Springfield weekly Republican. [volume], September 12, 1918, Page 8, Image 8

About Springfield weekly Republican. [volume] (Springfield, Mass.) 1851-1946

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8
BOOKS and AUTHORS
TWO DRAMAS BY BABBIE
OLD FRIENDS IN BOOK FORM
I
A GENUINE PLAY OF IDEAS
Katisction of "The Admirable;
Crichton”—"Quality Street”
, and Its Charm
If one had faith in astrology, one
would gladly search the heavens for
an explanation of the forces that made
1902 a great Barrie year in the thea
ter. In September he had "Quality
Street” produced in London at the
Vaudeville, and in November he had
."The Admirable Crichton” produced at
the Duke of York’s. The plays are
hardly of equal importance, but the
Reader will not make unnecessary dis
tinctions in welcoming them on their i
{present appearance in book form
‘(Scriblcr's; $1 each).
"Quality Street” has had a logger j
life in the playhouse and in that field i
»f “amateur” activity into which the
playhouse may perhaps be said to,
merge, though of connection between I
the two there is practically none.
“Quality Street” has the Barrie stamp,
^redolent, as always, of whim, humcr
and fragrant sentiment. It is a play
j«f atmosphere rather than of narra
tive or characters. Of this one will not
■complain, for if there are few charac
•tars that we can call studies, the
(author never fails to delight us with
fragments of characters, delicate ways
'•f looking at things, ingratiating
* [thoughts, which are all illuminative cf
■-puiman nature in its rarer or quainter
'aspects. For the theme, as has been
‘•aid. is “the desire of women to love
[tenderly and to be honorably loved in
t areturn.” particularly when that desire
bs manifested in “young spinsters
{verging or. an age when love seems
■la danger of passing them by.”
bWhen London first saw the play,
th its theme and Its period remind-
Mr Walkley, the Times's eminent
[critic, of Jane Austen. Mr Walkley
' (felt, however, that the characters
'•poke "too emphatically” the "delight
itully stilted language of Jane Aus
,tens period.” “There are.” he re
gnarked. “too many ‘ma'ams' and
■.•vastlys’ and ‘elegant females.’ . . .
Jana Austen would never have talked
«f ‘object lessons’ or of a lady being
(‘gown'd.’ To say ’This will be a great
pear for females’ and 'I long to daz
xle a male’ is to burlesque her style.”
.Still, in harping on Jane Austen. Mr
tWalkley assured us that he was pay-
Hag Barrie the greater compliment,
•ir.ce Barrie "gives us something very
Hike her delicate sampler work, her
MOmander fragrance." This is aptly
■and prettily said. And the play re
ftains the power, even m the reading,
[to move and amuse us, though we
&nay feel far from sure that Miss
[Phoebe would really have masquerad
f«d as “Miss Livy” and flirted —for
{there is no other word for it —with the
Reserved Mr Brown at the officers’
f When we think of the intervening
116 years since the fall of 1902. we
shall probably conclude that there
have been very few better plays than
“The Admirable Crichton." “The Ad
mirable Crichton” is a fantasy, which
delights us in the first instance by
the very profuseness of its originality.
Not that the type is entirely new.
When ‘The Admirable Crichton”
■was produced it reminded some
critics of a certain German play,
and others, whose reading was more
French than German, of certain
French plays and stories, not least
the “Contes Philosophlques" of Vol
taire. The debt of Barrie to W. S.
Gilbert was so obvious that apparent
ly it was overlooked. For that bril
liant and daring dramatist, in those
“dark” Victorian days that the
' young lions of yesterday could think
of only with a shudder of disgust and
contempt, was telling philosophical
atorles in dramatic form as uncon
eernedly as though the "drama of
Meas” were really an English inven
tion after all.
But Gilbert never invented any
thing quite like the “sociological”
survey of human society that
Barrie puts into the fascinating
acts of “The Admirable Crich
ton.” Everything here is observed with
subtlety and neatness. The minor
(strokes of wit have philosophic insight
ior humorous penetration into char
acter. What is rank? What is equal
flty? What would become of our ar-
Itlficial distinctions in a state of na
ture? With questions hardly less
.•earchlng and speculative than these
' ■the play deals, and anyone who reads
It cannot but feel that Barrie really
shas something to say on these ques
tions.
The play starts in the London
piouse of the earl of Loam, who once
s month, in sentimental pursuit of
■the ideal of "equality.” makes his
servants miserable by inviting them
into the drawing room. Crichton. the
butler, lives in a state of perfect sat
isfaction with the social hierarchy.
For him the distinctions are “natural.”
Jt is "natural” for earls to be earls
and servants to be servants. Even
among the servants, in that less
‘•plendid world below stairs, there are
■rigid distinctions of caste.
i In act 1 v.e have the representation '
of rank in civilization. In acts 2 and
8 we have, alas, a representation of ‘
rank in a state of Nature. L<' O r r nk
proves to be consonant with Nature.
And we see how it comes about,
-he earl’s family, yachting in the
■South seas, have been shipwrecked
on an island, and each person
.has been thrown on his own re
.•ources without the bolstering of
i social position. And what has hap
pened? Simply this: The butler, be
tlng the most "efficient'’ member of
‘the party, becomes the king. He it is
who has subdued the island wilds to
provide food for the party and has im
posed upon them the organization es
sential to their security. He is the
cn? man of the group able to "Io
things” with his hands and with his
head. Lord Loam, we are hardly
astonished to find, is now at the bot
tom of the scale. The rule, "No work
no dinner.” Crichton says, was not
v, li»zented by him: "he seemed to see
ill just growing on the island.” But
Kt is Crichton who enforces it. And
{Crichton is not only king, but he
assumes the outward attributes of
Iroyalty. There is authority, possibly
even a trace of arrogance, in his man
ner. He condescends to the earl’s
daughter. It is London reversed.
