Evening Star Newspaper, February 27, 1927, Page 48

Red Chalk Portraits on View at National Gallery—Exhibition of the Landscape Club—Other Notes of Special Interest Concerning Washington Artists. BY LEILA MECHLIN. N event of very unusuzl note is the memorial exhibition of portraits in red chalk by John | Elliott of the original members of the Lafayette Escadville and ® few other of the American men who fought in the World War, now on view in the Natlonal Gallery of Art, United National Museum. There are portraits in aii com- Prising he coliection, and of these, 18 have been presanted to the Smith- sonian Institution for the National Gallery of Art by Mrs. Elijott During the World War Mr. Elliott devoted his entire time to making a eries of portralt drawings of the American boys killed in the war. The first series of these was sold for the benefit of the permanent blind war relief fund. The present cxhibit con- stitutes a 6e-oud series. To a great extent, therefore, this is in the truest sense & memorial exhibition—a memorial to ihe genius i the artist and to the valor of those whose por- traits are shown. Very appropriately, & biograph wviators is given in the catalogue. These poriraits are i red «halk, an exquisite medium when bandled, as in this instance. They mre all less thau life size, hut suf- ficlently large to e effective ai a gis- tance and suggest viriliiy. As they wre posthumous portraits in most, i ot every instance, it is remarkable to what exient they not oniy set forth the features but the personality of those portrayed. Rarely are por- traits found more expressive of spiritual quality than these. The artist has concentrated his effort on the face and has re-created the spirit. These are not portraits of dead men but of living personalities—heroes of the World War who through thelr youth and patriotism have a distinct message for the youth of the future. No one could view the series unmoved * % ¥ % EARLY 10 years ago these por- o traits were first exhibited in Mr. Eliott's studio in Newport: later they were shown in the Knoedler Galleries, New York: the Copley Gal- sketch of each of the| SKillfully § 10,7 | [ don’t need instruction to be certain of the respouse in my own mind to {the summons of Youth on its way to its rendezvous with Death! All | those faces whine with hope, which | has not known experience. * ® ¢ | | hope these soldier pictures may be kept in one collection—they seem to | belong together.” That they are to be [ kept together, due to the generosity jof Mrs. Maude llowe Elliott, the {artist's widow. is indeed a matter of { congratulation. | Included in the exhibition are por- traits of Raynal (. Bolling. Richard Norton, son of Charles Eliot Norton i Quentin Roosevelt, son of Theodore Roosevelt: Alan Seeger, the poe | Hamilton Coolidge, Philip _Rhin lander; the 11 original members of the lafayette E: drille, beginning with Norman Prince, the founder, and including Raoul Lufbery, the “Ace of Aces”. James R. McConnell, author of “Flying for France,” and others, | everysone of whom received decora- | tions for distinguished service and { citations for unusual bravery. *wimig l()llx ELLIOTT, the artist of these - whose death occurred in as born in England in April. of the Border family, The Black Elliotts.” of which Robert Louis Stevenson w also a member. When a youth he studied alone from the Greek marbles in the British Museum. In Parie he studied at Julien's Academy and in the studio of Carolus Duran, where he was a fellow pupil of John Singer Sargent. Later, in Rome. he studied with the Spanish master, Don Jose Villegae. In 1887 he married Maude Howe, the daughter of Samuel Gridley Howe and Julla Ward Howe of Boston, and since that time he has been identified with American art For some time the artist and his wife made their home in Rome, and after the earthquake in Sicily and Calabria on December 28, 1908, Elliott served with the American Red Cross rellef expedition on the S. S. Bayern. Later he was attached to the U. 8. Naval relief expedition as architect, and was the designer of the Church of ER. lery, Bostort, and the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence. In 1918 the portrait of Victor Chapman, when shown in the annual exhibition of the Newport Art Association, won the Hunt Memorial prize for the most popular picture in the exhibition. In a book entitled, “Lest We Forget,” reproductions of these drawings have heen published Commenting on the exhibition of the portraits at the Copley Gallery, a writer in the Boston Evening Transcript of October 22, 1919, said, in part; t is understood that the choice of subjects of these portraits is due to chance, and yet it is doubtful if careful selection could have