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Illinois! Illinois! |
The Turbulent Years: Civil War-1914 |
432. EBEL, CAMILLE LAYER.
The Land of Plenty, [by] Camille Layer Ebel. New York, Washington [and] Hollywood: Vantage Press, [1960.] 283p.433. EDDY,ARTHUR JEROME, 1859-1920.Nita Kucer's story is, in a large sense, representative of thousands of Czech immigrants who came to America following the Civil War. Arriving in Chicago with her parents in 1865, three-year-old Nita quickly adapts to the language and culture of the new country, while her parents struggle to reconcile present with past. Covering the years 1865 to the Spanish American War, The Land of Plenty is a panoramic history of the city including such events as the Chicago fire and the World's Columbian Exposition, as well as the day-to-day activities of the heroine, her family, and friends. The characters are generally one-dimensional, and historic events often receive only token treatment, but a basic view of Czech mores and folkways and the Czechs' problems of assimilation demonstrate somewhat the Czech contribution to the conglomerate of manners and modes which make up American culture.
434. EGGLESTON, GEORGE CARY, 1839-1911.Ganton & Co.; A Story of Chicago Commercial and Social Life, by Arthur Jerome Eddy. Author of "Tales of a Small Town," "Recollections and Impressions of Whistler," etc. Illustrated by Thomas Fogarty. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1908. 415p.
Ganton and Company is by far the biggest business in the Chicago stockyards, and John Ganton, Sr. is the man who has made it all that it is. Manipulating for profit is second nature for him, whether through payoffs to union leaders or by quiet stock market maneuvers, so he is shocked when some of his plans backfire and result in the death of a young friend. Even more upsetting is the news that his son Will, who is expected to inherit the business, has become engaged to the daughter of a long-time enemy. In Ganton & Co., romance, social life, and business tactics at the turn of the century are described in a style typical of the times.
Book Review Digest, 1908, p. 108-9.
A Captain in the Ranks, A Romance of Affairs, by George Cary Eggleston. Author of "Dorothy South," "Running the River," Etc. With Frontispiece by Charles D. Williams. New York: A. S. Barnes & Co., MDCCCCIV. 337p.435. ELLIS, EDWARD SYLVESTER, 1840-1916.Finding himself poverty-stricken following the Civil War, Captain Guilford Duncan, a volunteer in the Confederate Army, heads north and west to seek his fortune. He chooses Cairo, Illinois, as a likely place to begin. He settles there, becomes a private in the ranks of labor, and begins to build a reputation for honesty hard work, and loyalty. Duncan's reward for diligence is success, both in business and in love. He impresses Captain Will Hallam, a shipping magnate under whose guidance and tutelage he begins to rise in the business world, and he woos and weds Barbara Verne, the fairest of Cairo's eligible maidens. Guilford Duncan is a character of Horatio Alger vintage, whose super abundance of fine qualities and total devotion to duty may confound rather than impress the modern reader. Also, the author's failure to mention specific events, places, or people in Cairo's history indicates that he knew little about that of which he was writing. Still, for entertainment, A Captain in the Ranks is an exciting, action-packed story which will hold most readers to the end.
Critic, 5/1905, p. 478. N. Y. Times Book Review, 11/5/1904, p. 750.
The Chicago Drummer's Deal; or, Detective Skid's Diamond Haul, by J. G. Bethune, [pseud.] Author of "The Third Man," "The Eye of Hercules," "The Cipher 'F'," Etc. New York: Published Weekly by Beadle and Adams; No. 98 William Street, June 27, 1893. 16p. (Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 831)436. EMERSON, ELIZABETH HOLADAY.After Jo and Dick Hyler are murdered in separate unsuccessful attempts at stealing $150,000 worth of diamonds from them, detective Felix Skidmore is commissioned to deliver the jewels to Chicago by train. Considerable action ensues on Skid's travels through the wilds of Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois with the diamonds, and on his return trip with the culprit.
The Garnered Sheaves, by Elizabeth H. Emerson. Decorations by Joseph W. Hopkins. New York, London [and] Toronto: Longmans, Green and Co., 1948. 264p.437. EMERSON, ELIZABETH HOLADAY.A sequel toThe Good Crop, The Garnered Sheaves continues the story of the Rees family of Vermilion County, Illinois, focusing on Sibyl, daughter of William Rees, who figures in the author's previous novel. Born of devout Quaker stock, Sibyl is dedicated to the church in her infancy, but as she grows into adulthood, she feels no call to the ministry. It is only after several years of married life and the births of her four children that Sibyl feels the need for spiritual fulfillment and honors the promise made for her by her parents. The Garnered Sheaves is a warm, sincere story based on the life of the author's own great aunt, capturing well the small-town atmosphere of downstate Illinois in the 1890s and early 1900s.
Book Review Digest, 1948, p. 247.
The Good Crop, by Elizabeth H. Emerson. Decorations by Joseph W. Hopkins. New York, London [and] Toronto: Longmans, Green and Co., [1946.] 297p.438. FAIRBANK, JANET AYER, 1878-1951.See No. 129.
The Bright Land, by Janet Ayer Fairbank... Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company; The Riverside Press Cambridge, [1932.] 525p.439. FAIRBANK, JANET AYER, 1878-1951.See No. 131.
In Town, & Other Conversations, by Janet Ayer Fairbank. Pictures by Rebecca Kruttschnitt; Cover Design by J. O. Smith. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1910. 222p.440. FAIRBANK, JANET AYER, 1878-1951.The drawing room of Mrs. Fletcher's Chicago town house is the scene for most of the conversations recorded in this volume. The major participants are Mrs. Fletcher, a widow; Mrs. Vane, her mother; Mr. Alexander, a broker; and Mr. Webber, a writer. The twenty-one conversations are on subjects ranging from the weather to socialism, with love, womanhood, and husbands also being major concerns. The style is archaic and the conversations are affected, but the opinions are representative of Chicago's upper-class society during the early twentieth century.