But. while we are seeing rank and
*fbrm” in a state of Nature graphically
jportrayed. "Boom!” goes the gun of
a. British warship. The Island is
‘•gain in contact with civilization, and
ithe days of "natural” life are over,
tin the fourth act, al! go back to Lon
fdon 'and—resume their former places,
fit Is harsh to see Crichton reduced
Ito a butler again, and Lord Loam
Felevated to a position which neither
Itita character nor ability would enable
Lhlm to retain if he were deprived
th* sgtaal £ropswhich V" : kna
t where his ancestors put him. The
I restoration may be harsh, but the
I symmetry of the dramatist's scheme
l demands it. and In its way it points
the satire, which, after all. is only half
satire and half philosophic fantasy,
indulged in for its own sake.
So much for "The Admirable Crich
ton” as a product of Barrie's fertile
and ironic imagination. But it may
be profitable also to consider "The
Admirable Crichton” as an example
of a thesis play. or. as the type is
sometimes called, the “drama of
; ideas.” For. as a play of ideas, it has
! one marked advantage over most
i plays that claim that description.
. namely, that with its texture of frank
< tantasy it need not be tested rigidly
i by the realistic standards of ordinary
i human conduct. The result is that this
purely fantastic play seems "real”
! while many intentionally "real.” or
j realistic plays seem utterly impos
i sible.
1 When a dramatist, choosing to pic-
I ture a section of life as it is. seeks to
illustrate a thesis or disseminate
propaganda, his characters must con
duct themselves by natural standards
or they become puppets. Even in the
most distinguished examples of the
French thesis play the characters are
often nothing but the creations of the '
theme. In the average thesis play i
the characters become voices—very I
voluble voices, often—and nothing
more.
,ON "THE VIRGIN ISLANDS”
■ A Travel Book About Our New
Possessions and the British Vir
gin Islands Also
i It was to be expected that the acqul
| sition by the United States of the
I islands known as the Danish West In
dies would lead to a number of vol-,
umes of travel, description and history.
Several have been reviewed in this pa
per, and another worthy claimant for
public notice is at hand in "The Vir
gin Islands—Our New Possessions and
the British Islands” (J. B. Lippincott
Co; $3), by Theodore de Boov and
, John J. Faris.
i Mr Faris says in the preface that
jMr de Booy's scientific explorations
in the islands are primarily responsi
ble for the book. There is no need for
a higher critic to try to divide the
dual authorship; scientist and writer
have worked together well and the re
sult is a book which tells what one
wants to know, up to the limit of some
000 pages. In addition to a dozen
chapters of interesting history and de
scription, three at the end are or I
special interest. One gives hints to
the intending tourist as to routes,
dress, etc. Another puts into compact
form a large amount of detailed in
formation of the commercial kind.
Perhaps more important than these
is the chapter on the British islands,
because they are so seldom mentioned
elsewhere. To be sure, there isn’t
very much of them, a mere 58 square
miles spread out in 40 parcels, and oc
cupied by some 5000 people. But if
one wants to know much about them
he will have to search a good while
unless he calls this volume to his aid.
One feature of a trip to this part
of the United States, aside from the
tropical charm, is the fact that sou
venir vendors are unknown. - How
long this blissful condition will obtain I
is a matter of doubt. To imagine it I
now is difficult and it will be harder j
to conceive when once the tide of tour
ists turns in that direction after the i
war.
CULT OF THE ANGLO-SAXON
A Writer Who Desires to See English
Peoples Rule World
In curing Germany's megalomania
we need perhaps to be on our guard
against catching it ourselves. It is
not astonishing that one preoccupied
with the task of opposing junker ag
gression, and apprehensive of a like
menace from the East, should regard
the maintenance of the infinitely
more sufferable Anglo-Saxon power as
m itself a worthy war aim. This may
be the psychological explanation for
■he moral squint in William S. Howe’s
'War and Progress” (Leßoy Phillips
Boston). "The Growth of the World
Influence of the Anglo-Saxon” is the
susbtitle of the book, and tt is hardi"
overstating matters to say that while
it has much to say about internation
alism it spells the word Anglo-Saxon.
The argument, of course, is not new.
and there is even less to be said for
it now. when we are bound with the
closest ties to France, than when it
first raised its roaring, imperialistic
voice.
Mr Howe’s case may be briefly sum
marized. Finding the Anglo-Saxon
the only great group of powers under
which international and liberal prin
ciples are encouraged tin Germany,
he justly observes, “the strictly na
tional lines, in spite of lip formulas,
have yielded least’’), and holding that
some nations are not ready for self
direction, he declares that the safe
development of such principles, and
indeed, "the all-sided progress and
moral security of humanity” hinge on
“the political, and to a certain extent,
territorial, control of the world bv the
Anglo-Saxons,” Thereupon. while
complacently insisting on our high
motives in the tear, he balks at a clean
and robust repudiation of annexations
and flings the dust of casuistry at
Wilson’s "Monroe doctrine for the
world.” He ignores likewise the re
semblance between Wilson’s position
and that of Lincoln, who thought no
one good enough to rule another man
without that man’s consent.
Formerly in the American consu
-ar service In China. Mr Howe casts
an anxious glance at the East. He I
has little to say of China’s ancient i
culture or of present promise. He
recognizee that the Chinese are
“peaceful, not cowardly,” but fears
that their strength might be used
bv Japan against the West. Urging
that it is to America's interest to pro
tect China from Japanese domina
tion he asserts: "The enlightened ele
ments of internationalism and democ
racy must include her in the sphere
of its activities, or aggressive, im
perialistic despotism will.” America
has found it hard to convince Mexico
that it places democracy above profit
if we cling, with Mr Howe, to an in
fatuation with Anglo-Saxon world
power, we may have equal difficulty
in convincing China.
Yet Mr Howe makes a few sound
observations, some of them in his
chapter on "Delusions of the war.”
One of the delusions, he remarks, is
the spy mania: "A spell of indigestion
and we jump to the conclusion thSt
the baker is a German hireling.”
