The New York Times from New York, New York • Page 26

NEW YORK, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER ai, 1907. 573 VIEWS OF A Philosopher Who Has Solved Various Ideas as to the Hall of Xew York Timet Saturday Review of Boob; iF the papers which coma to my out-of-the-way house there is none that gives me greater pleasure than Th Nsw York Time batcrdat Rviw of books. It la a good paper. I have aald aa much to myself many a Jmo, and, being cathollo In my tastes, there la no part of It that I do not enjoy. Ia It of Interest to you to know which part I am most thankful for? It la that la which you print lettera from reader.

I am an old mark-as if that could interest you in the (Teat cityf and 1 live alone In a cottage In the Berkshire alone except for a pet partridge that I caught year ago on the aide of Grey lock. Are aome of your readera solitaries like myself And what do they think of aa better than a quiet house, an open fire, and two doxen shelves of books If you print this, your readera will know that even an old man, aot In hi a ways," can change his course. Tear ago, when I waa a school teacher yes, I taught school for forty-two years I saw an article In The AtlanUo Monthly called "Through the Night In a Wherry." I don't remember the article distinctly; I dare aay that, like many articles, the best thing about It waa the title but It etlrred In me a wish to live In a boat. Mot a big, cumbrous thing, like that In The Pathfinder "-or was it The but a small affair that could be managed easily. But I have given that up rheumatism is a thing you cant be too careful about But I have bit upon aomething better.

It came to me a good while ago, when reading "The Btrange Adventures of a Phaeton," but the Idea never worked lt-aelf out until a month or so ago. I shall Journey about In a "van" like that of the reddlemaa in "The Return of the Native:" I had the van made In Troy and I brought It over to my cabin a weeU ago. It has a stove, like Dig-gory Venn's," and it ia big enough lo look like a room Inside. Tou wouldn't believe a wagon could be made so comfortablenot even Dickens's Mrs. Jarley could Make you believe It I have a rug that an old pupil, who became rich, gave me a prayer rug he says It la and book shelves, and a small table, and drawers for flour and sugar and egga and coffee and tobacco, e.

The horaea trouble me most I never liked the work of tending horaea but they are necessary, and I have gotten hold of two atreng, patient fellows that would take me up the face of Prospect Mountain if I wanted them to. It Is my belief luat I am renowing my youth no, not childishness and I ain looking forward to spending my day a en route. Winters I ahaU work southward, and 8ummera I shall spend In the Berkshires and in the White Mountains. Think of moving from, place to place at will, of cooking my meala out of Ooora In fine weather, of Bitting by the fire of wet evenings and listening to the rain on the roof of the "van," of reading good books old ones In new places, of adding to one's collection of mental pictures day after dayl Can any one auggest a better life for a useless old man, who loves quiet with a little change now and then to make him forget that he la In the yellow leaf If any one can, I wish be would answer me. Toura truly, ALEXANDER MACLEOD.

Wllliomstown. Sept U. Alfred Vail and the Hall of Fame. Xec York timet Saturday Review of Book: Apropos of the present discussion in Th New York Tim is Saturday Ubvisw or Books, with reference to the mode of procedure In determining names for more or lesa immortalisation In The Hall of Fame," I beg the courtesy of your columns to relate my personal experience in the effort to Induce the one hundred Judges to consider the claims of my father, Alfred Vail, to the same recognition that they have accorded 8. F.

B. Morse, his partner, in the financial and practical features of the erroneously termed "Morse System ef Telegraphy." I thing that I am not overstepping the bounds of absolute truthfulness when I state that all who have made any study of the subject are strong In their belief that to Alfred Vail la the world Indebted for the elements that have contributed to make the telegraph one of the most prominent aids to civilisation, and that to him Morse owes the fame and honor that have come to hlml Having an absolute and abiding faith in my fatber'a claims to equal recognition with Morse by the world, I have, upon the two occasions on which candidates for the Hall of Fame were chosen, presented the name of Alfred Vail, and, that there might be no failure on the part of the one hundred Judgea to be made aware that another than Morse had equal claims, I personally sent a circular letter to each of these Judgea ITpon each occasion, when voting was to be done, and after reciting the reasons I had for axklng their consideration of my father's name, I stated that 4t would be my pleasure to furnish them any further information which they might desire. But to this day not one of these hundred Judges has ever expressed a desire for one word of any such information, and my father upon both voting occasions received some fifteen votes. At the time READERS. a Problem of Comfort in Age- Fame "Unprofitable" writing.

