would take few chances in betting on Cleveland. General Washington, however, was President only two terms, General Grant could not do more, and Mr. Cleveland will hardly break the record of his illustrious predecessors. In any case it is of little moment as to the Democratic nominee. It is to the Republican aspirants that the most interest attaches. Governor Morton's fainting fit on Decoration Day in New York, it is feared removed him from the field. Governor McKinley encountered a cold wave lately in his own State. Tom Reed is as mum as a clam, and Allison, Sherman, and the rest of the perennial candidates, have not even begun to take themselves seriously. General Harrison seems to be the one and only candidate that is active and willing. He has retired from the practice of law and is gracefully allowing himself to be seen at swell dinnerparties in New York and "close communion" political chin chins. About so much anxiety is expected of a presidential candidate but as the situation stands today, General Harrison need give himself no uneasiness. The Republican West would feel better satisfied if General Harrison would clearly define his position on several of the burning questions of the day. The tariff agitation is a back number. I think no candidate will be so bold as to attempt its resurrection. The country has had a severe lesson and is willing to let good enough alone. The silver question, the Nicaragua Canal, harbor defenses, arid lands, and the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, are a few of the issues in which the Pacific Coast is vitally interested. How does General Harrison stand in regard to them? The country is willing to trust Harrison on his past record, but they would be thankful for some newer public utterance. A Correction. TO THE Editor of the OVERLAND: My attention has been called to a error in my article on the Committee of Vigilance of 1856, which should be corrected. On page 537 of the November issue of the OVERLAND, Isay "Ed Bulger et al were arrested," etc., then on page 626 of the December number, it is stated, "On July 24th, Martin Bulger returned." How "Martin" came to be used in place of Ed, I am at a loss to understand, as I know it was not Martin, as shown. Let it be my error or not, it is but proper to make the correction, and had it met my eye sooner, it would at once have received attention. Yours truly, Almarin B. Paul. The Ascent of Shasta, UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, Editor Overland Monthly: I was much interested in the article "Pathfinding up Shasta," which appears in your issue for May, 1895, and would be much obliged if I can correct a few statements, and get the facts started right once again. With Tom Watson, each taking a saddle mule,-"Croppie" and "Dynamite,"- we made the ascent to the summit, Sept. 10, 1883, by what is now known as the "Stewart trail,” named after Ed. D. Stewart, who was a member of the party, and whom I intended to take with me instead of Watson, but I was obliged to send Stewart with the mail to Berryvale P. O. (Sisson). Stewart crossed Kon-wak-i-ton Cañon, signifying Mud Creek, in the Wintun language,- and made his way by the route since taken by other parties and Mr. Meredith. I will state also that I was in charge of a topographical party of the U. S. Geological Survey, and some of the party before and afterwards made the ascent on foot by the "Stewart trail," for the purposes of our work. By tacking along and avoiding any rushing of the speed of our animals, we rode all the way to the foot of the cliff beyond the "Lunch Rock,” which is at about 13,000 feet altitude. We were fresh as when we started and the animals were in good shape. This cliff, of about 200 feet in height, presents the only real obstacle to animals in the ascent, but there is a chute, up and through which by a little patience the animals were easily taken. We were on foot, and kept going up to a good landing the length of the lariat, then at the word the mules would scramble up after us. My mule "Dynamite," was a very sure-footed animal, but very determined to take his time, so Watson went ahead, and at a little distance to avoid the rolling of loose stones. When the cliff was surmounted, and after a good "blow," without any apparent mercy to the mules, we took to the saddle and rode around to the hot springs at the base of the apex. I found Watson there, who had been to the top with "Croppie.” One of our party, Mr. Wm. B. Hester, who went up to make barometric observations the same day, and who had passed me upon his return, told me he had seen Watson with the mule at the signal. So except for the name of it, I was satisfied that a saddle-animal had been taken to the signal. However. I scrambled up the slope, followed by the faithful "Dynamite," who without any hesitation walked the thin spur leading to the