“AN APPEAL TO CONSCIENCE’’
Spirited Protest Against Lynching By
Kelly Miller
“An Appeal to Conscience,” by Kelly
Miller (Macmillan company; 00 cents),
is a spirited little volume filled with
earnest protest against the practice
of lynching Negroes in the southern
states. Prof Miller does not oiler any
new remedy for the lynching evil, but
he does insist that principles of jus
tice, impartiality and fair dealing
should be applied as much to persons
of Negro blood as to other races. The
United States has become the world's
most interesting laboratory for work
ing out Intricate race issues and ad-
THE SPRINGFIELD WEEKLY REPUBLICAN: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1918
Piece and oracle of the South, thought
that natural instinct would hold the
white and Negro races asunder. If
such instinct did not exist he believed
that the separation should be en
forced by artificial means.
It is. of course, true that Some of
the Negroes in the South, especially
tho field hands in the cotton states,
are extremely debased and ignorant,
mere so than most northerners realize.
The slow (awl in some states) un
certain administration of justice in
the South has helped* to promote
lynching. Reform is necessary, and
the law must have a sure and definite
course to take with regard to those
crimes which now provoke lynching.
THE CELTIC RENAISSANCE
Study of Literary and Economic
Revival in Ireland
In the words of its author, Lloyd R.
Morris, “The Celtic Dawn; A Survey
of the Renascence in Ireland, 1889-
1916” (Macmillan; $1.50) “is a study
of the several movements, which, al
though having their foundation in a
' single consciously expressed philoso
' phy, have labored in widely varied
fields to produce a new social synthe
' sis in contemporary Ireland.” He
i finds five movements of major impor
i tance —those concerned with litera
ture. with the drama, with the revival
of Gaelic as the language of daily
speech, with economic, and social re
form. and with political thought.
Mr Morris has undertaken a con
sideration of each of these move
ments in their relation to one anoth
er. and the result Is a very readable
and instructive book, which has
brought into small compass soma
mention of practically all the men
and women who have had a share in
this Irish development. While, as is
natural, the greater space Is given to
the better-known writers of the time,
there is likewise mention of those
lesser known, who have credit due
them for participation in this re
naissance. Many of the latter are
perhaps only names to the majority
of readers./but Mr Morris, throughout
his pages, has been careful to in
clude references to be used for further
study if the reader so desires.
‘•THE SMALL PLACE”
Landscape Architecture for an Acre
More or less
The possibilities that inhere to a
small plot of ground in city or coun
try. say’ an acre, in regard to plan
and planing, are well demonstrated
by Elsa Rehmann in “The Small
Place” (G. P. Putnam’s Sons). It is
a study of 15 typical lots by a
landscape artist, who has selected
them from the work of other artists
and interprets them herself.
In making her selections, the au
thor says she has tried to use only
places that have a complete and well
qrganized plan, in which all the parts
receive a proportionate share in the
development, and are grouped to form
a harmonious whole, They are also
places where the architect’s plan has
been carried to completion perhaps
under the frequent supervision of the
planner. Most of the lots are less than
an acre In size, two-thirds being a
good average, while a few deal only
with a fragment of an estate, such
as the immediate setting of a farm
house or the terrace of a formal gar
den.
Each chapter is accompanied by a
wealth of illustrations, including a
plan of each lot. The problems treated
are so diverse and the architectural
treatments are so varied that there
is plenty of suggestion for any one
who wants light on the subject. The
very wealth is in danger of over
whelming the amateur, and the advice
of the reviewer is that interested per
sons read the book for suggestions and
then “let George do it” by engaging
a landscape architect to plan the lay
out. This book proves that those peo
ple are worth what they cost.
A SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Esther Singleton Describes “The Or
chestra and Its Instruments”
A fine piece of book-making, match
ing the contents, is a volume pub
lished by the Symphony society of
New York, in which Esther Singleton
gives music lovers and young musical
students an intimate acquaintance
with "The Orchestra and Its Instru
ments.” After a prelude in which
the assembling players are pointed out
and described in their ensemble, the
author gives a chapter to each instru
ment. telling of its mechanical con
struction. history and peculiar place
in the orchestra.
So we find chapters on the violin,
viola, violoncello, double-bass, wood
wind family, brass-wind family, per
cussion instruments and, lastly, the
p i.no and harp. In the middle there
is a long consideration of the orches
tra as the instrument on which the
conductor plays. This fills nearly halt
the t ook, and traces the history of ths
developing orchestra from about three
and a half centuries ago, the origin
be.ng fairly contemporaneous with the
fixing of the present form of the violin
bv Gasparo di Salo, who was born
In 1312.
The volume is finely illustrated by
photographs of old and famous instru
ments, and of members of the New
York sjanphony orchestra, each with
h’s own instrument. The uninitiated
reader could not ask a pleasanter
or more instructive introduction to an
orchestra and its work.
“CONCERNING PAINTING”
A Collection of Kenyon Cox's Essays
and Lectures
An interesting consideration of |
painting as "an art of imitation” and |
as an "art of relation” occupies the j
opening chapters of the new book of;
the American painter and critic. Ken- •
yon Cox. Mr Cox in his preface to I
"Concerning Painting” (Scribners; ;
.$1.75) tells us he has been consider- j
ing what the new epoch, to begin i
after the war, will demand in the i
realm of art. He does not believe the 1
world will then be satisfied with 19th 1
century naturalism or 19th century i
individualism, and that "if art can-'
not learn to express in the future, as
it has done in the past, the highest
aspirations and the deepest feelings
of the age, then the age will Idturn
to do without art.” From thinkingj
upon these points in connection with
hl» own art of pa'n tiny Mr Cox has
produced thesa paperg, tome of them
first made public as university lec
tures and others as mage/lne articles.
After the opening chapters, Mr Cox
turns his. attention to the "Golden
age of painting”—the culmination of
the Renaissance, the Venetians and
the Dutch and Flemish painters of the
17th century—while the third and last
part of the book has to do with "Some
phases of 19th century painting’’—
naturalism, the lovers of tradition, and
mural painting in France and
America.
