Chapter 146

6–31656.

Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.

“It is not often that a story which is written with such buoyancy is also written with such care as Mr. Marriott Watson invariably bestows upon his work.”

“The vein of light and fanciful comedy in which this story is written makes of it a charming piece of work.” Wm. M. Payne.

“As a provocative of clean and wholesome gayety, ‘A midsummer day’s dream’ would be hard to beat.” Herbert W. Horwill.

“It never palls, because the author’s spirits never lag, and his inventiveness never grows stale. Mr. Watson is a master of dialog that sparkles and amuses; he turns it, gives it grace and charm, yet never twists it violently for the sake of effect.”

“It is a delicious book.”

“Unfortunately the story drags: Mr. Watson’s hand is not quite light enough for a successful soufflé.”

Watson, Henry Brereton Marriott.Privateers. †$1.50. Doubleday.

7–2061.

A young English girl, who unknown to herself, is the possessor of a block of valuable railroad stock is pursued by two unscrupulous American speculators. “There are 395 pages in Mr. Watson’s story and it is certainly no exaggeration to say that there is at least one hair-disturbing sensation for every third page, exclusive of the numerous illustrations, which are designed to furnish little extra shudders of their own.” (N. Y. Times.)

“The story is well-planned and ably engineered, but there is too much of every thing; if the author has been less generous, the reader could follow these extraordinary happenings with equal pleasure and considerably less fatigue.”

“He belongs ... to the select body which we once called the ‘Higher sensationalists,’ and of which Stevenson is the master.”

“We cannot say very much for Mr. Watson’s Americans. Their acts and their words are reflections of an Englishman’s fertile imagination rather than products of observation.” Wm. Payne.

“It is a fast and furious melodrama written for the special delight of the gallery gods.”

“Flesh and blood are essential to stir the emotions, and these men and women are solid wax.”

“Having not a moment to enter into poor Sylvia’s feelings, he has left her a mere figurehead.”

“A toy-house of slang, not without surface glitter and iridescence, though of no substance.”

“Strikes one as nearing the limit of laboriously ingenious sensationalism. One is forced to assume that Mr. Watson dwells in some particularly remote and inaccessible part of the British Isles to which Americans of flesh and blood never have penetrated.”

“A crude piece of preposterous sensationalism.”

Watson, John (Ian Maclaren, pseud).Graham of Claverhouse; il. by Frank T. Merrill. 50c. Authors and newspapers assn.

7–14589.

“A tale of love, adventure, intrigues, and swagger, of incomparable Scottish knights and beautiful Highland maidens. The protagonist of the highly exciting drama is a brilliant and picturesque figure, well known to Scottish traditions, the hitherto almost neglected by writers of romance. John Graham, of the famous house of Claverhouse and kinsman of the great Montrose, is almost ideally adapted for the hero of what has come to be called a historical novel. Beautiful as Antinoüs, and a veritable Mars for valor, he completely dominates the lively chronicle.”—Lit. D.

“There is no trace of unfairness in this presentment of the cavalier by the Presbyterian, and the portrait is attractive.”

“It is a highly colored and on the whole a satisfactory picture of Scottish chivalry that Dr. Watson has given us.”

Watson, John (Ian Maclaren, pseud.).Inspiration of our faith: sermons. **$1.25. Armstrong.

5–41620.

Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.

“These twenty-nine sermons may indeed be called a contribution to sermonic literature. Here is rare spiritual insight, winning appeal, poetic beauty of expression.” T. G. S.

Watson, W. Petrie.Future of Japan; with a survey of present conditions. *$3.50. Dutton.

Mr. Watson “aims to predict the trend of Japan’s development, but he does so by analyzing and reasoning about the Japan of to-day, its tendencies, conditions, ‘atmosphere,’ and aspirations. The book is not so much one which records achievements or glances at historical perspectives as one which takes up basic aspects of character and derives by philosophical induction a knowledge of what is to be expected.” (Outlook.) Mr. Watson’s conclusion is “that Japanese development will not materially influence the civilization of the west; that as a universal fact Japan is almost negligible; that she will try to carry out her destiny without the aid of religion, yet that so far as she will attain success, it will be more and more upon Western lines.” (Ath.)

