.1870.

usic ,~ Number

ﬂ] Womans Era for December will be

devoted to Music, with interesting ar-

ticles specially written for this number.
‘1] Many beautiful pictures of noted
women in the music world will add in—
terest and attractiveness to this issue.

History of Opera.
Noted Artistes in Grand Opera.

(Illustrated)
Influence of Music.

The Work of Musical Clubs.
Women in the Music World.

1111121115 Em .
fur Eprpmhm‘

LILIAN WHITING

"M
.e‘iri;a 'a frat}! r". '11

p.21an.manaiera 2

Vol. 2.17 ' -, . NOVEMBER, 1910 ' i ' ‘ No. 2

' LITERATURE AS A VOCATION

By LiLiAN WHITING

cuSs the question of “the possible suécess of liter—
ature as a vocation for ambitious young women.” N ow
any consideration of literature as a vocation would seem
to be capable 'of being as condensed in expression as the tradi-
tional chapter on'snakes in Ireland. Not that one would say,
“There"is no vocation,” an coutra-ire. That is precisely what'it is
-—a vocation, a call, and not merely a profession to be chosen and
acquired; not an avocat‘u'on, but a vocation which chooses its own
disciples... It' is almost so simple as to impel one to say, “If one
can write, he will write, and if he cannot, he will not.” Yet this
must not seem the echo of Dogberry’s assertion that “Reading
and writing come by nature.” They come by grace as well, and
by a very'liberal and devoutly cultivated share of grace. The
~ writer of anything worth the writing, is, like the poet, born and
not made. But being born, he must also be made. When one
comes down to the last analysis,' the writer, any writer, in the
true sense, is a‘m’essage-bearer. Whether his work be in poetry or
prose; whether it be immediate, or permanent, whether it ‘be in ro-
mance, or in histOry, biography, essays, whether it be the work of
the moment in daily journalism, or the great work of play-writing,
or novels, or whatever form it may take—the writer is, primarily,
a transmitter. He musthave something worth transmitting. It .
may be' in the highest Creative work; it may be. in the reportorial
tasks of daily jotirnalism+but’ its keynote is Signiﬁcance. First of
all, a writer must have something to say. After' that, the question
of hips'acquiring’ conStantly better means of saying it; of making a
ﬁne art, so to ‘speak,,of’~ expression, is one ﬁtly considered. But
ﬁrst of all, as the initial'step, t‘he'fore--ordained conditidn of writ-
ing atall—the writer must be 'born with the gift. He must f‘feelv
the magic of' Merlin,”"thesuggestion of the. spirit; he must giiVe

U'v'HEieditor of The Woman’s Era invites me to dis—

5 79 Womans Era.

himself in an absolute devotion to his art; he must love it, live for
it, he must lose his life if he will ﬁnd it. Whatever the difﬁculties,
-the obstacles, the hardships, he must . ,.

“Follow the Gleam.” He must .keep faith. with his ideals.
N ow, this isthe spirit, absolutely the onlys'pir‘it' in which Litera-
ture, which is both an art and a profession, a vocation, primarily,
and an accomplishment and an acquirement, secondarily, can be
pursued in any light of real success.

For that success is not what one gets out of it!

That success is what one puts into it!

It is what one gives, not what one gets, that determines the
real value. Of course the question of Literature as the vocation
of lifeis a very inclusi‘Ve one, and ‘would' require the'space of the
British Encyclopaedia in which to be adequately discussed. So
we will eliminate, for. the moment, here, the. more momentous as-
pects of genius, and consider the current newspaper, magazine,
and book work of the vast general contribution to the general
reading matter ‘of the public. The girl who feels the inner im~
pulse to write secures a place, we will say, on a daily newspaper.
She is assigned to reportorial work. Does this imply that she
has therefore. no scope‘ for individual expression? Does this
imply that no ideal can be folowed? Not in the least. The truth
is that this branch of journalism is one of the most potent and im-
portant ﬁelds. To the young journalist himself it offers a tre—
mendous school for development. It is constant training. It is
the perpetual acquirement of information; You may tell me that
much of this is of an order not worth knowing. That is true in
some instances. And no one can confront modern journalism
without confronting its abuses. It must be conceded that the re—
porter is sometimes detailed to report that which is unworthy of
notice, which is inconsequential, or even worse—in that it is ac—
tually demoralizing. But we must take the world as we ﬁnd it, and
the young man or woman who enters the life—long devotion to
service, in its best aspect revealed to the worker, does not serve
best by too, much negation or objection. No youthful employe
can revolutionize the journal he is on. Nor is that his business.
And it is his business to faithfully serve, so far as possible, in the
work he has undertaken. But without becoming a prig, or a pre-
tender. there is, in this ﬁeld, a great opportunity for selection. The
aim of the managing-editor is usually that of making a popular
paper. On a newspaper’s popularity among general readers de—
pends its one great source of revenue, its advertising. But sup—
pose. that the reporter can constantly succeed in making attract—
ive the better class of neWs? Why should not the marvellous
revelations of modern science, the stupendous romance of the
ﬂights by airship, the. wonders of communication, the interest of
ideas, be as alluring to the general reader, as the horrors of some

