Evening Star Newspaper, July 28, 1929, Page 34

Agriculture, Colonization and- Railroads Form Three Most .. Important Phases in Rapid Economic Development of " Vast Territory During Last 25 Years. i BY ROSWELL S. BRITTON. A velopment of Manchuria during the last 25 T:E: had imi nomg:t similar to that of the days in Z\‘u xeu,‘ l:hu: with nzwu-wnu!ed carts stes of cove! ‘wagon. Then came the railroads, and Man- China’s way eage. transj tion to fertile lands started a steady movement from the ov: o lated regiops ot North China, chiefly Shantung. Within scarcely more than a generation, the Rpu!-non has grown from 5,000,000 to 30,000,000 The colonists, mainly experienced farmers, sober and hard working people. could break the Manchurian soil and cultivate crops of the same sort they and their forefathers had grown for generations in China. Marvel of Prosperity Achieved. Aboyt one-third of the arable land in nort| Manchuria has been broken, and about 45,000,000 acres remains to be opened. In Southern Manchuria A larger proportion has been cultivated, perhaps one-half. Here in South Manchuria & marvel of rosperity has been wrought upon the natural advantages of soll and climate by the thrift, patience and industry of Chinese peesents and traders, organized and guided by the enterprise and skill of Japanese financiers, engineers and scientists. The import-export trade of Man- churia now constitutes one-third of the total of China’s foreign trade, although Manchuria is less than a fifth of China raiiways are the three big chap- ters u!'uu vast economic de- Jotaro Yamm: eonfld;l?:let‘l '.I‘dt will be s half of China's total. Trade Gains 240 Per Cent in Decade. The magnitude of Manchurian trade s all the more extraordinary for the repidity with which it has been de- veloped. The trade over the eastern border, with and through Pogranich- naya and Viadivostok, amounted to 94,800,000 Haikuan taels last year. as against 21,600,000 in the year 1921; more than quadrupled in seven years. ‘The total vn?ue of the inward and out- ward trade through the three prineipal seaports increased 240 per cent during the last 10 years—from 240.000,000 taels in 1918 to 570,000,000 in 1 These are the principal items of ex- port from Dairen, which is the chief commercial city of Manchuria: Soya beans. bean oil and bean cake, gunny bags, bones, bristles, cement. Kailiang (sorghum). millet, coal and coke, wheat flour, hides and furs, maize (corn), peanuts, salt, castor, hemp, sesamum and perrilla iron are much like tn. Middle West, lying in approxi- mately the same parallels of laf tude and having similar conditions of climate. Both regions are primarily agriculture and possess e solls. The area of Manchuria, 363,700 square miles, Toughly equals the aggregate area of Towa, the Dakotas, Kansas and Min- esota. ne Sungari a Little Mississippi. The population of Manchuria is more than three and a half times the com- bined population of these five States. Harbin, the chief city of Northern Man- churia, is the flour milling center for Manchuria, as Minneapolis is for the Unfim |'l'ne Sungari River is & little pl. Dairen, on the southern tip of Man churia, stands in the same degree of latitude as Wl.lhll!lwn!.rb C. 00 miles, & distance about equal to fmn rl‘:etwun New York and Chicago. mht e’: by warp: of three true formy - ing of the earth’s crust. These basins are confluent, all gently rolling, open and adequately watered. separated only by low rolling hills. The whole area e Ao s, on the vt Little gan Moun! K and north, and by the East Manchurian Highland. Rich Agricultural Ceuntry. GRICULTURE, colonization and Soy crops of Manchuria during last year, in round numbers, was as follows: beans 5,500,000 tons 40,000 Excluding numerous crops, these make a total for the year in the neighborhood of 20,000,000 ions of maize, crop increased by X tons, and the kaoliange crop by about 2 ortation of agricultural products n of agricultural produ is still increasing, but the rate of this increase is falling somewhat becanse consumption within Manchuria is rising with the steady growth of population. Japanese Introduce Cotton. Cotton has been successfully intro- duced in the Japanese leased territory in the southern tip of Manchuria. In 1927 about 3,200 acres within this ter- ritory were planted with cotton, which 