Evening star. [volume], May 01, 1937, Page B-2, Image 18

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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WAR PRESIDENT AT HIS BEST
Word Picture of Wilson by Eleanor McAdoo Is Valuable to Those
Who Would Look Back of Post-War Scenes—Works of
Fiction Which Have Limited Influence.
By Mary-Carter Roberts.
THE WOODROW WILSONS. By
Eleanor Wilson McAdoo. New
York: The Macmillan Co.
WHILE this book is frankly a
record of a beloved father
by an adoring daughter,
that does not mean that it
Is too personal to have value as a
bit of Wilson history. For it is easy
to discount Mrs. McAdoo's enthusi
asms, and when that is done there
remains a picture of the war Presi
dent which ought not to be ig
nored. It dates from before the failure
of Wilson in health and self-confi
dence, it is of the Wilson whom Amer
ica knew before the unsuccess of his
plans for securing world peace had
embittered him.
Of late this early memory has
been almost lost in the nearness of
our more recent memories of him as
ill and disillusioned. In bringing
back uhe younger Wilson to our
minds, Mrs. McAdoo has accomplished
something of real though minor his
torical service, and the sometimes
kittenish manner of her expression
ought not to discredit this fact.
The book begins with her own first ;
recollections of her father and ends
with the death of her mother in the
White House. It treats of W'ilson's I
administration of Princeton, of his j
activities in the governorship of New
Jersey and of his presidential cam
paign, as these matters seemed to
the author when she was herself a
young woman, and the theme of her
memories is largely the splendor and
goodness of her parent. But she
has a good mind for episodes, too,
and her personal enthusiasm is fre
quently illustrated by excellent anec
dotes.
sne quotes ner lamer, lor exam- !
pie, as saying, on being notified of j
his nomination for the presidency and
pressed by reporters for a statement,
“You might say that Gov. Wilson re
ceived the news in a riot of silence.”
Again when, on having the word of
the nomination brought to him at |
his home, he discovered that Joseph
Tumulty had had a brass band con
cealed behind the shrubbery of the
lawn in order that music might burst
forth spontaneously with his ap
pearance, he inquired whether Tum
ulty had also instructed the musicians
to "slink away silently in case of
defeat.”
In another place she tells of Wil
«on's reaction to the news that Theo
dore Roosevelt had been wounded
by a fanatic while making his rival
campaign for the presidency. "Fath- j
er sent a telegram expressing sym- j
pathy,” she writes, “and then an- |
flounced that he would make no
speeches as long as Roosevelt was [
unable to do so. He laughed as he !
told us of his decision. I couldn’t j
see why it was funny, and when I
questioned him he said, ‘Teddy will
have apoplexy when he hears of this.’
We were told that it did enrage him,
but he made no comment of any sort.”
The Wilson w‘ho used to go to
Keith’s, the Wilson who loved lim
ericks and little private jokes, the
man who believed serenely in the
rightness of his ideals and who had
not yet encountered opposition—this
is the man who is portrayed in the
present work. It revives in a way
nil the old pre-war spirit of America,
that spirit which looked on the world
ns divided into good and bad by lines
of perfect precision and in which
every right-thinking person, as they
■were called, had a favorite project
for reform and believed that it was no
more than his duty to prosecute it.
We are apt to forget that naive gen
eration which came before our own
post-w‘ar awakening, and it is a sal
utary thing to find it re-created in
a. spirit so of its own time as is the
case in this book by Eleanor Wilson
McAdoo. Her work deserves reading
as an indication of the change of
American thought in the past twx>
decades.
MERMAID TAVERN. By George W.
Cronyn. New York: Knight Pub
lications.
'J'HERE is a thing about this novel
which ought to please readers, and
there is another thing about it which
ought to please critics; it is fitted out
with a lively and well-built plot for the
first, and it shows itself to be the
product of vast research for the second.
It is a story of Kit Marlowe, and how
he lived and wrote and died in the
England of Elizabeth. Its abundant
physical action and complicated in
trigue should keep readers well awake,
while, as to critics, they will be able
to engage in infricate wars, if the mood
takes them, over the authenticity of
Mr. Cronyn's Elizabethanisms. In spite
of this dual bounty, however, the pres
ent reviewer finds the book lacking in
one important respect—it has no
characters.
The elaborate plot, with its equally
elaborate setting, seems to have been
worked out on the preliminary plan of
using A. B and C for heroes and vil
lains—for defenders and destroyers;
after which, when the last detail has
been fitted smoothly in, names have
been assigned to the parts. Marlowe
himself, we are told, is a fiery and
tender genius; words are put into Mar
lowe's mouth to show us that he is
indeed that. Notwithstanding, Mar
lowe does not live. He is a name,
ramping through well-set scenes. And
other characters are similarly without
roundness.
