NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1667, 10 February 1904, Page 22

NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS

A BATCH OF NOVELS.

!“A Passage Perilous/’ By Rosa Nouchette Carey. Macmillan and Co*., London.

This story is told in. a fascinating and interesting manner. The writer shows - a wonderful, insight into human oharac- / ter and feeling. There ar© several ’• heroes and heroines in the narrative, and all are carefully drawn. The manly Jack is every inch a soldier, while his v patient, afflicted, self-sacrificing brother Cams is beloved by everyone. Christian is a fine type of an independent, " ' impulsive young woman, while Headier is the life of her home with her sweet temper and light-hearted joyousness. z ; The other characters in the .story are as .*•cleverly-depicted, and! most;true to life. r ' Severar incidents of the. South African war are graphically described, and the r heroism; and fortitude of the British soldiers eulogited. The .authoress is to . --. he ■ highly congratulated on creating , such ah interesting story. ■ • • • *s| ?' ’ v , •}; . “The Sword of Fate.” By . Henry Herman. Greening and Co. Cecil Cojurt,. Charing Cress, London. “The Swond of Fate” is a sensational story, well worked out. It vividly describes the sorrows and trials wrought by a villain on an. honest and unsuspecting family. Daniel . Huncoat, mining manager for* Ralph Uisselby, while professing to do all in his power to further the interests of his employ-' ter,,is all the time filling his own coffers at his master’s expense. He allows his master to be taken to a lunatic prison when he could have proved his innocence, but not do so for fear of his own neck. The hero of the story, Frank TJsselby. is a true manly and honourable fellow, and his cousin Grace is sweet and gracious afijd all that a woman should he. She is the means of .finding out the truth and .confounding the •villain, who, however, is shot before be is brought to justice. The other characters in the story are well dep:cted and true to life, and the whole makes a truly interesting story. Laura’s By E. H. Strain. T. Fisher Unwin, London. ‘(Laura’s Legacy” is a most original story, told in a very interesting fashion. Lady Laura Barclay is almost losing her reason, through grief at the untimely deaths of her husband and son on the latter’s attaining his twenty-first birthday, when a child, whose mother has died through cold and starvation opportunely comes in her way and inspires her with a mission in life. The little girl, who was christened Eve. grew up and was a great pleasure and comfort to her foster-mother, who did everything in her pbwer to educate and 'train her . mind to think of high ideals. Sh© became very clever in the writing of plays, principally for the amusement of chil--7 dren, and vsas ably assisted by her cousin and another, who eventually proved to be her father. The story is well told and well worth perusal.

.‘‘Alison Howard.” By Janet E. Rait. Constable and Co., London. The story of “Alison. Howard” proves what love and devotion along with plenty of money, may do to relieve our necessities, and to make smooth tho path of, suffering humanity. Alison, a >. kind-hearted, sympathetic an*l loving, dispassionate"" girl, was left an orphan • unprovided for, but was kindly takeu care oif by a wealthy cousin, who brought her up. Then a uncle died, leaving her the bulk of his lortune, with' this proviso, that to go into the world and eaim her own r living for tmo years, and spend half her fortune in charity. working for a period for herself, he thought she would then be able to dispense her charity discrimiinately. Hew well she succeeded •v: must be left to the reader to •’discover. The book is cleverly written. It is re- : plete v with ; serious observations,- and depicts vividly the joys and sorrows of human life. In one passage, which we might quote, the Author writes:— “Those who have passed through a great Borrow know the different phases through' which the tortfired soul Ims pass ere - ,-ftj*©aches Us nirvana. First'comes the i*ul its own, the sense of some far-reach-f!PiS inisory. not yet fully comprehended ■ jP? realised'; then the numbness passes WR y» and in the agony that follows,

