92 



The Review of Reviews. 



The Art of the Canoe Man. 



Both in summer and in winter the rivers are the 

 thoroughfares of the Canadian wilderness. As soon as 

 they are strong enough to lift pole and paddle, the 

 Indian children are taught to handle the canoe in the 

 quick water. What seems to the untutored eyes of a 

 tenderfoot a veritable maelstrom of white water may 

 to an Indian canoeman reveal a safe and sure channel 

 for his birch bark. It is one of the most interesting 

 sights of wilderness travel to watch a Cree, Ojibway, 

 or Algonquin stand in his canoe at the head of a 

 rapid searching for a possible way through, and then, 

 liaving satisfied himself of the whereabouts of a channel, 

 plunge fearlessly into the white water, now paddling 

 like mad, now seizing his pole and checking the head- 

 way of his craft, to shoot off in another direction, 

 until finally he comes clear through the " boilers " at 

 the foot without having as much as scraped one of 

 the boulders that, with seemingly certain destruction; 

 menace his path.—" The Albany Trail to James Bay," 

 by G. T. Marsh, in Scribner's for April. 



In Praise of the American City. 



Mr. F. C. Howe, in April Scrihners, comes to the 

 defence of the American city, against the general 

 belief that it is the most conspicuous American failure. 

 He says : — 



Many activities of ihe American city are efficiently performed. 

 Our library systems are models. In this we have been pioneers. 

 The r.ipid development of public and private libraries, the 

 extension of branches, the opening of reading-rooms and library 

 centres, the use of pictures and children's departments show the 

 possibilities of our municipal democracy — when the laws of the 

 State permit it to grow as it will. 



Commissions come to America to study our library methods 

 ju-t as commissions go from this country to Europe to study 

 their municipal achievements. The park systems of our cities 

 are of the same high order. Our development in recent years 

 has been phenomenal. Not only are our parks generous in 

 area, but they have beer laid out by experts in a far-sighted 

 way. The Boston system is said to be the most comprehensive 

 of any in the world, while those of Chicago, Cleveland, Phila- 

 delphia, Baltimore, Washington, Kansas City, Denver, and a 

 score of lesser cities compare favourably with those of any cities 

 of Kurope. 



America, too, led the way in playground development, as 

 well as in the wider use of the school-house and the social 

 centre. Tht exhibits of the American city in these activities at 

 the Berlin Town Planning Exposition were accepted as in 

 advance of those of Kurope. 



From the very beginning our fire departments have been 

 honestly and efficiently .administered. These, too, have been 

 models for foreign cities. 



John G.\ls\vorthy's Idea of .^rt. 



In the Atlantic Muuthly for April Mr. John Gals- 

 worthy contributes certain " \ague thoughts on art." 

 lie embarks on the following definition :— 



Art is that imaginative expression of human energy which, 

 lliiongh technical concretion of feeling and perception, tends 

 to reconcile the individual with the universal, by exciting in 

 him impersonal emotion. And the greatest Art is that which 

 excites the greatest impersonal emotion in an hypothecated 

 perfect human being. 



Hethinksthis, thepre-sent, is the third Renaissance: 



Jutt as, in the Greek Renaissance, worn-out Pagan orthodoxy 



was penetrated by new philosophy j just as, in the Italian 



Renaissance, Pagan philosophy, reasserting itself, fertilised 

 again an already too-inbred Christian creed ; so now. Ortho- 

 doxy fertilised by .Science is producing a fresh and fuller con- 

 ception of life — a love of pericclion, not for hope of reward, 

 not for fear of punishment, but for Perfection's sake. 



Problems of the Day. 



Under this heading the Englishwoman draws 

 attention to the unsatisfactory position of " Servants 

 and Registry Offices." 



The writer recognises that " it is not enough to 

 destroy fraudulent employment agencies without 

 putting anything else in their place." The Labour 

 Exchanges are not adequately equipped for dealing 

 with the domestic servant. The thing needed is not 

 sufficiently emphasised in the article, which contents 

 itself with suggesting that " organisation should take 

 the form of obtaining personal recommendations from 

 members of Care Committees, etc." The one thing 

 wanting is the provision of Hostels in every town in 

 place of the present alternative of lodging-house, 

 casual ward, or the street. 



The "Best Sellers." 



Why do books which are confessedly not literature, 

 and authors who are not literary, appeal to the public ? 

 This is the question which Mr. Charles D. Leslie 

 endeavours to answer in the April number of the Book 

 Monthly. A good style, it seems, is not indispensable 

 to the equipment of the novelist. Many successful 

 books lack the literary touch. To the majority of 

 readers the story is far more important than the stvle. 

 There will always be two classes of readers — the literary 

 and the unliterary — and alwavs two classes of writers 

 to minister to their wants. The unliterary novelist who 

 has a good story to tell, and tells it to the best of his 

 ability, finds his public. If the would-be novelist can 

 write literature, so much the better ; but if he cannot, 

 let him write with conviction and sincerity, and sooner 

 or later he will win success. 



A Great Book-Collector. 



A prominent book-collector is Mr. W. B. Slater, as 

 Mr. H. F. B. Wheeler, writing in the June number of 

 the Connoisseur, reminds us. Mr. Slater's retreat for 

 " other men's minds " contains, we are told, some ten 

 thousand volumes, including many bibliographical 

 treasures of surpassing value, rare first editions, price- 

 less manuscripts, and not a few curiosities. The tops 

 of the bookcases are lined with old china, and bronzes 

 peer from odd corners. A notable feature of the collec- 

 tion is the number of first editions of first books bv 

 celebrated authors which it contains. He has specialised 

 in Landor, and every acknowledged and anonymous 

 pamphlet it is possible to obtain is represented in the 

 library. The lil)rary is also rich in ancient and modern 

 anthologies. A Ruskin sketch-book, the only one which 

 has passed out of the Severn family, reposes here. It 

 contains some of the most delicate specimens of 

 Ruskin's art, the finest being a sketch of an ancient 

 house at Augsburg. 