As to the possible critical war over
the setting, however, the reviewer
wishes to take sides with the pros. The
setting seems excellently done. The
novel is not one of those in which a
few stage properties are asked to give
the illusion of an era. It reeks with
the stench of Elizabethan crudities and
gleams w'ith color of the times’ glory.
A great deal of praise is due the vast
work which obviously has gone into
so elaborate a creation of ar> era. With
so great an accomplishment to its
credit, the book perhaps should not be
Ijlamed for its lack of convincing men
and women. It can be fairly said, at
any rate, that, as such men and women
as the work does have are in constant
lively action, few readers will be un
duly conscious of their lack of gentiine
life. The work seems likely instead to
be popular. Many worse novels have
been.
MARCONI THE MAN AND HIS
WIRELESS. By Orrin E. Dun
lap, jr. New York: The Mac
f millan Co.
'J'HE book is substantially the story
of the development of radio, told
jin terms of service rendered that
mode of communication by Gulielmo
Marconi. It is hardly a book which
can be read with great understanding
by a reader to whom the mechanics
of radio arc a mystery, although, to
HELEN ASHTON,
Author of “People in Cages.”
(Macmillan.)
-»
be sure, the author has made conscien
tious endeavors to reach the public
taste by including in his narrative
the stories of the great vindications
of the wireless, notably certain spec
tacular rescues of ships in distress
on the high seas. But, in the main, it
is a scientific record. It seems des
tined, therefore, to appeal chiefly to
that large body of the public which
has an amateur interest in radio; it
is not sufficiently profound to be of
value to the professional man. It
gathers between one set of covers a
vast amount of general information
as to how our present favorite diver
sion came into being, as to who con
tributed what and as to the undis
puted leadership of Marconi among
even his illustrious contemporaries. It
can be recommended as a substantial
book. The author is the radio editor
of the New York Times.
NEW WINE AT COCK-CROW. By
G. U. Ellis. New York: William
Morrow & Co.
rJ'HIS novel, which has already ap
peared on best-seller lists, is by
that G. U. Ellis who, last year, wrote
“There Goes the Queen.” Now, “There
Goes the Queen" was a stout and
intrepid venture in the way of novel
writing. It was of such quality, in
deed, that it caused the reviewer to
ask if we were on the verge of a return
of the “old three-decker novel,” so
long relegated to the top shelves of
home libraries. It was of that school,
unmistakably, in which authors used
to write using undisguised sentiment
and only intermittent realism, in which
they frequently came out into their
own pages and instructed the reader
as to what were the proper feelings for
receiving their situations, and in
which one found good little homilies
and sweeping “powerful” passages in
terspersed with the plotting, marrying,
dying and villainy-thwarting which
went on to 60 chapters. Charles Dick
ens wras an exponent of this kind of
fiction, and he had quite a number
of contemporaries. The books were
not found to be wholly bad.
Mr. G. U. Ellis seems to hark back
to that kind of concept of what a
novel ought to be. His “There Goes
the Queen" was rambling, long, ro
mantic and inconclusive. It was not
as readable as the works of his illus
trious predecessors, because it was not
as thorough-going in its kind. There
were some hints of modernity in it
and a lamentable denaturing touch
of Galsworthy, which tended to flatten
the full-bodied sentimentality. But at
least it was a break from poor imi
tations of D. H. Lawrence and Aldous
Huxley.
The present work is very much the
same sort of thing. It has the same
promise of growing to three-decker
proportions, and then it dwindles off
to modem spareness. It makes one
think of a Reubens model on a re
ducing diet.
It is a story of English small town
life and how a young artist was per
secuted by his provincial townsmen
until he fled to France—not, however,
in the 1920 manner of fleeing to find
his soul, but, instead, because, provi
dentially, he was able to get a job
across the Channel. The French use
him handsomely. They are sympa
thetic; they understand him. But,
like another hero, he remains an Eng
lishman. He cannot get over, a
heimweh for Albion, and he comes
back at the last, and the villagers
turn up their noses once again. But
this time, as he has become a suc
cessful artist and has found a wife,
he does not mind.
It Is slow-going without being dull,
it is heavy without being ponderous.
One could wish that Mr. Ellis would
make a clean break and plunge into
the genuine three-decker opus, since
he has such gifts for .it. After all,
the fashion is growing. What, you
are asked, is Miss Mitchell’s “Gone
With the Wind" but that very thing?
THE SCANDALS OF CLOCHE
MERLE. By Gabriel Chevallier.
Translated from the French by
Jocelyn Godefroi. New York: Si
mon & Schuster.
