PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED

Otago Witness, Issue 2666, 19 April 1905, Page 34

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED

The* New Idea for April announces the fact of its being a wedding number by an elaborate design of wedding bells and Cupids. The whole economy of weddings, from the feminine point of view, would seem to be very thoroughly gone into ; especially garments. These take precedence of all else ■except sentiment — refreshments coming a poor third. "Brides of Many Lands," "Gossip About Wedding's," ''Home-made Wedding Breakfasts," "The Serious Side of Married Life," all indicate how genuinely the wedding number devotes its pages to the matter in hand. To accommodate all tastes, for it is obvious we are not all going to be married, there are articles such as "Glimpses of Nature," "Music and Musicians," "News of the Newest Books," "An Australian Artist's Adventures," etc.

The Pall Mall Magazine for March opens with the third adventure in Mr Hornung's series of sketches entitled "A Thief n the Nght," which, by the way, scarcely seem to justify their prominence, though they are immensely strengthened by the excellence of the illustrations. "Building the Dover Harbour '" is the text of' a very interesting artele on an undertaking -whose magnitude — unless +o tho?e conversant with the place itself it would be impossible to grasp without the exce lant pictures which illumine the letterpress. "Pearling, and Pearl Divers," is another attractive article, written with delightful vim. " Personalities of the Paris Press " is well worth, reading ; the third number of Joseph Conrad's "Mirror of the Sea " is as fine as its predecessors, strengthening- the hope that these articles may be published in book form; while "From Bear to Buck, and Back," with its sport and its humour alike, will appeal to other men and other tastes. The two political sketches. "Personalities- in Parliament " and "The Prime Minister in the House of Commons," are naturally more calculated to Bttract readers in Britain than New Zealand ; but the whole list of literary contents in the March number of the Pall Mall stands at an exceptionally h gh level, the articles and sketches probably over-topping the fiction in quality. The New Zealand Illustrated Magazine ushers in itis new sixoenny issue with a warmly- toned and nautical cover, announcing also from its "Publisher's Desk" several prosoective improvements and developments. The number opens with one of Mr Messenger's brisrht, illustrated articles on outdoor life, entitled. "The Grey Duck," the relative sizes of the hawk and pukaki in one of the illustrations challenging criticism, however. An artiole on "The Evolution of the Pointer" is taken from the Breeder and Sportsman. ".On Summer Seas" is the title under which F. ~W. Ooombes discourses pleasantly on a yachting trip along Auckland shores. Noticeable in the new issue is the number of extract* from the pages of Home and other journals, as aUo the reproduction of illustrations from the English Illustrated

papers. Austral Light for April opens with an article by a layman on a lay topic, "The West Australian Black." Unable to detach itself from the fascinating subject of Freemasonry, an article on "The Spy System in France *' is thi3 month's contribution to the topio. An article on the "Sugar Industry in Queensland " is illustrated. The usual departrnsnts of the journal ara interspersed with some- poems, and the second part of the "Memoir of the Right Rev. Bishop Doyle," "News and. Notes," which contains some v&ry appropriate criticisms on overy-day events, and the fashions of the hour. The Monthly Review for March (London : John Murray, 2^ 6d net) gives first place to a spirited and nervously-worded appraisement of " Man," by Maxim Gorky. The famous Russian, endurer of many vicissit\ides expresses himself in no uncertain manner. His burning words powerfully convey the idea of faith in the progress of man, alert and rig-ht-minded in contest with eircuvnatance. He inveighs as powerfully against surrender to debasing- infiuences inimical to the forward march of the human mind and to the strength of thought on which alone man's .supremacy over Nature depends. Austerely unconventional, he bids men seek the fight and avoid tho feast ; satiety, rest, and trivial worldly comforts being, in his view, but the steps leading downwards to pestilent quagmires of degradation. Thought, dauntless in the struggle to get above and away from the deserts of superstition ; "thought, that conceived the wondrous harmony of all the worlds, that mi^litv foice winch, when o'er-powered by vw ari;ie*s, creates gods: when valiant, ca«t=; them down." A study of human life from

a quite different standpoint is made by Mr Benjamin Taylor m an article upon '"Municipal Aspects of the Housing Problem." The city of Glasgow i« dealt with as being; ivpical, a \oi-y c'oar account of the immense pvob'em bein<>- given in detail, but. admittedly. ir remains unsolved. "The MilitaryDeadlock" ib the titlo of a short paper by "Slrafcictcs," and Sir Vincent Caillard, C.8.. eontiibures the second and last instalment of hi-s exhaiistho article, "An Empire in the Making." The finely uncommon personality of the late Sir Edward Burne-Jones i< agreeably described by Julia Cartwrigrht (Mrs Ady), while "Bond Street," a poetical satire, is from the pen of Mr Arthur H. Adam?. | Mr W. Ear] Hodgson's way of dealing with | "Some Problems in Salmon Fishing " is Quietly humorous, and also contains a good doal of information and suggestion likely to be of practical use to wielders of the rod. Fiction is represented by a liberal instalment of Mr H. C. Bailey's serial. "Beaujeu," and a short, complete sketch, "The j Black Vengeance," by the author of a recent aiionvrnous novel, "Th« Greatness of Jo.-iah Porlick." A thoushtful article, and one apropos to events of the moment, is by ■ Mr L. ViHari. who writes of "The Effect of the War on Eussian Public Feeling." Several recent books arc given excellent account of by the editor. j