Evening Star Newspaper, January 6, 1929, Page 32

THE SUNDAY STAR. NOTES OF ART AND ARTISTS An Exhibition of Pictures of Boats and the Sea—Other Local Showings—Water Colors and Etchings Placed on View. Water COlOl‘ Club's ShOW Opens Today BY LEILA MECHLIN. OVERS of boats and the sea, as| well as lovers of art, will find| much delight in the exhibition of | etchings, lithographs and draw- ings by George C. Wales, now on view in the Smithsonian Building, ar-| ranged under the auspices of the divi-| sion of graphic arts of the National| Museum. i Mr. Wales is a Bostonian, and from his childhood has loved the water and | boating. He has haunted the Boston wharves (and who would not who could?) and there in his boyhood (he was born in 1868) he saw and sketched the old square riggers and the brigs of | the West Indies trade. H By profession Mr. Wales is an archi- | fect, but while designing houses and other buildings he sten! drawn ships. It is his hobby, his avoca- | tion, About ten years ago his hobby | was riding him so hard that he aban-| doned his architectural work for the aphic arts, and since then has spent | is entire time drawing, etching and making lithographs. The ships of today | he pictures at first hand; the ships of vesterday he has reconstructed from | memory and from an intensive study of | all the data available—old woodcuts. | engravings, ship’s models and historical | records. Mr. Tolman, chief of the divi- sion of graphic arts of the National | Museum, quotes him as having said that his desire is “to make a picture that| shall be true to the old ships and to their handling, that shall express the | “Polly of Newburyport”—beautiful ves- sels with their square sails set, works of art. creatures of romance, birds of passage. It is not too much to say that nothing more calculated to stir the emo- tions, to engage the affections, in the world of inanimate things, has ever been created by the hand of man. Of special interest is an original plate and a series of prints showing the pro- cesses of lithographic reproductios which Mr. Wales has kindly furnished for permanent preservation to the Smith- sonian Institution. Not only do these initiate the public into the way a litho- graph is made, tested, effected, but evi- dence the difference between the com- mercial and the artistic. And in this connection it is interesting to know that because of a lack of understandin; of the difference between a commercial mechanical lithograph and an original work of art transcribed through the medium of lithography, under the super- viston of the artist, our present tariff law, which admits original etchings and other prints free of duty, imposes a duty of 6 cents a pound on litho- graphs, whether artist proofs or ma- chine made oy the thousands. This is an item which, when the tariff is re- vised, should and probably will be amended. In the cases in which this exhibition is displayed at the Smithsonian a little notice is found to the effect that dupli~ cates of the works on view can be ordered through the department of this exhibition and donated for | il exhibition shows progress on the part | of the artist and an increased command | of medium, A majority of the works shown are recent—studies made only last Summer abroad in well known places such the Villa d'Este; Cernobbia, Como; Dale- carlia; Versailles; the Villa Borghese, Rome; Haute Savole, Lake Geneva. To | some " extent th | modern mode. They are strong and | bold and simple and present their mes- sage with immediate directness. The | color used is rather heavy, but the con- | trasts of light and shade are good. What Miss Cullen lacks in style and subtlety she makes up in decision and strength, and her work has the air of | professional competency which com- | mands respect and carries conviction. | S AT | change today, and from now until | January 19 there will be on view oils |and drawings by Sarah Baker of Vir- |ginia and Washington, a student of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, who received the Pennsylvania | fellowship's gold medal award in 1925; also a collection of paintings and draw- ings by Lauretta Sondag of Washing- ton State, who studied under John Car- | roll at the Art Students’ League of New York and at the Art Institute of Chi- cago, and who has exhibited in both cities, but not in Washington before; |and a collection of etchings by Phila- | delphia etchers. These exhibitions will “CLIPPER SHIP HOUQUA OF NEW YORK, 1844” A LITHOGRAPH BY GEORGE C. WALES. buoyancy and weight of hull in the water and progress through it, or the idling in a calm; to show a sail not as a plece of carved ivory, but as it really looks, soiled perhaps, not’ settled perfectly but creased or wrinkled by pressure of buntline or pull of sheet. Then, too, the different moods of the sea and the welght and swing of it in motion.” ‘There are today two other artists spe- efalizing in the picturing of ships—Gor- don Grant and Charles R. Patterson. And, of course, others occasionally enter | the field incidentally. For instance, one of Frank Benson's most successful etch- ings, though one not especially well| known, is of a sail boat, a sloop, riding & rough sea. Charles Woodbury occa- sionally introduces boats in his etchings, and, of course, both Benson and Wood- bury are master etchers. The difference is that when George Wales etches a salling vessel it is primarily in the in- terest of presenting a portrait, an exact representation of the it or the ship, and though he ably presents sea and sky, wind and weather, these are in- cidental, not prime factors