nf the votins- In 100S. there were 230 can didates, and It was an absolute physical Impossibility for any of these one hundred Judges to nronerly consider the claims of 230 claimants, for but four months intervened between the names beine? sent In and the decisions reached. I am not then at all surprised that Mr, Stedman and others of the Judgea are moving for aome other and more correct method of determining who may do entitled, in the opinion of the Judges, to en rollment in the Hall of Fame, to my mind, a much smaller number of Judges, with opportunities of consultation together upon the names and claims or nominees, and ample time In which to do It would result in a much more Just selection of names. I would suggest that at least a year In advance of the time of decision. these Judges have presented to them the names of candidates.

It would seem as If the one hundred Judges voted for the persons of whom they knew and Ignored those who were unknown to them. STEPHEN VAIL. Atlantic City, N. Sept From the Chief Justice of South Da kota. 'yew York Time Saturday Review of BooUf I am heartily In favor of the two reso-lutlona proposed by Chancellor Mao-Cracken, and I believe their adoption would enable the electors of candidatea to the Hall of Fame to agree upon a second ballot to the selection of many of the candidates falling to secure the re quired number of votes on the first bal lot and such resolutions would, in my Judgment tend largely to secure the re quired number in the Hall or Fame.

D. CORSON. Judicial Department State of South Da kota, Pierre, Sept 12. Unprofitable Writing. Hew York Timet Saturday Review of Boole: Will you let me aay here a few words suggested by the remarks of Financially Unprofitable?" The complaint she makes is not unique; It Is typical, old.

constant It may, therefore, not be amiss for one who has learned to know both sides of the matter, to give an opinion. The business sense does not pretend to decide what Is good and bad In writ Ing;" It decides whether a given piece of writing appeals to anything In its previous experience of profit Publishers axe traders; so are the merchants who buy hand embroidery of the maidens who apend almost a lifetime In producing a beautiful piece of work, weaving into It who knows how many aweet hopea and light fancies, to have It ruthlessly decided on by aome vendor of art Bo are the dealers In pictures, and tapestries; so are all men on the face of our old earth who take from producers their wares wlUi the design of coining them Into do! Iars. An artist be his art words or col ors or marble, should make no quarrel with his dealer, because the man cannot feel the thrill that he has felt in hi work. If he could, he also would be an artist, and he would create, not sell. I think that no author has served well his literary apprenticeship until he has learned to put In practice the counsel of Bronson Alcott: to put aside the work publishers have rejected, and twenty years afterward draw It to the light and criticise It themselves.

What Is literature a mere thing to make money with, or a power for good in the world, a responsibility toward one's fellows, an honor and treasure In one's own mind? "I would rather be a dog in the house of my lord than dwell In the tents of the ungodly." Permit me a bit of autobiography. I have never before permitted It to myself, but the humor Is upon me: Fifteen years ago I came to New York to plunge into the literary world with an exceptionally fine literary training, some hopes, many ideals, and a small heap of MS. A certain series of essays won praise, and after being slightly paid for were extensively copied, and so were proved good. At the suggestion of a friend I made them Into a book and peddled It patiently. Ten puDitsners returned It with the comment our readera praise your book, but we cannot persuade ourselves that our house would be able to make a financial success of It" At last a young and courageous firm accepted the responsibility.

The book appeared. I shall never again know an equal happiness to that I felt in reading the reviews or that volume. Tun Times gave me a "send off that should have sold ten thousand copies. Tbe New York Evening Post said: It is the very best book -we have ever seen upon tbe subject" I have tbem nearly all the dear laudatory notices of the financially unprofitable" book. And the worldly wise rejectors were right according to their standard: Iwaa called a benefactor of my fellows, but two small editions were all the sale of the book.