CONTENTS: In Town.--Success.--The Pursuit of Pleasure.--Civilization.--Young Love.--Debutantes.--The American Husband.--Woman and Superwoman.--Children.--The Gentler Sex.--Modern Fiction.--Conversation.--Playwriting.--Spring Fever.--The House Party.--Bores.--The Horse Show.--Memorial Day.--Country Life.--The First Robin.--Socialism.
Book Review Digest, 1910, p. 128.
441. FAIRBANK, JANET AYER, 1878-1951.Rich Man, Poor Man, [by] Janet Ayer Fairbank. Boston [and] New York: Houghton Mifflin Company; The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1936. 626p.
A sequel to The Smiths, Rich Man, Poor Man concerns Hendricks Cortlandt Smith, Jr., grandson of Ann and Peter whose story is told in the earlier novel. Hendricks returns to his Chicago home in 1912, following his graduation from Harvard, to find the city in turmoil over the impending Republican National Convention to be held there. Quarreling bitterly with his father over the attributes of the two major Republican contenders, William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt, Hendricks becomes a staunch Roosevelt supporter, joins the Progressive Party, and begins working for Roosevelt's election. During the pre-convention campaigning, Hendricks meets and marries Barbara Jackson, an ardent worker for Roosevelt, women's suffrage, and prohibition, who considers the cause always secondary in importance to the crusade. When the shouting dies, the marriage begins to falter. Another campaign, business trips, World War I, and the couple gradually grow apart, while Hendricks adjusts to the solitary life. Janet Ayer Fairbank re-creates the years from 1912 to 1929 in minute detail, describing a vital, growing Chicago and youthful, expanding nation in equally glowing terms.
Book Review Digest, 1936, p. 323-4.
The Smiths, by Janet A. Fairbank. Author of The Cortlandts of Washington Square. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Publishers, [1925.] 433p.442. FAST, HOWARD MELVIN, 1914-Ann is descended from the wealthy Cortlandt family of New York, Peter is an iron worker with ambitions. Despite family opposition and personal differences, the two marry and begin their life together in Chicago during the Civil War. As the war grinds to a halt, Peter borrows money to start a foundry which serves him long and well as a basis for building the fortune he desires. The Smiths prosper, bear children, bicker, make up, adjust, and grow old together. In the course of their story, the author also tells the story of Chicago--the war, the fire, financial panic, strikes--thus removing the book from the category of pleasant but forgettable love stories, and making it a valuable social commentary on the last half of the nineteenth century.
Book Review Digest, 1925, p. 2145.
443. FEARING, LILLIAN BLANCHE, 1863-1901.The American; A Middle Western Legend, by Howard Fast. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, [1946.] 337p.
The life of John Peter Altgeld, twenty-second governor of Illinois, supplies the basis for this readable, accurate, and thorough, although somewhat biased biographical novel. The son of an illiterate German immigrant, John Peter Altgeld shows, at an early age, the determination and strength of character that influence his rise to power, but he is seriously handicapped by his lack of education. Overcoming this obstacle, he becomes a teacher, then a tramp, a day laborer, and finally a railroad construction worker before studying law and beginning his rise to the Supreme Court and governorship of Illinois. Famous for his controversial actions in the wake of the Haymarket Riot and the Pullman Strike, Altgeld is portrayed by Fast as a latter-day Lincoln, championing the cause of the laboring and the poor. Obviously an admirer of Altgeld, Fast has captured both the majesty of the man's accomplishments and the tragedy of his early life, in spite of limited information and a vast array of published material expressing anti-Altgeld sentiment.
Book Review Digest, 1946, p. 259-60.
Roberta, A Novel by Blanche Fearing. Author of "The Sleeping World," "In the City by the Lake," Etc.... Chicago: Charles H. Kerr & Company; 175 Monroe Street, 1895. 424p.444. FELTS, JAMES, 1904-Expounding on the premise that destiny shapes character, Blanche Fearing exposes her heroine to an unrelenting series of misfortunes before the creative process is complete. The death of her father compels Roberta Green to seek employment in Chicago's garment district. This marks the beginning of her troubles for the drudgery of factory work soon takes its toll and Roberta is hospitalized, separated from her family, befriended by swindlers, serves a jail term, has a baby, commits murder--the tribulations are endless. Through it all Roberta moves stoically clinging to her principles and serving her fellow human beings with kindness and understanding until at length she is rescued from her fate by a kindly, loving gentleman who claims her for his own. Roberta is sentimental to the point of nausea but contains some pertinent and revealing facts concerning the injustices of the early courts, the poor quality or total lack of legal counsel for the poor, and the manipulation of the law to suit the purposes of the rich and influential.
Chautauquan, 2/1896, p. 639. Picayune, 3/30/1896, p. 8.
445. FENTON, WALTER.The Wampus Cat of Screech Owl Holler, by James K. Felts, Sr. Monticello, Illinois: Smoking Tree Press; 118 East William, [1976.] 193p.
Combining fact and fiction in a manner that is sometimes confusing, sometimes repetitious, but always a means of fascination to the folklore and local history buff, The Wampus Cat of Screech Owl Holler focuses on the summer of 1912, and the activities of two Chicago teenagers on their uncle's farm near Johnston City, in Williamson County. Descriptions of such country pastimes as fishing trips, family dinners, a flirtation with a visitor on the neighboring farm, and Sunday church socials are liberally interspersed with a tale of the Wampus Cat, Aunt Lucinda Smith's claim of buried gold on the farm and a cryptic letter identifying its location, and a wealth of other local history. Julia, one of the summer visitors, is gathering information for a term paper to be written in the fall, thus giving rise to lengthy discussions of the division of loyalties that exist during the Civil War, the Bloody Vendetta that is a direct result, and the activities of the Knights of the Golden Circle and the Ku Klux Klan; as well as later history including the mine strikes and the Shelton-Birger gang war of the 1920s, all of which combine to give Williamson County the stigmatic title Bloody Williamson. Mr. Felts' book is a casual history with some inaccuracies and some biased interpretations, but despite its faults, it is a valuable addition to southern Illinois literature for it chronicles the events of an era which native southern Illinoisans wish to forget, and those from outside the area choose to ignore.
Southern Illinoisan, 10/31/1976, p. 3.