in his com- | position. Possibly this deliberate ac- curacy, the literainess demanded by his- toric record, militates a little against complete freedom of expression, but it is | » side on which it is well to err and a | side on which few err today. Personally, the writer finds greater delight in Mr. Wales' exquisite pencil drawings, or drawings for lithographic plates, or even his pen and ink draw- ings, than in his etchings, because they are more intimate, more permeated with the feeling for artistic expression, more personal than the etched works. But that is not to say that others may | not find the etchings more astisfactory. | | Certainly it i= through the medium of | will comprise 20 pictures, & screen and | etching that these exquisite drawings | became available to more than one. | Among the etchings one of the love- | Yest is entitled “Kinder Thick,” and | shows a dory approaching a salling vessel out of the mist. “Morning Mist” | is another charming work, 50 also “Oar and 8ail”; and “Shortening Sail” is a particularly sensitive transcription. But one can hardly pick and choose. In merit these works are fairly even For many, possibly, the greatest inter- est will attach to the serles of litho- graphs of American historic ships— | clipper ships “Flying Cloud,” “Stag- hound,” “Houqua” and “Great Repub- lic,” the sloop “Providence,” commanded by John Paul Jones; the brigantine i | | | | “THE PALACE OF THE POPES, AVICNON,” BY LUCILE HOWARD. EXHIBITED AT THE | treated decoratively. | ings _is one of the famous “Palace of | graphic arts, each print shown being frankly priced in pencil on the margin; and as the department of graphic arts is not large, this statement is followed by the suggestion that if no one is on hand_therein, orders and checks may be left with the watchman at the door. Strange as it may seem, not infrequent- ly who ardently desire possession are #ratified through this medium. Here is an instance where the commercial slogan, “Good goods sell themselves” is proved correct in the mon-commercial fleld of art. * ok k% AT the Yorke Gallery, 2000 S street, a collection of paintings by Lucile Howard of Naw York opens tomorrow, to continue until January 19. Miss Howard was born in_Bellow: Falls, Vt. She studied at the Philadel- hia School of Design for Women under aingerfield and Snell, and lives in Wilmington, Del. She s a mem- ber of the New York Water Color Club, the Philadelphia Art Alliance, the Plastic Club, the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors and the Lyceum Club of London and Paris. She is an instructor in the Philadelphia contributor to the leading annual ex- hibitions. Recently she has painted in Ireland, Italy, France and Belgium, and her work has met with appreciation, and at the hands of her collegues, award. It is interesting to know that her first exhibition of Irish subjects met with such approval that she received commissions from many _prominent Irish-Americans to paint their birth- places and other well remembered spots; and a second Irish exhibition re- sulted the following Winter. The exhibition at the Yorke Gallery a grou; pastel—subjects of portfolio travel sketches in found in Ireland, Bel- gium, France, Italy and America. The screen, which is of three panels, shows historic Mount Pleasant House, built in 1775, with its interesting emvironment Among the paint- the Popes, Avignon,” painted in France last summer. i A COLLECTION of water colors by Charlotte S. Cullen of Brooklyn and ‘Washington is now on view at Gordon Dunthorne’s. ‘This is a loan collection and comprises 59 works. It is the first time that Miss Cullen has exhibited in Washington for some years, and the be opened with a tea this afternoon from 4:30 to 6:00, at which Mrs. Roy L. Neuhauser and Charles A. R. Dunn will be hosts. According to the January Bulletin of the Arts Club, preparations for the Bal Boheme, to be held at the New Willard on the evening of January 28, are sufficiently advanced to promise that it will eclipse all that have preceded. Tickets have been distributed to the members for purchase and for sale to friends. Practically all the boxes have been sold. and a program of exceptional eness is being developed. | Whereas the theme is Egyptian, the ball is eminently carnival. Three cos- tume prizes will be awarded, one for he most attractive representation in | the Egyptian motif; the next for the most original of any period, and the third for the most amusing. The ex- ecutive organization for the Bal Bo- heme is as follows: Chairman, Dr. J. R. Devereaux; decorations, Lynch | Luquer: costumes, Mrs. Fulton Lewis; | dramatics, James Otis Porter; posters, Frances Benjamin Johnston: publicity, | Waldon Fawcett; hotel and supper, Henry Jay Staley; patronesses, Mrs. a | School of Design for Women and a Anne P. Gaynor; music, Theodore F. | Gannon; judges prize costumes, Carl- | ton Van'Valkenburg; floor, Roy L. Neu- | hauser. The judges who will award | the costume prizes are Mr. and Mrs, Ernest Peixotto of New York and Mr. | and Mrs. Duncan Phillips of this city. | * ok kK I T is gratifying to know that the Old and Rare Book exhibit which came | to Gordon Dunthorne’s from the Gar- denside Book Shop of Boston for the month of December will remain throughout the season; that is, for the | next three months, | ""Book collecting is a rare game, and | those who cannot indulge in it can at ! least have the pleasure of acquaintance, | through the medium of this exhibit, | with books enviable as possessions—a delight to the eye, dressed as only master craftsmen can dress them, in exquisite