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We should then wish that the demonstrations we have made before the Asiatic mind had been modified so as to teach clearer lessons of consideration and humanity.

CORRESPONDENCE

Reminiscence of Oliver Wendell Holmes To the Editor of The Overland.

Dear Sir-The inclosed letter of Oliver Wendell Holmes was written in response to one of mine, which was inspired by the following incident.

In the summer of 1861 I was riding in the stage over the Coast Range, between Crescent City and Sailor Diggings, when the killing of an immense rattlesnake led to talking among the passengers about snakes and their habits, and an intelligent lady said when she was a girl she personally knew a family in a hill town in Connecticut, who had no aversion to rattlesnakes, but handled them with impunity, and the children would take them in their aprons like kittens. As I had been reading Holmes's Elsie Venner," then just published, I was much interested, and on my arrival home, at Waldo, Oregon, I wrote a letter to him, and also sent some rattles, seeds, and a large beetle of a variety frequent in Southern Oregon, and intimated he was making "too much use of his rope," in the story, which he turned upon me, as you see. Yours truly,

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J. C. WESTON. Boston, Oct. 12, 1861. My Dear Sir-I have just received your kind and flattering letter, also the little box containing the big bug and the rattles and the seeds, all of which came in good order. It gave me real pleasure to find that I had succeeded in giving you pleasure, and that you recognized the truth of my descriptions, which were meant to be real copies of nature. I must tell you however to look a little more sharply before you settle it, that I do not know how many ends there are to a lasso or a lariat. Dick took a rope with him from the stable, as you will see, besides the lasso. His idea was to lasso Mr. Bernard, and then to hang him up with the rope, so as to look as if he had committed suicide.

I am much gratified with your confirmation of my story of the woman who handled rattlesnakes. I got the fact from a wellknown professor, now in New York, whose testimony is unimpeachable. I am generally pretty careful about my facts, and many

things which I have stated and which sound questionable I could have backed with evidence if necessary.

I kept a rattlesnake for many weeks last summer (1860), and watched his habits pretty closely. I have also read a most interesting essay by Dr. Mitchell (published by the Smithsonian Institution) on the poison of the rattlesnake,-so that I know a good Ideal about the beast.

We have a good many "big bugs" in Beacon Street, but I doubt if we have a better specimen than the one you have sent me. As for the lily-seeds, my daughter is to plant them, and we will see what flowers you have in Oregon.

Thanking you kindly for your interesting letter and the curiosities you send, I am Yours very truly,

O. W. HOLMES.

Concerning the "Ukiah Golden Trout" Chillicothe, O., June 22, 1900. Editor of Overland Monthly.

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Dear Sir-In your June number of the "Trout Culture magazine, in the article on in Mendocino," you mention a trout freak " which was developed at the Ukiah Hatchery.

I recall reading a few years ago in an article, published in one of the San Francisco papers (I think the Chronicle), that this lemon-colored, or golden, trout had been found in one of the streams near the Yosemite, or in one of those near Mt. Brewer.

The article describing them spoke of their being found in but one stream, and suggest. ed the desirability of securing specimens, that effort might be made to propagate and distribute them.

It would be interesting to your readers to have this matter looked up, and some investigation made as to whether the habitat of this variety of trout has entirely changed its coloring from the original markings, or if it is in fact a new variety. Very truly yours,

F. T. GILMORE..

The foregoing letter was referred to Mr. A. V. La Motte, Superintendent of the Ukiah hatchery, who promptly responded as follows:

Editor of Overland Monthly.