“Yet, though one may dissent from Mr. Watson’s conclusions (perhaps on account of a bias as purely personal as his own) full justice should be rendered to the absorbing and stimulating qualities of his book. In it the salient characteristics of Japanese life and mentality are admirably brought out.” Osman Edwards.

“We would, however, willingly exchange much of his philosophy for more of his information.”

“If the author has learned from original sources the actual workings of the Japanese mind, and if he were more familiar with ... the great transforming forces evident in the press, the literature, and the life of the nation, especially since the outbreak of the war with Russia,—his opinions might have been quite different.”

“Entirely too subjective in attitude and overloaded with references to things occidental, the text shows slight acquaintance with real Japanese thought or origins.”

“No falling off in the author’s latest contribution to the study of the various aspects of Japanese life.”

“Mr. Watson, to be a true prophet, ought not only to have become familiar with the results of research and the facts of actual history, but he ought to have known far more than his pages would lead us to suppose he does know about the actual state of Christianity in Japan and the real mind of the leaders of the nation.”

Reviewed by George R. Bishop.

“Extremely valuable book.”

“Mr. Watson takes himself very seriously, and has evidently devoted an immense amount of thought and study to the production of this book, which on some heads is full of interesting facts; but his facts are so inextricably tangled up with his theories that the process of disentanglement is a greater task than human nature cares to undertake.”

Watson, William.Text-book of practical physics. *$3. Longmans.

“A treatise on physical measurements, or experimental physics; no description of phenomena or laws is included.”—Engin. N.

“The descriptions are throughout clear and detailed, but the author has perhaps erred by sometimes giving unnecessarily minute directions as to points of minor importance.”

“Both the arrangement of the text and its style are excellent.”

“The diagrams are very clear, and serve their purpose of elucidating the text better than elaborate pictures of apparatus.”

“Schoolmasters should have a copy for reference and for their higher work.” S. S.

“Any student specializing in physics ought to be acquainted with the contents of the book.” K. E. Guthe.

*Wayne, Charles Stokes.Marriage of Mrs. Merlin. †$1.25. Dillingham.

7–26961.

The unique situations growing out of a wealthy young widow’s purchase of a husband constitute the fabric of this tale. Mrs. Merlin seeks out a good looking, broad-shouldered young Englishman, offers him the sum of twenty thousand pounds to marry her and protect her during a year of travel; at the end of which time either may end the contract. Shadows out of the past flit across the path of each which are dissipated by the growing faith in each other. The year’s end brings to them an earldom and proves that their trial marriage has been successful enough to endure.

“It is all very foolish and a little improper, but peculiarly ingenious and interesting withal.”

Weale, B. L. Putnam, ed.Indiscreet letters from Peking; being the notes of an eye-witness, which set forth in some detail, from day to day, the real story of the siege and sack of a distressed capital in 1900—the year ofthe great tribulation. **$2. Dodd.

7–14591.

“This volume is really the story, not the history, of the siege of the legations in Peking, of the relief of the besieged, and of the sack of the city. Interesting sidelights are cast upon the actions of the diplomatic representatives of allied Europe and America, and ... [there are] comments upon the way the different international troops behaved during the siege.”—R. of Rs.

“These letters bear the hall-mark of truth and raise the wish that it had not been necessary to edit them as ruthlessly as they are said to have been edited. Though his style is vivid he lays no undue emphasis on horrors for their own sake. He writes with that kind of restraint which is convincing, and which goes to make these letters one of the most remarkable documents we have ever read.”

“This ‘catch penny’ title is descriptive of the contents of the volume.”

“One cannot easily recall a more vivid picture of what a siege really is. The value of [the chapter, ‘How I saw the relief,’] as fiction is doubtful. As history its interest is great, but more than any other portion of the book it requires the support of authority. If it is to stand as authentic history, it constitutes a chapter that will be willingly forgotten by every one save the student of mob psychology.” Edward Clark Marsh.

“The reader cannot help feeling that the narrative is colored, that the real facts cannot have been quite so lurid or the characters of the men and women quite so mean as they are here portrayed. But after all deductions are made, the story here given, of the warning, the siege, and sack, is remarkably interesting, even tho it is full of horrors.”

“Vivid and remarkably good reading the account is, almost throughout, although too often the author or editor strives too patently after his effect.”

“They are certainly indiscreet, for they are frank and outspoken in regard to the blindness of the British government, and they are full of spirit and picturesqueness.”