bindings, works of art. & ae ’l‘HE Art and Archacology League, af- filiated with the _Archaeological Soclety of Washington, has prepared a varied and interesting program for the season of 1928-9. These meetings are held twice a month, as a rule on Sat- urday afternoon or evening. The meet- YORKE GALLERY, SIS A ese works follow the | the Arts Club the exhibitions | A large attendance is ex-| WASHINGTON, (Continued From Third Page.) back at 1924 as they survey, with a tolerant smile and a sense of faint disillusion, the callow indiscretions of youth, The bolshevik bogey is now among the discards of the political armory. The immense and inevitable clash be- tween the forces of organized labor and the forces of constitutional govern- ment has taken place, the former has been utterly routed and labor has switched from a war to a peace policy. Today the leaders of capital and labor are sitting at a round table conference, with the greatest capitalist of them all, Lord Melchett, of Mond Nickel and Imperial Chemicals, in the chair. British industry has passed the dan- ger period and is pulling out on a tide of reconstruction, amalgamations and new money. Foreign policy is in a transition phase. The period of dangerous strain in India is over. The crisis in China, which at one time looked like involving England in war and providing the Labor party with a splendid no-more- imperialist-wars slogan, has passed The European situation has been large- 1y cleared up. Thus the end of 1928 saw the party leaders marching over the frontiers of an old era, and passing with their forces into new and largely unknown country, in which an electorate rein- forced by 5,000,000 new woman voters— | the 1929 battle will be the first in which women have voted on equal terms with men—awaits them with bouquets or bricks (which, none knows or is likely to know for certain until battle is joined). Cracks in Tory House. Tory optimists expect a victory, but a reduction of the famous majority to 80. The rest anticipate either a Labor victory, or a Liberal-Labor coalition. For there are ominous cracks appear- ing in the walls and ceiling of the Tory house. One of the pillars, Lord Birkenhead, has abruptly deserted politics perma- nently for the more lucrative realms of big business and high finance. Some say that he had to resign because he wrote publicity for a big West-End store, and that was the last straw for a long- suffering and highly respectable Tory arty. r But it is likeller that he removed himself, calculating that he was worth more in his new sphere as a retiring merely an ex-minister of a defeated party. Austen Chamberlain has had a break- down and besides has angered the country and the Torries| own supporters by making a complete muddle of the Anglo-French naval pact business and prejudicing the future of Anglo-Ameri- first lord of the admiralty is retiring on the plea of age and strain. And one- third of the Tory M. P.’s are not stand- ing for election again. Papers Swing Against Them. Then there is the swing against the Tories of the two biggest and most in- fluential popular dailies, the Mail and the Express, which until recently were profoundly anti-Labor. These two pers are fighting one another tooth and nail, and to find them on common ground in politics is astonishing and significant. The Express runs cartoons ridicul- ing Baldwin and emphasizing Mac- Donald’s triumph at a recent by-elec- tion, with headlines and news stories breathing friendliness and deprecating any reference to the Labor leader's un- popular war record. The Mail goes even farther, as this extract from a November article shows: “The Labor party . . . has greatly in- creased its hold on public confidence. Speech after speech by Labor leaders shows that the party is now under the firm control of its moderate elements ‘This is excellent news for the country . . . The Labor party is beginning to look as if it will deserve the victory at the next election, which the Govern- ment, through the flappers’ vote (equal franchise), has already made a practi- cal certainty for it. . . “In certain respects distinct benefit might acerue to the country from the arrival in power of a Labor govern- ment, particularly if it secured the ad- hesion of Mr. Lloyd George and other eminent Liberal statesmen, so as to be- come in effect a Labor-Liberal govern- ment.” And this is the rabid Tory paper which in 1024 got hold of a copy of the Zinoviev letter, circulated it to every newspaper in London and killed the Labor government and MacDonald stone dead! Protective Policy Adopted. Finally—and this is of especial inter- est to America and to every country selling goods to Britain—the Tory party is now definitely committed, as a re- sult of its last and final general con- ference, to extend the protection pol- icy (officially called safeguarding) to ing yesterday was a studio assembly at the home of Mrs. Margaret Zimmele, 2728 Twenty-sixth place northwest, which Mrs. Zimmele gave a talk on So-called Modern Art.” The next meeting will be on the evening of Janu- ary 19, at which Mrs, Mitchell Carroll will give an fillustrated lecture on “Greek Women in Legend and History.” Hall. * ok ok x NNOUNCEMENT has been made that the Walters Gallery in Balti~ more will again be open to the public on Wednesday and Saturds after- noons during January, February and March, also on Washington's birthday and Easter Monday. ‘This is one of the unique galleries of our country, containing not only rare paintings of the nineteenth century European schools assembled by the present owner’s father, but also