1,600,000 pounds. Last year the cotton acreage here was more than doubled, and production to about ,000. pounds. ‘While most of this cotton is raised by independent Chiness farmers. ac- considerable part—more than a fourth during 1927—was ‘produced by a corpo- rate enterprise, the Manchurian Raw Cotton Co., an, exi linary instance of bl‘ business engaging in farming. ‘The object is to supply the raw material for the Japanese cotton mills. ‘The Manchurian Raw Cotton Co. is not only raising cotton, but encouraging th | cotton production by the Chinese farm- ers throughout Southern Manchuria. This promotion work has the co- operation of the local Chinese govern- ment and the South Manchurian Rail- way Co. The agricultural experimental stations of the railway company are giving much attention to cotton culture in the railway sone. It seems reasor- ably that within a few years Manchuria will be producing about 250.- 000,000 pounds annually. Practically the whole output, it is assumed, will go to the spinning mills of Japan. Power Machinery Finds Market. The total soles of farm implements in Manchuria in 1928 were double the 1927 sales. American-made power ma- chinery is ing to be introduced en a fairly large scale after a long campaign. One difficulty was the con- semflvehorienul t:m:“d! ;:ul s:.lrm:l among the peasants that the methods d tools which did for their fore- fathers would do as well for them to- day. The other was the scarcity of farm units sufficiently large to warrant the use of costly machinery. Considerable headway has been made lately in organizing co-operative so. cleties in some of the more prosperous farming communities to pool the sur- lus of a large number of farmers and y machinery for community use. It is likely that this plan will spread widely over Manchuria. On the other hand. in parts of North- ern Manchuria land is coming to be held in large acreages by banks, govern- ment organizations and individuals, who are developing their holdings as big farms instead of parcel them out to tenants. This is materially con- tributing to the market for power ma. chinery. Motor Transport on Increase. Sales of motor cars and trucks, mostly of American manufacture, in: creased in Northern Manchuria las year, although few new motor roads have been built. In the Barga region roads are not necessary because the Mongol plain is so smooth that motor cars can be driven over them anywhere. Elsewhere bridges are scarce, and the dirt country Toads are too soft for motor traffic. Nevertheless, bus lines are on the increase. More than 500 motor buses and a like number of cars were bought in 1928. bringing the total of motor vehicles in Northern Manchuria up to about 3,000. Commercial trucks are still relatively scarce in this region. But the Chinese are awake to_the ad- vantages of moter transport. In Muk- den automobile equivment is reported as leading in general trade. The railways which have made pos- sible the rapid colonization of Man- churia and are thriving upon the re- sulting trade and traffic consist of three principal lines, with a network of branch and smaller line Railway Develops Industries. ‘The South Manchuria Railway, 695 dinarily the Guif of Chihll. The third bas on the western border, contains ter- minal lakes draining small rivers. It ‘Manchuria. ‘The grea outside the Little Khingan range, is the northern boundry, and the Yalu River marks off Korea on the south- east. ‘The cultural production is re- marn\;l?:c‘:\ ]ll'lud’n urled.m O.rvo:gmndl of timber. including pine, 3 and maple, cover the northern slopes and the Yalu bank. There are large coal deposits of good quality and some iron and oil. Where Soya Bean Is King. soya bean is the king of Man- churian_erops. :t. has been cultivated by the Chinese for ages. Xgr seasoning food, is the familiar soy sauce on the tables of chop suey res- taurants. The residue after pressing the ofl from the beans is useful both as stock feed and fertilizer. As recently as 25 vears ago the soya bean and its derivatives was unknown in world commerce. It was not even listed in the Chinese customs el - tion tables. Now it is competing with silk for first rank among China's ex- ports. The rise of the soya bean is an epic of industry. Japanese chemists turned the light of science upon the humble . o in the and