These papers, written In clear and
vigorous language, are of value to
the general reader as to the student.
The book contains some 32 reproduc
tions. about equally divided between
the old masters and ths 19th cen
•KsSKSar .... -riww.j
EROM THE NEW FICTION
STORY OF THE SOUTHWEST
H. H. Knibbs's "Tang of Life" Is
Authentically Wild
In "The Tang of Life” (Houghton.
Mifflin; $1.50), Henry Herbert Knibbs
mixes incidents from life of the old
and tlie new Southwest in order, ap
parently, to meet quantitative de
mands. This, however, is no bar to
the reader’s enjoyment, for the au
thor does not indulge his imagination
at the expense of actualities. It is
evident that Mr Knlbbs knows the
Southwest better than most writers
whose stories are identified with that
picturesque corner of the country. His
character portrayals and descriptions
have an aspect and ring of reality gen
erally wanting in the average highly
colored stories of the type.
"The Tang of Life" is not hampered
by limitations of plot. The author:
finds himself at liberty to wander over
a wide field. The narrative is episodi
cal, ranging from a gun fight of the
old-time border type to a sketch of the
industrial workers of the world depor
tations from the mining region of Ari
zona. But the incidents are closely
knit, since they are progressive
salients in the shifting career of Jim
Waring, a famous “killer’- of Arizona
and northern Mexico.
The term "killer," however, is not to
be accepted as a sign that Waring is
a ”'oad” man. On the contrary, his
"killings" occur in the course of his
service as mine guardian and law offi
cer in northern Mexico. The early
scenes In the story are laid in Sonora,
where Waring captures a desperate
Mexican bandit, who has looted a
treasure tj'aln. He engages in an af
fray with the rurales, which forces
his return across the American bor
der. Later he proceeds farther north
into Arizona, and finds his wife and
young son, Lawrence, who have left
him years before on account of his
hazardous occupation.
Much of what follows concerns the
affairs of the younger man, who In
herits much of the coolness and
courage of his famous sire. A stirring
incident embraces Waring’s pursuit
and killing of the men who ambush
and murder his partner. Mr Knibbs
Introduces an amusing and lovable
character la Bud Shoop, an erstwhile
“gunman” of border fame, and now a
corpulent federal land official, whose
old Airedale dog “bosses me ’round
something scandalous.”
While the story is somewhat ram
bling, its changing scenes, stirring in
cidents. sharply-drawn characters and
vivid descriptions endow it with merit
and interest far beyond the average
of its type.
“THE MONEY-MAKER"
David Power Rises to Eminence by
None Teo Scrupulous Methods
David Power, hero of “The Money-
Maker” (Dodd, Mead: $1.50), by Irving
R. Allen, betrays none of these quali
ties of chivalry and unshakable hon
esty dear^to the hearts of many ro
mancers who raise their heroes from
obscurity to greatness, power has the
■money-making instinct and the single
ambition to make as much as possible.
Nor is he, in the main, overscrupulous
as to '.he means by which it is made.
Yet, withal, he is likable, for he is
a hard fighter, wholly masculine and
hunjan. He is first encountered as
“graft” collector for a Chicago alder
man. When reformers catch him
"with the goods,” and his patron base
ly deserts him, Power fights his way
clear, and departs for other fields. He
is next met in New Orleans in the role
of street vendor of patent medicines.
His persuasive gifts of salesmanship
attracts the attention of a big real es
. tate operator, who happens to pass his
place cf operation. The latter takes
Power to California and starts him on
a successful business career.
It follows, of course, that David
climbs to loftier business bights and
eventually we find him in New York,
hobnobbing with the big financial
captains. Almost at the outset Mr Al
len interpolates an unnecessary ele
ment in associating the hero with a
I woman of the streets. She plays a
very small part in his career, althougn
the author laboriously uses her first
to forward bls interests and at a later
point to hamper bls success. Power
marries a charming girl, who idealizes
him. but when she discovers his con
nection with a questionable financial
transaction and learns of his relation
with the other woman a delicate situa
tion arises. Power marshals his force
ful personality, readjusts his business
morals and saves his own and Ms
wife's happiness. The story is. on the
whole, well conceived and told in en
tertaining fashion.
A WEIRD TREASURE HUNT
Mysterious Disappearances and AH
That in “The Glided Man”
Stories based on latter-day searches
tor the El Dorado or other legendary
treasures of primitive races of South
America are legion. But it is an en
thralling theme, capable of countless
variations, nnd one which an '.n
ventive writer may present with
fresh zest. Abundant, proof of this
is furnished by Clifford Smyth in “The
Gilded Man” <Bon! & Liveright:
.$1.50), who gives the well-worn plot
an arresting setting and a series of
thrilling incidents. While psychologi
es! study may seem remote from
treasure hunting, this research plays
an important part In the action of
the tale. For ft Is the unsolved mys
terious episode In the life of David
Meudon that causes Harold Leighton,
a psychologist, to insist on Meudon's
taking him to South America to at
tempt its solution before he consents
■to the former's marriage with his
niece. Una.
Three years earlier, while with a
I companion in Colombia searching for
; the legendary treasure of an early
■ race of Indians. Meudon, we learn,
i mysteriously disappeared, and can re-
I call no recollection of what befell
’ him. Returning there now with Una
; and her uncle. Meudon prompttv dis
j appears once more. Armed with the
, details of the legendary treasure, and
i the known history of its primitive
, possessors. Leighton begins a search
| that leads to surprising discoveries
j and results. Leighton, of course, is
; interested only in solving Meudon’s
i fate, which he believes is closely con
i r.ected with Meudon's previous disap-
I pearance.
) The searchers, while lost in a maze
of ancient caves near Bogota, begin
Surprising discoveries and adven
tures which keep the reader highly
excited until the climax is reached.