brought together a more typical group of the men of vision who gave their lives that liberty might live. The youngest, the Nation’s Benjamin. had brightened this world just 20 years. The oldest was & mature man of 46. One was an officer in the United States Navy. Two were privates, seven were aviators, one held the rank of colonel. Some of these faces are grave, with the solemn pui that moved them, and hun- drm others like them, to offer the supreme sacrifice. Some of the brave young faces wear a smile; of them it might be said these are the men that laughed at death. Of such it was writter - o outh aw: Foreothiry ‘aakl 1o God” = *“There is infinite pathos in the thoughts associated with the untimely yot glorious ends of these chivalrous youths, and the portraits must be viewed with a mingled feeling of sor- row and pride. Something of this sentiment has surely guided the tender and loving hand of the artist in ting their personalities to mm«. and the public.” . % * % R. ELLIOTT was at work on. the rbln of the time were first exh Memorial Exhibition at the Newport Association in August, 1925, and at the Vose Gallery in Boston. , the same tender sentiment, th m—-mo spiritual understanding has the artist's hand in these as in oo Writer seel Schibition i the Voss Gallery. tl Santa Croce, the parish house, the Hotel Regina Elina. the schools, indus- trial bullding and cottages of the American Village Messina, the Hos- pital Elizabeth Griscom and the semi- detached cottages in the American quarter of Fillaggio Regina Elena. In his obituary in the London Times of June 20, 1926, George Wickham Steed said of his wotk at this time: “As & man he was no less genuine than as an artist. On learning of the Messina earthquake, in 1908, he joined the American relief organization and was appointed supervising architect during the petiod of reconstruction. Churches, hospitals and a large num- ber of houses were built to his de-| signs, his services receiving official recognition. But honors sat lightly upon him. He remained throughout simple and sensitive, enamored of beauty in every form, unselfish and | lovable."” H While in Rome he painted the large mural _decoration, “The Diana of the Tides,” which now hangs in the Na- tional Gallery in WasNington. King Victor Emmanuel and Queen Marghe- rita_both visited Mr. Elliott’s Roman studio to view this picture, and, as a tribute to the artist's genius, the Queen presented Mrs..Elliott with a handsome jewel. Another important decorative work is *“The Triumph of Time,” the ceiling decoration in the Boston Public Li- brary, Elliott being associated with | Sargent, Abbey and Puvis de Cha- vannes in decorating this bullding “The Vintage,” a frieze and celling decoration in the house of Mrs. Pot- ter Palmer, Chicago, is another well known decorative work. | ook X R. ELLIOTT is represented in the permanent collection of the Met- ropolitan Museum of New York by his portrait of Julia Ward Howe. Other portraits of Julia Ward Howe by El- liott hang in the Old Statehouse, Boston; the Fogg Museum, Cambridge; the Cincinnati Women’s Club and the Rhode Island School of Design, Provi- dence. Portraits of Dr. Samuel Grid- ley Howe hang in the Ethnological Museum, Athens: Brown University, Providence, and the Statehouse, Bos. ton. His portrait of King Umberto of Italy and one of Dante were in the collection of Queen Margherita, and his portrait of Dante, owned by Mrs. J. Montgomery Sears, has been made world famous by reproduction. 1900 a group of five portraits by him, Cambridge, the Duke of Clarence, the Earl of Ava, the Marquis of Winches- ter and Gen. Wauchope, was sold at an exhibition at Stafford Hou: Lon- don, for the benefit of the Lansdowne fund for officers’ families. As an illustrator Elliott was no less gifted. His series of pastel drawings which illustrated: Mrs. Larz Ander- son's book of fairy stories, “The Great Sea Horse,” are well known and popular. In 1912, with seven other artists, he founded the Art Association of Newport and opened the art school of that association as its first teacher and director. He served as a member of the art association council until the time of his death. During his lifetime he received nu- merous decorations, medals, etc. This exhibition will continue through March 13, after which the group presented to the Nation will be given place in the portfait collection. X oK oK 'HE Landscape Club of this city is holding an exhibition at the Mount Pleasant Branch Public Li- brary, Sixteenth and Lamont streets, and is making more than a creditable showing. A reading room at the rear of the building, opposite the entrance, has been put at the disposal of the club, and here. on burlap-covered screens between 7 and 