Old Neversleep, the Government Detective, by Walter Fenton. Author of "McDonald the Man Tracker," "Masked Safe Blowers," "In the Clouds Oeith [sic] a Maniac," "Astray in Africa," "Sleuth-Hound Tom," "Fireman Dick," "Locomotive Bill," "Firebugs of Chicago," etc. etc. New York: Frank Tousey, Publisher; 34 and 36 North Moore Street, November 21, 1885. 30p. (The New York Detective Library, No. 155)446. FERBER, EDNA, 1887-1968.Old Neversleep and his assistants, Nell Blake and Cy Cling, are in Chicago hot on the trail of a printing plate recently stolen from the United States Treasury Department by a counterfeiting ring which is making maximum use of the plate and the bogus $10 bills which they are producing from it. Complicating the case is the apparent involvement of Madeline Montave, daughter of Chicago civic leader, Judge Montave; and Frank Burdan, a promising young detective. Several Chicago landmarks are described as the plot moves to its logical conclusion involving the breaking up of the counterfeiting ring, the recovery of the plate, the clearing of the Montave and Burdan names, and the consummation of a couple of incidental love affairs with which the author toys throughout the novel.
Buttered Side Down, Stories by Edna Ferber. Author of "Dawn O'Hara." With Frontispiece in Color by R. Ford Harper, and Other Illustrations in Black-and-White by Thomas Fogarty and Irma Deremeaux. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, Publishers, [1912.] 230p.447. FERBER, EDNA, 1887-1968.The breadwinners of Edna Ferber's Buttered Side Down are a varied lot, with scant similarity of presence or purpose. Yet, the few characteristics they have in common--most are female; most are businesswomen or clerks--give continuity to twelve otherwise unrelated short stories. Similar to O. Henry characters, Edna Ferber's heroines are sincere, human creations who can cry for no apparent reason, change their minds at a moment's notice, hold an impetuous admirer at bay with a word, or rip away the external facade to bare their souls to a willing listener. They are flippant, efficient, sad, understanding, devoted, amusing--in short, they are composites of every trait that goes to make up woman. Eight of the twelve stories, "The Frog and the Puddle," "What She Wore," "A Bush League Hero," "One of the Old Girls," "Maymeys from Cuba," "That Home-Town Feeling," "The Homely Heroine," and "Where the Car Turns at 18th," are set in, or concerned with, Chicago.
CONTENTS: The Frog and the Puddle.--The Man Who Came Back.--What She Wore.--A Bush League Hero.--The Kitchen Side of the Door.--One of the Old Girls.--Maymeys from Cuba.--The Leading Lady.--That Home-Town Feeling.--The Homely Heroine.--Sun Dried.--Where the Car Turns at 18th.
Book Review Digest, 1912, p. 147.
Cheerful by Request, by Edna Ferber. Author of "Dawn O'Hara," "Buttered Side Down," "Roast Beef Medium," "Fanny Herself." Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1918. 366p.448. FERBER, EDNA, 1887-1968.These twelve short stories, reprinted from the Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, and Metropolitan, are typical Ferber. Everyday folks coping with their problems, ambitions, and disappointments in the manner that seems most logical to them, these heroes and heroines are funny, melancholy, bold, or passive as propriety demands. They are natural, genuinely human individuals with whom all but the hardest heart can identify. "The Gay Old Dog," "The Eldest," "The Girl Who Went Right," and "The Three of Them," are set in Chicago. "Shore Leave" is set in Chicago and Waukegan.
CONTENTS: Cheerful by Request.--The Gay Old Dog.--The Tough Guy.--The Eldest.--That's Marriage.--The Woman Who Tried to Be Good.--The Girl Who Went Right.--The Hooker-Up-the-Back.--The Guiding Miss Gowd.--Sophy-As-She-Might-Have-Been.--The Three of Them.--Shore Leave.
Book Review Digest, 1918, p. 151-2.
449. FERBER, EDNA, 1887-1968.The Girls, by Edna Ferber. Garden City, N[ew] Y[ork] and Toronto: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1921. 374p.
Three generations of spinsters are represented in this character study in triplicate: great-aunt Charlotte is seventy-four, Lottie, her niece, is thirty-two; and Charley, her grand-niece, is eighteen. The story stretches back to catch each girl's history, each girl's fleeting experience with love, and each girl's personal rebellion against the constraints of propriety. Lakefront and south side Chicago scenes emphasizing the Civil War and First World War eras add historical interest to one of Ms. Ferber's less popular novels.
Book Review Digest, 1921, p. 137.
450. FERBER, EDNA, 1887-1968.One Basket, Thirty-One Short Stories by Edna Ferber. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1947. 581p.
Thirty-one short stories in chronological order by date of original publication are representative of the career and development of Edna Ferber as a writer. Ten of the thirty-one have Illinois settings: "The Gay Old Dog," "Farmer in the Dell," "Long Distance," "Old Man Minick," "The Afternoon of a Faun," "Old Lady Mandle," "Home Girl," "The Sudden Sixties," "Mother Knows Best," and "Blue Blood."
CONTENTS: The Woman Who Tried to be Good.--The Gay Old Dog.--That's Marriage.--Farmer in the Dell.--Un Morso Doo Pang.--Long Distance.--The Maternal Feminine.--Old Man Minick.--The Afternoon of a Faun.--Old Lady Mandle.--Gigolo.--Home Girl.--The Sudden Sixties.--Classified.--Holiday.--Our Very Best People.--Mother Knows Best.--Every Other Thursday.--Blue Blood.--Hey! Taxi!--The Light Touch.--They Brought Their Women.--Glamour.--Keep It Holy.--Blue Glasses.--Trees Die at the Top.--Nobody's in Town.--No Room at the Inn.--You're Not the Type.--Grandma Isn't Playing.--The Barn Cuts off the View.
Book Review Digest, 1947 p, 298.
451. FERBER, EDNA, 1887-1968.Show Boat, by Edna Ferber. Garden City, N[ew] Y[ork:] Published by Doubleday, Page & Co., Copyright, 1926. 398p.
