23 AUGUST 1902, Page 25

Tales of a Government Official. By Major Arthur Griffiths. (F.

V. White and Co. 6s.)—No one can say that Major Griffiths's stories are verbose. The writer goes straight to the point, and says what he has to say without circumlocution. But then they are certainly " scrappy." There are twenty-six, and they average just a little less than twelve pages—loosely printed pages, too—in length. They are incidents rather than tales. There is seldom anything like a plot or a surprise. Consequently, though there is a certain vigour of drawing and picturesqueness about them, there is also not a little monotony. A procession of criminals who attempt to swindle and fail is not very interesting, unless there is something unusual in the methods by which their evil intentions are devised or thwarted.