and bring upon herself and her Moslem husband plotting and crime is a theme treated with passionate energy and with consistence as to the local color and personal temperament. Mr. O'Higgins gives us in an oddly named volume fictitious biographies that are not pictures of individual Americans but are what might be called fictitious composite types. Yet each person depicted has the same individuality that a well-presented character in fiction possesses. Perhaps the sketch that Some Distinguished Americans. By Harvey O'Higgins. Harper & Brothers, New York. $2. STEEL. By Charles Rumford Walker. The Atlantic Monthly Press, Boston. $1.75. A crisp, well-written account of the experience of a young man, a college graduate and an ex-army officer, who went into the steel mills as a laborer. The hardships, the long hours, the drain on man-power involved in the present methods of production in what may be regarded as America's basic industry are presented in realistic style. The book is an exceedingly good example of a class that has become somewhat familiar. REAL TSARITSA (THE). By Lili Dehn. Little, Brown & Co., Boston. $3.50. The poor, dead Tsaritsa cannot defend herself from the flood of narratives JOSEPH C. LINCOLN comes closest to a common type is that of the Tammany boss; others vary so far from the type idea that they are practically short stories. A curious use is made in some of these sketches of one of the fundamental ideas of psychoanalysis, that of early continued repression followed by strange reaction in mentality or character in later years. The author of "Richard"s has never quite repeated the success of her first story, "Christopher Hibbault." The present novel is excellently written and $ Richard. By Marguerite Bryant. Duffield & Co., New York. $2. THE NEW BOOKS about her life and conduct. Whether any particular one of these is accurate in its facts and analysis of the personality of the Empress is difficult to judge, but certainly all cannot be true, for they are inconsistent. Madame Dehn, we are told, was a member of the Russian Court, a personal friend of the Empress; her book purports to throw light on the inner history of the royal circle and the life of the Czar and his family after the Revolution broke out. HISTORY AND POLITICAL ECONOMY BOZEMAN TRAIL (THE). By Grace Raymond Hebard and E. A. Brininstool. 2 vols. Illustrated. The Arthur H. Clark Company, Cleveland. The Bozeman Trail, from Fort Kearney, Nebraska, to Virginia City, Montana, a distance of nearly a thousand miles, led through hostile Indian country, and was in the sixties and seventies of the last century the scene of many battles between whites and Indians. This work is really a history of those encounters and of the opening of the overland routes to the Northwest, and the story is presented with elaborate detail and with a comprehensiveness that is probably without parallel. The work will be of absorbing interest to any one HARVEY O'HIGGINS holds the interest perfectly. But the reader cannot quite accept some incidents and situations; and, what is worse, the lovable character of the young criminal is radically inconsistent with his acts and his companionship with low criminals. The situation is extremely tense, for the convict lad escapes from prison only to come under the eyes of his father, a British judge. The father compromises with his conscience by concealing his knowledge while insisting that the son live practically as a prisoner in seclusion and under rigid superintendence. R. D. TOWNSEND. whose memory goes back to pioneer days. SECOND EMPIRE (THE). By Philip Guedalla. Illustrated. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. $5. What so jejune as the story of Napoleon III and his reign? The reader familiar with it in all its details might think so; but it is more than probable that every such reader who takes up this book will lay it down only when the last page is finished. The author is a stylist as well as a historian, and his pages scintillate with striking but unforced phrases that make his subject glow with interest. His knowledge is exhaustive but is not obtruded; his narrative flows easily along and yet is restrained within reasonable limits; and his judgments are often novel but always worth pondering. This is an exceptional book and it will give a host of readers a new interest in history. ESSAYS AND CRITICISM HOMESTEADER'S PORTFOLIO (A). By Alice Day Pratt. Illustrated. The Macmillan Company, New York. $2. Interesting sketches of the author's life in the Northwest on her own homestead. The ups and downs of the woman homesteader are described with hun 12 Monthly Issues of ST NICHOLAS and One Book of Your Own Choice SEA EARCH no more for that gift for your boy or girl. Here it is! Lovable St. Nicholas-the