Show Boat is the story of Magnolia Ravenal, daughter of Captain Andy Hawks of the Cotton Blossom Floating Palace Theatre, and wife of Gaylord Ravenal, a professional gambler. Magnolia stars in the Cotton Blossom's productions of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Lady Audley's Secret, and many other classics of the stage, as the colorful vessel steams up and down the Mississippi and Ohio rivers stopping in Natchez, Cairo, Cape Girardeau, Paducah, St. Louis, and dozens of other river towns for one-night-stands and sometimes longer engagements. But Magnolia hesitates not an instant to give up her career and comfortable existence to follow her husband into the world of the gambler, where luck rules supreme, and tonight's winner can be a pauper by dawn. Edna Ferber has painted a panoramic view of the river and river towns from New Orleans to St. Paul. In addition, she has captured all the passion and drama of Chicago's old South Clark Street, commonly known as Gambler's Alley during the 1890s and early 1900s, and the teeming excitement of New York's Broadway during the 1920s.
Book Review Digest, 1926, p. 230.
452. FIELD, EUGENE, 1850-1895.So Big, by Edna Ferber. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1924. 360p.
Selina Peake, the daughter of a professional gambler, has no permanent home, but likes Chicago better than any of the other places her father's activities take them. After he is killed in a Chicago gambling house, Selina considers her alternatives and decides to become a school teacher. So Big is the story of Selina Peake's first year of teaching in High Prairie, Illinois, a community of Dutch truck gardeners near Chicago; of her marriage to Pervus DeJong, an illiterate farmer from High Prairie; and of their son Dirk, who provides Selina with the opportunity to return to the comfortable life of her beloved Chicago, but offers little else beyond the physical comforts that money can buy. So Big is beautiful, thought-provoking, strong, touching, and memorable--a masterpiece in every respect. So Big won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1925.
Book Review Digest, 1924, p. 195.
453. FIELD, ROSWELL MARTIN, 1851-1919.The House; An Episode in the Lives of Reuben Baker, Astronomer, and of his Wife Alice, by Eugene Field. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1896. 268p.
For the first twenty years of their married life, Reuben Baker, an incurable romantic, and Alice, the immovable realist to whom he is legally fettered, dream of owning their own little home. Reuben is content to continue dreaming, but the ever practical Alice wants action. A rash of all-too-real acts on Alice's part transports the two into full ownership of an enormous old farm house on Chicago's north shore, with all the rights and privileges thereto appertaining. As the two remodel the house to fit their needs, Reuben delineates in full detail the agonies, exquisite and otherwise, which accompany land tenancy. The House is incomplete as a novel, since Eugene Field died suddenly before he had written the final chapters. Yet, the novel is developed to the point that its theme is apparent. and the reader feels that he can anticipate Field's conclusion by the mood of the beginning chapters. The subtle, tongue-in-cheek humor which pervades the work makes The House a joy to read in spite of its deficiency.
Picayune, 4/27/1896, p. 10. Sewanee Review, 1/1897, p. 153.
The Bondage of Ballinger, by Roswell Field. Chicago: Fleming T. H. Revell Company, MCMIII. 214p.454. FIELDS, JONATHAN.See No. 132.
The Memoirs of Dunstan Barr, by Jonathan Fields. New York: Coward-McCann, Inc., [1959.] 382p.455. FINLEY, MARTHA, 1828-1909.Each of the Barr children is born on the family's rural Illinois homestead; and each in turn abandons the farm for other interests, except for Dunstan who realizes early that he belongs to the land. It is he who marries a local girl and remains on the homestead to till the soil of his ancestors. It is he who purchases his sisters' shares of the land when their parents die, so that the homestead will remain intact. It is he who rescues the family bank when it is threatened with closure. It is he who becomes undisputed head of the Barr clan on the death of his father in 1895. The Memoirs of Dunstan Barr is a long family chronicle filled with minute detail. Many will find it laborious reading. Others who have an affinity for the prairies of the middle west will find it brimful of memories from the 1890s to 1930s.
Book Review Digest, 1959, p. 358.
456. FITCH, GEORGE HELGESON, 1877-1915.Elsie at the World's Fair, by Martha Finley. Author of "The Elsie Books," "The Mildred Books," "Wanted, A Pedigree," Etc., Etc. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, Publishers, [1894.] 259p.
Elsie Dinsmore, now a loving, matronly grandmother, accompanies family and friends on an extended yachting excursion from their southern plantation homes to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Arriving in the harbor of Chicago on July 2, they are in time to witness the great Independence Day celebration, which serves as a fitting start to a summer of fun and adventure in the White City. Elsie at the World's Fair is reminiscent of a travelogue, with descriptions of grounds, buildings, and exhibits, liberally sprinkled with historical data, and given continuity by fictionalized trivia concerning the Dinsmores, Travillas, and others who find their ways onto the good yacht, Dolphin. The climax of the tour and the novel is the marriage of Annis Keith and Ronald Lilburn aboard the yacht. The author gives an adequate view of the World's Fair of 1893, although not as thorough as might be found elsewhere. Unfortunately, the novel is seriously hampered by the saccharine sweetness of the characters, the stilted dialogue, and the slight plot.
457. FITCH, GEORGE HELGESON, 1877-1915At Good Old Siwash, by George Fitch. Illustrated. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911. 309p.
Eleven amusing stories which first appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in 1910 and 1911, recall the team spirit, the college pride, and the camaraderie of college life in the good old days. Old Siwash is an exaggerated, abbreviated, and somewhat rearranged version of Knox College at Galesburg, the author's alma mater.
CONTENTS: Ole Skjarsen's First Touchdown.--Initiating Ole.--When Greek Meets Grouch.--A Funeral That Flashed in the Pan.--Colleges While You Wait.--The Greek Double Cross.--Taking Pace from Father Time--Frapped Football.--Cupid.--That Old College Chum.--Votes from Women.--Sic Transit Gloria All America.
Book Review Digest, 1911, p. 155.
458. FITCH, GEORGE HELGESON, 1877-1915.The Big Strike at Siwash, by George Fitch. Illustrated by Frank Crerie and May Wilson Preston. New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, MCMIX. 56p.