Its successors have met with a like fortune. And whlth would I have preferreda great sale with the disapproval of my literary conscience or a pittance and the knowledge that 1 had done all that It was In me to do? L'jjon my honor, and in the face of poverty and uncertainty, I say firmly, I am glad it was as it is. My best with success, as George Eliot, as Matthew Arnold, and the master have wrought would be happiness supreme. But successful or not my best Can an author who loves art say or think otherwise I cannot accept the Idea that a writer must turn to "potboilers" for a living. A man can dig, a woman can cook, and preserve her soul alive.

F. H. W. New York, Sept 17. Near-Man." Vow York Timet Saturday Review of Bookt: note In your number of Sept a com ment upon the recent work of Mr.

Marcel Roland entitled Le Preaqu' Homme." This book, which you characterise aa startling and sensational and compare td the stories of Bellamy and IL O. Wells, calls to my mind a much more accurate comparison with a story by Georgia Ferguson, which appeared in the March, 'OS, number of Transatlantic Tales under the name "Pan." Indeed, the similarity of conception Is so great aa to Justify a reasonable ausplclon that Mr. Roland found hia inspiration In the American story. There Is In each the motive of an ultimate supremacy of the anthropoid furnishing a corollary to the theories of Darwin. In Mr.

Roland'a book the orang-outang Gullullou la taken to Paris, and it ia about his career there that the romance is woven and the theories elaborated. Ia Georgia Ferguson's story aa American In Africa has produced from cross breeding of orang-outang, gorilla, and chlmpansee aa Intelligent and Intelligible beast that epeaka both English and the monkey language. Just as Mr. Roland's beast speaks Pongo and French. It Is needless to add that tbe work of Mr.

Roland deviates sufficiently from the earlier narrative to vindicate hia originality, at least In treatment J. G. GILL. New York, Sept 18. Thomas Paine and the Hall of Fame.

Hew York Timet Saturday Review of Bookt: While the subject of candidates for the Hall of Fame is under discussion. It is appropriate to point out one of the most disgraceful omissions In the whole list When we consider the merits of distin guished Americans of foreign birth, to whom a special section Is dedicated, there Is one whose services to his adopted coun try were not merely of Inexpressible value, but vital to her very existence, What motive led those having authority in the matter to omit the name of Thomas Paine, can only be conjectured; but the neglect la to their dishonor, whether the cause lie In the alwaya contemptible edlum theologlcum, or In a culpable Ignorance of American history. The treatment re ceived by the Author-Hero of the Revo lution" muat alwaya stand aa a most signal instance of national ingratitude. That the writer of Common Sense was first to formulate the conception of American Independence Is known to all students of their country's origin; and that his powerful pen must share with the sword of Washington the glories of the final triumph Is equally established. Far from being Ignored, his name should have been the first to be remembered.

The leaat that can now be done Is to repair the discreditable neglect as speedily as possible. If dlscrtminstlon for mere re ligious reasons Is to mark the guardian ship of the Hall of Fame, the structure is but a sham, and Its alleged selection or tne most worthy names an empty farce. JAMES F. MORTON, Jr. New Tork, Sept 17.

WITH THE PUBLISHERS. XX Appleton at Co. announca thai tha book which they will publish this Fall by Chancellor Day will have for Its title me itaia on Prosperity" Instead of Trusts and as at first pis nned. Almost simultaneously with th tlon of Dr. Henry Charles Lea's History of the Inquisition of Spain," the Macmll-lan Company announces a new edition of the same author's "Sacerdotal rxiharv in the Christian Church." Another book which has Just gone Into its third edition Is Bolton Hall's "Three Acres and Liberty." The second volume of the new Library edition of the Doe ma of William B.

Yeats was published this week, also a new edition of W. W. Vernon's "Readings on tbe Purgatorto of Dante." The Macmlllan Company baa Juat pub lished "Life In the Homeric Age," by Prof. Thomas Day Seymour. Tbe book Is An ad vance upon The London Times THE HELPMATE HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY, IT WILL PAY YOU to visit our baity Book ft bop and aee what en axcallnnt eollortioa of BUacollanaotte hooka and Ktandard beta wa ha.