What these adventures are It would
lie unfair to the reader to intimate.
Richard Le Galllenne, who has him
self written treasure-hunting tales,
contributes an Introduction In praise
of Mr Smyth’s ingenious story.
NEAR THE BIG RIVER
A Nameless Volume of Negro Tales
From Louisiana
A feeling of impatience, mild or
more, follows the first glance at a
new book of Negro stories which has
no title, but carries the author's name
Instead. Why should E. K. Means
(Putnam) so forcibly obtrude his au
thorship upon us? The man. no doubt,
" Slit
not have written it. But 1b that a
valid excuse? One is inclined to
doubt it.
Impatience vanishes very soon, how
ever, as the reader gets fairly into the
first of the eight stories that fill this
385-paga book. E. K. Means can be
forgiven, whoever he is; he almost
immediately ceases to be a stranger.
He can tell a story well, and the stories
he tells are worth telling. Modestly
he says In his foreword that their ap
pearance in a periodical earned them
the reputation of humor. They deserve
it. They are irresistibly funny and
more than that, they are founded on
real life thinly camouflaged. Near the
big river in northern Louisiana is a
community which passes here by the
name, of Tickfall, and some of its in
habitants are known far up and down
the river. They prance before the pub
lic in this volume in a way to make
them remembered and to drive dull
care away while one is in their com
pany. Kemble has a characteristic
illustration for each sto’"..
••FARM VOICES”
Don Seitz Celebrates Rnra! Life in
Free and Other Terse
Why Don Seitz should choose to
celebrate the city of Chicago in free
verse and the potato-bug in rhymed
verse may not be apparent to sen
sitive citizens of the capital of pork.
However, Mr Seitz is not showing
prejudice, for the mortage, the hog,
sheep, the tame crow and even the
farmer’s wife (or, at all events, a
farmer’s wife) are all honored by use
of the new and free form. In fact,
the only excuse Chicago has tor ap
pearing in a book of "Farm Voices”
(Harper: $1) Is that it is the subject
of the fanner's or farm-hand’s im
pressions:—
One time
I went to Chicago.
Which is Injun
For skunk town,
Sever see
Such a placet
Nothin’ but
Noise an’ dirt
An' hurry.
One will find not a little philosophy
concentrated into some of these
poems, as. for instance, that on "The
mortgage,” which allows that a cu
pola on a house looks "stylish,” "and
makes the girls Feel envious When
they see one —But, Shucks' They
never had To tote A mortgage!” Mr
Seitz will pardon the liberty here
taken with his verse, which, to save
space, is printed as prose.
For “poetry.” as distinguished from
verse, we turn to “The potato-bug”:—
Come from Colorado.
Why, we do not know:
Chawed his way to seaboard
Fifty year ago.
Mr Seitz is business manager cf
the New York World, and a writer of
verse in hA leisure. He has a great
deal of good-natured fun with coun
try subjects, and manages to give a
fresh touch to his bucolic humor. Al
fred W. Frueh contributes amusing
“pictures to fit.” The book should
have many appreciative readers
among city folks and country folks.
POET OF CITY AND CAMP
Private Charles Divine's “City Ways
and Company Streets”
Private Charles Divine's "City Ways
and Company Streets” (Moffat, Yard
& Co; $1) is a book of poems which
deal with the “rookies” from the time
they are mustered into the mobiliza
tion camps until the time when
You lie upon your army cot and watch
the snips go through.
You see ’em when the dawn is red an’
when you hit the hay.
An’ in your dreams you see ’em—’til the
transport comes for you!
There is another side to Divine’s
work, which is without doubt more
lyrical than his war poetry. In such
poems as “The Stars in Pawn” we
see poetic quality, light but pleas
ing:—
Those gems, the stars of summer night.
Some reckless god hung up to pawn
In heaven, when his purse was light,
To tide him over 'til the dawn.
While, riotous he came to earth.
To wander, singing, up and down
The winding streets, and in his mirth
He lost the tickets in the town,—and
“The Hidden Road”:—
“But I can't put your feet on the by-way;
I can only beseech you to start.
For the road is called Happiness Highway
And it ends and begins in your heart.
From the first the war poems arq
spontaneous, and full of detail, though
the manner is informal and the
rhyming not always happy. As Grant
M. Overton of the New York Sun
wwites in the preface: "Divine is a
real poet. He never tries to write
what he hasn’t seen or felt He never
poses. He is no rhapsodist. In the
sincere work of such as he. in the
broadening and deepening of their ex
perience and the increase of their
delineative skill, lies the immediate
hope of American poetry ” Divine^ is
an American in every line, but this
volume does not give evidence that
war has deepened his power, of ex
pression. though it has expanded his
observation. The "City ways, ’ artifi
cial though they be, are as yet the
paths which his muse most readily
treads.
“EN L’AIR”
Record of Lieut Bert Hall of Lafay
ette Eseadrllle
"En Fair!” (New Library company;
$1.65) is the brief record of Lieut Bert |
Hall’s three years in service with the
French. Enlisting the second day
after war broke out in the foreign
(Sglon—because "if a country is good
enough to live In. it is good enough to
fight for.”—this American was trans
ferred Into the air service in Decem
ber. 1914, and after months of train
ing’ became a member of the La
fayette eseadrllle.
Lieut Hall began his real work in
tha Champagne offensive in 1915. be
fore the formation of the escadrille,
fought at Verdun and along the
Somme, and in December. 1916. was
•lent to Russia and Rumania. Here
he did some flying on the eastern
front, among other exploits attempt
ing to "bomb” the kaiser at Sofia.
Then he returned to Petrograd in
time for the revolution. He was forced
to depart to America by way of Sibe
ria and Japan.
The record of this American,
wounded many times, twice severely,
and privileged to wear seven decora
tions. Is well illustrated, many of the
photographs showing other aviators
whose names are well known for dar
ing throughout the country—Thaw,
Rockwell, Norman Prince and Victor
Chapman, the last-named a ’pupil of
Lieut Hall’s. The final chapter Is the
author’s tribute to hie fellow-flyers.
