Evening Star Newspaper, September 13, 1925, Page 51

TDA GILBERT MYERS. BARREN GROUND. Ry Ellen Glas- gow, author of “The Shadowy Third,” etc. New York: Double- day, Page & Co SPREAD of barren farm land provides the background against which the action of ~A this romance is set, the spent foree of its exhausted sofl shaping the meager existence of the ctors themselves. A story set in a section of Virginia where acres of red- brown broomsedge, pricked here and there with scant patches of green to- bacco, tell the tale of soil worn to death’ in- a 200-vear struggle to sup- port, unaide: single product. A sloomy contrast, this picture, to that rarlier one when the whole of Virginia was one vast field of rank verdure, when tobacco was the currency of the colony, when later it stood as the prime material substance of the great State itself. In those bright Virginia days tobacco was king, i lent in its surety, even when Popes threatened its " patrons with excommunication, when “the crown declared its use 8. capital offense, when one Swiss can- ton included its verboten in their ver- sion of the Decalogue. In those days nobody knew that the soil could die, that make things grow. Nobody had then heard of diversified crops. And even If one had known, his faith in things-as-they-are would, as it does with us, have supported him in the casy and comfortable desire to let well enough alone. So, gradually, well enough slipped away into very bad indeed, tfll now, at the opening of this story, the_sinister gloom of brown broomsedge has settled deep upon the farm lands roundabout and has, besides, shut off the vision and stified the ambitions of the people themselves. Gloom, the is the keynote of this tale of Virg farm life, a gloom that, rising out of the soil itself, gath- ers in a smothering fog around the common life of the nelghborhood. Out of toil that barely meets the dafly need, out of long hours that admit no moment of pleasure, out of the en- veloping smother that permifs no out- look wider than a hand’s breadth, there emerges a common life that is unspeakably dreary and repellant. Not even Hardy himself, that genius at weldirks atmospbere and circum- stance into a weirdly. fateful whole, could find fault with the effect of un- broken gloom -that - Miss - Glasgow's ndventure in realism has created in “Barren Ground.” The action here hinges, of course, upon the gallant effort of one at least to break out of this prison of unto- ward circumstance.. This-one is the glrl, Dorinda, who, starving for hap: piness, feeds avidly upon her .one rhance and then flies into the secure of a great city. In a old home, prepared to redeem the land to its native potency. in the most approved of modern meth- ods. Thereafter the stery is of Do- rinda as a successful and prosperous woman. Yet one closes the book un- satisfled. More than likely one is ask- ing too much. Perhaps all that could be expected of Dorinda under the early grind of circumstance and thwarting was to grow a body and | some material success. Maybe it is too much to look here for any great growth of the spirit. Miss Glasgow knows better than we do, for she was on the spot, and to every detail of that life she gave a rigid inspection and a most literal report. Still there is disappointment in the fact that after all of Dorinda’s effort and good achievement she herself, the real she, does not come up to the mark. A little thing, vet we judge and are judged by liitle things; makes Do- rinda a disappointment. Her last act here is one of bribery; her last words hers appeal to the boy, John Abner, for his fealty. ‘“Bear with my fan- cies now, John Abner. When I am gone both farms will be yours.” Too bad! However, as a bit of stark real- ity, the story scores. Besides, as a new note in the literature of the ro- mantic South, it is bound to galn a wide attention. As reading, just read ing for happy intercourse with the world and its people—oh, it is not for that at all! Read It as art, if you will, but leave it if entertainment is your pursuit. THE LORNI MYSTER By Jef- frey Farnol, author of “The Broad Highwi Boston: Little, Brown $§(OWBOY Becomes Earl"—so the newspaper headlines a bit of news that whenever