Dear Sir-In accordance with your request for a description of the Ukiah Golden Trout," I will say that it originated, or rather was discovered by me, in this hatchery three years ago, among a lot of eggs

shipped here by the California Fish Commission from Lake Tahoe. When the eggs hatched I discovered a number of very lightcolored fry, which in a month turned a bright lemon color. I then picked them out and put them by themselves. As they grew larger, they assumed a metallic, or golden, luster, with the fins fringed with coal-black and a pink median line, on each side. This appearance they retained for a year, when they gradually lost the black fringe on the fins and became a darker golden hue, but still of brightly metallic luster. They are now three years old. Some of them have become bronze in color, and some have remained much lighter in color, but distinctly different in coloration from any trout that I

have ever seen before. They are beautifully formed and sinuous in motion, with very large eyes and a pointed nose, somewhat resembling a water-snake's nose, giving them a marked difference of appearance from other varieties. They do not in the least resemble the so-called golden trout of Whitney Creek, as the Ukiah trout, as we call it, is uniformly golden in color throughout. Owing to their close confinement in a tank in the hatching-house, we have not been enabled to fertilize and hatch their eggs the last two seasons, as all have died before hatching. Therefore, as yet we have not been able to ascertain if they would perpetuate their present peculiarities of form and color. ALFRED V. LA MOTTE.

BOOK REVIEWS

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FOR FULL TITLES, PUBLISHERS, ETC., SEE LIST UNDER HEADING OF BOOKS RECEIVED"

"An American Colonel"

HON. JERE CLEMENS has added another to the already long list of historical novels dealing with the events and characters of the Revolutionary War. This book has chosen somewhat new ground in that there is a distinct and expressed intention to endeavor to rehabilitate the character of Aaron Burr. It is seldom that a writer expresses his prejudices so unreservedly as Mr. Clemens does with regard to Hamilton. This peculiarity colors the whole narrative and introduces an element of melodrama which occasionally borders upon the ludicrous. To imagine the aristocratic and exclusive Hamilton sneaking into out-of-theway small taverns and consorting with piratical scoundrels of a didactic turn of mind does violence to one's preconceived notions of things. The writer has the courage of his convictions, and reiterates in his preface coolly and categorically the opinions which are continually cropping up in the course of the work. He says of Hamilton's character: "The more I studied it the more I became convinced that the world never presented such a combination of greatness and meanness, of daring

courage and of vile malignity, of high aspirings and of low hypocrisy." It will be seen, therefore, that there is in this point of view every material for a very fascinating story, which the lack of cultured literary style alone prevents from being entirely successful. The story is full of incident, furnishes interesting reading, and will be found to be a pleasant companion on a journey or during the summer vacation. The writer should be heard from again.

John Ruskin

MRS. MEYNELL has written a very satisfactory review of the life and work of John Ruskin. One puts down the book with a renewed feeling of admiration, and indeed almost awe, for the odd, whimsical, combative, and altogether lovable critic and philosopher. "Was ever sorrow like unto my sorrow?" might be truly asked by the man who loved so much and was so illrewarded, who suffered so much and to such apparent little purpose. There is not a more pathetic figure in history than that of the prophet and artist of Brantwood, sneered at and contemned whenever he proclaimed a truth, and passing vacuous years in pitiful

disease. Mrs. Meynell has performed her task lovingly and diligently. She has expressed some personal opinions unobtrusively and appropriately, and although they are by no means to be taken for granted, they are for the most part sufficiently reasonable to gain immediate approval. The works are reviewed in their chronological order, beginning with the first volume of "Modern Painters." Perhaps the summary of "Unto this Last" is the best piece of analysis in the book, but this may merely be a matter of individual taste; the whole work is well worthy of being carefully read. The close of

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the introduction is worth quoting: Lonely and unhappy does the student perceive him to have been who was one of the greatest of the great men of all ages; but the student who is most cut to the heart by that perception is compelled to wish him to have been not less but more of a man sacrificed." It is seldom the lot of a reviewer to find a piece of work that can be praised so honestly and unreservedly as this of Mrs. Meynell. Typographically and in every other respect the work is all that could be wished, and if the publishers maintain the standard of this book they will render their "Modern English Writers " series notable.