Literature as a Vocation. 580

drunken tragedy, or as some degrading scandal? As a matter of
fact, that which is pure, lovely, and of good report, can be made
just as fascinating, just as attractive to the average reader, as
that which is the reverse. Of course'a newspaper is a mirror of
contemporary life. It must faithfully reﬂect much that is perni-
cious, as well as that which is uplifting. That has to be conceded.
But without any insubordination or impertinent comment, any re—
porter has it largely in his personal power to inﬂuence and to
modify his work—even assigned and deﬁnite work, to the increas-
ing tendency toward that which is signiﬁcant, rather than that
which is insigniﬁcant.

For myself, I have always held to one article of'faith regarding
newspaper work; that there 15 nothing too good, and the only ,-
anxiety is to present that which if: good enough, for the daily
newspaper. The inﬂuence of the press is simply incalculable. The
successful newspaper writer must bring to the work that eternal
vigilence, which is not only the price of Liberty, but the price of
everything worth having in the world. Work on the daily press
must not be considered as a trade, a mechanism, but as a great
opportunity, an inestimable privilege as providing. the means by
which one may offer his best service to the world in which he lives.
That is the “exceeding great reward,” and not the ﬁgures on the
pay-roll.

Nor need one become a fanatic, or give himself over to any
fantastic methods of-purpose, or bombastic or exaggerated ideas
of his own power for aid or inﬂuence in the general current of
affairs. As a fundamental condition of any possible service, the
server must live. There are certain conditions that are, in the
words of the prayer—book, “requisite and necessary for body and
soul." To this end, an adequate salary, or adequate remuneration,
is one of the essential factors. But one cannot but deprecate the
emphasis sometimes laid by writerson what they get, rather than
any apparent anxiety regarding the quality of what they give.

There is the duty of reading—not only the pleasure, but the
absolute duty for one who would achieve the noblest success in
literary work, whether in journalism, magazines, or books. The
form of one’s contribution to the service matters little. Reading
is to the mind as food to the body, the material of which its ﬁbre
is wrought. It is amazingto note the difference that even a half-
llour’s reading a day, of the noble and uplifting authors, will make
in onefs attitude toward life. ' .

There is also the importance of keepingin touch with affairs.
To touch life at many points; to touch it. with some preception of
its ideal possibilities and of its actual realizations, and to hold the
golden mean of ﬁdelity to noble standards with accompanying
charity for imperfect‘results, the education in that experience
which worketh wisdom. ’ '

581 quaQS, Era; .r

The phrase, “personal journalist-ifeis currently accepted in its
most" frivolous,possibilitiesfbht' What, indeed," is ' all: biography,
even all _hi'story,_’to aifgreatﬂdegtegbut personal writing? The
“Society [colu'mns’l’t ofiaﬂ'newspape’r":ne'ed'iiot be wholly inconsee
quential', they may bers‘o‘conducted as tobe the extension of social
sympathies, the sympathetic“encouragement and the promotion of
much that is best and sweetest in'ou-ricommon life. _ . i >

And now to return to the speciﬁc test of. “literature as a voca-
tion for ambitious young‘women.” This'brings'us as to what
constitutes success? Is it sucCes‘s, merely to earn money? to be a
“best seller P” ' ' " ' ' ‘ I

“Success in thyself, which is best of all,” and is’not our real
success in the character we achieve, the qualities we'develop? It
is not necessarily success tomerely make money, or even a‘name;
it is success to be truthful, kind, cOnsiderate, and to always and
unfailingly do all in one’s power towards the better conditions of
life for every human being; to so live that one’s unconscience in;
ﬂuence may be perpetually with that which is noble and pure and
of good report, and to think on these things. T 0 “take the good
of others to be our own,” as George Eliot has so well phrased it;
what a source for added happiness is that? Is not all personal hap-
piness, all true, success, just in proportion as we achieve sympa—'
thetic social relations, and enter into that sweetness and loveliness
of life in which one is only “ambitious” in the high and unselﬁsh
sense, not in that of any self—seeking, but in the aspiration to con-
tribute all that one may to the common well being and ideal ad—
vancement ? - ,

Might we not all take to heart these magical words of Eme:
son? “I am primarily engaged to myself to be a servant of all
the gods. To demonstrate to all men thatythere is good will and
intelligence at: the heart of things, and ever higher and yet higher
leadings. These are my engagements. If there is power in good
intent; in ﬁdelity, and in toil, the north wind shall be purer, the
stars in heaven shall glow with a kindlier beam, that I haVe lived.”