8 feet in height, are hung 41 paintings, which, with two works in sculpture, make up the ex- hibition. A gayer, more spontaneous and engaging group is rarely seen. The outdoor warld has been brought indoors by the artists and new vistas presented to library visitors. A painting by Lucien Powell of “Rainbow Falls, Williams €anyon, Colorado,” hangs in the place of honor, with paintings of Venice and Rock Creek by William E. Holmes on | either side. The artists seem to have gone far afleld in some instances for their sub- jects. Mr. Dergans, for instance, shows “A Gray Day on the Potomac” and “Lake Bled, Jogoslavia.” There are scenes in the Berkshires, and from Cape Ann, Gloucester and Rock- port. Mr. Mitchell shows an excellent little group of sketches made in vari- ous places in Europe. Mr. Mauborgne presents Diitch subjects. But for the most part these paintings were painted in the neighborhood of Washington, and go to show that the environs of the city are essentially picturesque. “Early Spring Along Rock Creek,” by Benson B. Moore. is a charming subject well interpreted. So also is Mr. Schram’s “Autumn Gold” and his “Winter Morning on the Potomac.” Much may be said _in praise of Mr. Rolle’s “Boulders—Rock Creek” and “Autumn,” and of Mr. Clark's “The Canal* and “At the Whart.” Boyer Pain’s paintings in Connecticut and in the Berkshires evidence nice feel- ing, as well as good technique. Mr. Jex, Mr. Richardson, Mr. Cornett, Mr. Barrows, Mr. Motley, Mr. Dunn and Mr. Morse all have had something to say and have said it skillfully. All of these paintings are exceed- ingly low priced, but they should prove worth-while possessions. Mr. Bush-Brown, the well known RED CHALK PORTRAIT QF QUENTIN ROOSEVELT, BY ' JOHN N A PORTRAIT OF ALAN SEEGER IN THE JOHN ELLIOTT COLLEC- In | TION, WHICH IS ON VIEW AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY. TWENTY PORTRAITS OF MEMBERS OF THE LAFAYETTE ESCADRILLE, ALL consisting of H. R. H. the Duke of | MADE IN RED CHALK BY MR. ELLIOTT, ARE CONTAINED IN THE EXHIBITION. sculptor, has lent to the exhibition his portrait bust of his distinguished un- cle, Henry K. Brown, the sculptor, and of former President Woodrow Wilson. * %,k W 'HE Landscape Club’ exhibition will well repay a trip to the new Mount Pleasant Branch Public Library, but the library itself is a work of art of which Washingtonians may well be proud. It was designed by E, L. Til- ton of New York. In it he has suc- ceeded in producing not only a building, but one possessing individu- ality and an atmosphere of charm. In actual fact, this building is not large, but it gives within an impression ‘of spaciousness and hospitality. Its deqo- ration is in excellent taste.. Down- stairs are three large reading rooms, and rooms in which any one would delight to read, the institutional air being_entirel 'moved, and intimate, friendly sociability being substituted in its place. Upstairs are the chil- dren's room and rooms for the libra- rian and her assistants. In the chil dren’s room is an open flreplace with a tiled mantel representing various Mother Goose rhymes. Off the main room are two little nooks, up a couple of steps, with windows—just the kind to enliven imagination and to prove cozy. An inclosed outdoor staircase for use in emergencies gives another touch of the unusual, especially when ending near the street in a cloistered section similar to that which the great Richardson gave Trinity Church, Bos- ton. The reading room in which the Landscape Club is now exhibiting has French windows curtained within and with window boxes without. In short, art is to be found in every corner—the design of the building, its decoration, its adaptation to use. * ok ok % AN extraordinary exhibition has been put on and is now in prog- ress at the Arts Club of Washington, 2017 I street—an exhibition compris ing the works of three men declared “ultra-modernist: by Mr. Comins, who arranged for the showing. Two of these men are Washingtonians and one is a New Yorker. They are Stuart Davis, the New Yorker, whose paintings are to be seen in the upper room; FEarl Bragg, an ex-Walter Reed soldler, and_Prentiss Taylor of Washington and New York, designe of_costumes for the theater. Mr. Bragg is represented by a series of unique illuminations— dragons of a most animated and un- usual type, which might well have come from the interior of China and belong perhaps to the land which Alice found ‘when she went through the “Looking Glass.” Mr. Bragg's dragons are well drawn, remarkably colored and thoroughly understand- able. He has undoubtedly originality and that genius which recognizes the necessity of taking pains. Prentiss Taylor's theater costumes follow weakly the tradition of Bakst. It