'J'HIS is a novel which revives the
meaning of the word “comedy,"
which for long has been all too indis
criminately applied to every kind of
fiction which did not end in suicide
and triple murder. It is the story of a
small, but lively French village in the
wine-growing district, and of how the
mayor of that town precipitated an
international crisis by his unique de
cision as to what his fellow citizens
needed most in the way of a public
monument. They already had a war
memorial and they had an excellent
cemetery. These possibilities were |
therefore ruled out when M. Piechut
considered what he should leave as a
material reminder of his enlightened
administration. The schoolmaster sug
gested a library, but M. Piechut vetoed
that because he knew that his towns
men would not want to read a lot of
books. He then presented his own
idea. The results were f-.--reaching
and unrelievedly lively.
The book is, in sum, a gay satire
on institutions and fallibilities. Cloche
merle, the village, is the world, but
happily the novelist sticks to his last
and, writing a novel, does not attempt
to do something else. He remains in
Clochemerle, and he is closely, inti
mately aware of its gossip, its person
alities, its secrets and its scandals. He
assumes no robe of larger prophecy,
but, by the gaiety, the wickedness and
the intensity of his presentation of his
little town, he accomplishes what a
world of solemnity would not do—he
shows us our comic and undignified
selves.
There Is much in the book to shock
—
the reader who gets shocked, and
much to amuse the one who, on the
other hand, gets amused. The book,
therefore, Is not recommended. It Is
merely mentioned as a witty and able
satire for those who like works of that
character.
LONDON AFRESH. By E. V. Lucas.
Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co.
'J'HIS is Mr. Lucas’ fourth book on
London, the others having been
"A Wanderer in London,” which was
published in 1906; “London Revisited,”
1916, and “E. V. Lucas' London,” 1926.
To add this volume to three others,
therefore, Is to have a good guide
book record of the English capital’s
changes over 30 years. For Ameri
cans who are going to England this
year and who want an introduction
to London that is comprehensive but
out of the beaten track manner of the
Baedeker, the work ought to be well
worth having. T., takes in all those
places which can be called “sights,”
it is up-to-date and it is pleasantly
WTitten.
The Tower, Guildhall, the city
churches, the Abbey, St. Paul’s, the
museums, the galleries, the House of
Parliament, Covent Garden, the Lon
don docks, the East End—all these
and other spots of fame are described.
The book is also attractively illus
trated, containing such little-publi
cized material, for example, as a map
of the London of Roman times. It
seems to be both a useful and a com
pletely readable work.
PEOPLE IN CAGES. By Helen Ash
ton. New York; The Macmillan
Co.
'J'HIS is one of those novels built
about an arbitrary mechanical
device, a device which sets limits of
time and space on the activity of the
characters much as stage proportions
set limits to the possibilities of a play.
Here it is the device of making the
people visit the London 7,oc one
Spring afternoon; within the bounds
of this place and this time, the fates
of the several men and women of
the story are settled. The animals,
looking down from their cages, are
supposed, one gathers, to do service,
as an ironical comment on human
superiority.
The book is good enough for what
it is.
CORONATION COMMENTARY. By
Geoffrey Dennis. New York: Dodd
Mead & Co.
gENSATION hunters who buy this
book expecting, on the strength
of the Duke of Windsor’s threat of a
libel suit against its English pub
lishers, to find it containing hitherto
unprinted and salacious matter will be
disappointed. Likewise disappoint
ment awaits the buyer who gets the
work in the hope of learning new
facts about the abdication of Edward
VIII. The book actually contains
little or nothing factual that has not
been amply publicized, and the matter
which, as one assumes, is the basLs
of the libel charge is no more than
unpleasant speculation on the au
thor's part, pointless and in thor
oughly bad taste.
The distinguishing characteristic
of the book indeed seems to be point
lessness. One is driven to the con
clusion that the author has simply
attempted to capitalize public inter
est in the abdication for his own
profit. His actual treatment of the
abdication runs to no more than a
few pages; the greater part of his
work is taken up with dull disserta
tions on the nature of the British
government, material, one feels, that
is no more than padding to make a
volume that is book 6ize.
It is on the whole a worthless per
formance, and one regets that the
author seems to have been assisted
in his purpose to capitalize a closed
incident—on this side of the Atlantic,
at least—by the threat of a lawsuit.
For, even though the threat should
be justified, the object is unworthy
the attention.
THE LAURELS ARE CUT DOWN.
By Archie Binns. New York:
fteynal & Hitchcock.
rJ'HIS is a novel of the World War
which goes somewhat out of the
beaten track in that its action is not
laid with the A. E. F. in France but
with that contingent of American
troops which was sent to Siberia after
the Russian revolution. Little is
known about that expedition, and, as
Mr. Binns writes with startling real
ism about it, readers will probably
find his story informative as well as
interesting—for it is interesting. It
should be borne in mind, however,
that he was not with the troops about
which he writes and in fact has never
been in Siberia at all.