Could we embody our ideal of true success in life, our realiza-
tion of any true ambition, in more perfect expression than these
words of Emerson!

"Ye bright mosaics! that, with storied beauty,
The ﬂoor of Nature 's temple tesselate,

What numerous emblems of instructive duty,
Your forms create!

"Your voiceless lips, 0 ﬂowers! are living preachers,
' Each‘cup a pulpit, every leaf a book, .
' -, Supplying to my fancy numerous teachers i
- From loveliest nook."' a ' '

Literature Prize Club Paper,
This paper was dmdrded the cash prize of twenty-ﬁve dollars oﬂered
by W omahs Era for the best club paper ‘on Literature.

THE MODERN NOVEL

BY JULIA ASHLEY RICH.

. . HE Pilgrim mothers were troubled with no anxiety as
iii to what they should read. Had their time and their
inultitudinous duties permitted of the pleasure or proﬁt,
they might perhaps have chosen between the Bible,
Pilgrim’s Progress and some old almanac. No worry concern-
ing the difﬁculty of keeping up with modern ﬁction, or how
many magazines not to read, perplexed their waking hours or
kept them awake nights !!
_ In these days the problem of what we ought to read, and
what we want to read, and how we shall manage to do it, is
an absorbing one.

We should take account of the educational value of ﬁction, for it
is inﬂuencing the world to-day as much, if not more, than all the
Works of biography, art, science, philosophy, history and theology
that are being issued constantly. It is what the people actually
read,—not what they ought to but do not, that ﬁlls their thoughts,
gives them ideas of life, and molds their characters for good or
ill. And if it seem that we have no voice in the kind and quality
and amount of ﬁction that is being produced throughout the
country at such a tremendous rate,-——that we must read what 1s
put before us and cannot choose what we would—then must we
realize that it is the demand fromthe public that inﬂuences pub—
lication. \Vhat the people want——what they ask for—in large
measure will be supplied them, and every reader of ﬁction has
a moral responsibility for what is produced by authors and
brought out by publishers day by day and week by week and
year by year. . , . ‘ .

There are so many kinds of ﬁction that it is almost impossible
to classify them; the realistic novel, the story of adventure, the
simple tale of home and country life, the genuine love story,
the problem novel, the detective story, the picture of social life,
or political conditions, contests between labor and capital,- the
humorous story written for a purpose; the psychological novel,
the aimless, triﬂing, petty labyrinth of words that has no- shadow
of an excuse 'for coming into being; the dangerous novel, which
paints vice in such attractive colors and conceals so cleverly the
dead line between right and wrong as to be responsible tor
many a perverted view of life and false ideas of the world in

583 . Womans Era.

general; all these exist, are read, and take their places on the
bookshelves of _ memory, there to play their little parts in the
great drama of mental and moral development.

What shall we read? The new books are coming out all the
time, thicker and faster with every year we live, new magazines
spring into being in a single night, the serial story runs thru a
year’s issue then appears in book form to tempt the busy mortal
who failed to follow every instalment. Our friends are forever
asking us: “Have you read this?” “Have you seen Oppenheim’s
latest?” or recommending stories which “you must really read——
you can’t afford not to.” In this, as in all other things, one
man’s meat is another man’s poison, and what is recommended
by one as “a delightful book” will ‘be characterized by some one
else as “not worth wasting time on."

If we would think when we read a novel—~“VVhat is this
going to do for me F‘" will it make common human life better
worth’being lived? will it bring into this seemingly prosaic age.
with its stress of conflicting interests and the struggle for place
and position glimpses of greatness of soul, courage, heroism.
grace and kindliness of spirit? will it give an insight into the
many—sided activities of the day? will it inspire us to nobler
living and higher thinking? will it leave with us a sense of
pleasure, of rest. of mental refreshment and uplift?

Or, on the other hand—will it give us unreal pictures of
impossibly perfect characters—emisty visions of a dream world
which never existed and never could exist. Is its tendency down—
ward instead of upward? Does it make the had more attractive
than the good? Does it cleverly decry virtue and exalt the
shrewdness and faculty for money getting which gets it at any
sacriﬁce of honor or loyalty? Is its tone so pessimistic and
gloomy that we close its pages with the ﬁrm conviction that
the world is growing worse all the time, and it makes little
difference what efforts we may make towards betterment?