magazine of pleasure, instruction and guidance in things that are good and permanently helpful. For fifty years, it has been youthful America's favorite magazine. It will be better than ever in 1923. Splendid new serials and short stories by leading authors, inspiring articles; digests of the latest in news and science-these will fill St. Nicholas twelve times a year. As a SPECIAL CHRISTMAS OFFER we will send St. Nicholas for one year and any one of the books listed below; also a beautiful Christmas Gift Card. KIM-By Rudyard Kipling A book every boy should read, and will re-read. Tells of India, the land of tigers, intrigue and mystic lore-and how the son of an Irish soldier grew up in the native secret service, and foiled welllaid plans of the foreign enemy. St. Nicholas Christmas Book A careful selection of the most striking Christmas stories and poems that have appeared in St. Nicholas Magazine. The kind that even the "grown-ups" like to read on Christmas Day. Intensely interesting. or any one of these fine books Many of America's most prominent men give thanks to St. Nicholas for its wonderful guidance in their youth. Even for boys and girls who do not ordinarily like to read, St. Nicholas appeals irresistibly with articles on sports, games, nature studies, and with prizes for writings, photographs, drawings, etc. FILL OUT THE COUPON and make that boy or girl happy with a copy of St. Nicholas in the Christmas stocking. COUPON ST. NICHOLAS MAGAZINE, Subscription Dept. P-22, 353 Fourth Ave., New York For the enclosed $5 please send St. Nicholas Magazine and the book mentioned below. (If magazine alone is wanted, enclose only $4.) Name Send (Book selected). Address and Gift Card to THE BOOK TABLE (Continued) and philosophy, and the book is well worth reading, especially by Easterners who long for the open range and a new start in the West. SKYLINE CAMPS. By Walter Prichard Eaton. Illustrated. W. A. Wilde Company, Boston. $2.50. Many agreeable sketches of travel that will be interesting especially to mountain-lovers are found within the covers of this book. The "camps" are mainly in the Northwest, and numerous photographs accompany the descriptions. By TRAVEL AND DESCRIPTION FROM ADAM'S PEAK TO ELEPHANTA. Edward Carpenter. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. $3.50. A new edition of one of the very best books of travel, observation, and study of racial aspirations and characteristics in Ceylon and India. SIX YEARS IN BOLIVIA. By A. V. L. Guise. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. $7. A well-written book of adventures in Bolivia by a mining engineer. The author has a keen eye for the picturesque and a clever knack of describing it. An abundance of personal incident makes the book exciting reading. MISCELLANEOUS REIGN OF RUBBER (THE). By William C. Geer. The Century Company, New York. $3. The reticence of large manufacturers about their labors has resolved itself into a new sense of partnership with the public. The processes of great factories are no longer things of secrecy and mystery. There is a terse, authoritative eloquence about some of the newer type of industrial generals when they make speeches or write books. "The Reign of Rubber," by Dr. William C. Geer, VicePresident of the B. F. Goodrich Company, of Akron, Ohio, exemplifies just this trait. It is an excellent record of the epic of rubber. It tells all about its sources, growth, manufacture, and uses. A final chapter deals arrestingly with the future of rubber. BOOKS RECEIVED BOOKS FOR YOUNG FOLKS MORE MYSTERY TALES FOR BOYS AND GIRLS. By Elva S. Smith. The Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Company, Boston. $2. MUSIC, PAINTING, AND OTHER ARTS ROMANTIC WORLD OF MUSIC (THE). By William Armstrong. Illustrated. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. $5. STORY-LIVES OF MASTER MUSICIANS. By Harriette Brower. Illustrated. The Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York. $2.50. BIOGRAPHY PRIVATE PAPERS OF HENRY RYECROFT. By George Gissing. E. P. Dutton & Co.. New York. $2.50. HISTORY AND POLITICAL ECONOMY DAYS OF THE COLONISTS. By L. Lamprey. Illustrated. The Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York. $2.50. ESSENTIALS OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT By Bertrand Russell. The Century Company, New York. $2. BY THE WAY FRIEND "caps" our item about Pen A Mar, Mexicali, etc., with this: "I can 'go you one better'-a town named for three States. Where Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia come together, there is (in West Virginia) a village named Kenova." Texarkana is the name of a town on the borders of Texas and Arkansas, and it has the unique distinction, so it is said, of postmarking its letters with the names of two