Recruiting and building a football team from the roughest of raw materials is Coach Bost's special talent; therefore, no one at old Siwash College is surprised when a trip to the north woods of Wisconsin produces Siwash's all time star fullback. Ole Skjarsen stands six feet six and is built like a bull, with a brain to match; but he takes to football as a fish takes to water. With Ole on the team, Siwash bulldozes Millerburg, Muggledorfer, Kiowa, Hopkinville, and Minneapolis for three straight years. Then Ole goes on strike. The reason: he has not been rushed by a fraternity. Efforts to rectify the situation prove futile, and team spirits wane as the game with Kiowa approaches. When the fateful day arrives and the score mounts to 27-0 with Siwash down, all seems lost. Then onto the field bursts Ole Skjarsen in full uniform, wearing the colors of--not one fraternity, but three. The Big Strike at Siwash is a reprint of a story which originally appeared in the Saturday Evening Post. Although the author freely adapts the setting to suit his purposes, Siwash College is generally believed to be patterned after Knox College in Galesburg, the author's alma mater.
N. Y. Times Book Review, 11/6/1909, p. 689.
Homeburg Memories, by George Fitch. Author of "At Good Old Siwash," "Sizing Up Uncle Sam," Etc. With Illustrations by Irma Deremeaux. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1915. 302p.459. FITCH, GEORGE HELGESON, 1877-1915.Twelve chatty sketches compare Homeburg, a small town within commuting distance of Chicago, with metropolitan New York. When the narrator visits an old friend and former Homeburgian now living in New York City, the two spend most of their time reminiscing about life in the old home-town. Topics ranging from trains to Christmas come under their careful scrutiny, and the two eventually conclude that New York is quite similar to Homeburg, only on a grander scale.
CONTENTS: The 4:11 Train.--The Friendly Fire-Fiend.--Homeburg's Two Four-Hundredths.--The Servant Question in Homeburg.--Homeburg's Leisure Class.--Homeburg's Worst Enemy.--The Homeburg Weekly Democrat.--The Homeburg Marine Band.--The Auto Game in Homeburg.--The Homeburg Telephone Exchange.--A Homeburg School Election.--Christmas at Homeburg.
Book Review Digest, 1915, p. 162.
460. FLAVIN, MARTIN, 1883-1967.Petey Simmons at Siwash, by George Fitch. Author of "At Good Old Siwash," "Homeburg Memories," etc. Illustrated by G. C. Widney. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1916. 245p.
Eight short stories loosely connected by a common central character, relate episodes from one phase of Petey Simmons' life while at old Siwash College. Starting with his initiation into Eta Bita Pie fraternity, the first seven stories tell of Petey's total devotion to frat life. In the eighth and final episode, Petey discovers love and Martha Scroggs, quickly equates the two, and gives them a slight edge over all previous interests. Petey Simmons is a turn-of-the-century version of Every-Student, and Siwash could be Any-College. Yet, the setting and events are reflective of Knox College and Fitch's years as a student there.
CONTENTS: Frats and Freshman.--Saving a Brother.--Formality at Siwash.--Cured by Suggestion.--Runaway Oratory.--The Wonderful Grabbenheim.--Kettles and Bells.--Love and English History.
Book Review Digest, 1916, p. 182-3.
Journey in the Dark, by Martin Flavin. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, [1943.] 432p.461. FLINN, JOHN JOSEPH, 1851-1929.From a small Iowa town to Chicago and back again to Iowa, with brief stopovers in New York and a World War I army camp, Sam Braden's life is a nostalgic excursion proving that happiness does not automatically accompany a rags-to-riches story. While Sam is no hero--his business tactics can be ruthless--many readers will understand his youthful yearnings for one particular girl, and will recognize a familiar American theme as Sam looks for satisfaction in financial success, but finds it in service. Frequent references to contemporary events and a war-time emphasis on patriotic duty add historical dimensions. Spanning the years from the 1870s to the 1940s, this romantic novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944.
Book Review Digest, 1943, p. 268.
The Mysterious Disappearance of Helen St. Vincent; A Story of the Vanished City, by John J. Flinn. Illustrated. Chicago: Geo[rge] K. Hazlitt & Co., Publishers, 1895. 304p.462. FLOWER, ELLIOTT, 1863-1920.Helen St. Vincent, a writer and artist of considerable merit whose works are being exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition, falls in love with Edmund Powers while on an extended visit to Chicago and the fair, but refuses to marry him because she is betrothed to another. When a series of unfortunate coincidences reflect adversely on her character, Powers attempts to aid her, but becomes hopelessly embroiled in plot and counterplot, until he trusts the integrity of no one. Mistaken identity, a bogus marriage, innuendo, withholding of information, and a near fatal case of ennui are devices employed by the author to create suspense. Unfortunately they are employed much too often and in a much too heavy-handed manner to be effective. On the other hand, descriptions of Chicago and the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 are meticulously executed and filled with exacting detail.
The Best Policy, by Elliott Flower. Author of "The Spoilsmen," "Policeman Flynn," etc.. etc. Illustrated by George Brehm. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Publishers, [1905.] 268p.463. FLOWER, ELLIOTT, 1863-1920.Twelve short stories, given continuity by the figure of Dave Murray who appears throughout, describe aspects of the insurance business. The stories are set in Chicago around the turn of the century.
CONTENTS: An Incidental Comedy.--An Incidental Tragedy.--An Incidental Speculation.--An Incidental Favor.--An Incidental Error.--An Incidental Failure.--An Incidental Scheme.--An Incidental Courtship.--An Incidental Sacrifice.--An Incidental Discovery.--An Incidental Grievance.
Book Review Digest, 1905, p. 121.