When we read, if we will think on these things, we may, and
will undoubtedly do much towards creating a demand for the
very best in modern ﬁction. and elevating the literary appetites
of our friends and fellow readers. .

Now. we will take two ﬁctitious characters—Mrs. A and Mrs.
B—and follow them through a season’s reading. taking note of
the result. Mrs. A reads the Outlook, VVorld’s Work, some ar—
ticles from Harper’s, Scribner’s, The Century, North American
Review, and other current magazines, besides the daily papers,
and takes ﬁction merely for change, recreation and what knowl—
edge of human nature and insight into the. common round of
life she is able to gather therefrom. Mrs. B reads nothing but
'nOVels, stories: because, as she says, she reads to'be amused.
enlivened, to kill time—for she is nOt a busy woman like Mrs.
A—and to “keep up with the new books.” ‘ '

The Modern Novel. 584

She is always seeking a novel sensation, and when the ordi-‘~
nary story palls, must look for the most lurid and exciting tales
to please her jaded literary palate. Mrs. Wharton’s “Divine
Fire” and “The Helpmate,” both problem novels, she skims
hastily, getting simply the gist of the story and skipping the
only pages that could possibly be of beneﬁt to her. Mrs. Hum—
phrey VV‘ard’s “Marriage a la Mode” she enjoys—since it leaves
rather a bitter taste in the mouth and deals with a situation
she can understand. Robert Chambers’ “The Danger Mark”
and “The Firing Line” she devours with avidity. Oppenheim’s
“The A’lissioner," “The Malefactor” and “The Long Arm of
Mannister” are sufﬁciently exiciting to warrant her sitting up
until a late hour of the night to ﬁnish them. “The Garden of
Allah," by Robert Hichens, a problem novel most wonderfully
written, though greatly criticised, she leaves half read, because
she cannot wade through the descriptions of the desert—among
the most beautiful, by the way. on record. “The Spenders,” by
Harry Leon Wilson, she characterizes as “dull.” Historical or
political novels she shuns as “dry” or “tiresome."

She haunts the circulating- libraries, and is dreaded like a
nightmare by librarians, for something like the following dia-
iogue invariably takes place:

Mrs. B—“Well, what have you got new to-day P”

Librarian—Here is Oppenheim’s ‘Lost Leader.’ ”

Mrs. B.~—“Oh. I’ve read that. It’s too historical to suit me.
I’m tired of Oppenheim anyway. Haven’t you got anything real
exciting?"

Librarian—J‘Here is a sequel to ‘Guraustark,’ ‘Truxton King.’
Have you had that ?”

Mrs. B.—“I.et me see it. No; I can tell by the looks that I
wouldn’t like that it’s too close print.”

Librarian—“How about the ‘House of the Whispering Pines."
by Anna Katherine Greene? That is new and very exciting.”

Mrs. B.—“Oh, I began that in some magazine, and read about
half of it. I don’t want any more detective stories. Haven't
you got some good, spicy story of social life F”

Librarian—“Have you read ”In the Title Market,’ by Emily
Post?” .

Mrs. B.—“Oh, yes. long ago. It seems to me you haven’t
got much in to-day. Why don’t you try to keep up with the
new books better?”

Librarian—~“I—Iere are some that have been just returned, all
new. Will you look them over and see if there is anything you
care for P”

, Mrs. B. (running- commentary on the books before her)—~
“ ‘Pool of Flame.’ Robert Vance, I’ve read that; ‘Bronze Bell.’
same author no, I don’t like thatpicture in the beginning.
‘C‘alling of Dan.’ now ’who wrote that? Oh, Harold Bell Wright,

585 woman: Era’.‘ ' ‘

author of the ‘Little Shepherd of the Hills,’ a regular Sunday-
‘school story—I know I don’t- want‘that. “Michael Thwaite’s

“Three Weeks,” “Five Nights” and “One Day’” are all ex-
amples of this insidious, infamous doctrine, and should be
shunned by readers as they would shun the plague.

“The Adventuress” is, by its own confession, the history of
a “society vampire,” who (I continue to quote from the book)
“played with men and women, even nations, as a cat plays with
a mouse.” She was “no ordinary woman, no'common criminal—
there was something great, something wonderful and magniﬁ-
cent about her wickedness.” And we are left to draw the con-
clusion that great sin, well planned and executed sin, is far more
excusable than the petty sort, which is generally punished, while
the “magniﬁcent criminal” is patted on the ‘back and praised for
her cleverness!!! What a moral for an innocent, untrained mind
to imbibe with the story!!!