If jou want anything that a book drop us a card or tHphnno If fm nav-n't tlma to rail. McDEVITT-WILSON, I mad IS Ban-Jar Tphow til Carpn-H. Now Torfc Otr. THE SUCCESSOR By RICHARD PRYCE i no. a reconstruction of the earliest known Greek society, and deals with the family and personal life as well aa with political organisation.

The flrt volume of "My Memoirs." by Alexander Dumas, la out In an English translation, with an' Introductory translation by Andrew Lang. The completed memoirs will fill tlx volumea. Zona Gale'a "The Lovee of Pelleas and Etarre" wlU be published next week. "Son Riley Rabbit and Little Girl" Is a charming book for children by Mrs. Grace Macgowaa Cooke, which will soon be published by the Frederick A.

Stokea Company. The book has already bad aerial publication. The Robert Clarke Company of Cincinnati announcea the reprinting of the seven volumea which have already appeared In the Ohio Historical Series." The plate of tbe latter were destroyed in a fire some years ago. It la probable that with the reprinting of theae books some additional volumea to the aorlca wiU be leaned. Henry Holt A Co, expect to publish this month a new novel by Harrison Rhodes, entitled The Flight to Eden." The Eden of the story Is situated In the Florida Everglades, and Is found after two tragedies.

There will also be published before October a collection of twenty French short stories, representing the very best workmanship of About Balsac, Coppee, Daudet Gautier, Maupassant -Merlmee, Mussel, Nodler, and Zola. The volume Is edited by Dr. Douglas I But-fum of Princeton University. The long-expected Atlas of European History." by Prof. Earle W.

Dow of the University of Michigan, will be published immediately by Henry Holt Co. It win contain thirty-two double-page col- ored maps and eighteen smaller maps, plans, Ac, in black and white. A new. edition of Grillparser's drama, Die Ahnerau," will be Issued this month, with -1 introduction, notes, and vocabulary by F. W.

J. Heuser of Columbia University, and O. XI. Danton of Stanford University, By the 1st of November O. P.

Putnam's Sons announce the publication of the first volume of what promisee to be a monumental work, The Cambridge History English Literature," edited by A. W. Ward, LUt F. B. and A ft Waller, M.

A. The complete work will be published in fourteen royal octavo volumes, of about BOO pages each, and will cover the whole course of English literature, from Beowulf to the end of the Victorian age. The material for the first five volumea is already In process of preparation and is contributed by eminent scholars of this country and Great Britain. This week there was published by the Cassell Company the first volumes In a new series of fiction under the general title, "Cassell's Pioneer Novels." The novels published this week are: "The Way of a Girl," by Llssle C. Reld; "The Luck of the Lanes," by John Barnett; "David Strong," by Alfred Gibson, and The Elimination of Mr.

Bates," by Fred Jy. Next week there will be published by D. Appleton A "The Race Question in Canada," an authoritative work show ing the relative positions of the French and British races in the making of the Canadian Dominion, by Andre Siegfried, and Commerce in War," by L. A. Atb- erly Jones and Hugh IL L.

Bcllot A handsomely Illustrated work by John Klmberley vMumford, entitled Persia, the Land of Yesterday," will be published next month by Moffat Tard A Co. Also a reproduction In colors by M. O. Kobbe, "And a Little Child Shall Lead Them." In the late Fail the Neale Publishing Company will Issue a book dealing with the prison life at Andersonville, entitled A True Story of Andersonville Prison I The Defense of Major Henry Win," by Capt. James M.

Page, ia collaboration with M. J. Haley. "The Divine Fire." 29 Wert 23d St, NEW YORK BOOKS WANTED ara prar4 to enter Into argot la( torts with iKwrora. oxoeutora, and others having libraries to soli.

Alas amall aoUerttona of good aarond-baad hooka bought, tugboat -rt-e raid and books ramo.ad without as. pnsa to vnd.r, DAVIS'S BOOK STORE West St. TUpboa III Bryant, '-One the stoat akaraitng books la years' 18 JUST READY, MISS ZOSA GALB" Tb3 Lore: cf Pelleas and Etarra For aaia by ell bookaallere after spt. ZX.