signal, and to it he was tied while I entered the record among the inscriptions. We returned to camp without any accident, taking a more direct route, and half sliding nearly all the way, which from the signal took only three hours, a descent of seven thousand feet. If any one desires to repeat such an enterprise, take Stewart with you, if your animals are green in scrambling work among rocks, give them a good shoeing with sharp shoes and then a little practice, and remember that you have to learn to be patient, "don't rush," and keep moving. The eastern side of Mount Shasta is very beautiful and interesting, and a party can find a great deal of interest and delight in the deep cañons, waterfalls, and glaciers. Several days can be profitably occupied before the ascent is attempted. Gilbert Thompson. General James F. Curtis. SINCE General Curtis, who figures prominently in the article on the Coeur d'Aléne labor troubles, has been made the subject of bitter attacks, political and otherwise, for his activity in that matter, it seems proper to add to the facts mentioned by Lieutenant French the following biographical notes: General Curtis was born in Boston, in 1825. He left there for California in the year 1848, and has resided upon the Pacific Coast most of the time since. His ancestors since 1635 have been distinguished in the history of New England. His father held a commission in the U. S. Navy during the war of 1812, and participated in many of the sea fights of that period. He was a lieutenant on the frigate Constitution in her action with the British ships Cyane and Levant and was attached to the frigate Chesapeake at the time of her action with the British frigate Shannon. In the early times of California, General Curtis took a prominent part. We find him operating the steamboat Tehama in 1851, between San Francisco and Stockton; mining in Calaveras County, and merchandising in San Francisco. He was a prominent member of the Vigilance Committee of 1853 and 1856. Was captain of a light battery then known as First California Guards. He then served two years Chief of Police of San Francisco. In 1859, as Captain of a company of volunteer cavalry, he made a vigorous and successful campaign under the leadership of the famous Colonel Jack Hays, against the Piute Indians of Nevada. On the breaking out of the Rebellion he recruited a regiment of Californians and was appointed its major. In 1864 he was promoted to the colonelcy of the Fourth Regiment, California Volunteer Infantry, and commanded that regiment till the close of the war. This regiment saw much service, its field of operation being from Colville, Washington, on the north, to Arizona and the Mexican line on the extreme south, and included various engagements with the Spokane Indians, the Piutes, the Humboldts and Apaches. In all these affairs his conduct was approved by his commanding officers. During the war period there was a strong disloyal element in southern California and southern Oregon, and General Curtis received the written encomiums of his superior officers for the able manner in which he handled this element. In 1865, he was commissioned by President Johnson Brigadier-General by brevet, for faithful and meritorious services during the war. In 1880, he visited Europe in the employ of the Hinkley Locomotive Company of Boston, and spent some time studying the improved system of manufacturing locomotives in that country. In 1885, he came to Idaho in the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad Company to examine and survey possible routes for the extension of their system. He reported a route by the way of the Malheur River and Harney Valley, through Beckwith's Pass to Sacramento. He also surveyed a road up the Weiser River to the Seven Devils country. In the spring of 1887 he selected the route of the Boise and Nampa branch, and under his management this road was completed and opened in the fall of that year. General Curtis is a member of Phil. Sheridan Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Loyal Legion of the United States, California Commandery. In politics General Curtis has always been a Republican, having cast his first vote for General John C. Frémont in 1856. It will be seen that he has always been loyal and untiring in the discharge of duty, even in the hardest service; and this feature of his character has enabled him to achieve marked success in the management of affairs in the North, and at the same time has exposed him to the fire of unscrupulous enemies, who object to having duty performed and the law enforced. The Completed Standard Dictionary.' IT IS not a modest name that Messrs. Funk & Wagnalls chose for their Dictionary. With so many dictionaries in the field, and two such notable recent ones as the Century and the International, it was a pretty bold thing to put out a new one