works by the old masters which he has ac- quired; a magnificent collection of Ori- ental porcelain; one of the finest col- lections of Barye bronzes in existence, and a very remarkable and interesting series of period rooms—among the first set up by a museum; also a replica of Rodin’s great masterpiece, “The Think- er.” A small charge of 50 cents ad- mission is made, which is donated by the owner to local charities. * ¥ ok X AT the Corcoran Gallery of Art there has now been permanently placed on view the bust of Comdr. Richard Evelyn Byrd by Margaret French Cresson, given to the gallery by Capt. and Mrs. John H. Gibbons of this cit; Both because of its artistic merit an of the interest which all feel today in Comdr. Byrd's South Pole expedition the installation of this bust is of ex- ceptional note. * k% X MRB. LOUISE KIDDER SPARROW is being congratulated on the pur- chase of her bust of the late Capt. Gillis by the Government for presen tion to one of the South American re- publics. This purchase was made on the recommendation of the National Commission of Fine Arts, * ¥ ¥ % THE ‘Washington Water Color Club cpens its annual exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art this afternoon, As the pictures were not selected by the jury until the latter part of the week, or hung at the time these notes were written, a review of this notable show- ing must be postponed until next week. * ok ¥ % THE Abbott School of Fine and Com- mercial Art, 1624 H street, an- nounces its Winter exhibition of stu- | d2nt work, opening this afternoon with 1a lea and continuing through January 12, ‘This exhibition, to which the pub- lic is invitad, will be open on week days from 10 am, p.m.; evenings, 7:30 40 9:30, :rgé{smd;y: o i:so member of a live government than as | can understanding and friendship. The | The meeting place will be Gunston | D. Will Britain Go Labor? iron and steel—indeed, to everything save food. Now, no one can tell yet how far the education of four years has succeeded | in uprooting from the island mind its traditional hatred and fear of protec- tion. It may be ready for a tariff wall | of dizzy height. On the other hand, it may not. In the latter event, the Tory party is going to be caught sitting right on the crown of the volcano when it erupts next Summer. The Labor party is only cautiously on the slopes, looking up to see what happens before venturing farther. Only the Liberals are openly opposed on principle to the tariff wall and they have no chance of power as a single party. Full of hope and schemes, then, is Ramsay MacDonald, a great demagogue and an astute and wary politiclan, born in a two-roomed Scottish fisherman's politics and oratory to the leadership of the Labor party. Thke general strike and the collapse of the great coal strike and consequent discrediting of the policy of extremism has eased the . | pressure on his left wing; he is freer than he ever was before. Position of Snowden. | The only fly in his ointment is Snow- | den, chancellor of the exchequer in the first Labor government. No love |is lost between the two. Snowden | throws cold water on the idea of na- tionalizing the banks and all industry. He is, besides, a doctrinaire free trader, absolutely opposed to the protection MacDonald is prepared to believe in if protection looks like being the winning card to play for office and power. And he is very friendly with Lloyd George, whom MacDonald views with suspicion and mistrust, having an idea that the Welsh wizard is intriguing to jockey himself into the chief place in a Lib- eral-Labor coalition at the expense of Ramsay MacDonald. But MacDonald is not likely to be caught napping. He is cultivating an alternative financlal expert (in the So- clalist sense) in the decorative person of Sir Oswald Mosley, the superior, clever, almost too well tailored Socialist son of a die-hard country squire, titled, rich and married to the late Marquis Curzon's lovely daughter (also very rich, thanks mainly to participation in the Leiter millions). Mosley thinks he can be chancellor of the exchequer by the grace of the Labor premier if Snowden defaults, but his aspirations may be chipped down somewhat. The Labor rank and file are not keen on their gilded comrade, but MacDonald favors him, and recently chose him and his wife as his cam- panions for a European tour. Future Courses Unknown, Exactly what the Labor party will do if and when it achieves power no one knows, least of all the Labor leaders at the moment. With a 50-page part7 program, covering the millennium and full of calculated generalities and ob- scurities, its leaders are frankly oppor- tunist. Miss Ellen Wilkinson, a promi- nent Laborist M. P., explains the curi- ous program thus: “It is a definite pledge of immediate aims and a gen- eral statement of policy, and outlines can be filled in as parliamentary cir- cumstances permit.” In other words, a Labor government can follow almost any line of policy it likes and find sentences in its program to justify it every time. Meantime what of Lloyd George? ‘THe death of Lord Oxford and Asquith has left him in undisputed control of the Liberals. There he is, suddy, vig- orous, full of pep. fight, promises and optimism and with a huge treasure in {his party coffers accumulated during his years of power. He is playing his cards for a balance of power which will enable him to dominate the next Parliament or the one after. Further, he has an idea that he can use his unique personal charm | and persuasiveness o capture the lead- ership of a Labor-Liberal coalition for himself over the