it appears un- failingly rouses interest and stirs the | At infrequent course of Amer- 1d has called one £ our settlers out of their democratic obscurity to return of to titles of nobility at home. And the romance of this incident is al- ways of strong app ich an inef- dent sets Jefirey Farnol off on this new tale of mystery. Out from Vir- ginia young David Loring sailed for_England to take up the heirship of Lering Chase. But upon nearing port disaster set in—the body of young David was washed ashore. At least somebody was washed ashore and no less than three persons de- clared it to be David himself. To be sure these three—or two of them certainly—were greately interested in having the drowned boy David. From oment of identification right o of a tale that tery and in part pure romance, Jeffrey Farnol, with the assistan of Jasper E£hrig, de- tective, has the time of his life on of matters that con- | taln as much of problematic to-do as they do of ge: ne nol enter- talnment. There are no half meas fres here. The adventure has dash and swing and gay -ndornments to Dorinda. returns to the | This she does | |embellish the action itself. The heroine is a heroine and looks it. The outcome is a right about face of surprise, with logic and genuine cause to sustain it. And Jasper Shrig, detective—well, he is just another one of the familiar triumphs of that beguiling writer, Jeffrey Farnol. MRS. HARTER. By E. M. Delafleld, authior of “The Heel of Achilles,” | etc. New York. Harper Bros. INJ©, more than an English neigh- borhood is set here as the stage of action. And the action itself is, con- formably, of narrow _scope. Teas and tennis and talk—these are the externals of an outcome really mo- mentous in its revelation of charac- ter and personality. However, with- out any outcome at all, .possibly without any stage at all or any rounding of these episodes into | drama, this would have been a very | | special _entertainment. _Conceivably, | the author might have been sitting on | the porch, watching the world go | by, commenting upon it, and the effect would have been about the same. For it s the author's prompt seizure of characteristic and trait and habit, it is her ready appraisal of those about her and her innocently cool methods of exposure that create the full sense of joy in *Mrs. Harter.” A little thing—not much of a story according to the rules and regulations—turned off with a hand so light so free from formal gesture that one forgets that this is a read- ing at all. Rather is it an incom- parably zestful hour in the company of intelligence and wit and a smiling ironic intimacy with life and men and women. THE CHASE. By Mollie Panter | Downes, author of “The Shoreless Sea.” New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. E, Charles Standish, is the hero who carries on here as the chief flgure in the. game covered by this title. This i3 the great love chase, which demonstrates, incidentally, that the runners may change indefinitely while the chase itself goes unbroken- 1y forward. This everybody knows to be a fact,.though many chng to the tradition of unchanging love. However, the point of arrest here is that a girl of 17 wrote this novel in a clarity of prescience that as a rule belongs only to years and gray hairs and seasoned wisdom. Like a very veteran, she follows these groups.of shifting loves and lovers, no less than three of them, with a truly amazing sense of the mental happenings that source the outer. moves in the game |itself: Precocious child, that's what | she is.” Curiously mature, too, in the | care and circumstances of her bufld- ing, in the balance and shadings of | her work, in the rounded and con- vincing quality of it as a whole. One takes great comfort out of a certain part and aspect of this story. This is that the author is never enywhere else quite so sure, quite so much at home in her theme as she is por- traying Charles Standish as a little boy, picturing the other yvoungsters [ with whom he is here and there asso- | ciated. If she were not at her best | here with childhood, where she her- self pretty nearly belongs, why, then she would be a prodigy, even a phe- nomenon, and that would be hope- |less. As