The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine (June 1913): Vol. LXXXVI. New Series: Vol. LXIV. May to October, 1913

In Short

This volume of The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine gathers diverse reportage, political history, critical commentary, and serialized fiction from the summer of 1913. Across its pages, contributors examine the nuances of child-rearing in Japan, inspect monastic simplicity in Italy, trace the high-stakes drama of the Vanderbilt Cup auto race, debate the contested 1876 American presidential election, and document wild elephant captures in Ceylon. It endures as a vivid, multi-faceted portrait of a globalized era on the precipice of massive geopolitical change.

The Story

The volume opens in the quiet, isolated sanctuaries of traditional culture and nature before shifting into the high-friction machinery of human enterprise. In Japan, infant life unfolds as a sequence of protective religious rituals, wrapping the child in sacred amulets before elevating him to a position of royal authority within the household. Across the globe, an American traveler steps into the barren refectory of a Venetian monastery, encountering monks who live entirely free from modern anxieties, completely unbothered by wireless telegraphy or flying machines.

The narrative quickly moves from spiritual quietude to the fierce arena of competitive speed and modern engineering. In a dramatic automotive account, a young driver named Stevenson climbs into a white ninety-horsepower racing car under the tutelage of his passionate French mentor, Lescault. Amid choking blue smoke, roaring steel, and a countdown to the start of the Vanderbilt Cup, Stevenson hurls his machine down the track at seventy-five miles per hour to outpace his bitter rival, Giron.

From the roar of engines, the scene turns toward quiet travel and wilderness expeditions. A journey through Greece reveals the serene olive groves of Krissa—where camels still plow the fields—before ascending into the cold, mysterious heights of Delphi. In the dense jungles of Ceylon, hunters execute a perilous kraal to capture wild elephants. Tame beasts lure the frantic herd into a gateway, where young tuskers fight their ropes in anguished despair, and a majestic matriarch finally surrenders to the heavy wooden yoke of domestic labor.

The collection then examines political and historical power struggles. Through the diplomatic correspondence of John Quincy Adams written from St. Petersburg, readers witness the catastrophic 1812 retreat of Napoleon’s army through the brutal Russian winter, where "General Famine and General Frost" decimate the French forces. This historical reflection bridges into American political history, as former politicians debate the backroom dealings and alleged corruption surrounding the disputed Hayes-Tilden presidential contest of 1876.

The volume's literary selections mirror these themes of stubborn pride and social evolution. In George W. Cable’s southern tale, an old Creole landholder lets ancestral pride blind him to practical trades, while in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s serialized novel T. Tembarom, a blunt American heir in England navigates high-society customs, guided by his valet into proper attire so he can escort his companion, Miss Alicia, to London and church. Finally, severe editorial essays call out modern political extravagance, condemning a "two-billion-dollar Congress" for wasteful, log-rolling appropriations that threaten democratic simplicity.

How It Unfolds

Sacred routines and quiet cells A Japanese infant receives paper amulets to ward off evil spirits before assuming complete domestic rule over his devoted family. Meanwhile, a traveler in the Venetian lagoons discovers a tiny order of eight monks living on bread, fish, and prayer, blissfully detached from modern inventions.

The roar of the Vanderbilt Mechanics and drivers prepare thirty smoking, fire-belching automobiles on a choked racetrack. Lescault sends his apprentice Stevenson into the fray with strict instructions to maintain a seventy-five-mile-per-hour pace to shatter his rival’s confidence on the very first lap.

Shadows of antiquity and wilderness Travelers traverse the silent, ancient olive orchards of Krissa on their way to the ominous heights of Delphi. Deep in Ceylon, beaters and tame elephants force a wild herd into a stockade, where a proud matriarch succumbs to captivity after a night of mournful roaring.

Diplomacy amidst freezing retreat Letters from John Quincy Adams detail the total destruction of Napoleon's invading force in late 1812, describing eight hundred miles of snow-covered road strewn with artillery and dying soldiers. In Washington, political veterans exchange sharp rebuttals over the backroom compromises that settled the 1876 election.

High society and civic duty In the serial fiction, the unrefined heir Tembarom accepts proper wardrobe choices from his valet to fit into English country life and escort Miss Alicia to church. The volume concludes with stern editorials denouncing congressional profligacy and the invasion of personal privacy by news outlets.

The People

• Brother Leo and the Superior: The youngest member of a tiny, eight-man Venetian monastery, orphan Leo knows nothing of the outside world; his wise blue-eyed Superior weighs whether a visiting stranger might be an answer to two years of prayer regarding the young monk's future.
• Jean Lescault and Stevenson: Lescault is a broken-bodied French veteran who has transmitted his complete racing skill to his fiery young protégé, Stevenson, whom he drives to victory over their rival Giron in a cloud of oil and flame.
• John Quincy Adams: The precise, observant American diplomat in St. Petersburg who watches the collapse of Napoleon's empire, cataloging the catastrophic human cost of the French army's retreat through the Russian winter.
• T. Tembarom: A candid, well-meaning American heir suddenly thrust into traditional English estate life, who relies on his valet Pearson to dress him appropriately so he can bring joy to the modest Miss Alicia without embarrassing her.

In Its Own Voice

"The numerous rites necessary to a fair start on life’s highway have been conscientiously performed, the watchful care of the spirits invoked."

The reporter describes the delicate, ritualized start of a child's life in Japan, where faith and family adoration merge seamlessly.

"Thirty engines were roaring, their steel throats belching. Flame and smoke burst from them. A clamor of machinery smote the ear."

The author captures the sensory overload of early motor racing as high-powered cars idle on the starting line of the Vanderbilt Cup.

"To complete his disasters, the Season itself during the greatest part of his Retreat has been unusually rigorous even for this Northern Climate."

John Quincy Adams analyzes the devastating collapse of Napoleon's army as frost and famine overtook the French troops in 1812.

What It's Really About

At its core, the volume investigates the tension between static tradition and relentless modern progress. Whether observing a isolated monastery untouched by the telephone, an ancient Sri Lankan fortress, or a southern plantation owner clinging to ancestral land, the authors continually return to what is lost when speed and efficiency overrun older ways of living. On the other side, pieces on high-speed motor racing, political maneuvering, and congressional spending illustrate a society accelerating out of control. The issue asks how individuals and nations can maintain personal integrity, spiritual depth, and financial discipline when surrounded by the roaring machinery of a new century.

Why Read It Today

This issue of The Century offers an authentic, unvarnished window into the mindset of educated readers just before World War I redefined the global order. It feels like stepping into a bustling period salon where art, wilderness travel, political scandal, and industrial triumph sit side by side. Readers who enjoy rich historical detail, vintage travel writing, and forgotten political debates will find the collection fascinating.

The reading experience presents a few period-typical hurdles. The prose style is occasionally dense and ornate, featuring long sentences, localized dialect in the fiction, and unexamined colonial attitudes regarding non-Western cultures. Furthermore, the political essays presuppose a familiarity with 19th-century American legislative history that may require modern readers to slow down. Yet these friction points are precisely what make the text so rewarding: it does not repackage history for modern tastes, but instead delivers the genuine texture, language, and conflicting ideals of 1913 directly to the page.