“GREAT BRITAIN AT WAR”
“Great Britain at War” (Little,
Brown & Co; $1.25) is the result ot
Jeffrey Farnol’s Investigations around
the shops, shipyards, training camps
and trenches, in the air and on the
sea. From the shops where the guns
are made and tested to Clyde bank,
where ships are being made by men
whose fathers and grandfathers also
built ships; out to the battle cruisers
back from the Jutland fight, to the
hospitals, where there Is so much pain
and courage; to the training camp,
then across to the trenches, the battle
field* and desolate towns of northern
France and Belgium—to al! these Mr
Farnol leads his reader, impressing
-SttMSLaiL’iCLIILSSX
son of Britain's determination to win
and the spirit that makes such win
ning possible.
“PLAYING THE GAME”
Success from economy thrift, and
judicious investment is pictured in
a little volume by Zebediah Flint on
“Playing the Game” (Service; $1).
"John” Is a man who never earned
more than SIOO a month, but some 10
years ago he purchased a few shares
of stock on the instalment plan, pay
ing $25 a month, and he has kept it
up. He was wise in taking good ad
vice about the stocks he bought, vnd
he has bought conservatively always.
How a man can eventually put him
self on Easy street If willing and
able to play the game is set forth
here. A dollar for so small a book
seems big, but the advice is perhaps
worth it.
REPRINTED CHAPTERS
E. P. Dutton & Co have reprinted
in two little 50-cent volumes some
brief war sketches worth a second
perusal. There are three in each. The
first has Donald Hankey’s "The be
loved captain,” “The honor of the bri
gade,” and "An Englishman prays.”
The other has some of the work of
Wythe Williams, "When Chenal. sings
the Marseillaise,” "With the honors of
war" and “Sister Julie.” The publish
ers have shown good judgment in the
selections and the booklets are de
serving of a wide circulation.
BOOKS AND PLACES
American Scenes Which Owe to
Literature Some of Their Finest
Charm
[From “The Literature of Place,”
by Walter Prichard Eaton, in the
Bookman.]
There is a literature of place in
America, some of it, of course, well
and widely known, but the apprecia
tion of some of it still confined to
the small sections which it pictures
and interprets. We all know Thor
eau’s Walden (Thoreau, of course,
was considerably more than an in
terpreter of place.’). We have climbed
the Sierras with John Muir. Some
of us older folks, perhaps, still re
member our first thrill upon landing
on Star or Appledore, the thrill of re
alizing that these brown rocks in the
sea were Celia Thaxter’s islands.
Emerson was hardly a pioneer or a
mountain scaler, but he did climo
Monadnock, in the days before Dub
lin was a village of one-hundred
thousand-dollar "cottages,” and wrote
a poem about it. It would be idle
to deny that his poem is a part of
the impressiveness of <hat lone pyra
mid of granite, a part of the spell the
old mountain exerts. If Frank
Bowie 3 had never been to Chocorua,
to write those charming books about
it (they should surely be reissued
some day), the Chocorua region would
be less devotedly loved, and less rich
In subtle associations, than it is to
day.
For that matter, the whole White
mountain region owes an inestimable
debt to a book, to Starr King’s "White
Hills.” Much has been written about
the entire range, from Gorham to
the Connecticut river, since the
Charlestown minister made the
mountains, then almost unknown, nis
summer playground. Allen Bent,
secretary of the Appalachian duo,
has compiled a formidable biblio
graphy of the White mountains, ill
fact. But Starr King’s book is still
the classic, and likely to remain so.
I well remember reaching camp one
lainy evening, on the very crest cf
-the great divide in Montana, and
finding there a man who had packed
Ui tha trail on foot. We fell to
talking over the camp-fire, and when
we discovered that each was an
early devotee of Starr King’s book,
and could quote from his eloquent
description of Tuckerman’s Ravine,
we were friends for life. Though out
camp overhung a far deeper and
steeper and wilder ravine, the bot
tom of which was higher than the
summit of Mount Washington, it was
that early love for mountain wildness
and appreciation of mountain form
and contour, so largely fostered by
Starr King and the "White Hills,” that
lay at the Lack of our present en
thusiasm and our present adventures.
Perhaps there is a certain conven
tional pose in the assumption that
we, in America, are poor in these
overtones of literary association.
After all. there is much in American
etters already working to endear and
enrich certain localiites. even when it
is not, strictly speaking, literature of
plr.ee. I was reminded of this fact
afresh the other day when my motor
suddenly rounded a bend on the Bos
ton and Worcester post-road and
beside me, behind its huge, patri
archal oaks, rose the beautiful old
walls and shouldered roof of the Way
side inn. I saw the Wayside inn ris
ing behind its great oaks, flanked by
ii e lovely, rolling fields of Middlesex,
with a thrill that even its antiquity
and architectural charm could not ac
count for. Why, you have to pay
even to enter it now! You pay for
;he privilege of paving for a meal
[there. Literature did that.
OCR FUTURE RULERS
[From the Wal! Street Journal.]
Who will be our rulers after the
war? The soldiers. That is what
happened after the civil war, and with
a million and a half men, in the prime
ot youth, actually jn France and three
times more under arms or shortly to
be mustered, it is plain that the sol
dier will command practically all posi
tions in civil government when he re
turns. This is no time for guessing,
but the next president nominated by
cither party may be a general with
a creditable record. Grant was twice
president of the United States.
This is inevitable, and what it cx
cluqps must be obvious. Our socialists,
to say nothing of the much more
respectable labor unions, are noisy out
of all proportion to their numbers.
But the soldier says little, and takes
it out In fighting. When he comes
back he will put the socialist in the
discard, with small ceremony.
LONGFELLOW
His gentle presence haunts the shadowy
town
Whose elm-boughed vistas, - 'ng on
the bay.
