155. Prophets of the Soul: the Pioneers of Life. (1915.) Dr. Lester L. West. Sermons, like editorials and addresses and quantities of other good literature, are not included in these outlines even when published in book form. Here is an exception. One Christmas some friends of Dr. West brought out a volume of his sermons,—five of them—under this title. They are the work of a poetic mind, choice in literary finish and with a strong spiritual appeal.
156. Story of a Mother-love. (1913.) Annette Fitch-Brewer. This tells a remarkable experience. When Mr. and Mrs. Brewer were divorced the court gave the custody of their one child to the father. The mother fought, not the divorce, but for a share at least in the care of her boy. While he was spending a few days with her she fled. For five years she evaded the father's efforts to trace them while he spent large sums in detective work posting photographs of the two all over the country as "fugitives from justice." Finally the arm of the law reached her, living in a little village under an assumed name. The law took the boy from his mother and in her loneliness she wrote this book. It is the experience of a bright observer who wandered thousands of miles with all her senses on the alert.
157. That Something. (1914.) William Witherspoon Woodbridge. A progressive form of mental science put in a new and original style. The writer believes in himself. What is rarer, he is teaching other people to believe in themselves. The book has met with great results. The publisher reports sales to every state in the union but three and a larger sale than any book ever published west of Chicago.
158. Skooting Skyward. (1912.) An earlier book by the same writer met with moderate success, perhaps because of the atrocious Josh Billings spelling which should have been buried with its originator.
159. War or Peace. (1911.) Hiram Martin Chittenden. A philosophical treatment of the theme. A splendidly optimistic, logical and sane chapter is on "the future hope."
160. Ye Towne Gossip. (1914.) Kenneth C. Beaton. A sparkling book, the first publication in book form by "K. C. B." He made a wide acquaintance by fourteen years of newspaper work in the state. Then in the daily Post-Intelligencer developed this form which gave him fame. Many readers turned first each morning to his column on the third page to see what "K. C. B." had to say. That little morning story was always an appeal to the heart, sometimes as a fountain of tears, sometimes as a wellspring of joy. A friend writes of him "He is a temperamental freak in that he is an emotional Britisher and is not the least bit ashamed of his emotions."
OTHER WRITERS
Throughout the state are men and women whose pens have brought them distinction though their names have not appeared on the back of a book. Some are contributors, occasional or regular, to periodical literature. Some are regular staff-writers. The three we name first are on the P.-I.