States-TEX-ARK. Sir Philip Gibbs tells in "Harper's Magazine" about being introduced to an audience by a man who had forgotten the lecturer's name. "We have on our platform to-night a man,' the chairman began, 'whom it is unnecessary to introduce, whose name-er-whose name er'. . . here he cast a beseeching glance at me, and I murmured 'Philip Gibbs' as he bent slightly down over the speaker's desk. He rose triumphantly and introduced me, with a sweeping gesture and a bow, as 'Sir Frederick Boggs.'" A well-known physician who once saw don writes to us, apropos of a paragraph the skeleton of the "Irish Giant" in Lon in this column, as follows: "The cause of his gigantism is disclosed at the floor of the skull. This shows that the 'pituitary body' was greatly enlarged. This curious body or gland, normally weighing only 5 to 10 grains and only about the size of the tip of the little finger, is essential to life. It governs the development of the body. In "THAT OLD SWEETHEART OF MINE" "I can see the pink sunbonnet and the She wore when I first kissed her and Grew round the stump,' she loved me- same [T'S James Whitcomb Riley, of course. No other American poet ever touched simple human experience with the same wonderful sympathy and charm. He wrote a verse for every mood; he stirs every kindly emotion with his deeply sincere humor and pathos. A little book containing five of Riley's most popular poems, one of his best humorous stories, and a brief sketch of his life and works has been published. It is offered without obligation to adult lovers of good literature to promote a wider knowledge of the Memorial Edition of James Whitcomb Riley More than 1,000 masterpieces at a few cents each O'Brien's case the cavity or cup in the For years there has been an insistent demand for all of Riley in one fine, popular bone for this gland is very large. Evi-priced set. That demand can now be satisfied. dently the overgrowth of the gland pro ton." duced the overgrowth of the whole skele- All his poems, all his short stories-the masterpieces that have caused the schools of his native state to have a Riley Day once a year-these are in these ten beauA feature in the "Armistice Day Pro-tifully bound and illustrated volumes. gram" issued by the Bureau of Lectures of the New York City Board of Education for the public schools consists of songs, addresses, and poetical selections. Among the last is one called "Who Won the War?" The peculiar personal allusions call for a wider publicity even if the "poetry" does not. Here are two stanzas: Who won the great war, Who chased the foe? "I," said the Italian, Sitting on his Blooded stallion; "I brought him low With my bald d'Annunzio; Who won the great war, Calmly sittin'; "I held him low With Lloyd George and Jellicoe; From the "Journal" of the American Medical Association: "Don't buy thermometers in the summer-they are lower in winter." Every cultured home should at least know something about Riley and his work. "Poems and Stories Every Home Should Know Five Riley poems that will live forever; poems and stories that every American should know are printed in this little book; with beautiful illustrations by Howard Chandler Christy; an appreciation of Riley's humor by Mark Twain; and the high lights of Riley's life. No obligation, but you must act now-to-day. Fill in the coupon; the book will come to you at once by mail. The Financial Department is prepared to furnish information regarding standard investment securities, but cannot undertake to advise the purchase of any specific security. It will give to inquirers facts of record or information resulting from expert investigation, and a nominal charge of one dollar per inquiry will be made for this special service. All letters of inquiry should be addressed to THE OUTLOOK FINANCIAL DEPARTMENT, 381 Fourth Avenue, New York. A FINANCIAL INQUIRIES MAN wrote us not long ago, stating that he owned a certain 52 per cent bond which he had purchased at 96. "Since that time," he wrote, "the price has advanced to 1042, and the yield is therefore so low that I should like to sell and invest in something giving me a higher return." It seems almost inconceivable that a man should fail to realize that it is the purchase price which determines the yield of an investment. Certainly if a person buys a 5 per cent bond at par it is easy to see that the yield is exactly 5 per cent. If later the bond advances in price to 110, the yield is still 5 per cent so far as he is concerned, and in addition he has a terpoint profit; for the man who bought at 110 the yield is about 12 per cent. A letter from a woman just three days ago asked our opinion of the stock of a small concern in the Middle West. She said she had a large percentage of her savings invested in this stock, and