RO preparations, illuminat- Roggfd EE§E§§E 2 oak | ritory. the operating costs were only 39,000,000, The railway company has put mucl :Ifd its large surplus earnings into sub- velopment projects. The Anshan Iron and Steel Works and the Fushun Col- Neries are the two principal subsidiaries, and there are many more, especially in the Kuantung (Japanese) leased ter- . The splendid modern improve- ments of the harbor and city of Dairen have been financed largely by the South Manchuria Railway. The railway company maintains s central laboratory at Dairen and agri- cultural experimental stations at sev- ints in the rallway zone, which Te- 1ts oil, used _gior production is said to me been quad- rupled by crossing Marino sheep mh Mongolian breeds. Tobacco has n introduced, as well as cotton and rice— all three crops which a generation no one thought possible in Manchuria. Fruit Orchards Encouraged. PFruit orchards are being encouraged and by seed selection the yleld of the farms in the railway zone has been in creased from 10 to 20 per cent. Glue has been manufactured from animal Tone: Statve; and”potassium. satts from AN sal i‘a‘m‘m ashes. of economic empire build- th Manchuris Railway Co. accomplished ‘more and complete, even uwu%h extensive, n that achieved by transcontinental raflroads. Chinese Eastern Big Money Maker. ‘The Chinese Eastern Rallway like- ‘wise surrounded itself with a - networl 'k of subsidia jects and in handlés much through traffic from Transsiberian Railway, continues cording to customary farm practice, a | tons. | Tientsin and Peiping, the former ‘capi- tal of China. s produced a crop of approximately | bega | | ' | Colbourne. enterprises and semi-public_de- | Gee. 480 | MacManus, T. F., and Beasley. Norman. { : 5 Littlejohns, John. Ske | other raillway. other part of the Chinese Eastern runs southward 152 miles, and then con. tinues as a part of th churia Railway. The Chint also has 286 miles of branches in the northern timber lands. 500 Miles of Track a Year. The third principal rallway is the Peiping-Mukden, which has 392 miles of trackage in Manchuria, running southwest through the Great Wall to: o - Railway construction is going on steadily in Manchuria, at the rate of about 500 miles a year, in spurs and feeder lines for the trunk lines—a stage of development which none of the rail- roads in China has yet reached. A line northward from Harbin was carried last year to Htilun. 120 miles away. It runs through the Hulan Ri Valley, which is one of Manchuria finest wheat- areas. Last year the income of e was more than tension involved crossing the Chinese Eastern Railway at Anganchi, the first crossing of the Chinese Eastern by an- Spurs Pierce Timber Lands. | Construction was begun last Summer ! on a new raflway from . Tsitsthar to! Aigun. which was financed by local | capital. | Several spurs were built from the| eastern branch of the Chinese Eastern Railway into timber lands. “The system handled 6,678,198 metric tons of freight in the season of 1927-8, an increase of 451450 tons over the previous season. ‘The Kirin-Hallungcheng Railway, 115 ;“"zu Mlon'inwu eo:enpleledul.nd opened ast May to operate a daily passenger train each way, north and south, w{:h borrowed rolling stock, since its own new equipment had not yet arrived. Coal is plentiful in Manchuria. Oll and firon occur in smaller quantities. At Fushun, a short distance east of Mukden, is one coal deposit which con- tains estimated reserves of not less than 900,000,000 tons. This has been op- erated for some years by the Fushun Collieries. a_subsidiary of the South Manchuria Railway, with a steadily increasing annual output. The yearly output is expected to reach a peak in 1931 in the neighborhood of 10,000,000 Shale Oil Deposits Worked. Shale ofl deposits exist in various places in Manchuria, notably in the Fushun district near Mukden; in Southern Manchuria and along the right of the Lower Sungari, in Northern | Manchuria. In the Pushun area the oil-bearing shale overlies the coal seams which are being exploited by the Fushun Col- lieries. The percentage of oil here is low, varying from 3 to 12 per cent, and averaging only about 5.5 per cent, and the oil can be extracted profitably in connection with the mining of the coal The oil reserves here are estimated at i 5.500,000,000 