we thank God for that preceding interval of stupor. By-and-bye th© pam gradually lessens, until after a time it almost dies away, leaving behind it a dull feeling "of hopelessness. We see children around us. that lif© holds for them flowers and toys, hut we do not r.enyy them, rather our hearts go out. tout-hem i* l loving pity as we think of; the? Via Dolorosa that in all likelihood must be trod some day by those little feet; but, even as we pity them, a gleam of triumph flashes through our dulled hearts as wo remember that our weary walk along that road is over now —o»ur Via Dolorosa lies behind, and we are almost tempoeu to defy Fate, for we know we can never. Suffer again as we have suffered. And. then we begin one© more to play our part ’on life’s stage, arid the applause or the hiss of our audience has again some meaning for us, and by-and-bye when lime’s wand has touched pe, anjl charmed away the old achipg, we find than, though some of the melody has passed away for ever out of,.the, singing of the birds, and the skies will never seem so blue again, nor the roses smell quite so sweet, still the world contains, even for us, much that is bright and beautiful.'’ -AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS. ' The “Live Stock Journal Almanac?’ for 1904, a copy of which, has jpst reached us gives a complete review of that branch of agricultural industry with which it specially deals. In addition to the usual features of a publication of the kind, such as breeders’ tables, lists of societies and fairs, statistics, breeders’ directory, breeders’ illustrated announcements, etc., it contains forty-seven special articles and numerous portraits of prominent animals that have won prizes. at leading shows. Th© papers of more general interest commence with one on “The Mail Coach and its Horses,” accompanying the engraving of a painting showing “The Royal Mail, London, to Lynn,” m 1833. starting from Holboim. Sir P. Albert Muntz, Bart., M.P., follows with an article on “Horse Breeding, Past and Present.” He refers to the success in the breeding of Shire horses which he attributes to the fact that they are a distinct breed, as he believes hunters might, and should be, if bred on the right lines. Bir Walter Gilbey. Bart., contribute:; a valuable paper on “Healthy Stables,” which is illustrated with plans. He shows the great importance of paying proper attention to ventilation, sanitary conditions, etc., and gives valuable suggestions as to how these requirements can he economically carried out. “The Shipment of Horses” is discussed by Mr C. Stein, in view of the lessons of the late war in South Africa, and the topic is one that deserves careful study. A powerful plea for “Old Favourites” is made by Mr G. S. Lowe, Captain M. H. Hayes gives the latest information regarding “Wild Horses,” and illustrates his paper with a portrait of Prjevalsky’s horse. Sir Richard Green Price. Bart., writes on “Halfbred Horses.” and shows the value of many of these animals, and their importance as hunter sires. Mr W. B. Tegetmeier discusses the “Sanitary Conditions of Successful Breeding,” and draws attention to several points that are too often neglected. Mir Robert Brace treats of “The General Purpose Shorthorn.” ~ Mr Robert E. Turnbull has an instructive paper on “The Value of Our Live Stock.” He puts the valu© of horses, cattle, sheep and pigs in the United Kingdom, as shown by agricultural returns, at about £220,000,000. The hulk of the almanac is devoted to reviews of the various breeds during the year. These papers are. by wellknown authorities* comprising Messrs John Thornton, A. C. Beck, C. B. Pitman. W. Scarth Dixon, W. C. A. Blew, W. King, R. Mclntyre. John Hill, Vero Shaw, E. G. F. Walker, Alfred Mansell. Jonas M. Webb, A. F. Milton Bruce, Ernest Prentice W. W. Chapman, Rev. Dr Gillespie, J. Cameron. J. O. Trotter, W. A. Brown. T. H. Weetman, A. Mitch elmore, A. D. Euren, G. E. Collins, A. F. Hordern, and others who are all experts in the various breeds on which they write. The trade in pedigree stock generally is shown to have been good, most of the sales having been over before the results of the wet harvest curtailed the purchasing powers of farmers at home. , The articles conclude with one on. “Retrievers at Work,” by Mr F. Gresham, and another on “Modern Chicken Rearing,” by Mr Edward Brown, so that all classes of useful domesticated live stock are discussed in the almanac, which is very bulky and is indispensable to breeders at home and abroad. Messrs Vinton and Co., 9, New Bridge street, Liudgate Circus, London, E.C., are the publishers.