it is, the girl is a genuine | hope, out of a very real and con- vincing performance. | 0AK AND IRON. v James B. Hen- drix, author of “Without Gloves.” New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. HAT'S the man himself—the man of oak and iron—David Gaunt. Honest, narrow, hard, unemotional, David Gaunt here takes his place as one of the many heroes of the North Where exactions and hardships provide unfailing material for the weaver of robust romance. A leader who could command loyalties but who could not enlist love, David Gaunt is here the center of many incidents and episodes | characteristic of the reglon that ap- | peals so strongly to adventurers and to the readers of adventure. It is, | however, the social and home life of David Gaunt in this lonely region that lis of prime importance, since his |fallure to realize that loneliness for efther himself or his wife creates the situation upon which the strength of | this action and its ultimate outcome | depend. 1Indeed this story, in o lower |latitude, would be a social problem Climate, however, and isolation venture of purest brand. ely humen story_and_one tale. settle it n_inte: | | } V) ; : jRofieflli Pinkerton | Author of | “eTest of Donald Nortor @ ASpeeding Romance of the rufged North—- Of clear-eyed | men ana fine-spirited girl | =Of furtive savages and a sinister human Spider € The action is interise — The | r.lot marches-The atmosphere i tonic=The characters Jive s 200 | mduden RELLYELEE Cung By EMILY POST (Mrs. Price Post) that at the same time makes fiill use of a wild and exacting environment. FORTUNE'S YELLOW. By Bvelyn Schuyler Schaeffer, author of *Isa- bel Stirling.” New York:.Charles Scribner’s Sons. T is not safe to say that anything whatsoever {s inconsistent with human nature, since human nature is the most variable and the most un- aocountable of all created things. Yet, «~¥ looking around for & long time, we do_gather tentatively certain human behaviors that seem to us to be plausible and certain others that we reject as highly improbable. Now, the story in hand proceeds by way of the fact that a very rich man has turned over a great fortune to a wom- an who, many years earller, rejected him in favor of another man. The romance, therefore, is that of a couple of old folks who, without meeting for many vears, move along in'the roles of secret benefactor on the one hand and grand lady of sudden and mys- teriously sourced wealth on the other. A fairy story, pure and simple. Some charm, of the youthful and unmeas- ured sort, attaches to this oldish lady, sporting innocently and vithout ques- tion among her new toys and enter- tainments. This elderly “Kitty" is, in effect, purely a Pollyanna, who re- mains so true to her first love and her widowhood that she surpasses belief at times, indeed, most of the time. The writing of this story must have been a most enjoyable exercise. There are evidences of this all along the course. But it needs time and seasoning, it needs pruning and pluck- ing—a. lot of this, if it is to move out of the juvenile class where credulity is spontaneous and whole-hearted. BOOKS RECEIVED. ETHAN QUEST; His Saga. Harry- Hervey. New. York: mopolitan Book Corporation. THE MODERN TENDENCY IN AMERICAN PAINTING. By Cath- erine Beach Ely. New York: Fred- eric Fairchild Sherman. LOCATING THE JRON TRAIL. By Edward _ Gillette. Boston: The Christopher Publishing House. THE WONDERFUL VOYAGE OF LITTLE PIERRE;- and Other Storles from the French. By Julia R. Foley, A. B. Boston: The Christopher Publishing House. THE SBCIENCE. OF. LIFE; and Its Application, By Delbert Strader Bachman, 1. E. E. Boston: The Christepher Publishing House, INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC POL- ICIES; a SBurvey of the Economics of Diplomacy. By Willlam Smith Culbertson, author aof “Commer- cial Policy in War Time and After.” New York: D. Appleton & Co. TRAINING' THE TODDLER. By Elizabeth Cleveland, ~ supervisor girls’ and women'’s activities, De- troit Public Schools. Illustrated. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co. RITUAL AND DRAMATIZED FOLK- WAYS; for Use in Camp, Club, Re- liglous Assembly, Settlement and School. Written and adapted by Ethel Reed Jasspon and Beatrice Becker. Illustrated by Albert R. Thayer. New York: The Century Co. THIS OLD MAN. By Gertrude Bone. Frontispiece by Muirhead Bone. New York: The Macmillan Co. By Cos- ‘| PLAYWRIGHTS OF THE NEW q [CAN THEATER. By Thomas H. Dickinson. New York: The Macmillan Co. THE BLUE TALISMAN; a Detective Story. By Fergus Hume, author of “The Crowned Skull,” etc. New York: Edward J. Clode, Inc. GAMBRINUS; and Other Storles. Translated from the Russian of Kuprin by Bernard New York: Alexandre Guilbert Guerney. Adelphia ‘Co. VIRGIN HEART; Remy De Courmont. translation by Aldous ‘New York: Adelphia Co. PRACTICAL PUBLIO SPEAKING. By Bertrand Lyon, president of the Lynn School of Expression, etc. Boston: Lothrop, Lee & Shep- ard Co. FREE. By Elizabeth Irons Folsom. New York: The Macaulay Co. UNKNOWING; and Other Poems. By Mildred W. Stlllman, author of “Wood Notes,” etc. New York: Duffleld & Co. THE FOURTH NORWOOD. By Rob- ert E. Pinkerton, author of “The Test of Donald Norton.” Chicago: The Rellly & Lee Co. KEPT; a Story of Post-War London. By Alec Waugh, author of ‘“‘Card Castle,” etc. New York: Albert THE PUBLIC LIBRARY Recent accessions at the Library and lists of recommended reading will appear in this column each Sunday. Soclal Pfoblems and Welfare. ‘Beman, L. T., comp. Selected Articles on_Prohibition, Modification of the Volstead Law, Ref. ICI-B422p. Bogardus, E. 8. Making Social, Sci- ence Studies. I-B633m. Chesley, Mrs. A. L. Who Are the Benefactors? TAB-C428w. Chicago Council of Soclal Agencles. ‘The Financing of Soclal Agencies. 1G896-C43. Ne Schweinitz,” Karl. The Art of Helping People - Out of Trouble. a Novel. By Authorized Huxley. TAS-DAS. Flayes, Lucile. Children in Need of Speclal Care. IG844-Ea8. Hamiltop, Mrs. M.. E. The . Police- ‘woman. IB-HI186p. Natiopal Soclety of Penal Information. Handbook of American Prisons. IFP-N217. Persons, W. F. Central Financing of . Social Agencies. 1922. TG-P436. Shnw,z G, B. Imprisonment. IFP- Sh28. State Charities Ald Assoclation, N. Y. How Foster Children “Turn Out. IGR61-8t27. Sutherland, E. H. Criminology. IC- SusT. United States Children's Bureau. Child Dependency in the District of- Columbta. +IG859-LI7. United States Children's Bureau. Handbook of Federal Statistics of Children. 1914. IAR-Uni5h. Van Waters, Miriam. Youth in Con- flict. I1CJ-V38y. Education. Abel, J. F. A Study of 260 School Consolidations. IPO-Ab33s. Abt, H. E. The Care, Cure and Edu- cation of the Crippled Child. IZE- AbS, African Education Commission. Edu- cation in East Africa. IK70-AfSa. Almack, J. C. Education for Citizen: ship. TKF-Al63. Almack, J. and Lang, A. R. Prob- i lems of the Teaching Protfession. IQT-Al63p. Avery, G. T. Technique of Procedure in Collegiate Registration. IX83- Av3T. The Bison. 1925. -IX83Ho-TB54. Caldwell, O. W., and Courtis, S. A. Then and Now in Education, 1845- 1923. IU83-C126t. Cather, K. D. Religious Education ‘Through Story Telling. IKR-C284r. Cleveland Foundation. Survey Com- mittee. Survey of Higher Educa- tion In Clevéland. IKS$92-C59. Commission on Survey of Foreign Students in the United States of America. The Foreign Student in America. IX83-C738L. Corson, O. T. Our Public Schools. 1U88-C8170. Cox, P. W. L. Curriculum Adjustment in the Secondary School. IPC-C838. Dearborn, N. H. An Introduction to Teaching. IQT-D347i. Diemer, G. W. A Platoon School in Kansas City, Mo. IPO-DB63. ‘Hood, W. R. Legal Provisions for Rural High Schools. IUS3-HT63, Hosle, J. F., and Chase, S. E. Brief Guide to the Project Method. IP- H794b. Huff, B. M. How te Publish a School Paper. IX-HS7. Kelly, F. J. The American Arts Col- lege. IX83-K299. Klapper, Paul. Teaching English in Elementary and Junior High Schools. 1P-K663te, Kornhauser, A. W. How to Study. 