prostrate body of a MacDonald sidetracked by jealous col- leagues, Economic Tssues to Rule. One thing is quite certain, however, and that is that no government which fails to produce the economic goods is likely to last out two years, so fast and strong is the undercurrent toward any mllt(cnl tendency which promises to prove Britain's economic lot and so case the burden of taxation, raise wages and increase jobs and make them safer, This is why capitalists and big em- ployers in England talk calmly of the prospect of another Labor ministry. It will be, they say, a test of soclalism versus capitalism and they are not afraid of class loyalty binding the working masses to the ultimate and in- evitable failure of socialistic nostrums in the realm of business and produc- tion in an island mainly dependent upon a foreign trade which must be held against world competition. ‘They know that the masses, when all is going well, prefer a jolly Lord Derby with his millions, his ancestry and his racehorses, to a Sidney Webb with his modest demeanor and libraries of books or a Mosley with a double-breasted walistcoat, a large and safe income, and wild oratory in favor of changing the very system which enables him to live in the pleasantest luxury. ‘The masses admire MacDonald, be- cause MacDonald can stir them; and J. H. Thomas, because the railwaymen’s leader is a “cute 'un” and talks horse sense (besides, he has risen, drops his | h's naturally and has enormously im- proved the railwayman's wages and conditions). But if the Labor men in power cannot keep the blast furnaces going, get orders for the great ship- vards, raise the price of coal in world markets in order to provide the where- withal to pay better miners' wages than the present miserable pittances and keep the price of food low, not all their eloquence and appeals to the sacred character of their political creed will save them from destruction at the hands of the disillusioned voters. Must Pass Through Crisis. Labor, of course, may evolve, as the ‘Tories have evolved—a Fascist like Lord Rothermere calls Baldwin a Socialist. But Labor has a crisis to pass through first. Committed to socialistic nostrums, it has to try them and see them ignominiously fail. After which it may shed its socialistic skin—as after the general strike the trade unions shed their extremist top and their Com- munist under skin—and get down to brass tacks. The detached observer sees that Labor wdnts to go too far and the Tory not far enough, and that the younger generation is reacting against an arid Tory social policy and finding no spiritual home to go to until he comes right down to Labor. Lloyd George is a detached observer. He sees beyond the immediate prospect of a Labor-Liberal coalition and has visions of an ultimate center group, anti-socialist but not anti-labor, which will gather in all the youth, energy, adventure and hope of the nation—and accept the wizard from the Welsh mountains as its leader. Behind all this political maneuveri; and wheeling and clashing and shuf- fling looms the economic factor, the one mighty, fixed and inescapable factor— the factor of the savings account, the bank balance and the dinner pail. The far seeing—Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone among them—have their eyes fixed upon it, and to them it looks like a tariff wall moving steadily closer and they are hastening to get their factories up on the lmln:s before the wall arrives and rises, first around Britain and then around the empire. N A TUseful Tower. ‘The Detroit University is marked by a towering structure which t once 2 war memorial, a clock and a chim- ney. It is a tall, square tower pierced with windows with the four faces of the clock near the top. The pinnacle is of Gothie design which gives the styuc- b & yery eQpckive, Spiahs - cottage, risen by way of journalism, i JANUARY 6. 1920—PART 2. REVIEWS OF WINTER BOOKS A Romance of American Development—A Story of the World War at Sea and a Number of New Volumes of Fiction IDA GILBERT MYERS. OUR FEDERAL LANDS; A Romance ! of American Development. By Rob- L ert Sterling Yard, author of “The Top of the Continent,” etc. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. OOKS like a promise too big for fulfillment—that of creating ro- mance out of a theme as dry and dusty as that of the public lands, upon its surface, appears to be. Where are these Federal lands? | What are they? What have they to do with us? By answering these very gen- eral questions in his own way the au- thor makes good, abundantly good, on the seeming contradiction in his book title. Expert knowledge plus person- ality and method, are paramount in this work. By an alliance of these an important subject becomes vital anet deeply interesting. We all know many things that are of no use on earth to us because our minds are mere litters of unassembled parts—as impotent as an automobile when its multifarious elements are packed away in separate crates and | boxes, standing here and there. Not a vehicle, not yet. Not much of anything, not yet. The parts brought together, | however, and meerIy related, the thing becomes instantly a magic creature, honking at the curb, eager to be off and away. It is by such a process of as- sembling facts of common knowledge, such as we all have in possession, by organizing these and unifying them that Mr. Yard has, in this case, pro- duced a book of importance, one of deep interest as well. We know, vaguely, that there are public lands, that these have, in our history, changed in scope and status—that's about all we do know. And