tons. Within 100 feet of the surface there are estimated to be 255,000,000 tons of oil. The South Manchurian Railway Co. is beginning Is%o%!nphn flr\hnlnd plans to produce ,000 tons of ol annually during a first e Noi nchurian deposits, also in the form of ofl-bearing nhrl‘: are re- ported on good authority to be a great :ell mm :x'eh:ulve than the Pushun leposits and also to have a higher per- centage of oil. ™ e The province of Fengtien contains nti ifth Page.) ITHE PUBLIC LIBRARYI Recent accessions at the Publc Library and lists of recommended read- ing will appear in this column each Sunday. i Conduct of Life. Chambers, Mrs. M. D. M. Teens and ‘Twenties; The Art of Cultivating Character. 1023. BQS-C356t. Plurnnce. W. H. P. Facing Life, BQS- 76. Lichtenstein, Morris. How to Jewish Science Essays. CA-L61 h. Riggs, A. P RA441 Symonds, P. M. The Nature of Con- duct. BQS-Sy6én. Political Economy. American Trade Union Delegation to the Soviet Union. Russia After Ten Years. 1927. HC54-Am3r. Carpenter, C. Dollars and Sense. HC83-C227. M. D. Unemployment or HC-C67u. ., Wilson, and Corson, J. J. A Sta- glzt_;cll Study of Virginia. HC863- Pasvolsky, Leo. Economic Nationalism of the Danublan States. HC56-P26. Pugh, M. A. Economic Development of Sfam. HC688-P96. Sorensen, Harry. Iceland; A Brief Eco- nomic Survey. HC49-So6. ‘Williams, B. H. Economic Foreign Policy of the U. S. HC83-W676. Automobiles. Chrysler Sales Corporation, Detroit, Mich. Chrysler 65 Instruction Book. 1-C46. Co.. Detroit. The New ZI-F753n. Ford Motor Hmmu.flsg Automobile Shop Math. 2 . _Automobile Shop i ematics. SUZO-H23. ‘War. Men, Money and Motors. SUZ-M322, | Noble, L. E., and Roenigk, J. A. Peri- odic Inspection. SUZA-N66p. Packer, A. H. Electrical Trouble Shoot- gll on the Motor Car. 1927. SUZQ- 12. Page. V. W. Models T and A Ford Cars. SUZI-P146. Radco Publications, Oakland, _Calif. gfi!m Shortway Manual. SUZA- Drawing. Brown, J. H. Sketching Without a Master. 1920. WMR-B78s. Foster, W. R. M. Drawings for Adver- Setignand From Na- ture in Line and Tone. WM-L73s. ts. E. G. More Things to Draw. WM-L977m. Noble, J. E. Animal Drawing and Anatomy. WM-N66. C. Composition. 1927. WM- German Books. Bloem. Walter, Das Land Unseref Liebe. 1924. Y47F-B623 la. Bloem, Walter. Morderin - Y4TP- von Bt. Pearce, C. P317. Jotef Sucht die YATP-K487). Therese. Y47F- Schnif . Sch5ot. . atzlik, Hans. Das Gluck von Durrn- ‘en: and Helene, compe. n Deutschen Lieder. Intelligent Living. BQS- | v whose parents had been slaves and but | o THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., [— PN UPPER: PRINCIPAL RAIL C JULY 28 1929_PART 2. #|Francis Wilson Writes of John Wilkes Booth and Lincoln's Assassination—Life and Work of Franz Schubert. A New Novel by Rupert Hughes. CHINESE EASTERN RAILROAD STATION AT HARBIN, NTER OF MANCHURIA. LOWER: ONE OF THE CHINESE EASTERN BRIDGES BETWEEN HARBIN AND MANCHULI, WHICH IS CLOSELY GUARDED DUR. ING PRESENT TROUBLE. BNLY COLORED WOMAN IN NATIdN TO RULE OVER PROSPEROUS BANK Mrs. Maggie Mitchell Walker Has Shown Great Sagacity in Business Career in Richmond, Va. BY MARY CHURCH TERRELL. ‘Woman bank presidents in the United States are very rare indeed. It is quite possible to go through a whole lifetime | without seeing one. The reason the subject of this sketch deserves special mention is because she is the only woman bank president in the United States who has a drop of African blood in her veins. And there is every rea- son to believe she is the only one in the whole world of her racial persua- sion who presides over bank direc- torate. When an irdividual to be one in 15,000,000 to fill an un- usual and difficult position with bril- liant success it is natural and fitting to call attention to his or her career. As you pass the corner of First and Marshall streets in Richmond, Va., you may see the St. Luke Bank & Trust Co.. of which Mrs, Maggie Mitchell Walker is president. Twenty-six years ago, at the suggestion of this woman. a bank was started under the name of the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank. She was then secretary of the Independent Order of St. Luke (grand secretary- treasurer of the order, she was called), and she persuaded the directors and members of that organization that it would be a good thing to establish a bank which could invest a