TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 11098, 17 October 1901, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

-, The two most import- ( The American ant features ol %U 3 Reading Public, bookselling trade in ' America ire the * healthy growth of nativfc flctitto, and the i large ea-le of the work's of tha beet English 1 authc-r* It prt.ys better, in fact, to cater" 1 for the American, reading public ratW i than the English, *o that there is reason x in the-prediction not .Infrequently heard. ' that English novelists will .soon be* driven J to study the American marW first. Such 1 a, state of affairs would tend to make New £ York, instead of London,-tie great book market of the English-speaking people. i Already, so it.is asserted, leading British l novelists are naort widely read in America than in England: It is interesting' to note the eiicess which has attended what may be termed national' novels in the United States of recent years. These books are distinctly American in sty 1 ** and 3 spirit, arid the popularity of tome of th«m { ttaa bsen very marked. "David Harum,' t for instance, a "typically Americnn character , sketch, lias attained the immense sale b >f 500,000 copies in America; Winston o Dhurchiir* "Ejiohard Carvel" has "been sold U> the extant of 430,000 copies, while c J20.000 copies of Charles Major's '"When inighthood Was in Pbw<r" have found * their way into the hands; of .the American 'f reading public. ;dther American novels f< iFbJoh hive each had a sale of iOO,OOO iopies in their own country are "To Have t uid To Held," by Mary Johnston; "Janice c tferedith." by Ford Lester Ford; and » 'Eben Holden," a novel by Irving Bache- a or t after ths style of "David Harum" n Vfoet remarkable afeo i« the quick success J >f young nnka<nm*fttifhorß in the United g States. "The Helmet of Navarre," written »y a yc-uag lady named Bertha. Runkle, d •aa through a first edition of 100,000, al- f> -bough this w»» her flat effort in novel- « rriting. Thw appwctatiott of native talent v k)*j».not, however, check the sale of the 8 Mrt English iwrek. Kiplinge Days I Wot* has ha 4 a sale of .100,000. copies I n America; ilarie Cor*lli> "The Master Aristian" oter 70,000; Barries "tottmr r md GriieV* Maurice Hewlett's "The t ?orest Loirews,' iire Ward's "Eleanor" * *d dth« BngllA norele have all sold up s a between 50,000 and 100,000 copies. We X tave it <m the anthority of a London paper J hat the English novel* most sueeeeeful n n America are those trJiich appeal to then Nat intellectual claaees, and the cultivaion of a soosd literary teete in attributed O c the bad old daye of American piracy, c: rhen the United States were flooded with heap, unauthorised editions of iugh-claes gi SngUeh, works. . The result, of the present ** endency ia that British Bovelieta ha>ye to ri oofc more and more- to their American t< dittoes for their profit, and if this goes ft

tiii we m*y expect to see the American publisher becoiue aiore povrerfwl than the London publish*:;, through having the support of a. larger reading public. « . Had the Koweyt incident .Th* Ti»rfcish! been of a serious j«ture, Navy. Turkey would have been from tshG outset hopelessly handicapped by Ihe fn-reical Way in which htir navy has been managed. The Porte has had several chances of having i really fine fleet, and the reigning Sultan has been particu'arly anxious to rival Ihe bth<T Powers, or at least not to be utterly at their mercy at w». On thte other hand, what he dre&ds far more than other Governments are his own (tubjrets, so that as soon as the navy is worked up to a certain pitch of efficiency he begin* io feat that it may be tamed against himself by the revolutionary party. To prevent this a respectable sum is spent, in spoiling the ships. The modern Turkish fleet wws first created by the famous EtiglisHman, Hotart Pashk, who raised it to the point of being one of the principal navies in the world. The crews were drilled on a. kindergarten system, and, as the Turks have no nautical terms, well-known vegetables and other every-day articles were fastened trt the rope*, and the orders given were—"Htffefr toe potato," "Let go the cucumber," and so on. The Sultan, however, feared the fleet was getting too efficient, so he curtai'ed its supplies, and cotisetyttntly when war broke out with Bussia., the iiavy was in a. crippled state. However, it still managed to hamper the Russians. As a punishment it was laid up in tibto harbour of Constantinople for twenty years, ftnd the money , that should have been spent on itwent t6wa£ds building forta which could bo directed on the ships to destroy them if ever their commanders of crews fell under suspicion. This is exactly the same policy the Stlltans have always followed towards their principal viziers and pachas. At ■l«s>fc, in 1830, it. Was decided to do something fof the navyj arid another British officer", Woods PWifti., was Made Admiral. He niodei'nised the rusty old battleships, And bought come swift torpedo boats and destroyers". But in tlie war with the Greeks, the cretos could not. be trusted because they th*mselvee were partly Greeks, so the squadTdn confined itself to masterly inaction. Lately, Abdul Hamid became inspired by the example of his friend tlie Kaisef,' And decided to have another tiy. Many Ttcrfrigh coal merchants were made pashas, so that thfey might hate the privilege of supplying coal for nothing, and ifc was prsp-<}»ed-to send several 6ld fchipH to Italy or Germany to be reconstructed. Two fine torpedo boats were front Genoa, but when they, arrived aa Imperial coramisiSk>n took away their propellers lest any of the Young Turkey .party tshmU tee them. One ■battleship' g6fe as" far a* Germany tot reoonstntction, but the Germans declined to go on .with, the work until they were paid, and the orew, who had received nothing tlrangdvesy , pawned everything a?ail-: able on board, and finally sought refuge in the workhouse. Oolttmbus is coihniody re- ! A Saintly cognised a* the discoverer of Explorer. America, bat in the history of eal-ly Irish Christianity ,there. is evidence supporting the theory that America was discovered by St. Bren- , dan 900 yea-re before Columbua was. born. St. Brendan is the patron saint of sailors. He was born ftt Tralee, in County Kerry, ' in the yeap- 481, And At an early period in his life crossed to Great Britain, and thence to "France, founding monasteries and schools, Jn.- his prpgrees. . In ,545 •occurred' "the" setting sail >of-St. Brendan and >his (crew," an. jigyeßfe oonunemorated in the calendars o£ Churoh .on Maroh 22nd centuries afterwards. Whither .(did/, he journey?' It i« pertain that,the voyage_ lasted altogether a period of «eye»^y^aiij. and several ifeoltttcd but significant iwefc point to America las his is, the London "Daily' j K\ptess" points ouCj.b is-generally admitted that the Icelander** and the Norsemen preceded' Oolumbus id the "New World,' and when the famous voy&ger required information about his proposed expedition he'sought ifc in Iceland and Ireland. Professor Rafn, of Copenhagen, is of opinion that the "Ireland the Great ; ' of the. early Norsemen was ihe Country south of Chesa> peake Bay,, includisg Carolina, Georgia., and East Florida. Ie is said that the Khawan6<J Indians hare a tradition that "Florida was once --inhabited, by white men, who used iron instruments, , ' is rather too'vague to be of much service. It is significant, however, whea coupled with the experience, of Corte2 and this companions when they landed in Mexico in 1519. The Spaniards' coming was welcomed by the Mexicans as the realisation of an- ancient native tradition' to the effect that many centuries before a.white man had come acrrtss the great" ocean from the north-east in a boat with "wings," as they termed the sails of the Spanish ships. After all, however, it is problematical whether St. Brendan really landed in America. If course, it 'matters ''little now. whether he did -or h6t; but still it is always .desirable to be in a position to verify tradition, or refute it/ and generally to throw light' upon the history of mankind.