HOUSE AND GARDEN 
November, 1912 
W HILE Albert B. Osborne was in England this summer getting 
material for a series of articles which will appear in Travel 
early in 1913, we had a number of interesting letters from him that 
evidenced in a very striking manner his great love for travel and his 
keen appreciation for that which is picturesque and beautiful as well as 
humorous. From Goring-on-the-Thames on the stationery of the Hotel 
called “Ye Miller of Mansfield’’ he wrote in part: “I hadn’t the least 
idea of stopping here when we took the boat at Oxford, but just before 
the boat arrived at Goring I chanced on the name of this hotel and 
insisted on passing a night in it. So out we got (it is only a hamlet 
’round a lock) to the utter disgust of everybody. We have two trunks 
that weigh seven tons apiece, and I had to pay the lock-keeper to take 
care of them. It was pouring and had been all day. But the inn is a 
dream, and I am glad I am here.” 
“Speaking of inn hunting, the M— where we stayed at Oxford is 500 
years old and a perfect labyrinth of mysterious passageways. I heard 
some complaint of bugs and things, but who wants to be comfortable 
when he can be picturesque, and there is a certain satisfaction in being 
bitten by a bug whose direct ancestors may have sipped the blood of 
Cavalier and Roundhead.” 
Mr. Osborne’s “Picture Towns of Europe,” which is a graphic por¬ 
trayal and a sympathetic interpretation of the cities which are left 
almost intact from medieval times, is beginning to attract attention 
from lovers of the best in travel literature. 
A very strange coincidence appears in one of the most remarkable 
books it has been our pleasure to read and our gratification to publish, 
“The Crime of 1812.” Within it are the expressions of two strong 
characters, both with a single idea, though expressed, one a hundred 
years ago, and one but yesterday. These men were Colonel Labaume, 
of Napoleon’s army in the Russian Campaign, the author of the book, 
and that noted English editor, Wm. T. Stead, who wrote an introduc¬ 
tion to it. The voices of both come back to us in a plea against war, 
and it is especially significant now when Europe is again resounding 
with the tumult of a new conflict. Mr. Stead delivers a significant 
tribute to Russia as a force for peace. This is practically the last 
message of the man whose brilliant career was so sadly interrupted. 
He felt called upon to make these statements as appropriate for the 
centenary of the fall of Moscow. “It is well to be reminded by these 
facts, when differences of opinion as to the necessity of isolated and 
temporary acts of policy, in countries where England and Russia find 
themselves face to face with Oriental anarchy, seem to have blinded 
many good-hearted but wrong-headed people, as to the many incal¬ 
culable services which Russia has rendered to mankind. In this book 
we see war at its worst, war uncontrolled by rules and regulations. 
War nowadays, despite occasional outbursts of panic-roused savagery 
in the ranks of the Italian invaders of Tripoli, is a comparatively humane 
operation. The proceedings of armies in the field are confined in their 
ever narrower and narrower limits. Almost everything that Napoleon’s 
Grand Army did, excepting when actually engaged in active combat, 
now lies under the ban of all the civilized governments of the world. 
And to whom is it that we owe this great advance? We owe it not to 
humanitarian England nor to chivalrous France. We owe it first and 
foremost of all to that much abused and much maligned Russia which 
in 1874 summoned a Brussels Conference to define the laws of war, and 
which in 1889 and 1907 carried out the same noble mission at the con¬ 
ferences of the Hague.” 
275 
Probably the very day that this magazine reaches you will be the 
one hundredth anniversary of that frightful retreat of Napoleon’s army 
from Moscow, October 23rd, 1812. And it is fitting that we mention 
the book that so marvelously describes the horrors of war and that 
terrible campaign which led to Napoleon’s downfall. 
You remember how tired you were after Christmas last year. You 
remember what a relief it was to have the holidays over with and to 
be relieved of the tension and worry incidental to the season. Yet at 
this moment you are planning for Christmas with the same enthusiasm 
and the same joyful anticipation that you have always felt during the 
month or so preceding the holidays. 