at all, and a still bolder to call it the Standard Dictionary. But when the first volume was published last year, nobody of all the thousands of reviewers was found to quarrel with the name, and still less will there be, now that the whole work is in hand. For it is too evident to be questioned that the publishers were prepared to back up the name they had chosen by an expenditure of time, and thought, and money, so lavish that it may fairly be claimed that the result is as nearly perfect as human skill and knowledge can make it in these closing years of the nineteenth century. Nearly a million dollars was spent before a single copy was put on the market, and 247 specialists and 500 readers were employed on the work. It is not too much to say that this corps contained the best scholarship that America and the English speaking world can muster. To read their names and the department assigned to each is in general to learn who is the most eminent man in that subject. Volume One has been in daily use in this office for a year, and has during that time weaned the editorial force from all other dictionaries. The subject of Western words was given to Mr. H. H. Bancroft, and the completeness and accuracy with which he has endowed it in that department makes the book the first requisite for the literary man on the Pacific Slope. The two volume scheme is most satisfactory. The book is not so large as to be clumsy, and 1Standard Dictionary of the English Language. Funk & Wagnalls: New York: 1995. ΠΟ yet no time is lost in picking out the required volume from a number. He will be a bold man indeed that shall for many years to come undertake to make a better dictionary. Hittell's Book on the Papacy.2 THIS is a strong indictment of an institution which has become part of the working force of the world today. Mr. Hittell has brought together with infinite pains all the evil that has come with the long struggle of Rome, first to secure political power and then to retain it. He wisely and most properly, not being a theologian, leaves the theological question alone, and in this he sets an excellent example by which many another writer on the Papacy might profit. His quarrel seems to be the old one of politics. He does not spare the lash nor mince his words. With many of his statements it is likely that many Roman Catholics will agree, for they are not blind to the wrongs done under the name of religion; with other of his statements, not they alone but many thinking Protestants will seriously disagree. The author claims that he is not so much antiCatholic as he is anti-Papist, and there certainly is some difference between the terms. The Ultramontanes are in the ascendancy, but they certainly are not the true spokesmen and representatives of the whole of that great Church. The liberal Catholic is a person who has to be reckoned with; Mr. Hittell would seem to point to him as the only possible hope of the Roman Church. It is well that we dwell in a free country, else the author might be hastened to that unwelcome abode where without doubt every Papist who 2The Papacy. By John S. Hittell. San Francisco: 1895 shall take up this book will readily and heartily consign him. Mr. Hittell is one of ourselves, and through a long course of years has been known for his charity. He has certainly placed a heavy strain upon that virtue. The thought naturally arises, Cui bono? Such a tirade does not affect Rome. She is well used to it. It can but help to inflame the passion of many who, unlike the gifted author, cannot separate the political from the spiritual. And yet, one useful end this book may serve. It is a perfect compendium of all the historical objections to Rome and her interference with worldly things: in one volume we have what hitherto took a wide range of reading to gather together. To the local A. P. A. alike as to the Y. M. I., it should prove interesting; to the one bringing much needed scholarship to the aid of stern fact, to the other throwing down a definite challenge which the learned men amongst the order should not be slow to take up. A useful and suggestive appendix brings a remarkably readable book of unadorned facts to a close. Ebers's Cleopatra.1 THE eminent historical novelist, Georg Ebers, has woven a romance out of the lives of Cleopatra and Antony that is as remarkable as it is surprising. Were the author not the greatest Egyptologist of his day, one would hardly take his portrayal of the character of Cleopatra seriously. The world knows the Egyptian Queen as Shakspere presents her and as history portrays her, not as a devoted wife, mother, and ruler. Ebers does not deny her love of show and dress, or her unparalleled extravagance, but he excuses it all on the plea that she was best pleasing her subjects in so doing. He does not, however, in this novel always agree in his estimate of Cleopatra