HOUSE AND GARDEN 
I June, 
1912 
E \’ERY reader of Travel for 
the past year has become 
lamiliar with the name of Albert 
B. Osborne, whose "Picture 
Towns of Europe" has been a 
feature of so many issues. Mr. 
Osborne is a lawyer by profes¬ 
sion and traveler by preference. 
He has, however, shown himself 
to be more than a dilettante, and 
we hope to have him as a regular 
contributor for a long time to 
come. He sails for England the 
latter part of June to gather 
material for a series of articles 
that will begin some time in the 
fall. 
In response to a request for 
some details about his life Mr. 
Osborne says: “Before I was old 
enough to know better I went into 
politics and was vice-president of 
a Democratic State Convention at eighteen and mayor 
of the City of Corry, Pa., at twenty-five, the youngest 
mayor in the country at that time. I was chairman of 
the State Convention that nominated Governor Patti- 
son as candidate the last time he ran for governor. In 
that same year, in 1902, I was foolish enough to run 
for Congress. 
"My special hobby is a little railroad in the Middle 
West, and after that travel comes, although music 
runs it a close race for second place. Indulging this 
fad for music I use the pianola, upon which I like to 
think I can play in a way to deceive the very elect.” 
It is not often that a scientist turns to fiction for 
recreation, but it is just this that Garret P. Serviss 
has done in his latest novel, "The Second Deluge.” 
With his knowledge of astronomy Mr. Serviss has 
been enabled to give this wonderful tale of the second 
destruction of the world by flood a plausibility at¬ 
tained by no other story of its kind. As a young man 
we know of expressed himself, "He has Jules Verne 
lashed to the mast.” 
Mr. Serviss claims no more for his novel than a 
fictional interest. A New Orleans newspaper, how¬ 
ever, recently published an editorial of nearly a 
■column to refute his theory of a second deluge. The gist of the edi¬ 
torial was that the next destruction of the world would be by fire and 
not by water, a belief which, .of course, is supported by biblical pro¬ 
phecy. The book contains a suggestion of humor that will be per¬ 
ceived by those who have a discerning eye. 
You can tell from the title of "Let's Make a Flower Garden” that 
the author, Hanna Rion, is full of cheery optimism. Mrs. Ver Beck, 
for that is her real name, wrote also “The Garden in the Wilderness.” 
Writing from her home in Bermuda, she says, “There doesn't seem 
to be anything of interest about 
me except my donkey," and pro¬ 
ceeds to tell a little story about 
"Gunja," pictured in last month's 
Office Lounge. 
"Such a great believer in al¬ 
lowances am I, I give even my 
jackass, Gunja, tuppence a week 
spending money. He is a spend¬ 
thrift, hence the limited allow¬ 
ance. As a rule, Gunja spends 
the entire tuppence on ginger 
snaps, for which he has inor¬ 
dinate appetite. After trying the 
ginger snaps of several stores, 
he decided upon a certain brand 
kept only by one grocer. Even 
when his tuppence has been spent 
he refuses to pass this grocery 
without our either advancing his 
next week's allowance or mag¬ 
nanimously treating him. 
“The wisdom and advisability of giving an allow¬ 
ance to one's jackass was particularly evidenced on 
one occasion. Gunja having thrown me out of the 
cart on the top of my head, proceeded to run a race 
with his own previous record. Several bystanders, 
bicyclists and policemen entered the race, too, but they 
were only referred to afterward as having "also ran." 
Llaving outdistanced everybody for some miles, 
Gunja neared his especial grocery. Immediately slow¬ 
ing up, he trotted sedately to the pavement, mounted 
the curb, and taking his cart with him, entered the 
wide door of the shop; then, walking up to the coun¬ 
ter, he politely brayed a request for tuppence worth 
of ginger snaps.” 
Lewis Gaston Leary's latest book, “Andorra, the 
Hidden Republic," is, so far as we have been able to 
ascertain, the first book on the subject in English. 
Andorra is the smallest republic in the world, for its 
population is only 6,000. The lowest peak of this 
mountainous land in France is 8,000 feet high, and its 
people share the rugged character of their country. 
For one thousand years they have been exempt from 
customs duties with France and Spain, and, taking ad¬ 
vantage of this, they buy Spanish cattle and keep them 
a little while in their own country—ostensibly to ease their conscience; 
they send them into France as Andorra cattle, thus avoiding payment 
of the tariff. Dr. Leary made a trip to Andorra last summer and 
studied the country and its people in preparation for this book. 
House and Garden simplified the homemaker's problem by telling 
him the kinds of architectural styles and their special requirements. 
This is now being done with gardens. If you are in doubt about the 
most fitting thing for your place, you must read this series. In July 
the subject will be "The Wild Garden.” 
Albert B. Osborne, author of “Pic¬ 
ture Towns of Europe,’’ was Mayor 
of Corry, Pa., when he was tzventy- 
Eve 
Some characteristic poses of Garrett P. Serviss, author of “The Second Deluge.” Mr. Serviss is well knozvn for his scientific zoritings, but he has won an enviable reputation 
as a novelist. The Albany Argus says, “Jules Verne was a Cradgrind compared to Serviss.” 