His story is that of two brothers,
born and reared in the pioneer coun
try of Washington and how they
served their country in its time of
need. The first part of the book is
given over to pictures of pioneer life
in a little timber settlement on Puget
Sound and to experiences of the
brothers prospecting gold in Alaska.
The fullness of this background seems
puzzling in the light of the later ac
tion, but it has its purpose. Mr.
Binns, from his descriptions of the
pioneer training of the young, from
his unashamed delineation of the
patriotism and idealism which was
part of this training, sets his stage
for the contrast that comes when his
hero returns home and finds those
conditions which have generally come
to be called ‘postwar.” The Siberian
interlude, a fantastic and horrible ad
venture, serves to connect the two
scenes, as though to show war in its
worst aspect, the aspect of purpose
less destructions of good institutions
built from generations of accumulat
ing tradition.
As he describes the fate of the
American force in Siberia, our troops
were sent there to ‘‘maintain order,”
that is to keep the railroads run
ning and do such other police duty
as arose, but not to intervene in Rus
sian affairs. Japan and England
likewise sent troops with this un
derstanding. According to Mr. Binns,
Japan used the opportunity to pour
an army into Russian territory and
assist in every way possible to de
moralize the new Bolshevist gov
ernment. The Japanese, he declares,
were anything but neutral. Eng
land for her part finally armed the
peasants ip order that they might
fight bolshevism, but with the result
that the arms thus bestowed were
used to put bolshevism into power,
since that was the government which
the peasants wanted. In and around
these curious doings were roving
bands of Cossacks, bent in the old
Cossack game of looting, featuring and
murdering, their excuse .Being that
Guglielmo Marconi broadcasting from his yacht Electra
early in 1937, from an illustration in ‘‘Marconi, the Man, and His
Wireless," by Orrin E. Dunlap, jr. (Macmillan.)
—Photo Courtesy N. B. C.
Brief Reviews of Books
Biography.
DOROTHEA DIX. By Helen E.
Marshall, Chapel Hill: Univer
sity of North Carolina Press.
The life of the famous humani
tarian. Strongly told.
SENTINEL OF THE COASTS. By
George R. Putnam. New York:
W. W. Norton Co.
The story of the life of a light
house engineer, as told through his
adventures in his work. In reality
the story of the lighthouse service.
By a former commissioner of light
houses.
FAMOUS AMERICAN MEN OF
SCIENCE. By J. G. Crowther.
New York: W. W. Norton Co.
Brief biographies of Franklin,
Henry, Gibbs and Edison, their aims
and accomplishments. In one volume.
THE SPECTACLE OF A MAN. By
John Coignard. New York: Jef
ferson House.
The story of a man's struggle to
regain control of himself, aided by a
psychiatrist. A case history.
Economics.
FALSE SECURITY. By Bernard J.
Reis. New York City: Equinox
Co-operative Press.
A book on the perfectly legal pro
cedures by which investors can be
shorn of their savings. An expose of
the ineffectuality of the Securities Act.
By a director of the Consumers’
Union.
IN DEFENSE OF CAPITALISM. By
James H. R. Cromwell and Hugo
E. Czerwonky. New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons.
An exposition of the fallacies of our
method of applying the capitalistic
system, and a defense of that system
as an instrument of freedom and
prosperity when it is properly applied.
Peace.
THE TRAGIC FALLACY. By Mau
ritz A. Hallgren. New York: Al
fred A. Knopf.
An expose of the Government's war
policies, alleging to demonstrate that
we have no possible guarantee that
our "defense" mechanisms will be
used for defense only.
Foreign Lands.
THE SOVIETS. By Albert Rhys Wil
liams. New York: Harcourt,
Brace & Co.
Purporting to be a complete sum
ming up of the Soviet system, in all
of its distinctive features. More, in
other words, about Russia.
DISCOVERING SOUTH AMERICA.
By Lewis R. Freeman. New York:
Dodd, Mead & Co.
All around the America to the
south. Routine travel.
CANADA. By Andre Siegfried. New
York: Harcourt, Brace & Co.
Geography, race and culture, as ex
isting in our northern neighbor and
as contrasted to ourselves. Not a
travel book.
DEN MARK KINGDOM OF REASON.
By Agnes Rothery. New York:
Viking Press.
Denmark and its possessions, de
scribed by a well-known writer of
travel volumes.
Closer Home.
IF YOU'RE GOING TO LIVE IN
THE COUNTRY. By Thomas H.