is as hard for the uninitiated, however, to interpret such technical costume designs in terms of reality as it is to interpret architectural drawings in terms of buildings. They may be good; they are certainly ex- treme. The type of mind, however, which would seize upon essen- tially vulgar and scandalous apochry- phal tale of “Susanna and the El« ders” for ballet and pictorial inter- pretation on the stage would likely be the type of mind which would produce this sort of costume—a sort inherently repulsive, though possibly technically good. Stuart- Davis’ -Ynnunzl make an ultra-modern gesture, but they lack those qualities of simplicity and di- rectness which single out as worthy the works of some of the leaders of modernism. No one who is forward- looking would willfully discourage originality or put down, if it were possible, new forms of expression, for such give evidence of art and in- telligence. Such evidence cannot be found, however, by the present writ- er, in the works of Mr. Davis. That they should be presented as repre- senting this movement, in ich there is much that is meritorious, seems unfortunate. Bad drawing and clumsy technique cannot possibly produce worthwhile artistic res- sion. It is through these mediums that Mr. Davis endeavors to deliver his message. b Modern life has undoubtedly cer- tain aspects which are unattractive, but if one chooses to look closely enough or sufficiently far afleld it will be found that modern life today possesses more beauty than ugliness, and it is its beauty, not its ugliness, which commends it. Why besmirch ourselves with the declaration that vulgarity 'and ugliness are the ear- marks and badge of our own time, particularly w:na: R‘. ll‘ not true? T the Ehrich Galleries, New York, from March 2 to 19, Lydia Bush- Brown (Mrs. Head), formerly of this city, now of New' York, will hold an exhibition of silk murals. Mrs. Head has an uncommon color sense, as well as a feeling for decoration. She has gathered themes for her silk murals in many out-of-the-way places, and has employed them well. * ok ok % 'HE Washington Study announces a series of afternoon lectures on art arranged through the advice of ooss of the N tlonal Commission of Fine Arts. This series opens with a lecture on “The Building Program,” by E. H. Ben- nett, and includes lectures on “Co- lonial Architecture in Washington and Vicinity,” by Edward W. Donn; “The Park Development,” by Maj. Ulysses S. Grant, 3rd, and “Byzan- tine Influence,” by Charles D. Ma- ginnis. * kK X HAPTER 11T of the Colonial Dames of America has arranged for a series of lectures on the “Allied Arts,” to be given for the benefit of Wythe House fund, Willlamsburg, Va. This course includes lectures on “Old Mrs. Ridgely Hunt; on " by Will Hutchins; on “The Legacy of L'Enfant,” by Horace W. Peaslee: on “Fastern Textiles,” by George Hewitt Myers, and on “Wash. ington, Our National Shrine,” by Charles Colfax Long. These lectures are to be given in private homes, with the exception of the lecture on- Wash- ington, which will be at Rauscher The George Wythe House, Willia, burg. Va.. is adjacent to the Bruton parish church. is a brick building erected about 1755, and was George Washington's headquarters during the Yorktown campaign. Historically it is one of the most interesting old houses in the South, and is said to compare with Mount Vernon and Mon- ticello. Tt has been purchased and is to be used as a parish house and mu. seu. It is befng restored under the supervision of R. T. H. Halsey, a di- rector of the ‘Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and members of the staff who were responsible for the American wing of that great museum. * K x X ESIO DE RODRIGUEZ VIL- LARES, a Brazilian painter, who is now making his home in Washing- ton, will hold an _exhibition of his paintings at the Catholic University this week, beginning Tuesday Mr. Villares studied in Rome, Flor- ence and Paris, and one of the pictures included in this exhibition received honors when shown in one of the Paris salons. An article on Mr. Vil. lares’ work, with illustrations, was'| published some months ago in the bul- letin of the Pan-American Union. Mr. Villares has been painting some por- traits in Washington, and doing some special work for the Catholic Uni. versit AT the Dunthorne Gallery, on Con- necticut avenue, there is'now on view an exhibition of paintings for over-mantel decoration by Cory Kilvert of New York. Opening early in the present week, there will be shown in this gallery an exhibition of etchings a;; ‘William Walcot and Malcolm Os- rne. * K % w Report Most Liquor Drunk in Dry Areas A report has just been published on the most urgent question of the day in Norway—prohibition—prior