1QY-K844h. Lewis, E. E. Personnel Problems of the Teaching Staff. IQT-L85p. Lincoln, E. A. Beginnings in Educa- tional Measurement. TKI-L633. May, M. A, How to Study in College. IQY-M45. Moore, A. E. The Primary School. IKH-M783p. National Education Association of the United States, Department of Ele- mentary School Prineipals. Year- book, 1924. IP-§N216. National Education Association of the United States, Department of In- struction. Yearbook, first to third years. IPO-N217. National Education Assoclation of the United States, Research Division, Research Bulletin 1923-1924. IK- BN216r. Phillips, F. M. States - by Two- Methods. Pbide. Reeder, W. G. The Chief State School OmMcial. lc_g;nm. Ruch, G. M. e Improvement of the Written Examination. IPE-R$2. Rugg, H. O. A Primer of Graphics and Statistics for Teachers. IPO- Re44p. Scott, C. E. Educational Supervision. TPO-Scose. - Sears, J. B. The School 11783-Se17s. Sisson, E. O. Bducating for Freedom. TK88-S188e. Stermzand, M. J. Progressive Meth- ods of Teaching. IP-St77p. Tepgarden, F. M. A Study of the Up- per Limits of the Development of Education Ranking of TK83. Survey. Intelligence. IKI-T224s. Terry, P. W., and Marquis, W. J. Legls on the Junior High School. 1U83-T7278, ‘Thurber, C. H. Fiscal Support. of State Universities and State Col- leges. IX83-T42. United States Bureau of Education. A Manual of Educational Legisla- tion. TK83-Un3ma. United States Federal Board for Voca- tional Education. Bulletins, 1918- 1924. 6v. IKT-Un3sb. Wallin, J. E. W. The Education of Handicapped Children. 1ZF-W155e. Walters, Raymond. Educational Jot- tings Abroad. IK45-W1T. Williams, J. H. Graphic Methods in Education. TPO-W6T6g. Piano Sal Players and Baby Grands These ‘three Players are new, but are shop- worn gamples. They are guar- anteed bo by us and the maker. Three Players Incased in brown mahogany; apartment size; with duet bench to match, Delivery free. FiveBabyGrands FIVE GRANDS, in a car just received, were case-damaged. Our shops have repaired the Y. W. C. A The Young Women's Christian As. soclation has secured the services of Miss Marion L. Meigs as secretary of physical education in the Y. W. C. A. school department. Miss Meigs was born in Bridgeport, Conn., and is a graduate of. the Central School of Hyglene and Physical Education of New York City. For the past three years she has been physical director at the Y. W. C. A. in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., having charge of the gymnasium and swimming pool. Miss Melgs will conduct classes in gymnastics, dancing, bowling and supervise fames and hiking. Most of the classes will be held at the Y. W. C. A. gymnasium, Eleventh and M streets northwest. Speclal classes for those who have a tendency for over- welght will be held at 614 E street northwest in conjunction with swim- ming. will open October 5. Registrations can be made at the ad- ministration building, 614 E street northwest, beginning September 28. The board of directors of the Y. W. C. A. will hold its first meeting for the Fall at 614 E street northwest, Thursday, 10:30 a.m. Mrs. Thomas E. Brown, first vice president, will pre- side In the absence of Mrs. Herbert EAMI’)ny. ss Elsa Peterson, member of the board of directors, and chairman of the girl reserve committee, will return from her trip to Europe Friday. A membership committee meeting has been called for tomorrow at 614 E street northwest, 6:30 p.m. Miss Ilena Balley is chairman. Mrs. Albert H. Putney, chairman of the {ndustrial committee, has called a meeting for Friday at 614 E street northwest, 12:30 p.m. Mrs. Herbert E. Day, president of the Young Women's Christian Asso- clation of the District of Columbla, will leave Washington tomorrow, ac- companying her husband to Fulton, Mo., where Mr. Day will begin his duties as superintendent of the Mis- sourl State College for the Deaf. Mrs. Day has given most unusual gervice to the Y. W. C. A., first serv- ing as chatrman of the general educa- tion committee for eight years, then as chairman of the girl reserve depart- nt, and then as chairman of the street branch committee, and later chairman of the finance com- mittte. She succeeded Mrs. Robert Lansing as president of the associa- tlon four years ago, and as chief ex- ecutive she guided the organiza- tion through the years of post-war re- organization and development to the greatest satisfaction of its members. The assoclation recognizes its in- debtedness to Mrs. Day for her out- standing wisdom, loyalty and devotion In directing its program of service in the community. Although Mrs. Day will be far from this city, her counsel | and co-operation will continue in the development of the interests of girls @nd young men in the Nation's capital. Shingle Roof Lasts 37 Years. EATONVILLE, Wash., September 12 .