"As Talked in the Sanctum"

WHEN Rounsevelle Wildman placed his hand on the helm of the OVERLAND as its Editor, there were many who sneered. sneer is about the cheapest of human prerogatives. Some said "Warmed-Overland," and indulged in an array of alleged witticisms at the expense of the Editor and the publisher. Some of the Public-Spirited Citizens who nad at various times allowed a little of their money to trickle into the treasury of the magazine looked upon the new editor as little less than insane. The monthly grind called "As Talked in the Sanctum" has been published in book form, and the ex-editor of the OVERLAND has added to his laurels as a man of courage. This book has been in the hands of the critics for a month and it has met with a varied reception. The Eastern critic in some instances has lauded it, while in others he has commended its style and has deprecated the wisdom of publication. Owing to a variety of causes, certain chapters in

the work really do not merit publication, in that they are not timely. It is true that some occurrences loomed up big with historymaking possibilities when they were written, and it had been better for the author had he used the pruning-knife with care; but there are other passages full of fine English and subtile sweetness that make up to the reader for time lost in reading of obsolete political issues. Rounsevelle Wildman, diplomatist and author, is a courageous captain of literature indeed; for did he not dedicate his volume, As Talked in the Sanctum, to Collis P. Huntington? In the face of the insane reviling of this truly great man, Wildman has the courage to brave the anger and court the spite of every personal organ in California, for such is the daily newspaper. Such courage is rare, and the reader will pardon the reviewer for his review of the man rather than the book.

P. N. B.

"The True Citizen: How to Become One"

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WE MUST confess to somewhat of a feeling of repugnance for the style of work turned out by the learned authors in this little volume, which is too much like the wonderful works of the immortal Smiles, to appeal to the ethical sentiments of these later days. The doctrine of 'getting on " has such exceedingly unsatisfactory results and produces such excessively disagreeable types that it has fallen into considerable disesteem in these times. The book has thirty-nine chapters, and is divided into four parts, dealing with the Child, the Youth, the Man, the Citizen. Each chapter is headed with what are called Memory Gems," excerpts from the works of well-known writers, and the whole forms a very complete little tract, which, if it has any influence at all, is just as likely to make prigs as anything else. The book is a glorification of things as they are. Reformers are contemptuously dismissed as "emptyheaded," and success, as we see it illustrated in the persons of those that are in high places, is the inducement held out to those who will follow the principles laid down. Outside of Great Britain, we should have thought the book an impossibility. The writers have succeeded so admirably in reproducing the spirit of British Philis

tinism that they are really to be congratulated upon the production of what is undoubtedly one of the safest books for the young that has ever been published.

"Stanford Stories"

IT SEEMS but yesterday since the benefi. cence of the late Senator Stanford was the sensation of the hour, and two continents stood in amazed contemplation of the most munificent gift that modern education had ever received. The outward and visible sign of the Senator's gift appears in n magnificent group of buildings with Spanish arches and glorious arcades and cloisters. Within these there has developed a new and individual life, and the common thoughts and feelings of the thousands of young people of both sexes who have gathered there from all over this country have coalesced and developed into what is known as college spirit. Stanford has its own notion of things, as the powerful individuality of its president must of itself guarantee. It has moreover its own notions of college propriety and its own little conventionalities, as developed in the student body apart from the classroom and the influence of professors.

This college spirit finds an expression in a small book written by two ex-students of the university. The various stories of which the book is composed form a record of the leading incidents and dominant sentiments of student life at this period in the growth of the university, and thus possess a value altogether apart from their literary merits. These, while by no means below the average, are hardly sufficiently conspicious to have won notice for the book on their own account.

The stories are all illustrative of some phase of college life. One of them is a sketch entirely reminiscent in character and entitled "In the Dark Days," and gives a very spirited description of the jubilation in the college-town consequent upon the decision of the court insuring the life of the college. "The Alumni Dinner" is a brief sketch showing the struggles of a young doctor. Perhaps the most striking of all the stories is one entitled One Commencement." This is descriptive of the feelings of a student who spends his commencement

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day of 1898 aboard a United States transport awaiting shipment to Manila with the First California Regiment.