to the forthcoming referendum on ‘whether the Norweglan prohibition law shall be amended or not. * The report contains a comparison of Oslo to Helsingfors, where a strict- er prohibition law is in force; to Stock- holm, where there are only certain liquor restrictions, and to Copen- hagen, which has no drink restric- tions. ‘The theory is confirmed in the re- port that the more rigid the prohibl- tion law the greater is the consump- tion of spirits. ‘While in Copenhagen 75 in 1,000 persons and in Stockholm 166 out of every 1,000 were arrested last year because of drunkenness, the flgures for the same period for Oslo and Hel- wingfors are 646 and 778, respectively. British Dislike Dora, She’s a' Harsh Maid Time after time efforts are made in the British Parliament to amend the “D. O. R. A.” (defense of the realm act), which England /inherited from the World War. This series of laws embodies a number of petty prohibi- tions, designed during the war to economize wages, light and fuel, but now, most F‘oph think, they have outlived their day and ought to be scrapped. For instance, one may not purchase after 8 p.m. any cirgarettes, chocolates, fresh fruits, certain kinds of tinned goods and ice cream. Also saloons u;p closed certain hours nc‘: day, the hours varying accordi: districts. These vexing nsul:fim luce protests at every session of rlilament. mhingttm‘ First Ultra Modern Art Exhibit . $—Public Invited Arts Club, 2017 Eye St. Talks Tues, Thurs, Sat., A Volume on the Far East and Chavptcrs‘. Concerning Ports Late Novels from the Publishers—Washington as "The Painted City.” in IDA GILBERT MYERS. OUR FAR EASTERNM MENT. i By Felix Morley. k: Dou- bleday, Page & Co. HIS study of the East by Felix Morley rests at bottom on the ! bond of commerce that now au | tomatically links the United | States with Japan, China, the | Philippines. This country is the great storehouse from which the East will | draw in increasing volume. Trade, | {that early means of contact drawing communities together, is in fact a truly fundamental matter from which spring many potent and delicate es- | |sentials of international relationships.| And in these days commerce, trade, | has come to be an enormousiy com: plex affair, inexhaustible in resource, expert in method, often ruthless in | pursuit. A thing fruitful on the one | hand for good understandings between nations, on the other prolific in sus- { picion and distrust. Commerce will {more and more in the future make of | the F c a crowded waterway be { tween us and the Orient. A vital fac- tor in trade is that the trader shall | know his ground. And just now there {is no “ground” more obscured by a| thousand elements of confusion than is the East so obscured to the Ameri can man of business So it seemed to Mr. Morley, news- man, with a leaning toward :s and politics, with consider- these flelds besides, that it be a practical and generally helpful thing to do to project a ver: simplified and basic view of the coun- tries bordering the other side of the Pacific with which we are bound to have close dealings of various sorts. And in this book he attémpts to rake off the top, 8o to speak. of the exist ing chaos in the East for the benefit of the people of this country. A simplified view—that was the pur- pose of whose fuMiliment this book is evidence. A little book that can be read at a single sitting. Out of its reading one gets a clean-hodied, large- featured setting forth of the essen- tials of Japan, of China, of the Phil- ippines. Take Japan, for instance. Here it stands, close by, behaving as all peoples behave under like stimula- tion. Expansion? Yes, the economic urge compelled Japan to reach out. Much may be sald about this in method and effect, but here is the bone-bare fact. Another prime fea- ture of Japan was its change within 75 years from a feudal state to a rep- resentative government. The next long stride in this study reaches the World War, when Japan under the urge of national ambition committed some serious diplomatic follies. Then, next, the conference at Washington, out of which Japan emerged secure in its mind and turned definitely, it appears, .toward the new methods of national growth. Take China in its unspeakable confusion, one wrought by loosely bound localities, but wrought much more clearly by the penetration of business, trade, into the country under the methods of the P e and the marauder. Mr. Morley drags to, the surface of this chaotic China dn1 age-old c zation, veneration of an. clent customs, religious unity, these to be the common foundation for the growth of a great republic. to whose growth the white man tribute by syi and fair dealings. The Philippines— here Is another conclusion, though