Give (glimpses of green isles and far
white spray:
Not where he sits in brenue with back-
Hung gown,
But walking with ns. robed la his re
nown,
And turning evermore to smile and say—
” 'Twas here I wandered in the wind's
light way,
With youth's long thoughts, in dreams
of leafy crown.”
Enough of dreams. Here on the harbor
slips
I watch the skeletons of rising fleets
With heart grown heavy for my coun
try's fate,
And—Did you speak again, grave, beard
ed lips?
Or was it what the sounding shore re
peats?
Surely I heard, "Sail on. O ship of
state!”
WENDELL PHILLIPS STAFFORD.
- p y r -W^' W
VARIOUS BOSTON MATTERS
SOME LIBRARY PROBLEMS
Discussions Over Unionizing of
Employes—Criticisms of Boston
Public Library—Art and Lec
tures
Correspondence of The Republican
BOSTON, Tuesday, September 3
i It is not long since the Authors’
league of America, which includes
many New Englanders in its large
membership, was more of less agitated
by the question of affiliation with the
federation of labor. Strong arguments
were offered for and against the pro
posal. But, while it is idle now to
conjecture about the future, the
league is still un-unionized. Many
authors thought that the proposed
action would be unprofessional, and
a similar feeling prevails among li
brarians regarding the present ten
dency of library employes to join the
federation. In Boston, of late, there
has been more or less open as well
as private discussion of the subject.
.Charles K. Bolton of the Boston
Athenaeum has been particularly out
spoken in expressing opinions adverse
to the new movement. Some of Mr
Bolton’s critics have said frankly
that his published letters have pre
vented library employes from joining
labor unions, so far at least as the
rank and file are concerned. Those
on the side of the new union say that
it is destined to bring about helpful
co-operation between the employes
and the library and trustees, and that
it will be of service in adjusting con
ditions with which employes are now
dissatisfied, and at the same time
promote the good of the library. The
employes deny that they are opposed
in a general way to the employment
of college graduates, or that the pres
ent movement in Boston is an at
tempt, so far as the Boston library is
concerned, to bring a closer affilia
tion between the staff of the public
library and the politicians who -vote
appropriations.
Mr Bolton, however, holds that the
demands of the library employes are
inconsistent. For they demand that
promotions be made according to
seniority and only from those already
in the service, and yet profess to be
lieve that Increase of salary should
be based on efficiency. He notes the
absence of the word “merit” in these
discussions, and thinks that no li
brarian could live up to these labor
union requirements. The unique posi
tion of the Boston Athenaeum, and
the freedom of its librarian and em
ployes from political and other harass
ing conditions, give force to what Mr
Bolton says on the relation of labor
unions and librarians. A large public
library is in a different situation and
the Boston public library is not with
out its troubles.
Charles F. D. Belden, the present
librarian, has been chairman of the
free public library commission of Mas
sachusetts, it will be remembered,
since 1908. and- was state librarian of
Massachusetts from June 1900, until
March 1917. when he succeeded Mr
Wadlln at the Boston public library.
Mr Belden has not only been ap
pointed on important committees of
the war service of the American li
brary association, but he was made
division director for New England and
state director for Massachusetts in
last spring’s drive for books for the
soldiers. With much executive ex
perience, Mr Belden is naturally in
sympathy with any plans for the
greater efficiency of the Boston public
library’, and ho therefore gave his
hearty approval to the recommenda
tion of the examining committee and
the decision 1 of the trustees to have
a careful investigation made of the
entire library system.
Investigation of Boston Public Library
The experts whom the trustees in
vited to make this examination were
Edwin H. Anderson, director of the
New York city- public library and
Arthur E. Bostwick, librarian of the
St Louis public library. The third
member, chosen by these two was the
librarian of the Cleveland public li
brary. These three gentlemen spent
some time in Boston this spring, care
fully surveying every aspect of our
library service, and the genera! pub
lie as well as all who are connected
with the library await the report of
this survey with great interest.
The trustees did not order this in
vestigation as a reflection upon the
past or present administration of the
public library, but rather to make
sure that this instituion, of which
Boston has long been so proud, is fully
abreast with the most progressive li
brary policy of to-day. There have
been outside rumors, and some Bos
ton criticism, that for some years its
administration was not quite “up to
date." The survey will probably show
to what extent the librarian might
with advantage have a freer hand in
administration, especially in the mat
ter of promotions in the staff and
appointments to it. Library methods,
as the trustees say, must constantly
change, to meet the demands of a
cosmopolitan constituensy. As the
great problem is to give the reader
the book he wants as quickly as pos
sible, a simplified catalog and a mini
mum of red tape are very necessary
to accomplish this end.
In connection with the action of the
trustees regarding the survey, part
of this year’s report of the examin
ing committee is significant. After
emphasizing the fact that discipline
and efficient^ aro essential if the li
brary is to gtve the best service to
the public, it concludes: “These can
be obtained best when ample au
thority is conferred upon the libra
rian and al! chiefs of departments
who are entrusted with the genera!
principles of management adopted by
the trustees.” Just at this point may
be seen the bearing of the labor union
question upon library administration.
Is not the librarian better qualified
than a union to determine who is
best qualfied to be head of a depart
ment? In certain cases would not the
library's needs be best met by ap
pointing a specially qualified person
from outside the ranks rather than
by placing In this particular post one
to whom seniority alone gives the
right?
Library Costs High
This is only one of many questions
now before friends and critics of the
Boston public library, and some of
the facts brought out in the last re
port of the committee on administra
tion and finance are interesting tn
their bearing on these questions. In
trying to find a basis ’dr a compari
son of efficiency and salaries through
correspondence with other libraries,
this committee learned that the Bos
ton public library still leads the mu
nicipal libraries of the country in the
number of volumes owned. It Is sec
ond tn amount of taxation raised for
library purposes, second per capita
in its library income from taxation
and endowment, and second per cap
ita In its expenditure for library sala
ries and wages. But Boston is low
est among the 15 chief cities of the
country In the proportion of book ex
penditure to salary-wages expendi
ture. Without going too deeply into
details, it may be said that the
finance committee has discovered that
Boston, with itc high per capita ex
penditure and income and expenditure
for library service, has a low propor
tionate expenditure for books, a mid
dling numoer of card holders and of
. cjrcu[ated. and an extremely
high apparent cost per 1000 of circu
lation.