Ormsbee and Richmond Huntley.
New York: Thomas Y. Crow
ell Co.
How to do it wisely and well.
Amusing, but factual.
THE CRUISE OP THE BOUNCING
BETSY. By J. N. Darling. New
York: Frederic A. Stokes Co.
The veteran cartoonist tells of his
adventures in a trailer. Previously
published in The Washington Star.
Novels.
RIDERS OF THE RIO GRANDE. By
Glenn Batch. New York: Thomas
Y. Crowell Co.
Western stuff.
MAIDEN EFFORT. By Samuel Hop
kins Adams. Newr York. The
Liveright Publishing Corp.
The author of "It Happened One
Night" writes of making movies.
Mysteries.
GIRL HUNT. By Laurence D. Smith.
New York: Philadelphia: J. B. ;
Lippincott Co.
The heroine 1s lost and the hero
finds her.
DEAD IS THE DOOR NAIL. By Paul
Haggard. Philadelphia; J. B. Lip
pincott Co.
A world tennis champion is mur
dered and a reporter solves the crime. ,
PORCELAIN FISH MYSTERY. By
Harriette R. Campbell. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf.
A great politician is killed and a
dilettante of the arts solves the crime.
Drama.
SIX COMEDIES. By Somerset
Maugham. Garden City: Double
day, Doran & Co.
“The Unattainable,” "Home and
Beauty,” “The Constant Wife," “The
Breadwinner," "The Circle,” "Our
Betters"—all in one volume.
The Public Library
CHILD HEALTH.
THE United States Children’s Bu
reau has chosen as the slogan
for this year's observance of
Child Health day “Health Pro
tection for Every Child.’’ In order to
attain this goal the efforts, not only
of teachers, social workers and health
officers, but of parents especially, must
be increased toward securing environ
ment and habits conducive to health
for every child. In this important i
work the literature on child health
can give much guidance to parents.
The following books on the subject
are especially valuable for the parent
seeking to make his efforts in this
field more effective. They are avail
able at the Sociology Division, Public
Library, Eighth and K streets north
west, or at the branch libraries.
Health of the Baby and Young
Child.
DR. DAFOE'S GUIDEBOOK FOR
MOTHERS, by A. R. Dafoe. 1936.
QPB.D2.
The doctor to the quintuplets gives
practical counsel to guide in caring
for the baby.
HEALTHY BABIES ARE HAPPY
BABIES, by Mrs. Josephine Ken
yon. 1934. QPB.K429.
A handbook on the care of the
young child, illustrating methods of
maintaining both health and happi
ness.
YOUR NEW BABY. How to Prepare
and Care for It, by Linda L. Woods.
1936. QW.W867y.
MOTHER AND BABY CARE IN PIC
TURES, by Louise Zabriskie. 1935.
QPB.Z2.
Illustrates and discusses the care of
mother and child in a manner very
helpful to the inexperienced.
INFANT CARE. U. S. Children’s Bu
reau. Bulletin No. 8. 1935.
QPB.Un35ic2.
PRENATAL CARE. U. S. Children’s
Bureau. 1930. QW.Un35pr.
Health of the School Child.
CULTIVATING THE CHILD'S AP
PETITE, by C. A. Aldrich. 1982.
QPB.A127ca.
THE CHILD FROM 1 TO 12. by Ada
A. Arlitt. 1931. BP.Ar54a.
Methods of dealing with a variety
of problems of the middle period of
child development.
SCHOOL HEALTH PROBLEMS, by
D. B. Chenoweth and T. K. Sel
kirk. 1937. IRP.C42s.
Explains method for dealing with
important health problems in the
class room.
YOUR CHILD IN HEALTH AND
SICKNESS, by Hugh L. Dwyer.
1936. QPB.D97.
Outlines a regime for care of the
child and gives suggestions for treat
ing illness and accident.
GROWING SUPERIOR CHILDREN,
by I. N. Kugelmass. 1935. BP.K954.
Techniques for superior physical
and mental training and develop
ment.
HEALTHY CHILDHOOD, by H. C.
Stuart. 1933. QPB.St.9.
How parents may assist the child
during the various stages of de
velopment in acquiring a healthy
body.
THE SCHOOL HEALTH PROGRAM.
White House Conference on Child
Health and Protection. 1932.
IRP.W583.
Surveys school health activities in
various phases.
Health Problems and Standards.
MOTHER'S GUIDE WHEN SICK
NESS COMES, by Roger H. Den
nett. 1934. QPB.D416m.
HEALTHY LIVING, by H. S. Diehl.
1935. QH.D54.
Comprehensive advice on many
phases of physical care of both chil
dren and adults.
WHY KEEP THEM ALIVE? by P.