it is reached by the business route. Here, however, Felix Morle¥ is openly critical of the delay of this country in living up to its promise’ of Philip- pine independence. It seems to me that Morley and other critics in this matter are questioning the good faith of the Nation in respect to the Philip- pines, though they lodge their com- plaints in this governor general or that one. The United- States is going to give the Phillppines back. Of course ‘it The delay is merely a matter of judgment as to the best time to do this. Why not look at it from that point? Well, the critic is & useful agency now and then. But— that is another story. The point here is that Felix Morley has with compe- tence and skill and authority drawn off much of the confusion of the Far East in this compact story, one of ‘whose poi of high merit is that it as it is useful in pur- pose a stantially informing in content. * o o % MORE PORTS MORE HAPPY PLACES. By Cornelia Stratton Parke thor of “An American 1dylL." ete. Tllustrated from photo- graphs. New York: Boni & Live- right. HERE they are off again. this Parker family—mother, daughter mountal Rivie: and bank and vacationing along the . bicycling through Normand: Brittany. breaking the famil) to gather in Norway, Sweden Denmark--such is the quite diz business of seeing Europe. Astonish- fng how much more four people can see of the vel sights around them than a single individual can. pro vided these are of like equal eagerness. And here is a well. nigh perfect svndicate of zest. intel ligence, adaptability and energy bent whole-heartedly upon a gorgeous va- cation at the hands of all Europe. And just about as the various adven tures come along, some according to program and some by the chance of the moment, just in that way are they set down here. All gay, vivid, natural—and so all thoroughly en joyable to the reader. Now don't for a minute imagine that this spirit of play and natural behavior on the part of ‘these travelers takes away from the substance of this record. Quite the contrary. Rather does this man- ner give to the reader the effect of an actual partaking in these journeys from one point of interest to another. An effect not to be gained by a pon- derous projection of the facts here set out. Here is a touch of history in story and picture, here is a cur- rent question held up in its own sur. roundings for a brief statement, here is a passing sketch of economic life, of continental politics, of the con- trasted manners and points of view between separate localities—and here is a complete personal enjoyment, muitiplied by four. that is passed on to the reader without any appreciable loss. As intimate, is this record. as telling it face to face with the neigh- bor across the yard when these trav- elers get back home for a little settling down before. let us hope, an other flight away somewhere, or any- where. 7 * ok o % VIVID SPAIN. By Joe Mitchell Chap- ple. Tllustrated with original etch- ings by Levon West. Boston: Chapple Publishing Co. ST what it purports to be—vivid Spain! Two friends, it appears, set out together on this journey. One carried a pen, the other a pencil. The pen leaked words incessantly, the pen- cil dribbled pigment. So much for the equipment of the two, save for that superlative gift of gusto, appreciation, stored knowledge for interpretation along the way, a joyous disregard of orderly procedure, indeed a gay denial of the sum total of utilities that seri- ous travelers mind so depressingly for the readers who are to come after them. And so these two roam about, following a beckoning spirit rather than the set routes of prdinary sight- seers. They both make pictures, each complimenting the other so ably as to stand together here as the joint au- thors of this book. Where their cara- van rests, there do they lift the local- ity up and put it into the new book that is making. A stretch of Spanish landscape, steeped in this phase of panish history or tHat one: an inei dent about one famous Spaniard or another, an ancient building of won- drous architecture, workmen in the field, common people at work and at play, painting, literature, conquest, being conquered—all of these and many more characteristic features be- sides rise around these two, wherever they may be, and troop into the ad- venture, alive and stressful as in the day of their actual existences and be. haviors. Oh, this is a “Vivid Spatn" —and no doubt about. that. It is, be- sides, the happy adventure of two men, themselves vividly alive and re. ceptive to the charm and romance and vitality that move beside them as they 80 from end to end of this country A delightful book of personal expert. :{;c; and of rich harvestings along the * ok ok % THE