You are beginning to plan the various little remembrances for your 
friends, and it is just on this account that we wish to suggest that you 
go to your bookseller and ask him to let you see Leona Dalrymple’s 
joyous story of Yuletide, “Uncle Noah’s Christmas Inspiration.” This 
is a book that is good to read any time, so that you will miss nothing 
by reading it now. Then you may make up a list of the people to whom 
you will wish to give copies. The author has embodied the very spirit 
of Christmas cheer, and the book is one which the recipient will doubly 
appreciate, not only for the fact that you have remembered him or her 
but for the delight the story will afford. 
Miss Dalrymple will be remembered by a host of readers as the 
author of the charming novel with the Italian setting, “Traumerei.” 
If you want to make a friend for life, send him the December 
House & Garden. If you want to make one for eternity, make him 
a present of a subscription. The holiday issue breaks all records. 
There is something about Christmas that the most matter-of-fact of 
us would be terribly disappointed to see depart. We have an advan¬ 
tage in being infused with this spirit, and feel that the essence of 
Christmas is packed in our sumptuous December number. We are 
getting so excited we can’t be absolutely quiet about it. We want to 
whisper something about it to you. No, it’s to be a surprise; we can 
only just give you a hint, a suggestion of all it contains. We do this 
that you may give others the advantage of getting House & Garden. 
First, there is to be a story of a country Christmas. We have spoken 
of Miss Dalrymple above. She is the author. And it’s such a fine story 
with the snow and the sleighing and the fun beside a great Yule log. 
But that’s as much as we can tell you. The tale brings back Father 
Christmas with the words of the old carol: 
“Any man or woman . . . that can give any knowledge, or tell any 
tidings, of an old, old, very old graybearded gentleman called Christmas, 
who was wont to be a verie familiar ghest, and visite all sorts of people 
both pore and rich, . . . and had ringing feasts and jollitie in all 
places . . . for his coming . . . whosoever can tel what is be¬ 
come of him, or where he may be found, let them bring him back again!” 
And even at Christmas there is some unpleasantness—the rush shop¬ 
ping. But it is so unnecessary. The greatest part of this season is 
making others happy, so that you would not wish to abolish the giving 
of gifts. Someone we know is so familiar with the track through the 
great stores of this city that we have urged her to guide us in our 
Christmas shopping. We thought that the gifts that last, that are 
beautiful to help make the home livable, would be the ideal Christmas 
gift for House & Garden readers. Mrs. Coe has given us the benefit 
of her experience by giving us a long and valuable list of the prettiest 
things one can buy and that are not too expensive. New York is the 
market place of the world’s goods, and this will enable you, wherever 
you are, to have the selection of the world’s products. 
What would you say to having a window box garden all the year 
round; one that would last through winter and summer and bring 
cheerfulness, whatever the weather? Mr. Rockwell has discovered a 
sequence of plants and a new construction of a window box that accom¬ 
plished this. 
At last we have found a man who has mastered the science of 
attracting the birds. He is no Piper of Hameln, but he has discovered 
ways that appear to be magic, and in reality are simplicity themselves. 
He believes that it is part of one’s life to make friends with the wild 
things about us, and he tells how to do it. Did you know that there 
were many birds who stayed about the house during the winter and 
that some of them died in the severe weather, unless cared for? Mr. 
Cleaves tells the best way to look after them; it’s not difficult, and it’s 
such fun. Certain trees and shrubs will make your neighborhood 
tuneful with the birds; the author has discovered what they are. He 
also gives an interesting, compact little key to make you familiar with 
whatever feathered visitors you may have. 
These are some of the things, and each page that you turn, we are 
sure, will make you call out with delight, for all that the artist, photog¬ 
rapher and author could do to make the magazine beautiful has been 
accomplished. How to take advantage of outdoor life is here, also 
just the best means for making indoor life attractive. This issue will 
prepare you for a winter of delight. 