H. De Kruif. 1936. QI.D37.
Examines our knowledge of pre
venting and alleviating disease and
our failure to use this knowledge to
its widest extent.
CHILDREN OF THE NEW DAY, by
Katherine Glover and Evelyn
Dewey. 1934. BP.G518.
Reviews the progress of recent
years in meeting problems of child
development and welfare.
PROBLEMS OF CHILD WELFARE,
by G. B. Mangold. 1936. IGB.
M314p2.
The needs of children in many
fields and ways in which these needs
are being met given consideration.
HEALTHFUL LIVING, by J. P. Wil
liams. 1934. QD.W676h2.
Essentials of physical development
and the prevention of disease outlined
in readable form.
they were helping overthrow the
Bolshevist rebels.
It all adds up to confusion con
founded. It is a nightmare wherein
the physical horrors of guerilla war
fare in Cossack hands are no worse
than the henped-up mental and spir
itual confusion which afflicted the un
complicated young Americans, as they
tried dutifully to carry out their or
ders. Mr. Binns gives some unfor
gettable passage^ to this picture.
When his hero returns home, want
ing only America—America aa he re
r*
members It, a land of simplicity and
idealism—his state of mind is all too
understandable.
But—"the laurels are cut down.”
America has changed. The young
man finds freedom of speech restrict
ed. He finds mediocrity in power and
fear and suspicion the rule. His old
sweetheart suggests that they go away
to Russia—Soviet Russia—new coun
try, land of opportunity. He replies
that he likes America best, even thfe
strange post-war America. But the
laurels are eut down. The hero looks
IN THE CURRENT MAGAZINES
Two Newcomers Invade the Field—Scribners Throws Light on
Dorothy Thompson—Foretelling the Future of the
Duke of Windsor and Mrs. Simpson.
By M.*C. R.
Ci ■»—v ECAUSE the sky is so clear
I / today, the sun so warm,
I j the grass so green, South
-I—* Field so full of recreating
students, the daffodils so lush, we have
decided that it is a fitting occasion
for a vital statistic, to wit: If all the
books published last year in these
United States of America were stood
side by side, as upon a bookshelf,
they would reach from our office, at
116th street (New York City) to the
middle of the State of Utah.”—From
the Pleasures of Publishing, Columbia
University Press.
A love of reading may be respon
sible for about half the distance across
Pennsylvania. But from there on
there is nothing to it but hard, un
regenerate, bullheaded determination
on the part of young, old, middle
aged, unweaned, decrepit, stripling and
nonegenarian—to write. They even
publish these books at their own ex
pense.
Well, who would know, if a book
reviewer wouldn’t?
NEW periodical—as far as these
columns are concerned—has just
come in. It is called Globe, with a
subtitle informing the public that it
is an ‘‘intimate Journal” and that it
Includes material on travel, romance,
adventure and world interest. It
arouses the reviewer’s hostility on
first sight by being of the patent
medicine almanac format now so pop
ular, the pocket or Readers’ Digest
size. But impartial review reveals it
to be a pretty good little sheet.
Its material seems to come from
all over the world, but it is not "travel"
writing, as we know that dreary trade.
To be sure the name of the profes
sional getter-around, Harry Franck,
appears among its contributors (and
is writing about Mexico too!), but in
general the object of the magazine
seems to be something better than
to exploit the atlas.
There is a piece about Texas by
Karle Wilson Baker and a piece about
Southern Rhodesia (Its rock paint
ings) by Douglas Pox. T. Morris Long
streth (Washington writer at present)
contributes a story about the Yukon,
Count Byron de Prorok one on Ethi
opia. Ezra Pound writes (it is the
bunk) about the Roman Empire. 1937,
and Langston Hughes, the Negro poet,
about hts pleasure in traveling. A
catholic magazine. Why have they
not sent it to the reviewer sooner?
^NOTHER new' magazine (the re
viewer means really new, the
number under examination being No. j
1, volume 1, no less) is Art Instruc- |
tion, called a magazine “of practical
instruction for artists and students."
The reviewer, being unable even to
write legibly, feels very little compe
tent to criticize a periodical devoted
to teaching artists their trade, but, |
with this admission made, she is
willing to commit herself to the prop
osition that Art Instruction at least
seems to be a sensible thing. She
would revile bitterly the notion that
any one could get the slightest benefit
out of a publication devoted to the
teaching of writing: she does revile it. j
But, knowing nothing of drawing,
she spent a highly pleasant half-hour ;
over Art Instruction's pages and feels
inclined to revile nothing.
The magazine takes up such prac- ■
tical (seeming) points as how to draw
a head, what techniques to use in
outdoor sketching of various kinds,
how the commercial designer proceeds
about his Job and what technical
tricks can be used to what purposes.