“The note of high tension, so high that it is almost hysterical, runs through all the pages.”

“He writes with the pen of a scandalmonger; he sees the events as they happen around him with the eye of the yellow journalist.”

“For vivid descriptive writing this story ... has seldom been equaled in our experience.”

“The accounts given of many incidents of the siege are Zolaesque in their grimness of detail and, to give Mr. Weale credit, his word pictures are well drawn. He tells blood-curdling stories with a gusto which may appeal to the morbid fancy of a certain class of readers, but there are many who will want to put down his book, with the feeling that they wish to read no more.”

“The letters are strong and lurid, brutal in realism, often brutal in cynicism, and invariably clever.”

Weale, B. L. Putnam.Truce in the East and its aftermath: being the sequel to “The reshaping of the Far East.” **$3.50. Macmillan.

7–12875.

A frank analysis and discussion of the factors that go to make what is known as the “Far Eastern problem.” The study resolves itself into three parts: Japan and the new position. China and the Chinese, and The powers and their influence. The author warns his reader against over confidence in the ten years’ truce now in operation, yet he does believe that it will be one of the greatest constructive victories of diplomacy, if, during nine years of the Anglo-Japanese alliance, a permanent Far Eastern peace is evolved. There are nearly two hundred pages of appendices includingdocuments peculiarly pertinent to the subject-matter of the political chapters.

“With his presentment of facts it would be difficult to quarrel, but with the conclusions ... it is not easy to agree.”

“The book is an admirable presentation of the impressions of one of the closest observers of Oriental politics.” Chester Lloyd Jones.

“His book is not convincing. It is too confident in statement, too dramatic in expression, and knows more of the future of half of Asia than it is possible for any one even to guess at—above all, any European. Mr. Weale is always lucid, and even when we are least convinced by his conclusions, we feel that they have been honestly formed upon a fairly wide basis of knowledge, experience, and thought.”

“A genuine pupil of such men as Sir Harry Parkes and other devotees of a diplomatic policy increasingly absolute, he takes himself entirely too seriously.”

“An interesting contribution to the discussion.”

Reviewed by George R. Bishop.

“His penetrating insight and shrewdness of observation in combination with a broad and minute knowledge, give, a firmness of touch that inspires a strong feeling of confidence in the author’s opinions.” G: Louis Beer.

“Few writers on the Far East can be as vivid, entertaining, and at the same time as accurate and informing.”

“The student of the Far Eastern politics will appreciate the clear grouping of topics, and the ordinary reader will find himself in a position to estimate more clearly the play of forces that have—for good or evil—been set in motion.”

Weatherford, W. D.Fundamental religious principles in Browning’s poetry. $1. Pub: House M. E. ch. So.

7–23628.

“Mr. Weatherford has made a thorough study of Browning’s works, has gathered up his views on the great fundamentals, has arranged them in systematic order, and has put them in plain and lucid prose. Browning interpreted nature, man and life; and Mr. Weatherford has interpreted Browning’s interpretation.”

Webb, Sidney, and Webb, Beatrice.English local government, from the revolution to the municipal corporations act; the parish and the county. *$4. Longmans.

6–40962.

The first volume of five or six to be devoted to the history of local government in England during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It covers the government of the parish and the country, and reveals methods of great accuracy in the use of material.

“This book is epoch-making. The completed work, as planned by the authors, will constitute a veritable magnum opus both in scope and in quality, to judge by this splendid installment.” George Elliott Howard.

“Altogether it may be said that every student of English local history or administration will now have to read this book with care, and every such student is to be congratulated on having such a key to his subject.” Edward P. Cheyney.

“If we may venture to offer a suggestion in face of the immense industry this book reveals, the authors do not seem to have made much use of a most important source—the Privy council registers. There is little to correct in the authors’ work, and that only on minor points.”

“The editors have shown throughout a restrained and judicial temperament.”

“The nature of the work precludes any attempt at literary finish; but the narrative flows easily, and, as new light is thrown at every turn on old and hitherto unexplored institutions, no student of English government will assert that the subject has been too exhaustively handled.”

“The whole shows through grasp of the subject, in principle and detail, lucidity of explanation and facility of expression, infinite care, laborious research and skill in marshalling facts and innumerable details. It is a book of great value to the thinking public and local government administrators and students, and worthy of its authors, who have spent years on it. No part of the book will be skipped by those really interested in local government.”

