12 'Cbe Conservative.
tolling the truth. The wonderful beds
of flint mnke this locality desirable and
doubtless the unwritten annals of this
interesting region abound in bloody
conflicts for supremacy by these pre
historic peoples.
I hope the classification of these
various village sites will be continued
until the identical type which Coronndo
saw can be reconstructed. That the
question of location has been definitely
and indisputably solved by Mr. Brewer
does not preclude the necessity of fur
ther study and classification by other
students or by himself , but it surely
marks on era in the field of history ,
when the exact geographical location of
the country explored by Coroiiado is
definitely settled for all time as it surely
was before the close of the nineteenth
century. This fact should only open
the way for a better study of the
archaeology of this field and I suspect
that another century will as firmly
establish the identity of these people
and their connection with other branches
of the human family as the question
of location was established at the close
of last century.
E. E. BLAOKMAX.
Koca , Neb. , March 20 , 1901.
LITERARY NOTES.
Stantou H. King , who is now superin
tendent of the Sailors' Haven in Charles-
town , Mass. , spent twelve years at sea
in the merchant and naval service , and
in "Dog-Watches at Sea" he has under
taken to set forth the sailor's life as it
actually is. The book is interesting as
being a frank and even naive account of
his various experiences. All good books
of the sea have something which to the
landsman smacks of romance , and this
quality is not lacking in Mr. King's
book , but it is essentially a realistic
story of twelve years of life before the
mast.
William James Stillmau , the veteran
correspondent in Rome for the London
Times , has greatly expanded the "Auto
biography of a Journalist , " originally
% l
contributed to the Atlantic , and will issue
it in book form early in March from the
Riverside Press. Few men have led
more interesting lives or pursued more
interesting careers , and , accordingly , in
the Autobiography there is a succession
of pictures of men , events , and things
that really constitute a vivid panorama
of some phases of American life and
European politics during the last half of
the last century.
The struggle between the French and
English for possession of the Ohio valley
was a momentous and dramatic phase
of American history made memorable
by Braddock's defeat. This episode has
been made the theme of "A Soldier of
Virginia : A Tale of Colonel Washington
and Braddock's Defeat , " by Burton
Egbert Stevenson. Washington as a
young officer is a prominent character ,
and justice is done Braddock both for
his faults and virtues. The narrative is
accompanied by a pretty love story , and
has for a background a picture of Vir
ginia society in the middle of the
eighteenth century. The volume will
be brought out by the Riverside Press
early in March. Houghton Miffliu &
Co. , Boston.
Five months ago three Chicago writers
and one visiting literary man from the
south met at dinner in this city around
the board of a bright woman who is a
literary critic of ability. While the
evening was yet young the southerner
stated he was at work on a new story ,
which ho hoped to complete by January 1.
Tw9 of the Chicago writers admitted
similar plans , and the third , when put
to it , confessed to a plot ho was working
out for a romantic-historical drama.
The southerner's book is in press now ;
one of the Chicago writers has finished
his task and is halting between two pub
lishers ; the playright has had a most
satisfactory interview with Mrs. Fiske ,
to whom he read his drama , all com
pleted , before the famous actress finished
her recent engagement in this city ; and
the other Chicagoau , Will Payne , has
deposited his manuscript with Houghton ,
Mifflin & Co. , who will soon be sending
back page proofs for final revision.
Mr. Payne's new book is called "The
Story of Eva. " It tells of a young
woman from a Nebraska village who
comes to Chicago to find a position and
make her own way. She secures a place
in a subscription-book publishing con
cern at a small stipend. She has two
winning traits good humor and plenty
of pluck. Naturally she meets other
young women and some young men in
her own walk of life. She keeps trying
for something better to do , and finally
gets to be cashier in a flourishing down
stairs restaurant on LaSalle street.
This , of course , gives some local color.
But the particular thing is that , in the
publishing house , she meets a young
man from New England of an upbring
ing and tradition quite different from
hers , and they fall in love. The story
takes them through a fashionable family
hotel ( after their fortunes mend ) , where
another social phase comes in , which ,
as Mr. Payne mildly argues , gets them
into as much trouble as a reader could
reasonably expect for $1.50 , cloth.
Earlier the action of the story lies on
the West Side , where Eva and her friend ,
a stenographer , room together. Later
the scene switches to the South Side.
Finally it is just a love story. Mr.
Payne's work is clear-cut , incisive ,
descriptive. He is a good portrait paint
er , a writer with a subtle grasp of the
humanities , sketching on a broad canvas
and with a delightful freedom from con
ventionalities. His "Story of Eva" will
bo read by many a young woman in the
smaller cities with eager interest and by
his admirers hero with that pleasure
which his previous books have imparted.
Chicago Evening Post , Feb. 10 , 1001.
THE APRIL ATLANTIC.
G. W. Anderson , a distinguished ox-
member of the Boston School Board ,
opens the April Atlantic by discussing
freely and fearlessly Politics and the
Public Schools , showing how the most
important work next to that of the
courts intrusted to the government is
suffering through insufficiency and cor
ruption.
Dr. Talcott Williams contributes a
thoughtful study of the Anthracite Coal
Crisis , apropos of the approaching wage
readjustment in this great industry ,
which occurs April first , when all sched
ules expire ; and momentous interests
will be at stake with world-wide cense
quences.
Ex-Governor Chamberlain treats of re
construction in South Carolina how
the negro question has been treated and
how it ought to be treated ; what ought
to have been done ; what actually was
done ; the consequences and the best
course for the future.
John Muir writes brilliantly and
delightfully about The Fountains and
Streams of the Yosemite National Park ,
their champagne waters and their wild
ways.
The Next Step in Municipal Reform ,
by Edwin Burritt Smith , shows the
necessity and demands the adoption of
public control , at least , of all public-
service corporations.
William D. Lyman , in an interesting
sketch of The State of Washington ,
shows the vast possibilities and the
already vast achievements of what is to
eastern readers an almost unknown land ,
but which its denizens claim will be the
future great centre of the world's trade
and commerce.
C. A. Diusmoro discusses Dante's
Quest of Liberty , starting with Dean
Stanley's assertion that the Purgatorio
was "tho most religious book ho had
ever read. "
Mrs. Wiggin closes Peulopo's Irish Ex
periences , while Miss Jewett's Tory
Lover still continues its course , and
reaches a most exciting and tantalizing
complication.
F. J. Stimson contributes The Weaker
Sex ; Miss Jennetto Leo , An Unfinished
Portrait ; Roswell Field , The Passing of
Mother's Portrait ; Miss Duubar , The
Household of a Russian Prince , and Miss
Harris , The Renaissance of the Tragic
Stage ; all notable stories or sketches.
Henry van Dyke , John Burroughs , and
M. A. De W. How furnish strong single
poems. A symposium of April poems
and the always brilliant Contributors'
Club close the number.
BRING BOOKS HOME.
The editor of THE CONSERVATIVE has
loaned several volumes of choice books
to immediate friends but has forgotten
who has the first volume of the
biography of John M. Forbes and
cannot recall the names of persons
having other volumes out of sets which
are broken until the missing books are
home again. Friends will greatly oblige
by making speedy return to Arbor
Lodge.