It also has an article on the work
of E. Melburn Brindle, who has ere
WOODROW WILSON AT 29.
One of the illustrations
from “The Woodrow Wilsons.”
by Eleanor Wilson McAdoo.
(Macmillan.)
ated a new technique in the use of
black and white (or so Art Instruc
tion says). Everything is illustrated,
and, after looking at the charts for
drawing a head, the reviewer decided
that, probably about Sunday after
next, provided that the weather is
good, she would go in for portraiture
in a serious way. Well, there it is.
Buy it at your own peril.
'J'HE American Mercury this month
is singularly dull. That is a
calamity. One counts on the Mer
cury to be amusing.
This month, however, we have
Havelock Ellis writing on sex, and
Ellis and sex are no new combina
tion. We also have Albert Jay Nock
writing on the Constitution, and—well,
the poor old Constitution! Harold
Lord Varney finds that Russia and
ourselves may be allied in the next
W'ar (that next wan and Robert
Byron offers the news that if we, or
anybody else, institute communism as
a form of government, it will cost a
lot and hardly pay for the trouble.
Tsck! Tsck! It can’t, of course, be
much fun to be a magazine editor
when you have an attitude to keep
up, for no attitude is applicable at
au times, and holding the pose con
sistently, even though heroic, will end
in making you as monotonous as a
bronze general charging on a bronze
horse. The Mercury deserves sym
pathy. It has done very well indeed.
But—when one remembers that it is
the old Smart Set grown older—well,
it is an argument for the irresponsi
bility of being young.
Another Smart Set would be today
impossible. One knows that. The
times are out of Joint for any real
revolutionary thinking. They are so
because revolutionary thinking has
become the fashion—there is a little
revolutionary thinker in practically
every home. The Mercury has tried
to promote the revolution back to
common sense. But this 1s an oil
month with it. And, one may be
dreaming, but the old Smart Set never
used to take time out. Or is that just
one more illusion?
rJ'HE current Nation is devoted to
the new Spring books—if you are
interested.
gCRIBNERS MAGAZINE for May
has its leading article devoted to
the wife of Mr. Dorothy Thompson,
who, in case you do not know It, U
America’s Nobel Prize winner.
Now, Miss Thompson, from her
writing, is anything but a painful ex
perience. She seems, on the contrary
(by her writing) to be Intelligent and
cool-headed. But Mr. Don Wharton,
who writes about her in Scribner’s, is
too enthusiastic—much too enthusi
astic. He makes her sound like a
Perfectly Terrible Woman. He makes
one wonder why it is that no man
can write about or talk about any
woman of any individual quality with
out unconsciously revealing that un
consciously he regards her as a
monster.
Mr. WlHirton, of course, is trying
to pay Miss Thompson a series of
compliments. He obviously admirea
her—or thinks that he does. But
when you have read his plecf about
her you will decide that, rather than
meet her, you would do a marathon.
It is the usual result of a male eSort
to express admiration for female in
telligence. The boys just don’t have
it. It puts one in mind of the coun
try visitor who praised his host’s din
ner by saying, "It was very good—
what there was of it.” And then,
feeling that he had not been tactful,
amended. "And there W'as plenty, too—
such as it was.”
But his intentions were practically
perfect. And so, one gathers, are Mr,
Wharton’s.
’’pwo magazines this week have
taken advantage of the timeliness
of the date to speculate on the future
of the Duke of Windsor and Mrs.
Simpson. They are Liberty and Scrib
ner’s.
Liberty Is pretty sentimental and,
under the grievous title, "What
Chance Have Edward and Wallie for
Happiness?” it worries considerably
over whether the former King will
have to accept the fate of other former
rulers and lead a second-rate manner
of life around continental resorts,
w'ith his chief occupation dodging re
porters. Having gone into the horrid
prospect at some length. Liberty then
offers reprieve—no, it says, the future
of the royal romantics will not be like
that. On the contrary—and here the
author i Frederick Lewis) fairly bursts
into tears—the "blows they have re
ceived from without, instead of sep
arating them, have driven them into
a closer communion within.”
And he winds off with this, “Edward
and Wallis Windsor have a better
chance than most young marrie.i
couples of achieving happiness.”
Well, that’s a relief. Scribner's hap
pily is a good bit more entertaining on
the subject. It leaves the realities of
the former King's coming days to him,
and offers its readers a series of bur
lesques on the styles which, it says,
would be used by various well-known
authors, if they were to describe what
lies ahead.
The first is a Katherine Norris Idyll,
the next a "tremulous last chapter'in
the manner of James Hilton.” It is
followed by a skit in the Noel Coward
manner and then, of course, Heming
way ends it all with ruthless Hem
mingwayian devastation. It is all clever
and the imitations are well dona. The
author is Corey Ford.