Policeman Flynn, by Elliott Flower. With Illustrations by Frederic Dorr Steele. New York: The Century Co., 1902. 294p.464. FLOWER, ELLIOTT, 1863-1920.Patrolman Barney Flynn of the Chicago Police Force is everyman's idea of what a policeman ought to be. He is honest, resourceful, conscientious, and practical. To be sure, he makes fewer arrests than his fellow policemen, saying that "'T is a nuisance to be dhraggin' ye-er man to th' station an' thin be afther gettin' into coort th' nex' day to prosy-cute him. Sind him home whin ye can ... 'T is easy done if he have money in his pocket to pay f'r th' cab." But his Irish temper rises when faced with adversity, as in the case of two boys who harass him and flaunt their lawlessness before the court. When the judge decides to give them another chance rather than start them on their downward path, "Sta-art thim down by sindin' thim up, " becomes Policeman Flynn's motto, and eventually he is able to catch the two with stolen goods and get a conviction. Based on the career of Andrew Rowan of the Chicago Police Department's Central Detail, Policeman Flynn is the story of an officer with a touch of compassion, a feeling for humanity, and a ready wit. Although distinctly reminiscent of Finley Peter Dunne's Mr. Dooley, Officer Flynn is a delightful individual in his own right, who not only philosophizes as well as his saloon keeper counterpart, but manages to live by his homespun practical philosophy.
Dial, 6/1/1902, p. 390. Literary World, 6/1/1902, p. 91. Nation, 3/27/1902, p. 258.
Slaves of Success, by Elliott Flower. Author of "The Spoilsmen," "Delightful Dodd," etc. Illustrated by Jay Hambidge. Boston: L. C. Page & Company, MCMV. 304p.465. FLOWER, ELLIOTT, 1863-1920.Eight related short stories set in Illinois around 1900 reveal the workings of practical politics at the city, county, and state levels.
CONTENTS: The Necessary Vote.--The Reformer Reformed.--A Mortgage on a Man.--The Slavery of a Boss.--A Strategical Defeat.--A Favour for a Friend.--Azro Craig's Awakening.--The Cupidity of Carroll.
Book Review Digest, 1905, p. 121.
The Spoilsmen, by Elliott Flower. Author of "Policeman Flynn," Etc. Boston: L. C. Page & Company, Publishers, [1903.] 324p.466. FORAN, MARTIN AMBROSE, 1844-1921.Chicago's wards eight and twenty-four are the focal points for this novel of political maneuverings. Although quite opposite in profile--eight is the stronghold of the working man and the political machine; twenty-four is the home of wealth and reform--the two wards become the targets of a similar type of chicanery at the hand of Chicago's political machine. Joe Mason, an easygoing conservative, and Harold Darnell, a charming progressive, are handpicked by the city's boss for their prospective pliability, and become prime contenders for the post of alderman in their respective wards. When the nominations are won, however, each man displays a determination and self-will which defies machine operation. Based on the actual experiences of men in public service, as stated in the Forward, The Spoilsmen gives an authentic account of Chicago politics around 1900.
Athenaeum, 7/9/1904, p. 43. Independent, 8/27/1903, p. 2059. Literary World, 4/1903, p. 74-5. Nation, 4/30/1903, p. 358-9.
The Other Side, A Social Study Based on Fact, by M. A. Foran... Cleveland, Ohio: Ingham, Clarke & Co., Booksellers; Washington, D. C.: Gray & Clarkson, Printers and Publishers, 1886. 461p.467. FRENCH, ALICE, 1850-1934.When Richard Arbyght becomes a cooper in a Chicago meat-packing plant, he is made painfully aware of the poor wages, irregular pay, long hours, and deplorable working conditions of the common laborer, and of the exorbitant prices and dishonest practices of the company store. Aroused to action, he organizes his fellow workers and leads them in a strike against the company. His spirits buoyed by success, Richard begins his own company based on his theories of profit sharing, after the strike is settled. Written to expose the inhumane practices of the factory owner and to extol the advantages of profit sharing, The Other Side consists of almost equal parts social commentary, economic theory, and fictional human interest.
The Heart of Toil, by Octave Thanet [pseud.] Illustrated by A. B. Frost. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1898. 215p.468. FRIEDMAN, ISAAC KAHN, 1870-1931.Strikes and labor relations from the point of view of the laborer are the chief topics of the six short stories comprising this volume. "The Moment of Clear Vision," and "The Scab" are set in Illinois.
CONTENTS: The Non-Combatant.--The Way of an Election.--The Moment of Clear Vision.--Johnny's Job.--The "Scab".--The Conscience of a Business Man.
Athenaeum, 8/5/1899, p. 189. Independent, 11/3/1898, p. 1276. Literary World, 11/26/1898, p. 401. Nation, 12/8/1898, p. 432-3. N. Y. Times Book Review, 10/22/1898, p. 700. Saturday Review, 9/16/1899, p. 523-4.
The Autobiography of a Beggar; Prefaced by Some of the Humorous Adventures & Incidents related in The Beggars' Club, by I. K. Friedman. With Eighteen Illustrations by W. Glackens. Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1903. 350p.469. FRIEDMAN, ISAAC KAHN, 1870-1931.An anthropologist encountered at the Chicago Public Library encourages Mollbuzzer of the Beggars' Club to write his autobiography for the sum of $25. After 128 pages of Club background and introductions to each of the major characters, Mollbuzzer begins a delightful narrative of fun and foolishness, liberally seasoned with social commentary and philosophy. Existing from day-to-day is the major concern of the beggar. But Mollbuzzer and his friends Sam the Scribe, Foxy Basket, Hungry Henry, Blind Bill, and a host of others, meet the challenge with more confidence and aplomb than any millionaire. Mollbuzzer's experiences at the public library are a riot; his scheme to steal an old maid's Persian cat is sheer madness; and his adventures with the Honoluler King and Queen at the circus border on the hysterical. Yet, underlying the fun in the story is the abject poverty of the beggar and his willingness to lie to, steal from, cheat, or con anyone, friend or stranger, in the ruthless game he calls life.
Literary World, 6/1903, p. 139. N. Y. Times Book Review, 5/30/1903, p. 375.
470. FRIEDMAN, ISAAC KAHN, 1870-1931.By Bread Alone, A Novel by I. K. Friedman. Author of "The Lucky Number" & "Poor People". New York: McClure, Phillips & Co., MCMI. 481p.