part of the idle funds of the order and add to its wealth. Later on the Legislature of Virginia enacted a law which forced the separation of secret orders and their banks, and the name was changed to the St. Luke's Bank & Trust Under the presidency of Mrs. Walker this bank is conceded to be one of the best managed financial institutions in the United States. When the bank was established it had a deposit of pnly $8.000, which has increased in size till it has reached $500.000. Daughter of Washerwoman. ‘When one sees Mrs. Walker sitting in a solid m: ny chair in her beau- titully appointed office at the bank it is hard to visualize her as the daugh- ter of a washerwoman carrying clothes which she and her mother had laun- dered to the aristocracy of the Capital of the Confederacy. Yet this woman bank president's early life was amid humble and unpromising sur- roundings. ‘When Maggie Mitchell was born, how- ever, her condition in life was far bet- than was that of many a child newly freed, as hers had been. Her father, William Mitchell, was the head waiter of the far-famed St. Charles Hotel of Richmond, which was about as high a rung on the ladder as men of his group could then hope to reach. He provided a comfortable home for his family, not far from the house said to have been occupled by Edgar Allan Poe when he was a boy living with| 3q John Allan, his adopted father. And at no great distance from the two-story frame house in which Maggie lived was St. Paul's Church, where President “Jeff” Davis received the news that the cause of the Confederacy had been lost. But a tragedy occurred in Maggie's irlhood which made life for her much arder than it would otherwise have been. Her father suddenly disap- peared from view. For five days his family, his friends and the police of Richmond searched for him, and then found his lifeless body in the river. There was little doubt that William Mitchell had been robbed, murdered and his body thrown into the James. Change of Conditions. After her father's death the daugh- ter's condition in life was completely changed. A heavy responsibility was gl:dced upon her shoulders. Her mother her two children, son and & daughter, and herself to support. She ! knew she could make more money tak- ing in washing than by engaging in anything else, and this she resolved to do on as large ale as possible. Mag- ie was an invaluable assistant. She elped with the cooking, the washing, the ironing and fetched and carried clothes. But in spite of the hard ‘manual labor she had to perform, Mag- graduated from the high colored children in 1883. the young woman taught for three years in this school in which she had forTerly son of an.expert brickmason and build- ing contractor, by whom some of the finest buildings in constructed, years old she took a step which influ- enced and shaped her whole life. She joined the Independent Order of St., Luke, whose headquarters were then and still are in Richmon 1t would be as impossil Maggie Walker’s life without referring to this organization as it would be to give the history of the St. Luke Order without telling the role which its right History of Order. Independent Order of St. Luke has an interesting history, indeed. It was formed in Baltimore, Md., in 1867 Mary Prout, who had been a siave, " The ppens | | i Richmond had been | ‘When Maggle Mitchell was only ui.‘.‘.he s et Joom) cireles, d | Treasurer of the Inds their poverty and ignorance groveling in distress and need. The condition of | those who were well and strong was | enough, but it was pitiable beyond de- scription when they were stricken with disease. Deeply moved by the scenes of helplessness ‘and misery she Wi nessed, this ex-slave conceived the idea of establishing a fraternal organization which could minister to the sick and bury the dead. ‘While the benefit to be derived from such an organization was apparent to those whom it was designed to helr. nevertheless its growth was painfully | slow. Many were the times when the founder and her assistants feared the St. Luke Order could not surmount the obstacles to success which blocked its th. But the straw which seemed to i reak the camel's back was the sudden resignation of the man who had served it as secretary for 30 years, from 1869 to 1899. When he handed in his resig- nation and refused