“Bella Donna” is written in Hichen’s own inimitable style,—
the descriptions of Egyptian scenery and conditions are delight—
ful, and no attempt is made to paint vice as desirable or neces-
sary; Yet the heroine is a depraved character whom nobody
can admire, and it seems a pity that the story could not have
been clean and wholesome in every way.

“Life in a Shop Window,” by Victoria Cross, was spoken of
in the hearing of the writer as “mere drivel,” and that seems
a very charitable Construction to put upon the book, which is
but the portrayal of shameless immorality and loose living. It
ranks with the worst of the so—called “problems of society life,”
and has not enough of interest or anecdote to atone for- its evils.

“The Hungry Heart,” by David Grahame Phillips, is one of
the most pernicious of these “problem novels,” and calculated to
do an immense amount of hard. There is so much of truth in it,
and so much of untruth—and the two are so cleverly intermixed—
-the line between right and wrong is so skillfully concealed with
ﬂowers and ornate decorations, that a young. reader is likely to
miss it altogether. A very possible, thoughdeplorable situation

587 1. Woman Era.

is graphically pictured, and the escape from it by glaring and
ﬂagrant immorality—called anything but that, however—is c011—
cloned and almost recommended; the sinning party, or one of
them rather, receiving a distinct reward in the impossible ending
of the story, and being made to congratulate herself upon an ex—
perience which has made her so much better, and led up to a
state of domestic happiness much to be desired.

So long as such books as these are put before the public and
constantly called for—for there is a growing demand for them,
and names on the waiting list in the circulating libraries—names
of those who can, scarcely wait to devour the sickening mass of
falseness masquerading as “popular ﬁction"—we need never ex-
pect any improvement in our social life. or in the ethical stand—
ards which prevail among a large majority of our men—“bul—
warks of the nation"—yet doing their best to tear down that
which is the very foundation of civilization and progress.

And here is work for the women of the country: work which
they can do, andought to (lo—for. if they ceased to read this
style of novel, there would not be sufﬁcient demand to warrant
their constant productiOn. In the course of time a gradual
upward tendency would take place. and a partial return to the
sane, safe, clean literary standards of ﬁfty years ago.

But let us leave this disagreeable part of our subject and"
proceed to discuss the books which Mrs. A peruses. and her
methods of obtaining education, knowledge of life. and recreation
through her reading.

Mrs. A. subscribes by the year to a good circulating libraryf
and has a. Tabard Inn book which she changes occasionally.
She does not attempt to keep up with all the new books that
come out. nor to do a certain amount of reading in a given
time. She reads leisurely, understandingly, intelligently. and
enjoys and proﬁts by everything she reads.

She makes a point of reading Ellen Glasgmv's books. The
“Battle Ground,” presenting a word picture of the sufferings
of the South during the Civil War; “The Ancient Law." illus-
trating the old truth. the sin of the father shall be visited upon
the children :" “The Romance of a Plain Man,” a charming love
story, which, unlike most of its kind, does not stop with the
Marriage of the hero and heroine, 'but makes that merely. the
starting point of, the real story. It also tells us how money
getting and the lure of power may conspire against a man's home
life. One of her favorite books is “The Captain of the Gray
Horse Troop,” by Hamlin Garland. ‘ This is the well—written
story of a 7Man (spelt with a capital ,M‘). and brings with it the
bright and a breezy atmosphere of the \«Vestern prairie and the
perils and dangers of Indian warfare. A little love. a touch of
politics. and ﬁne descriptions of a ﬁne country make the book
most attractive and well worth reading.

The Modern Novel. 583

The twin stories, “Anne of Green Gables” and “Anne of Avon—
lea,” by Montgomery, are owned by Mrs. A. When, on a dull,
cloudy day, she is depressed and a little out of spirits, the fresh—
ness and sparkle of these chronicles of the life of a young girl,
her original speeches, the scrapes which she is constantly tumv
bling into and out of ; the quaint, old-fashioned, likable dwellers
in the country village of Avonlea, on Prince Edward’s Island—-
the clean, wholesome, healthful tone of the stories restore her
to cheerfulness and contentment once more, and bring a burst of
internal sunshine over the clouds of her earthly horizon. For
young girls no better stories than these can be recommended;
not even Kate Douglass Wiggin’s “Chronicles of Rebecca,”
hitherto unsurpassed.

“The Letters of Jennie Allen,” by Grace Donworth, is another
“heart cheerer." Laughable as are the epistles of this ignorant
child of mother'earth to “Miss Musgrove, dear friend,” they
skillfully portray a love story of unusual interest, and the ex—