By Bread Alone is an early proletarian novel built around the activities of Blair Carrhart, a minister turned factory worker, who organizes and leads a strike against the North-Western Rolling Mills, owned by his fiancee's father. Troubled by strike breakers who make unity impossible and by anarchists who advocate violence and subversion, the strikers accomplish little; but Carrhart, recognizing his own leadership potential, determines to move on to bigger stakes by running for the Senate, where he can work openly for his beliefs. The incidents which form the basis for Friedman's book actually took place at the Carnegie Steel Mills of Homestead, Pennsylvania, in 1892, although he chose a Chicago setting for his novel. A confirmed Socialist, Friedman was born wealthy, and his writings reflect the contempt, pity, and gross sentimentality with which the rich often view the poor.
Athenaeum, 4 /26/1902, p. 526. Bookman (London), 6/1902, p. 109. Critic, 3/1902, p. 281. Dial, 6/1/1902, p. 388. Independent, 3/27/1902, p. 754. Literary World, 1/1/1902, p. 8. N. Y. Times Book Review, 11/23/1901, p. 873.
471. FRIEDMAN, ISAAC KAHN, 1870-1931.The Lucky Number, by I. K. Friedman. Chicago: Way and Williams, 1896. 217p.
Ten short stories immortalize the derelicts, criminals, and unfortunates who inhabit the Chicago slums in the 1890s. Occasional characters appear in more than one story since the stories are given continuity by a common setting.
CONTENTS: Chauvinism at Devereux's.--Rouge et Noir.--A Monger of Ballads.--A Coat of One Color.--A Pair of Eyes.--The Magic Herb.--The Return.--The Flight of a Night-Hawk.--A Fair Exchange.--Aaron Pivansky's Picture.
Bookman (NY), 1/1897, p. 468. Critic, 3/27/1897, p. 219. Dial, 1/1/1897, p. 24. Independent, 1/14/1897, p. 57. Literary World, 2/20/1897, p. 58.
Poor People, A Novel by I. K. Friedman. Author of "The Lucky Number." Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company; The Riverside Press, Cambridge. 1900, 244p.472. FRIEDMAN, ISAAC KAHN, 1870-1931.Friedman's commentary on the plight of the Chicago tenement dweller of the 1890s is a romanticized rendering of the situation, overlooking much of the sordidness, depravity, and hopelessness which these structures harbor behind their often respectable facades. Poor People is the story of the inhabitants of such a tenement. There is Herr Vogel, the woodcarver who can't control his craving for alcohol; Ann Nielson, the cleaning woman who dreams of sunny climes; Malachy, the saloon keeper who worries about the effects of his business on his patrons; Jan Zwiefka, the cobbler who abandons his craft to become a faith healer; and others, each with a story to tell. But Poor People specifically concerns Ida Wilson and Adolph Vogel, star-crossed lovers who struggle, persevere, and eventually win a better life for themselves through hard work and faith. The story is old-fashioned by today's standards, but the qualities of humor, tenderness, love, and understanding so permeate the novel that its faults can be easily forgotten.
Critic, 7/1900, p. 86. Independent, 4/12/1900, p. 896. Nation, 4/19/1900, p. 304. N. Y. Times Book Review, 3/24/1900, p. 181.
The Radical, by I. K. Friedman. Author of "By Bread Alone." New York: D. Appleton and Company, MCMVII. 362p.473. FRIERMOOD, ELISABETH HAMILTON, 1903-Bruce McAllister's rise from butcher's delivery boy to United States Senator is neither spectacular nor phenomenal, but calculated and sure. The champion of the poor from whence he comes, McAllister beats out his moneyed opposition in a race for alderman of his Chicago ward, then begins working his way, rung-by-rung, up the political ladder, never stopping until he has reached Washington. Devious campaign methods, political chicanery in office, and a less-than-perfect private life reinforce the readers' views of our nation's politicians, and illustrate the political process which has undergone little change since The Radical was written in 1907. Unfortunately, Friedman's writing style often seems strained and confused, indicating a need for drastic editing and rewriting in many areas.
Book Review Digest, 1907, p. 147.
Focus the Bright Land, [by] Elisabeth Hamilton Friermood. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., [1967.] 238p.474. FUESSLE, NEWTON AUGUSTUS, 1883-1924.Seventeen-year-old Victoria Bodkin finds adventure and romance and achieves family recognition during the summer of 1881, as she travels with her brothers on a photography expedition through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Invited on the tour for her cooking, laundering, and general domestic abilities, Vicky soon proves herself the most imaginative photographer of the group. The obvious high quality of her photographs and an offer from the Atlantic Stereoscopic Company to buy some of the picture sets win Vicky the esteem of her brothers and her professional photographer father. Focus the Bright Land gives a panoramic view of the land and people of America's middle west during 1881. The writing sometimes becomes sentimental and the incidents predictable, but the well-developed characters and background will attract and hold the attention of the teen-aged reader and the devotee of light romance.
Book Review Digest, 1968, p. 457-8.
The Flail, by Newton A. Fuessle. New York: Moffat, Yard & Company, 1919. 328p.475. FUESSLE, NEWTON AUGUSTUS, 1883-1924.Throughout his youth and manhood, Rudolph Dohman hates his German ancestry, but hates even more the traits within himself that mark him as undeniably of German lineage. Determined to become Americanized, he shuns his immigrant parents and studies carefully the traits of his fellow students, his co-workers, and his wife, attempting to learn their ways. He is generally unsuccessful at suppressing the ruthlessness, arrogance, and passions which he considers his German birthright, until his actions drive his beloved wife, Emily, to the brink of disaster. Published soon after World War I, The Flail mirrors the anti-Aryan sentiment which prevailed throughout the United States from the World War I era through World War II. The Chicago scene from 1894 to 1918 is well drawn and the story is believable until the reader arrives at the too-pat conclusion which rather offends the intelligence of the thoughtful.
Book Review Digest, 1919, p. 186-7.