right here this author lifts high above the surroundings of private and State and corporate ownership of land, a great empire of public land for ob- servation, for information as to the history of this possession, as to its pres- ent uses, as to its future possibilities. With this objective display go many stories, all a part of the growth and de- velopment of our country. Here is the story of the national forests and that of national parks. Here is an account of deserts to be reclaimed to fertility and occupation. Here is a record of water power to be conserved, of other resources to be preserved. Perhaps most amazing of all is the vivid picture of our depleted wild life with which goes many a plan for the rescue and perpet- uation of that which now does exist. To the few scattered items of informa- | tion in our possession upon beginning to read this book there has been added a body of fact of vital concern to every American. Such interesting facts as well. Such a good storyteller as this man is, too, dealing here with not a thing but the truth, yet with truth dressed in the colors of personal inter- est and an imagination that projects fact as something alive and tremen- dously significant. The experiences and records of work- ers in the Government of the United States constitute a treasure house of knowledge that, once brought out in just the right spirit, would create a literature of pure adventure not to be surpassed. Books of such spirit are beginning to arrive. Robert Sterling Yard's “Federal Lands" is, conspicuous=~ ly, one of these. EE S O 8; A Story of the World War at Sea. By John D. Whiting, author of “Storm Fighters.” Illustrated by the author. Indianapolis: The Bobbs- Merrill Co. €“Q O 8” sets us dback 10 years and more into the definite setting and circumstances and suspense of the World War. The zone of immediate concern here is the Atlantic—soldiers crossing, munitions being transferred, camouflaged craft seeking to elude the vision of the submarine—these and a hundred other concerns of life and death swarmed the seas in those days of warfare. Every “S O 8" meant peril and heroism and possible defeat. It is around such a situation that the story of Hugh Canfleld and his companions has been created, to revive in us again something of the spiritual adventure of going along with the men who dared so superbly then. Every chapter of this story is a drama implicit with tragedy. Every incident is a heroism that makes the reader proud, if not personally active. I'm thinking, however, that out of such reading there will be a more general prepossession—not toward in- dividual strife nor general combat-—but toward a very active will against the fatal enmities of mankind. However this may be, no one can read this story, 50 close at hand, so true in every detail, 80 impressive as a whole, without a surge of love not only for his country but for every one who sent out a cail for succor, for every one who fell both on sea and land in those dreadful days. Beside these stories of the multiform dangers of the sea, there is here a beautiful thread of shore life—work of the Coast Guard, and, in addition, an old man, the major, philosopher and friend to Hugh Canfield and the rest of the world. And the major, when ::f;d what did matter if war didn't, “Why, there's friendship and laugh- ter 'n’ trees, sunlight 'n’ hard work 'n’ sleep. Men don't have to go killing their neighbors, just because their wom- en-folk want motor cars for Christmas.” | You'll not agree that the cause of war | lies where the major puts it. Nor do I. | But the rest of his outlook is quite all | right. Not so? * X ok K SLAVES OF THE SUN. By Ferdinand Ossendowski, author of “Beasts, Men | and Gods,” etc. Illustrated. New | York: E. P. Dutton & Co. HAD this Polish man lived away back | when men were just learning to! stand on two feet instead of on four, the great Sun God alone would have been the one to receive his fears and propitiations and promises. Even now, at this late day, there is in his mind and heart no uncertainty as to the malefic supremacy of the 'sun in those regions where its power is concentrate and undiverted. Here are stories of travel in Africa where the solar might is at its height. The Ivory Coast, Senegal, French Sudan, and other parts of tropical Africa have contributed in their facts to this terribl: story of a slavery more hideous than any inven- tion of mere man could devise. Going along with this author is an imagina- tion that appears to have deep contacts with the inhabitants that are so clearly in bond to the strangling fecundity of this tropical land. The truth of his observations are, therefore, interpreted under such prepossession of his own. Not that one doubts the accuracy of his reports. Not at all. On the con- trary, the situation becomes here that blend of truth and implication and poetic conception that, in the hands of the genius everything in the world becomes, no matter how prosaic it may upon the surface appear. Again, this is a terrible story, beginning with the picture of a man—a civilized official from the West—who disintegrates, who literally decays under the sun of Africa, just as the rest of the vegeta- tion of that quarter rots and disap- pears. ‘That what tropical Africa does to the white man. What it does to the black man—nobody will ever understand. It is too deep-seated, too involved in a rapacious and insatiable wer, blind, but none the less destruc- ive. A fascinating and terrible story of travel. * ok kK THE YOUNG FOLK'S BOOK OF THE SEA. By T. C. Bridges. Illustrated. Boston: Little, Brown & Co. Y way of this sea book readers of the younger sort are again daelp in bond to Mr. Bridges. Not these alone, Bus the ¢ als0 are sugeged here. S From Publishers. Both are in acknowledged debt to the growing band of writers who have chosen to present one or another of 2 masvels of life in manner so sim- ple, in truth so unassailable, in romance and adventure so stirring as make fact more astonishing and absorbing than | fiction. A packed book, concerned at first with the sea itself—“the greatest thing God made”—with its behaviors in calm and storm and tidal action. The swarming sea life becomes a pageant of | color and movement, an amazing spec- tacle of creatures that, through mil- | lions of years of tutoring, have come into this, their “native element.” And here, besides, are the first venturings of man, the land lubber, upon this monstrous waste. And from these comes the story of sea craft, a story reaching from the rude makeshift float to the modern “liner,” a paragon of beauty and safety. Within this par- ticular story is that of the great days of the clipper ship—a truly romantic drama of the sea, its agent the most beautiful of all sea riders. The steam ships of commerce, the pleasure yachts and sporting craft find places here in a truly absorbing action. More than a hundred pictures materially give aid to the print itself. Almost a library is this book. Yet, not once does it suggest the lined-up books of such a collection. Instead, every page leaps | out into action that is alive and de- manding, stirring and often dangerous action. Mr. Bridges is an expert in turning the accepted facts of the common day into the romance of their beginnings and progress up into the present. His book of inventions is proof. So is his story of discovery that takes readers all over the world with famous rovers ~—Marco Polo, Raleigh, Columbus, and, nearer by, Amundsen, Peary and Scott. Call this a book of adventure. Go with 1t through a thousand activities. Then, at the end, you will find yourself in possession of many of the facts of life given to you in the most entertaining of ways. i THE BLACK HOUSE IN HARLEY STREET. By J. S. Fletcher, author of “The Root of All Evil,” etc. New York: Doubleday, Doran & Co. FIRST rate. Off the beaten path of mystery tales. The great de- tective is, happily, not here. Indeed, the business of detection is in this case carried on from a point of departure, 5o naturally taken and so plausibly pur- | sued as to constitute a completely fresh surprise to the reader. And that's the | best thing that can be said about this story, or any other one of the tribe. That too familiar super-sleuth has grown depressingly thin and trans- parent. But this® affair has another count to its credit. That is the villain himself. An international crook of smooth exterlor and a perfectly good profession to sustain him in the respect and patronage of rich folks, chiefly women. A doctor of sorts, strong on overtaxed nerves and excessive emo- tionalism. The adroitness with which the author holds Dr. van Mildart for almost an entire story length from sus- picion even accounts, in large part, for the excellence of the whole. The de- tective 'is, however, the highest point here. You will agree, I'm sure. The soclal group roundabout, that upon which the suave doctor plays, is of good quality. Its young people busy with their love-making are of acceptable substance, the foolish women around the doctor are just foolish enough to get away with a fair share of the en- tertainment. The crimes are believable, just now, though a few years ago_they might have seemed incredible. Upon the whole, here is one of the few mys- tery tales that does not leak its mys- tery immediately after setting out upon its course of crime and infamy. * Kk ok Kk THE YOUNGEST ONE. By Katharine Haviland Taylor, author of “Cross Currents,” etc. New York: Double- day, Doran & Co. THE background of this novel is that of a clergyman’s family—a good man, a vague wife, three daughters, and the familiar neighborhood of church and church-goers. The romance deals with Valette, the youngest of the three daughters. The general problem is the universal and immemorial one—that of finding husbands for these girls. Much ‘of the matter deals with the familiar technic of this worldwide undertaking. Finally, marriage of tke older ones to more or less suitable partners. A mildly satiric picture of matrimony goes along with the story itself by way of the two households that carry on beside the main issue, which is the destiny of Valette herself. After awhile left alone, without means—no business man, that minister—Valette's career becomes the main engrossment. At this point, the romance slips into the current of mod- ern life. Valette, really beautiful and with a slim talent, becomes a stage entertainer. I think the name of Keith comes out in connection with her work. At any rate, there she is, a minister’s daughter, a stage favorite— | and, naturally, in great danger. Valette is innocent, almost unbelievably ign rant, and besides, she is honest and fair- dealing. Just no equipment at all, you must agree, for anything but disaster. And disaster comes. What she does to meet it, what it does with her, how her family stands up to the rack, or does not—these are points with which the adventure concerns itself. One likes Valette. The author claims for this story of the girl who went wrong—that is what they called it—an obligation on her part toward the youth round- abous. The explanation is too long to give. It is in the book. But, in a word, this novel sums, in intent, to a defense of the girl of the moment. |y, Whether it is or not depends entirely on the quality of the reader, as every other matter of opinion depends upon such quality. This is a good story. But—the girl of the moment—God bless her!