wanted us to write her at our earliest opportunity whether we considered it a safe investment or not. Now there are thou sands and thousands of small corporations scattered throughout the country; obviously it is impossible to be familiar with them What "40 Years Without Loss" THE record of an investment House may be judged by the safety of its offerings, the volume of its business, and the length of time it has mar- A small business for a long period of years-a large business for a short The best test is: Has the House in question done a large Apply this test to S. W. Straus & Co. The House, a nation-wide Institu- The reasons for this record are fully set forth in our booklet, "40 Years all, and in many cases when their securities are not listed on any exchange or traded in with some degree of activity it is a long and well-nigh impossible task to find out about them. We did know in this particular case, however, that the stock was highly speculative. We wrote the lady that if she were not in a position to assume the risks involved our suggestion was that she consider selling and reinvesting the proceeds in something safer. If we had wished to run the risk of being considered impolite, we might have added rather bluntly that it is an indication of intelligence to investigate the safety of an investment before buying, not after. From a minister there came a curious letter the other day. He had fifteen shares of a stock he had bought at about 85. His broker had advised him to seli when the price reached 103 and with the proceeds buy a stock selling at 55. Of this latter stock our correspondent already owned some shares purchased around 90; by buying more at 55 he figured to bring the average cost per share down to about 72. He wanted to know what we thought of the scheme and what our opinion was as to the future course of the two stocks in question. Well, in the first place, the two stocks he mentioned we regard as speculative, and any intricate scheme depending for its success on speculative stocks doing certain things we regard as foolhardy and nothing more. Further, it is impossible for us or any one else to indulge in anything more than a guess as to what stock prices are going to do. Predictions are frequently interesting, and sometimes they are correct, but in this complicated world there are many things which can happen that a man must be of an extremely trusting nature to invest his hard-earned money in prophecies. Presumably our correspondent does not play cards for money or roll dice, but if ever a man gambling he was. Here, again, might have run the risk of being rude and telling him so in so many words. SO was we It is interesting to observe how slow many people are to recognize that changes have taken place. We all know that a few short years ago high-grade bonds could be had to yield 7 per cent, and in some cases more. Since that time bonds have advanced in price and yields declined in proportion. Yields on high-grade issues are one to two per cent lower than they were. Many people refuse to acknowledge this changed condition and still seem to think they can invest their money in safe bonds returning from 7 to 8 per cent. They scan the market quotations, select 7% and 8 per cent bonds selling at par or thereabouts, and write to ask if they are considered good investments. The answer is, that if they were they would not be selling at par or thereabouts. It does happen sometimes, perhaps, that a bargain may be picked up, but it does not happen frequently, and it is well to view with suspicion any security selling out of line with the prevailing market. A man wrote us recently about an in "We enclose our check on The Equitable in Paris" AMERICAN FIRMS engaged in foreign business are finding many advantages in carrying interest-bearing accounts with The Equitable's offices in London and Paris. Among the advantages are: Payment of foreign bills by check-saving of a considerable sum yearly in interest-elimination of speculation involved in meeting obligations at future dates-replenishment of balances when exchange rates appear most favorable-establishment of a valuable local reference overseas-first-hand trade and credit information. The Paris office, moreover, maintains a Foreign Travel Service Bureau which aims to save our clients' buyers or salesmen time and trouble. The bureau, which is in charge of an experienced travel man, arranges itineraries, buys railroad and steamship tickets, assists in obtaining passport visés, reserves hotel accommodations, etc. The London and Paris offices are complete banking units, from which radiates a world-wide system of correspondents. The officers of our Foreign Department will welcome an opportunity to explain our service in relation to your specific needs. |