Gold Shod, by Newton Fuessle. Author of "The Flail." New York: Boni and Liveright, Publishers, [1921.] 243p.476. FULLER, HENRY BLAKE, 1857-1929.The conflicts of art versus business are made strikingly apparent to three generations of Glindens who suppress their creative urges for the security of a profession. The first, Anton Glinden, might have been a composer and musician of some renown had he not given in to the pressures from his wife to take up medicine. Seeking to save his son Ames from a similar fate, Anton encounters trickery and determination on the part of his wife, and Ames becomes a businessman despite his desire to write. Fielding, the third generation, likewise goes into business, but makes his fortune and retires to devote himself entirely to his art, only to find that the gift of creativity is gone. Gold Shod is a captivating drama contrasting man's desires with the world's harsh reality, played out largely amid the opposing societies of Chicago's business world and Bohemian artistic circles.
Book Review Digest, 1921, p. 152-3.
The Cliff-Dwellers, A Novel by Henry B. Fuller. Illustrated by T. DeThulstrup. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1893. 324p.477. FULLER, HENRY BLAKE, 1857-1929.Within the confines of Chicago's Clifton Building, hundreds of people live, work, and act out the dramas of daily existence. The Cliff-Dwellers is the story of a select group of these--Erastus Brainard, president of the Underground National Bank; George Ogden, bank clerk who embezzles funds to further his wife's ambitions; Abbie Brainard, the banker's daughter who loves Ogden; Cecilia Ingles, envied social leader and wife of the Clifton Building's owner, and numerous others whose wealth or ambitions lead them to disaster. The first successful writer to depict the pressures and social aspects of life in a teeming metropolis, Fuller analyzes, with deftness and precision, a large cast of characters reacting to a limited environment.
Atlantic, 4/1894, p. 555-7. Chautauquan, 12/1893, p. 381-2. Critic, 10/7/1893, p. 221. Dial, 10/16/1893, p. 227-8. Literary World, 9/23/1893, p. 309-10.
On the Stairs, by Henry B. Fuller. Author of "Lines Long and Short." Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company; The Riverside Press Cambridge, 1918. 265p.478. FULLER, HENRY BLAKE, 1857-1929.On the Stairs contrasts the lives of two men. Johnny McComas is practical, ambitious, and methodical. His rise in the business world to the presidency of the Mid-Continent National Bank seems predestined. Raymond Prince is idealistic, dreamy, and cultured. His economic failure seems as certain as Johnny McComas' success, for his interests are legion, but he does nothing well. From their student days at Grant's Private Academy through some forty years of their adult lives their dramas are acted before a splendid Chicago setting. Yet, Fuller is more interested in development of the human character than in the development of the city. While he has created a graphic view of Chicago society from 1873 to 1916, it comes as a by-product of his in-depth analyses of McComas and Prince, and sometimes lacks the perspective needed for a novel of this scope.
Book Review Digest, 1918, p. 167.
Under the Skylights, by Henry B. Fuller. Author of "The Chevalier of Pensieri-Vani," "The Cliff-Dwellers," Etc. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1901. 382p.479. FULLER, HENRY BLAKE, 1857-1929.Three novelettes concerning Chicago literary and cultural life make up this volume. The first, "The Downfall of Abner Joyce," is considered the best of the three, and has generated the most speculation and interest among critics. Scholars generally agree that the story is based on the life of the author Hamlin Garland, generously embued with the philosophy and interpretations of Fuller. The hero, Abner Joyce, is an idealistic young writer whose first novel is his key to acceptance in Chicago's literary circles. A champion of the forgotten farmer in his early efforts at writing, Abner uses his success as a means to gain the sophistication which displaces his native talent and interests and causes his decline as a writer. Dealing with a subject which is especially dear and quite familiar to the author, the story has been pronounced "...so good...that it could not possibly be better."
CONTENTS: The Downfall of Abner Joyce.--Little O'Grady vs. the Grindstone.--Dr. Gowdy and the Squash.
Critic, 4/1902, p. 345. Dial, 2/1/1902, p. 89-90. Nation, 3/20/1902, p. 232.
With the Procession, A Novel by Henry B. Fuller. Author of "The Cliff-Dwellers," Etc. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1895. 336p.480. FURNAS, MARTHEDITH, 1904-Social position, its achievement and retention, is the major concern of Henry B. Fuller in With the Procession. David Marshall makes his fortune in the wholesale grocery business, expanding to meet the needs of a growing Chicago during the economic boom of the 1870s and 1880s. He and his wife are simple folks who are satisfied with the everyday joys of family, work, friends, and faith. The three younger Marshall children are not so. Born into money, they grow up aspiring for social position. Yet, each seeks it in his own way. Truesdale, who looks with disdain on Chicago and the family business, spends most of his time avoiding both through travel. Jane devotes her fortune and energy to charity, that favorite toy of the aristocracy. Rosamund, the youngest, marries well. Under the increasing demands and pressures of the family to keep up with the procession, David dies leaving the business in dire straights, but the children are left wealthy and free to lead their own lives. Published two years after Fuller's more familiar The Cliff-Dwellers, With the Procession is generally considered the better novel. Probing deeply into the social backgrounds of Chicago's new rich, Fuller has created a sad, beautiful, satiric masterpiece which is too often overlooked by all but the scholar.
Atlantic, 10/1895, p. 555-6. Critic, 6/22/1895, p. 453-4. Dial, 7/1/1895, p. 18-9. Independent, 8/29/1895, p. 1170. Literary World, 5/18/1895, p 148-9.
The Night Is Coming, A Novel by Marthedith Furnas. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1939. 319p.The death of old Andy Buchanan following the panic of 1873 leaves his family with acres of worthless Illinois prairie, a few berry patches, and little more. Stella, Andy's redhaired, ambitious, and domineering daughter, assumes responsibility for family and land, developing the fruit farm into a productive asset, cheating her brothers and sisters of their inheritance when she realizes that the city is gradually expanding in their direction, and building her own financial empire at the expense of all who get into her way. In this, her first novel, the author has created a powerful and realistic story of a woman succeeding in a world traditionally considered the male domain. The story is engrossing and believable, and Stella commands the respect and approval of her audience despite her unscrupulous business practices.
Book Review Digest, 1939, p. 354.