The tales will, of course, possess a particular fascination for Stanford men, but they are sure to become generally read, so full are they of the enthusiasm of youth and the joy of life.

"Our New Prosperity "

THIS is an account of the wonderful expansion of American industry since the close of the last great trade crisis. The facts are well arranged and carefully compiled, and their accuracy may be relied upon. The case presented by the writer is very strong, and the marvelous achievements of the last two years are almost staggering, as they are set forth in this little work. Some of the results are thus stated: "In less than three years' time, so great were the trade-balances in our favor, that over a billion of American indebtedness was wiped out from the ledgers of Europe, and in 1899 we beheld the spectacle of London buying money in New York with which to conduct her South African war, of the exportation of gold to Europe, not because the United States owed it (although many American securities are still held abroad), but because we could spare a little of our plenty to relieve financial stress abroad."

As a compilation of striking facts, the book may be strongly recommended to the student of economics, and more particularly perhaps to the political speaker, who will find it of enormous service in the coming campaign. The single chapters deal with such subjects as "Iron and Steel," "Prosperity of the Great Lakes," "A Self-Reliant South," "The Rise in the Price of Meat," and in fact constitute a very full review of the effects of the general prosperity upon all the staple industries.

The various conclusions of the author are, of course, subject to criticism, and very different results of the investigation might easily be reached from the same set of facts. But it must be frankly admitted that the author shows none of that unreasonable optimism of outlook which is so much to be dreaded, and which is yet so common in works of this nature. His remarks as regards the inevitable crash are well worth

quoting: "And yet the country must expect another backset, another period of hard times, tight money, mortgages, discontent, and distress. It will come in the natural course of events. The pendulum swings as far one way as it does the other."

The work is illustrated by small explanatory charts.

"Advent of Empire”

THIS is a little book of alleged verse, though, beyond the fact that it occasionally produces a rhyming couplet, it is hard to see how it can be said to really deserve even that doubtful title. It is one of those works of which it may be said, in Scriptural phraseology, that it "had better never have been born." No useful purpose can possibly be served by it, least of all the political objects which the author is evidently endeavoring to further. The decadence of this writer is as sad as it is strange. Every new piece of work turned out by him marks a distinct retrogression. The present work is emphatically the worst that he has as yet produced.

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The True Citizen: How to Become One. By W. F. Marwick, D. D., and W. A. Smith, A.B. New York: American Book Company. 60 cents.

Advent of Empire. By Morrison I. Swift. Los Angeles: The Ronbroke Press. $1.00.

Stanford Stories. By Charles K. Field and Will H. Irwin. New York: Doubleday, Page & Company. $1.25.

Our New Prosperity. By Ray Stannard Baker. New York: Doubleday, Page & Company $1.25.

The Seafarers: A Romance of a New England Coast Town. By Mary Gray MorriNew York: Doubleday, Page & Co. $1.50.

son.

A Christian, But a Roman. By Maurus Jokai. New York: Doubleday & McClure Company. 50 cents.

Lessons in Language-Work-For the Fifth and Sixth Grades. By Isabel Frazee. San Francisco: The Whitaker & Ray Co. 50 cents.

John Ruskin. By Mrs. Meynell. New York:
Dodd, Mead & Co. $1.25.

The Path of Dreams. Poems. By Leigh
Gordon Giltner. Chicago: Fleming H.
Revell Company. $1.25.
David and His Friends: A Series of Revival
Sermons. By Rev. Louis Albert Banks,
D.D. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Co.
$1.50.

Flashes of Wit and Humor; or, A Brief
Study of the Best Things of the Bright-
est Minds. By Robert Waters. New
York: Egan S. Werner Publishing and
Supply Co. $1.00.

Alice's Visit to the Hawaiian Islands. By Mary H. Krout. New York: American Book Company. 45 cents.

An American Colonel: A Story of Thrilling Times During the Revolution. By Hon. Jere Clemens. Akron, Ohio: Wolfe Publishing Co.

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