J^EADERS of Coronet may be Inter
ested to know that that magazine
has now made arrangements by which
enlarged copies of any picture which
has appeared in the magazine can be
purchased. The terms are in the cur
rent Issue. May. On page 79 this issue
is a photograph of a young orang
outang, which is absoltely unfor
gettable.
ahead with no more joy and only
resignation.
There is a kind of disconnectedness
in the novel's construction, but it 1s
a good book.
BUCKSKIN BREECHES. By Phil
Stong. New York: Farrar <fc
Rinehart.
'J'HIS novel of the middle frontier
is a good lively tale, well enough
told. It is the story of the Ellison
family, which found Ohio too cramp
ing and too thickly settled, and, ac
cordingly, set out for the West, which
at that time was “Ioway.” In
“Ioway,” whither they went by ox
drawn wagons, they raised cabins,
broke ground and watched their chil
dren grow up and marry.
It is territory which has been cov
ered before, of course. Mr. Stong
gives his treatment its individuality
in the character of the father, Jesse
Ellison, whose fixed idea it is that
boys grow into proper men only in
conditions of danger. Jesse's closing
remark expresses his fear of what
happens in a land without a frontier:
“ 'You know, at least, they'd have
to kill each other. That's what it
would have to come to. All the boys
in the country.’ ”
Well, we have come to that point
today, but the fighting qualities of
our youth do not seem to have kept
pace with Jesse’s fears.
It is a readable novel which will
probably be fairly popular. To the
reviewer it seemed at times that the
solid physical structure of the story
was overburdened with ideas put into
the mouths of the characters to ex
press some of the author’s own convic
tions and sounding distinctly out of
harmony with the frontier existence.
More than once, indeed, these pio
neers talk about themselves as pio
neers and give views on pioneering
in general which are rather more lit
erary than realistic. But the plot
structure is solid and hearty, and a
good story is what people want to
read.
BEST SELLERS FOR THE
WEEK ENDING APRIL 26.
Fiction.
THE YEARS. Woolf. Harcourt
Brace.
THEATRE. Maugham. Double
day Doran.
NEW WINE AT COCK CROW.
Ellis. Morrow.
BUCKSKIN BREECHES. Stong.
Farrar and Rinehart.
PARADISE. Forbes. Harcourt
Brace.
OF MICE AND MEN. 8 tain back.
Covlci Friede.
Non-Fiction.
HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND
INFLUENCE PEOPLE. Car
negie. Simon & Schuster.
PRESENT INDICATIVE. Cow
ard. Doubleday Doran.
AMERICAN DOCTOR’S ODYS
SEY. Heiser. Norton.
THE WOODROW WILSONS.
McAdoo. Macmillan.
THE HUNDRED YEARS. Gue
dalla. Doubleday Doran.
THE FLOWERING OF NEW
ENGLAND. Brooks. Dutton.
Cold Aids Flowering.
'J'HE blooming of daffodils in time
for Thanksgiving is possible
through the proper treatment of bulbe
before they are planted in flats or
Indoor beds.
The bulbs to be forced are held at
50 degrees temperature for a month
In August or September and then
planted. This cold storage gives the
bulbs artificially the same treatment
they receive from nature when held in
the ground over Winter.
Because of the reaction of the
bulbs to the cold storage, it is possi
ble to keep a steady supply of these
flowers from late Fall right on through
until ordinary outdoor flowering in the
Spring.
Overfeeding Blamed.
'J'HERE has been a tendency on the
part of nurserymen and othem to
avoid the use of commercial fertilizers
on evergreens, a tendency which the
Bureau of Plant Industry experts be
lieve has developed from improper em
ployment of the commercial fertilizers.
Animal fertilizers, which are more in
use, cost considerably more, and, so
say these Federal experts, are no
better.
The main trouble has been the ex
cessive feeding of plants with the com
mercial fertilizers, causing something
akin to indigestion among animals. Ii
the commercial fertilizers are used in
the proper quantity, they say, the re
sults are satisfactory and the cost less.
"If laughter
and tears are
still desired
by the public,
this book is a
^ best seller!”
The
Uloodroui Wilsons
by
ELEnnoR unison nunnoo
"This book is different. So vivid is the
tale, so full of tender intimacies, of
gentle pathos, that the great panorama
of Armageddon and the Armistice recede
into the background."— New York Times
"Her narrative flows easily over shallows
and depths; the diction is admirable.
When you close the book there remains
$3.50 at all no mysterious, unknown Wilson."
bookstores —Sat. Review of Lit.
The macmillan Company • lleui Vork