—Thirty-seven years was the life of a shingle roof that T. C. Van Eaton, a polneer after whom this city was named, renewed ‘this Summer. The structure houses a department store, whose proprietor declared that not a | cent's worth of goods had been dam.- | aged by leakage. The shingles were | split out of red cedar cut nearby. | Government rallways of Denmark | operate nearly as many miles of trad FINLAND FINDS DEMAND IN AMERICA FOR TIMBER Freight Charges Declared Less Than From Pacide Coast to New Yurk. Correspondence of the Associated Press. HELINGFORS, August 20.—Al though Finnish timber has not yet found its way to the United States, & demand has been created In that country for timber from Finland and American buyers now are competing with those from Great Britain and 51 the | France for purchase of this commodity. It wus feared that the question of frelght would be an important factor in the exporting of Finnish timber to America, but the Scandinavian Shipping Gazette points out that freight from Finland to New Yor or Boston is cheaper to those eities {than from the west coast of the | United States. R Just His Nickname. From the Detroit News. Mrs. Goodsole—I heard the other boys call you Mike. name is Michael. The Littlest Guy—No'm, it ain’t. Mike’s the short fer Microbe. I presume your Apartments Chateau Thierry S St. at Twentieth Apartments of 1 to 3 rooms with bath Walls paneled and papered g Elevator and switchboard service Representatives on premises Thomas J. Fisher & Co., 738 15th Street C. Main 6830 You will soon be saying “Meet Me in Style Arcade” See tomorrow’s paper as private companies. “The Busy Corner” 9 Penna. Ave., 8th and D We’ll Allow You $25 for Your Old Sewing Machine On the Purchase of This Desk Model “Free-Westinghouse Electric!”” at $129 —For a limited time and going to allow you $25.00 for your old machine. We have just twenty-four of these beautiful machines, in walnut finish, which we desire to move quickly. Your reward for taking one now will be $5.00 more than the customary allowance. it on our usual Liberal on this model only, we are Besides you may purchase Terms! The Westinghouse “Lark” Portable Electric Machine $44. 00 —A durable, easy-running machine, at a most reasonable price built-in motor, “short-shuttle 1t is equipped with Westinghouse throw,” which lessens vibrations and eliminates lost motion, has automatic thread controller, which insures the right amount of thread is given off to each stitch. Author of “ETIQUETTE” The Blue Book of Social Usage “The Title Market,” “Woven in the Tapestry,™ “The Flight of a Moth," “‘Purple and Fine Linen," etc., etc. &= The New Novel of New York Society bruises perfectly. They are sold under our guarantee to be as good as new. Any one is a genuine bargain. The prices follow: 2at..... $385 $3 85 lat..... $435 Mahogany cases; small size. Delivery free, with player bench included. 2at ..... $465 $ 1 O Per Month Pays for Either Investigate these offerings. Put music in' your home. We make the way easy for you and your family to enjoy music- while some member of the family is learning to play. . HOMER L KITT CO. 1330 G STREET Another Special Feature! $102 “Royal” Desk Model With W estinghouse Built-in Motor - $79.00 —Simple to operate and most economical, as it makes 75,000 stitches for only one cent. It is one of the best machines made. Has the built-in Westinghouse motor, an assurance of perfect stitching with no trouble. 22 PARADE Through Emily Post’s artistry in thig new society novel, ““Parade,” you are enabled to see the romance, the stark reality, the scandal, the glitter, the pathos, the gloom, the humor, the pomp, of a generation of New York society life and when you have finished the volume, you will feel that all of its characters have in- deed passed before you in parade. 12mo, Cloth. $2.00, net; all Bookstores FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Publishers 354-360 Fourth Avenue 8 o8 1 s New York * See the Other Models in Electric Machines Kann’s—Fourth Floor,