with his historical and descriptive account of Egypt that was brought out some years ago under the title of "Picturesque Egypt." Cleopatra may have been patriotic, intellectual, and capable of deep love for her children, but the verdict of the world is against her and the record of her life is not one that leaves much chance for the student to come to any more charitable conclusion. The story as a story is hardly equal in interest to "Uarda," or "An Egyptian Princess," still like them, it reveals a perfect familiarity with the manner and life of the times, and is valuable as a side light on history. Cleopatra. By Georg Ebers. New York: D. Appleton and Company: 1894. Two vols., $1 each. Ebers's work in any form will always repay the reading, and while one may not always agree with his conclusions one cannot help but feel benefited. The translation of Cleopatra from the German has been admirably done by Mary J. Safford. Briefer Notice. Golf in America by James P. Lee, is a practical manual of what to most Americans is a new game, but which in England is fast taking its place beside cricket as a national game. The author talks of the origin of the game, tracing it to Scotland in 1864, and carrying its history down through England to the formation of the United States Golf Association. He then discusses its advantages and drawbacks, explains its technical terms, and has some advice to beginners. The book is well illustrated and printed, and cannot but be of value to all golfers and those desiring to learn. Mr. Frank Sands is the author of a charmingly written and well printed little book on Santa Barbara entitled Santa Barbara at a Glance3 which is "a compendium of reliable information for citizens, sojourners, and strangers." Mr. Sands discusses in a popular style "Santa Barbara as a Summer Resort," "The Flower Festival," and answers "A Hundred Questions" relative to climate, land, and products. Besides the matter already mentioned there are several poems and a number of attractive half tones of the city and mission. It is a valuable work for residents and home seekers. Tan Pile Jim is a story for boys of a Yankee waif among the bluenoses of Nova Scotia. The tale is without merit or originality, even its descriptions of village life in Nova Scotia are barren of interest. The author in trying to write down to his readers makes the mistake of going far below the intelligence and appreciation of the average wide-awake boy of today. The conversation and remarks that are put in the mouth of Jim are vulgar rather than amusing. The publishers should have at least used the blue pencil freely before putting the story in type. Golf in America. By James P. Lee. Dodd, Mead & Co: New York: 1795. 3 Santa Barbara at a Glance. By Franks Sands. Santa Barbara, Cal.: 1895. 35C 4Tan Pile Jim. By B. Freeman Ashley. Laird & Lee. Chicago: 1894. Arthur McEwen's Letter which has within less than a year made an international reputation. announces in its issue of June 15th its discontinuance from lack of adequate support. This is a reflection on San Francisco and California. There is no style of writing that holds the interest of the reader like the feuilleton, when it is well done. Arthur McEwen is by far the strongest writer of his class on this Coast and one of the strongest in the world today. People will read whatever he writes as long as he writes, which in itself ought to be enough to make any paper Mr. Stewart Culin, the director of the Museum of Archæology of the University of Pennsylvania, whose work in this line is familiar to OVERLAND readers, is about to publish a work on Korean Games, with notes on the corresponding games of China and Japan. Mr. Frank Cushing of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington, will contribute a commentary. The book will be illustrated with numerous full-page colored illustrations after designs by Korean artists, and with text pictures in black and white from native Chinese and Japanese sketches. The Midland Monthly for June, '95, contains a charmingly written sketch by Mrs. Mary J. Reid, author of several literary articles in late numbers of the OVERLAND, on "Julia C. R. Dorr and Some of Her Poet Contemporaries." Other Books Received. Neighbor Jackwood. By J. T. Trowbridge, Boston: Lee & Shepard: 1895. For sale by William Doxey: $.50. The Blue and the Gray. By Oliver Optic. Ibid. 'Lisbeth Wilson. By Eliza Nelson Blair. Ibid. For sale by Whittaker & Ray Co. A Seventh Child. By John Strange Winter. J. Sewlyn Tait & Sons: Chicago: 1894. Melting Snows. By Prince Schoenaich-Carolath. Translated by Margaret Symonds. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co.: 1895. Cash vs. Coin. By Edward Wisner. Chicago: Charles H. Kerr & Co.: 1895. 25c. Letters of Celia Thaxter. Edited by A. F. & R. L. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co.: 1895. |