—needs neither defense nor ex- planation. One thing we know. She's honester, much honester, than you and I were. BOOKS RECEIVED PENNAGAN PLACE. By Eleanor Chase. New York: J. H. Sears & Co. THE WORLD I SAW. By Anne Shan EXHIBITION of Student Work January 6th to 12th, inclusive y, 10:30 to 5: 7:30 to 9:30 sundays, 2:30 (o 5 The Abbott School of Fine and Commercial Art 1624 H 8t, N.W. * Yorke Gallery 2000 S Street Exhibition of Paintings Ireland—Belgium—Italy by Lucile Howard \] nuary Tth to January 19th such success ensues as the | non Monroe. New York: Double- day, Doran & Co., Inc. SCHUBERT, THMF. MAK. By Oscar Bie. Ilustrated. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. TOO MUCH JAVA. By Elinor Mor- daunt. New York: Bayson Clarke, Ltd. THE RETURN OF SPRING. By IT. De Vere Stacpoole. New York: Doubleday, Doran & Co., Inc. SHORTER NOVELS OF HERMAN MELVILLE. With an introduction by Raymond Weaver. New York: Horace Liveright. DOUBLE SHUFFLE. By Donald Bayne Hobart. New York: Edward J. Clode, Inc. | AMERICAN RECONSTRUCTTON, 1865~ 1870; and the Impeachment of President Johnson. By Georges Clemenceau, American correspon- dent Paris Temps, later war-time premier of France. Edited with an introduction by Fernand Balden- sperger. professor in the Sorbomne. Translated by Margaret MacVeagh. New York: The Dial Press. PALLUDIA. By Anna Robeson Burr. New York: Duffield & Co. author ladel- KONTROL. By Edmund Snell, of “Blue Murder,” etc. Phil | phia: J. B. Lippincott Co. | THE REBEL GENERATION. By Jo van Ammers-Kuller. Transiated by M. W. Hoper. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc. | A SHORT HISTORY OF THE WORLD. 1918-28. By C. Delisle Burns, New York: Payson & Clarke, Ltd. | | CLEARING WEATHER. By Cornelia Meigs. Illustrated by Frank Doblas. Boston: Little, Brown & Co. | MATTHEW ARNOLD. By Hugh Kings- |7"mill. New York: The Dial Press. | THE CORPSE ON THE BRIDGE. By |~ Charles Barry, author of “The Detec- tive's Holiday,” etc. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc. | WAY FOR A SAILOR. By Albert Richard Wetjen, author of “Captains AlL"” New York: The Century Co. LAMBS IN MARCH; And Other Essays. By Anne Bosworth Greene. tions by Katharine E. Gray. | York: The Century Co. | THE CRUISE OF THE NORTHERN LIGHT; Explorations and Hunting in the Alaskan and Siberian Arctic. By Mrs. John Borden. New York: ‘The Macmillan Co. THE SWORD OF STATE; Weulng‘:‘:l After Waterloo. By Susan Buchan. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. NAPOLEON, THE MAN. By Dmitri Merezhkovsky, author of “The Birth of the Gods,” etc. Translated by Catherine Zvegintvoz. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co,, Inc. IMPRESSIONS OF GREAT NATU- RALISTS; Darwin, Wallace, Huxley, Leidy, Cope, Balfour, Roosevelt : Others. By Henry Fairfleld Osborn, Second edition, completely revised, with additions and new illustrations. New York: Charles. Scribner’s Sons. PREVAILING WINDS. By Margaret Ayer Barnes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 1 | New | Recent accessions at the Public Library and lists of recommended | reading will appear in this column | each Sunday. Biography. Blease, W. L. Suvorof. E-Su887b. Burroughs, John. The Heart of Bur« roughs’ Journals. E-B947a 1. De Kruif, P. H. Hunger Fighters. E-9D364h. Drmkw-ua. John, Charles James Fox. | Howe, E-F832 D. Classic Shades. | E-9H833cl. M. A. | Josephson, Matthew. Zola and His Time. E-Z765]. Laveille, A. P. Life of Cardinal Mer- cier. E-M538 1E. Leslie, Shane. The Skull of Swift. E-8w55 1. Warren, L. A. Lincoln’s Parentage and Childhood. 1926. E-L63wab. York, A. C. Sergt. York. E-Y85. Sculpture. Gleichen, Lord Edward. London’s Open- Air Statuary. WJ45-G48. Guillaume, Paul and Monro, Thomas. Primitive Negro Sculpture. WJ- G94p. Hispanic Society of America. Effigies of a Knight of Santiage and His | Lady. WJ40-H62. | Hispanic Society of America. From the Tomb of Don Garcia Osorio, 1926, WJ40-H62p, Fur-Bearing Animals—Fur Trade. American National Foxbreeders’ Asso- ciation. Year Book of the Silver | Fox_and Fur Industries. 1927-28. | RKZ-5Am3. Ashbrook, F. G. Fur Farming for Profit, RKZ-As32. Lamb, W. B. Mink. 1024. RKZ-L 16m. Tufford. H. H. The Silver Fox as a Leader of Furs. RKZ-T814. Physical Education. | Everett, G. T. Keeping Fit by Easy Exercises. VS-Ev27. 3 i Rodgers, M. A. A Handbook of Stunts. VS-R614h. Staley, S. C. Marching Tactics, VS- St16m. Williams, J. F. The Principles of Phys~ ulfdllq!dlscltbl; CVS-WG'ISF. , T. D, and Cassidy, R. F. The New Physical Education. VS-W85! “GOODSPEED'S BOOK SHOP Is a National Institution. Its st and cholce Beolts Prifs and Adiowraohe 8 e to by speci H 0. pp., with 1l 50 cents. No. 174. Autographs, No. 171, Genealogy, 4.304 10 cents.' No." 1 2,600 tities, free. e itles, free. Print Catalogs and semi- bulletins of Print Exhibitions free. When in Boston Browse in GOODSPEED’S No. 7 Ashburton Pla A i 2 Mi 15 Arts. onthly E v;ry ‘Book of | . New and Popular FICTION | You read them only once! | Save money and rent \ \The Book You Want | When You Want It | The Library that gives prom | service of new fm- mlfl | books are fresh—clean—in= viting. You are your own | librarian, as we supply any book of fiction and non-fic~ tion, if new and popular, Start and stop as you please. Pay a small rental fee while the book is in your possession. WOMRATH'S i858 RCH 3