absolutely to serve another minute, the members of the order feared that its last days had come. The reasons assigned by the secretary for refusing to hold office any longer were sufficient to discourage the most confirmed optimists among the mem- bership, In the first place, he told them that there was no money in the treasury. ‘The order was not spreading fast enough, he said. He complained aiso that there wi fatal lack of co-opera- tion between grand officers and those of | the subordinate councils. And last, but Co, | certainly not least. the salary of $300 a year was too small, he averred. As if that were not enough to make the stout- est heart quail, the abdicating secretary | informed the order that there was only | $31.60 in the treasury, and unpaid bills | amounting to $400! Cause of Dismay. If & bomb had been thrown into the meeting at which this information was furnished, it could scarcely have caused more terrifying dismay. In the midst of this chaos and eon- fusion, while many were icting that the order could not possibly survive the fatal blow which the secretary had dealt, Maggie Walker was elected to suc- ceed him. To make the office just as undesirable as possible, the sal was reduced from $300 to $100 a year. Noth- ing daunted. however, the new secre- tary buckled on the armor and went to work. No sooner had she entered upon her duties than the organization k on new life and began to grow by leaps and bounds. The new secretary’s gerson-l magnetism, her earnestness, er marked ability as a clear, forceful, persuasive speaker and her keen busi- ::: :ncugxilmmhled hr;er to work won- ui up t n! LT guiene b o ot n The $31.66 which Mrs. Walker found in t;::. r':'““r’hwmz?: she was elected a As increased to than $500,000. And that, too, in ';;!ol‘t.: of the fact that nearly $2,000,000 in death claims have been paid. The membership has grown from a little more than 3,000 to 103,000 women, men and children. The old building which formerly was used as headquarters has disappeared and a handsome, modernly constructed, four-story brick office building has taken its place. Moreover, the order employs 60 men and women in the office and has a full force of 110. It is chartered under the laws of the State of Virginia, but it does business in 23 States, including New York, Massa- :mtfih;e‘l:nsyglnh, Ohio, Connec- n, Wisconsin an - !Hg_t o;‘ Columbia. iy 0 Mrs. Walker is largely due the credit of the rapidity with which the order has spread all over the United States. It was she who urged the or- ganization to establish its own printing fleprle;tment uldnd thli;lv{tl:l done, although resent an investment of $100,000. She felt the necessity of hav- [{lln‘e an official organ to express the aims, i ideals of the organization, to report ts successes and outline its plans. mAa a result of this suggestion, the St. Luke Herald was founded, which is one of g: ?‘e:‘t newspapers the colored Ameri- Educational Loan Fund. An educational loan fund is another % | child of Mrs. Walker's brain. She has heen instrumental of trustees recommend the establish- ment of such & fund so that the members of the order may “complete practical education,” provided they have been members of the organization one year, are recommended by their teach- ers and by their local circles, also. longer than five years and the amount loaned may range from $50 to $300, pro- vided the applicant signs a note to re- pay the obligation, so that some other ble to tell the story of | ¥O! One of the greatest services Mrs. | Walker has rendered the Order of 8t. Luke was to found the juvenile depart- ment. That was done in 1895—one of the first things she did after joining it. Ha with 8,000 children, the creased to more than .000. The celebration of the twentieth an- niversary of Mrs. Walker's services as the “Right Worthy Grand Secretary- 'ndent Order of St. Luke” was one of the most remark- able ever observed in the United States. occasion : |3art of nny event, of any tale, lives long. § | the assass! IDA GILBERT MYERS. JOHN WILKES BOOTH; Fact and Fic- tion of Lincoln’s ination. By Prancis Wilson. TIllustrated. Bos- ton: Houghton-Miffiin Co. YTH wears better than truth. ‘The deeply ingrained hues and tints of myth are more dura. ble than the hard primary col- ors of fact. Its outlines, too, are more