BELATED RECKONIN Pnylll‘TBottome, author of Ty 'ower,” etc. N 7 George H. Doran Co, o TN SO clearly does the passion of love belong to youth, with its creduli- ties, its dreams, its gift of making something out of nothing at all, weav- ing fairy fabrice with cobwehs and dew webs, that an author venturing to set up this devastating emotion in the life of one past middle age needs a surpassing artistry and something close to genius in order to make any- thing like a fair deliver: As matter of fact, no romancer ever really does get away with this matter, notwith- standing the capable and interesting work that has been expended upon it. Against nature—and nature is the one thing that cannot be countered with and two sons—to follow, seemingly, wheresoever fancy leads round and About Europe Climbing Swiss success. However, here is a novel on the theme of belated love, and 3 good story at that. Phyllis Bottome is an zying course set down in this joyous | tastes and | admirable writer. Before that, she i a woman of keen and appraising e of clever speech that has a caustic |and stimulating turn_upon occasion | of intimate hold on the ins and outs of human nature trying always to hide | itaelf under defensive devices of one |sort and another. So equipped, Phyl |llc Bottome dares herself to make a | true and convincing story out of the romance of Ellen McDermott; spinster who, past 40, reaches for the romance of which at. the legitimate love time she had been deprived. Such a thing 18 an absurdity, so the world sava But In defiance of this the author un dertakes a plausible love story, even an engaging love story, for Ellen Me Dermott. Doing admirably, some one says. if she can keep it from being ridiculous. She does much better than | that, for she succeeds triumphantly in uncovering Ellen McDermott in that secret self which all hold in hiding that never does grow old. And Mise Bottome does this with understanding and sympathy, projecting a romance of wistful beauty, of essential truth. and of a workmanship that is quite surpassingly fine. * ok ok ok THE BLATCHINGTON TANGLE. By C. D. H. Cole and Margaret Cole authors of “The Death of a Mil lionaire.” New York: The Mac millan Company. MYSTERY story developed strietly according to program, a story of crime detection after the regular pat tern. Murder—discovery—period of fumbling with local sleuths—racing after innumerable plddling clues that lead nowhere. Inspiration! 8end to Scotland Yard! No sooner proposed than the thing is done. Entrance of the super-sleuth. Exit, much dis gruntled, of all the little ferrets roundabout. Marvels of speed, of divination, of logic. of the whole familiar whatnot of genius on the part of this phenomenon of detective power—and there you are! And there the criminal is, too, just where he has been all the time, right under foot to be fallen over at each new outset of pursuit on the part of the excited and eager members of the man hunt. Oh, yves, good reading, but just like all the others. day, a current writer of mystery tales is going to step out of this wayworn path. He is going to take an original turn to himself and then you'll see something in the way of a successful crime story. The truth is that the public will read anything in this line, so the writers don't bestir themselves as they will do when some one of them wakes up out of the long slesp in which these folks are doing the most of their work. e THE PAINTED CITY. By Mary Bedger Wilson. New York: Fred- erick A. Stokes Co. TH’E National Capital is the “Paint- ed City” of this title. The book itself is made up of short stories bent, in purpose, upon picturing a certain aspect of Washington life. The gen eral backgrounds of the whole is an incidental projection of the Washing- ton of the Congressman, the diplomat, the touch of the military, the old fam fly, the Government clerk and the mere citizen. Tt is, however, upon the Government clerk that these stories center as a_whole. Episodes, these, (Continued on Fifteenth Page,) Genealogy: If interestedin yout +++44+444+ fumily History, onr priced Catalogue fisting nearly 5000 genealogical books for sale by we will bemiled toyou! oc. instamps. + GOODSPEED. BOOK-SHOP @8 Ashburton Place, Boston, Mass. astheir authority. Presidentsand Depumnfl‘l-: of the leading Unlv.nhm *C%Iflq-,h" tl WEBSTER'S NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY 2ec..5.par.0f", See the ‘‘Supreme Autherity*’ for yourself. Wm. Ballantyne & Sons When you come across new words of whese tail, nh,.dh'uyn Brentano's b John Byrne & Company. S. Kann Sons Co. Woodward & Lothrop Paul Pearlman nd your local book store Or Mail the Coupon G. & C. Merriam Co. 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