In connection with these facta and
the agitation by employes for higher
pay, the committee suggests that this
might be a rood time to reduce the
force, au pcmtlons elsewhere can b»
easily obtained by young persons of
fair education and good will. Unless
the force is reduced a considerable
increase must be made in the annual
appropriations at a time when th*
public burdens are unusually heavy.
Only In one of these two ways can th*
pap of the library employe be in
creased. It is said, by the way. that
a considerably larger proportion of
library employes are unionized in
Boston than in New York city, while
the administrative powers of the li
brarian are restricted to a greater
degree. Nevertheless, although there
may be room for improvement in
these and some of the other features
of administration of the Boston pub
lic library, its usefulness to the com
munity is not seriously threatened.
Lectures oh Art
The educational functions of the
museum of fine arts has of ’ate years
received increasing recognition. It
would be a long story to tell what s.
large part the galleries of the museum
now play in this work. At present,
however, attention focuses on some Of
the lecture courses to be given there
the coming year. The first will be
given by Dr Arthur Fairbanks, direc
tor of the museum, a university ex
tension course, opening October 4, in
which there will be 45 lectures on
“Ancient history as interpreted by an ■
cient art.” Miss Alicia M. Keyes will
give the second course, beginning Oc
tober 12. Miss Keyes has had remark
able success in teaching people ths
laws that underlie the true apprecia
tion of pictures and her convincing
methods will be used in the approach
ing course of 10 lectures on "The ob
servation of pictures.” To make her
points clear she uses certain noted
paintings in the museum as illustra
tions. Although intended especially
for pupils in the museum school per
haps in this general list should be in
cluded Huger Elliott's course, which
begins October 7, on "The evolution cf
painting.” Later in the year, besides
the lectures given to the museum
school, there will be several others by
experts, open to the genera! public.
Meanwhile, outside the museum,
there is some educative value and more
than a little general interest in the
exhibition at the Vose galleries that
succeeds the foreign collection of the
summer. Two more interesting Amer
ican painters than George Fuller and
Albert P. Ryder could hardly be placed
side by side. Tt is little more than a
year since the latter died, and bls
fame is steadily increasing. "The
Huntsman’s Rest.” "The Pirate's Isle”
are far from American in tone, yet
the beholder at once Americanizes
them, for with enough imagination ha
might have seen them; at all events,
he has seen just such dark, mysteri
ous forests, such softly brilliant sun
sets.
George Fuller is better known to
the average picture lover, and now. as
always, one wonders at that magicai
haze that reveals some subtle charac
teristic of the subject instead of veil
ing it, as would be the case under th*
hands of an ordinary artist. Fuller is
very near the head of our romantical
ly-inclined artists —at the very top of
the list of some critics —and the 10
paintings of his now to lie seen at
the Vose galleries and the seven by
Ryder make 'a notable exhibition.
FROM THE GOLDEN BOOKS
A Midsummer Meditation
I Richard Watson Gilder.]
I
Face once the thought: This piled-up
sky of clouds.
Blue vastness, and white xastness
steept in light—
Struck through with light, that cen
ters in the sun—
This blue of waves below that meets
blue sky:
But a white, trembling shore between,
that sweeps
The circle of the bay; this green of
woods.
And keener green of new-mown,
grassy fields;
This ceaseless, leaf-like rustle of the
waves;
These shining billowy treetops; song
of birds; »
Strong scent of seaweed, mixt with
smell of pines;
Face once this thought: Thy spirit
'that looks forth.
That breathes the light and life and
joy- of all,
Shall cease, but not the things that
pleasure thee;
They shall endure for eyes like thine,
but not
For thine own eyes, for human hearts
like thine
But not for thine own heart, al! dust
and dead.
U
Face it, O Spirit! then look up once
more.
Brave conqueror of dull mortality!
Look up, and be a part of all thou
seest.
Ocean and earth and miracle of sky.
All that thou seest, thou art. arid
without thee
Were nothing. Thou, a god. dost re
create
The whole breathing thy soul in all.
till all
Is one wide world made perfect at
thy. touch.
And know that thou, who dareat »
world create
Art one with the Almighty, aca to
sire,—
Of his eternity a quenchless spark.
OLD GOLD AID ROSES
Ol<l gold, nnd silver, and roses
Bronze gate', in a garden wntl
When a brilliant peacock poses
And a soft sun over all,
With fnr away in the background
A band of bright blue sea
Binding the world, as a soul la bound
’Twlxt Time and Eternity.
Perfume, and adair of roses
Held fast in nn antique vase
That the claw of a dragon closes
Clasping the lid in its place
And burled below the spice dust
Within the vessel fair
Mingled with mold, and red rose rust
A dry rose lying there.
Dreams and desires, as roses
That grow, in the heart and brats
Fires the souls of desires
That blow, bur ui pain
Silence, with never a tok<y.
Of wbn* has been said
Bronzejjr- and with petals broken
The son! of a rose lying dead.
CHARLES PHLIP KRAUTE
Cambridge. August 16, 1018.
OUT IN THE FIELDS WITH GOD
[From the Christian Advocate.]
The little cares that fretted me,
I lost them yesterday.
Among the fields, above the sea,
Among the winds at play;
Among the lowing of the herds,
The rustling of the trees.
Among the singing of the birds,
The humming of the bees.
The foolish fears of what may pass
I cast them all away’
Among the clover-eccnted grass.
Among the new-mown hay;
Among the rustling of the corn.
Where drowsy poppies nod,
Where ill thoughts die and good ars
born.
Out in the fields with GoC -
In iflr- - -»■ ■-V-*