392 



RECREA TION. 



EUROPEAN ARMIES ON PARADE. 



It is highly appropriate that " Military- 

 Europe " should appear precisely coincident 

 with the return of General Miles from Porto 

 Rico. Whether his victorious and well- 

 conditioned army parades on Broadway or 

 not, this handsome volume by the Com- 

 mander-in-Chief will go marching on, 

 throughout the length and breadth of our 

 great and growing country. 



General Miles' opportunity to study Eu- 

 ropean armies and navies was about the best 

 that ever fell to the lot of an American. He 

 witnessed great military reviews and man- 

 oeuvres in Russia, Germany, France, Aus- 

 tria, and Italy, was with the armies of both 

 combatants during the war between Greece 

 and Turkey, and, as an offset, witnessed the 

 splendid display of " the military and naval 

 glory of England " that was made during 

 the Queen's Jubilee. Our General was re- 

 ceived by all the reigning sovereigns whose 

 armies he visited a-field, and he saw the mil- 

 itary establishments of all the great powers 

 of Europe, at their best. The illustrations of 

 his story were selected with great care and 

 judgment; they have been beautifully re- 

 produced, and are highly satisfactory. 



The General's story is very interesting; 

 but it is a story on parade. It contains no 

 criticisms, nothing " between-you-and-me," 

 and we would be willing to double the price 

 of the book to know the author's private 

 opinion of each of the great military estab- 

 lishments inspected by him. But we can 

 only look at the pictures, and wonder; for 

 the laws of international courtesy and hos- 

 pitality forbid the publication of the true in- 

 wardness of things seen from such vantage 

 ground. 



Six months ago, we would have viewed 

 these illustrations of fine soldiers and fine 

 ships with a feeling of envy, possibly em- 

 broidered with regret. Now, how different. 

 As we examine the details of the finest bat- 

 tle-ships of England, Russia, France, and 

 Germany, we envy nobody, and we regret 

 nothing. We say, "Very fine; very good; 

 but there are others!" I recall that the 3 

 tall smoke-stacks of our Brooklyn excited 

 much curiosity, and flippant comment, at 

 the Jubilee Naval review; but the Cristo- 

 bal Colon can tell why those stacks are 

 tall. France was represented by the big 

 battle-ship " Admiral Pothnau," which 

 couldn't run from Havre to Cronstadt with- 

 out getting something the matter with its 

 insides; while the Oregon — but let us be 

 generous, and refrain from comparisons. 



Military Europe. A narrative of personal 

 observations and personal experience. By 

 Nelson A. Miles. 56 half-tone illustrations, 

 pp. IT2, small quarto. New York; Double- 

 day & McClure Co. Cloth, $1.50. 



is a document worthy of the Empire State. 

 Instead of being a cheap and measly pam- 

 phlet, filled with stuff that no one cares to 

 know, it is a stately quarto volume, replete 

 with information worth having, and to the 

 eye decidedly pleasing. It would be all the 

 better for a good map showing the state 

 forests; but that can come later. 



Of the various reports, the one in which 

 I take keenest interest is that of J. War- 

 ren Pond, Chief Game Protector, on "Pros- 

 ecutions for violations of the Fish and Game 

 Laws," which gives a complete list of Game 

 Protectors and the offenders whom they 

 have caused to be punished for violations of 

 the game laws. Really, the showing is quite 

 encouraging, and the total of fines paid in 

 each county is a goodly sum. On natural 

 history there are many valuable articles, 

 each of which is handsomely illustrated. 

 There are papers on the black bass, Amer- 

 ican saibling, brook trout, pike, perch, 

 oyster, Adirondack deer, ruffed grouse, 

 quail, and woodcock, all of which are of 

 permanent value. Inasmuch as " the John 

 Brown Farm " is now state property, the 

 story of itj and the illustrations, are entirely 

 in place in this volume, and few persons 

 who handle this book will fail to read it. 



On the whole, the Report is a good docu- 

 ment, and reflects decided credit on the 

 enterprise and good taste of the Commis- 

 sioners, as well as on the State which pays 

 the printer's bill. Last year no copies of the 

 first report could be bought, but I am in- 

 formed that a limited number of copies of 

 this volume are for sale by the printers, the 

 Wynkoop-Hallenbeck-Crawford Co., at 441 

 Pearl Street, New York. 



Second Annual Report of the Commis- 

 sioners of Fisheries, Game, and Forests of 

 the State of New York. State document, 

 pp. 521, quarto, cloth, 18 colored plates, 66 

 half-tone illustrations. 



OUR STATE GAME AND FORESTS. 



The Second Annual Report of the Com- 

 missioners of Fisheries, Game, and Forests 



" Bird Neighbors " is one of the best 

 books on Ornithology published since the 

 days of Audubon. $2 gets a copy of that 

 book and a yearly subscription to Recrea- 

 tion; How can anybody afford to be with- 

 out that book, when it can be had at ^> 

 the publisher's price? 



" What did Colonel Stillwell say about the 

 brandied peaches we sent to cheer his con- 

 valescence? " 



" He said he was afraid he wasn't strong 

 enough to eat the fruit," replied the little 

 girl, " but he appreciated the spirit in which 

 it was sent." — Washington Star. 



What else can you give a man for a 

 Holiday present that will give him so 

 much pleasure, at so small a cost, as a 

 yearly subscription to Recreation? 



If you would live next to nature, read 

 Recreation. 