yielding, opening to the vest credulities of man in a way that casc- iron reality never concedes. lasts while truth perishes. the shade, dress of the least and| loosest, posture of the easiest, with | cool breezes coming along to gossip silently beside one, maybe a bird just I;g’dlhfl" getting along with life in his way—this way of world travel beats & thousand miles and more the hurry, the crowds, the indistinct views, the medley of vital and trivial impres- sions that one crams into his kit as he hastens to catch the next lap of the tremendous business of Summer travel. Well, here we are—going with George Yth Horton to the’delectable Isles of Greece. The fable O yes, he has been there before, not only there, but to almost all the other places of lure that the earth holds. herefore, this destination is a real choice. Moreover, the guide, Mr. Hor- ton, within this domain of poetry and song, of myth and legend, within this home of the old gods whom we all love, has, 50 to speak, the run of the house. He knows from many associations the very spots where these things, and these, came to pass to the wonder and delight of all mankind. So, with him, hither and thither, we go, catching old fragrances, divining old marvels, actu- ally coming upon Zeus and Venus and Neptune and a host of lesser gods, com- ‘ake, as case in point, the story of the man whose name gives title to this Long after the nurg edge of ination of Lincoln had dulled there remained still a keenly believing 2est in the legend that Booth escaped, that he lived—here, or there, or over yonder—for long years after the event that lifted him into the limelight of a world’s execration. It must be some- thing inside us, some yearning for big climaxes in place of ignominious re- treats—no matter what the occasion it- self may be. Some delight in the mag- ical, some joy in the miracle that can * | seems to circumvent even the criminal—this satisfy us, despite the toach- ings of morality and the upholding of retributive justice. So, the most lasting part of John Wilkes Booth was the pure legend that he escaped justice to live long in the land. Way over toward the end of his story of Booth, Prancis Wil- son givss in circumstantial detail the taking off of the foolish and fiery youth who in some high-sounding name or sther did the deed that, in prospect, Jift- ed him to the attention of mankind. To go back. It is a finely fitting thing that Prancis Wilson undertook the story of Booth, undertook by study and re- search into many obscure cornecrs, by selection and organization, to round into & true spectacle the personality and tragic outcome of this one life. Fran- cis Wilson is actor of distinguished experience, of intimacy with the other stage folks of his time. Booth was an actor, many of whose native and pro- fessional qualities must read like an open book to this writer. Moreover, in the way of story structure alone, Fran- cis Wilson has the great advantage of that ingrained sense of dramatic se- quence, suspense and chm all of which o&enu s0 potently in this story of Booth. Here is a man who has “lived widely and kindly"- hat a fine tribute that is!-——who has taken upon himself the task of hunting out the truth about the subject in his mind, the task as well of giving some sort of con- sistent and plausible interpretation of this character. So Mr. Wilson goes back to the boyhood of Booth, to the mother who adored the beautiful crea- | ture that was her son. To the agen cles that, without such intent, fed the self-esteem of the lad, that rendered him unwelcoming to talent and ability in others of his age. He portrays here the rampant spirit of adventure, the quest for a use” to fit his powers. The “cause” came with the war and its heritage of suffering and hurt pride and hatred. No great surprise that the core of this cause should appear (o be the | President of the United States. And | here the conspiracy is tormed, its lead- ers set, its course defined, its action in assassination of Lincoln in old Ford Theater in the Capital. It is a story of swift action, riding hard vpon i the facts themselves. A story of breath- | iess adventure, a story wherein the trag- edy is to a degree obscured for the | time being by the spectacular swiftnese of its approach, of its accomplishment, of the flight that followed upon