“The method seems to us as good as possible. The authors are never lost amid the multitude of their detail, but disentangle the lines of growth with masterly precision. It is a work which in its way should become a classic.”

“A wholly new contribution to the history of England—a contribution which is invaluable on account of its thoroughness of research, the fulness of the authorities quoted for every important statement, and not least for the excellence of its arrangement and indexing.” Annie G. Porritt.

Webb, Walter Loring.Economics of railroad construction. $2.50. Wiley.

6–35441.

“It is designed as a manual of instruction for those engaged in the practical problems of railroad engineering, but it aims at the same time to give an insight into the problems of railroad management and control. With this in mind, Part 1 is devoted to the ‘Financial and legal elements of the problem,’ in which an excellent summary is given of railroad statistics, organization capitalization and valuation, and a chapter on methods of estimating volume of traffic. Part 2 concerns the ‘Operating elements of the problem,’ including motive power, car construction and operation, track economics, and train resistance. Part 3, called the ‘Physical elements of the problem,’ discusses distance, curvature and grades.”—Pol. Sci. Q.

“A more accurate and descriptive title for Professor Webb’s book would have been ‘The technical problems of railroad construction and operation.’” Emory R. Johnson.

“The work as a whole is an excellent treatment of a subject the complete understanding of which is essential to those upon whom rests the responsibility for the economic design and improvement of railways. A vast amount of matter is epitomized and systematized into convenient compass, which considering the authority of its source, should commend it alike to the student and the busy contractor.” Walter W. Colpitts.

“The condensed character of Mr. Webb’s book would hardly lead to its substitution for the more extended treatment given by Wellington. In spite of the author’s modest assertionthat the lawyer or legislator will find in the book little or nothing of use to him, and the implication that the professor of social economics will pass it by, this little manual is well worth a careful reading by all these classes.” Frank Haigh Dixon.

Webster, Jean.Jerry Junior.†$1.50. Century.

7–13435.

The game of love is played according to new rules in this story of Jerry Junior, the young American who finds himself stranded at an out of the way Italian watering place, awaiting the coming of a delayed sister and aunt. He meets an American girl who lives at a near by villa by inauspiciously falling off a stone wall at her feet and, in order to know her better impersonates an Italian donkey-driver with earrings and a red sash. The girl is not deceived and by the time the donkey driver has advanced in her good graces far enough to hold her hand she succeeds in making him jealous both of the stranger who fell off the wall and of Jerry Junior, both being himself, but he doesn’t know that she knows. It is all very amusing and pretty.

“A book as airy-light, as iridescent, as inconsequential as a soap-bubble.” Frederic Taber Cooper.

“Much of the charm of the tale is due to its locale. The descriptions are unforced and Miss Webster has the tact not to insist on her scenic environment, not to force the moonlight and the snowy summits on her readers.”

“The book like the author’s other works, is a ‘delightful bit of nonsense.’”

Weed, Walter Harvey.Copper mines of the world. $4. Hill pub. co.

7–25687.

“The work does not attempt to treat various properties described from the viewpoint of their financial merit; nor does it lead the reader into the deeper technicalities of physical chemistry or metallurgy. On the contrary it is, so to speak, a bird’s-eye view of the copper world, so presented as to answer such questions as: (1) Where are the deposits found? (2) What is the nature of the ore and its amenability to treatment? (3) How much of it is there? (4) What is the geologic occurrence? (5) What is the bearing of the observed and recorded facts on the probability of richness and continuity in depth? (6) What is the genesis of the deposit, and its bearings on the present and probable future production?”—Engin. N.

“Will fill an important niche in the libraries of mining men, investors, and students, and of those as well who are interested in the metal from the industrial point of view only. From the geological standpoint, the author has handled the subject with an undeniable mastery and comprehensiveness. A possible minor criticism is that, in Chapter 2, on ‘Production,’ some of the world’s production tables and diagrams are in terms of metric tons, others in terms of long tons, while United States statistics are given in pounds. This disparity in units does not facilitate off-hand comparisons by the reader.”

Weeden, William Babcock.War government: federal and state, in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Indiana, 1861–1865. **$2.50. Houghton.

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