the event itself. A remarkable analysis of the outstanding Standing next comes the aim for authentic fact that | guided the author in this undertaking. The outcome is a brilliant and under- standing record of a crime that stands, and will stand, as one of the great po- litical tragedies of this country, of eny country. If it would do a bit of good— but it will not—I'd like to have moth- jers of adored sons read this book for admonition. for a danger signal, in their |own foolish prostrations before these male prodigies of their nurture and care. Not a bit of good—we are so ex- f:n in passing the lessons and warn- gs of life on to the other woman, or man—those across the street or down the road a bit. However—here is a highly dramatic study of one of the| truths of American history in the trou- bled days after the Civil War. * % ¥ FRANZ SCHUBERT. The Man and | His Circle. By Newman Flower, | author of “Georg Freidrich Handel,” ete. Tllustrated. New York: Fred: erick A. Stokes Co. TH! radio is invtiing more than one musical genius to leave the exclu- sions of the limited circle for the open reaches of a quite general pleasure and appreciation. It is & commonplace now to hear something finely beautiful from one or another of these gifted ones. ‘To be sure, these visitations come in the between-whiles of much jazzing, of much lovelorn crooning from young men and women of more or less talent for entertainment. But the fact is that they do come. And by way of them there is' growing a wider interest in good music, in the makers of such music. This is the time, therefore, when more readers want to know about these men and women of genius. This is the time when the “life” of a great musician will pass out from the narrow circle of the pure music lovers into a wide area of general interest. Here is & good book meet such expansion. Schubert comes often nowadays to the listener-in. There is a growing desire to know about this man who can still delight the soul with hlxu.nm of a somewhat earlier day. Ne n Flower knows music, loves mu: knows men, knows the genius in music. He knows the world, too, seemingly. So here he has put these vital knowings together, to make the story of Franz Schubert. And first he revives, revitalizes, the matchless city of Vienna as it was in that day of the Schuberts. He makes one acquainted with the achoolmaster ' and his sons—one of them, quite un- beknown to his father, already headed upon such immortality as fus be- stows. In an easy portrayal of home life and neighborhood life, Mr. Flower surrounds the boy Franz with the ele- ments of influence that the immediate contacts of youth provide. Then the story goes on to accomplishment, to disaster, to —the earned ing upon lovely natural beauties, upon shrines where old fact and older myth dispute their claims before our very | eyes. - To all the islands of Greece are | we led, folk-tales on the one hand, ! gospel truth on the other. John of Patmos over here, Lesbian Sappho, singing, over there. A scholar is the guide. Better yet, an artist he is, too. | Scholarship s good to keep us in place, as it were. But it is the artist) that makes us sing in the company of | s0 much of beauty in nature, in the old ideas of life and the world, in the ancient fancies that served, somehow, to solve the riddle of life, after a fash- jon, maybe as true a fashion as the one of which we now make so free use. A beautiful adventure—going with George Horton around the Grecian Isles, where the nymphs and vampires lived —and live even to this day. l PR CHARLOTTE CORDAY: And Certain | Men of the Revolutionary Torment.” | By Marie Cher. New York: D. Ap- | pleton & Co. AOAI‘NST the background of lhei French Revolution this author sets one by one those who gave human significance to that event even in its | hours of deepest inhumanity and terror. | Danton, Marat, Robespierre, Clarlotte | Corday—these the rallying points, these | the heart and soul of that epoch- | making point in French history. in all | ‘modern history as well. Now, this is an old theme, a well worn theme. It has | for more t 100 years held honorable | place in the dull print of text-book histories. Yet, despite such disqualifica- | tion, the book in hand is fresh and | immediate and personal. in one of the world's great movements | are not even today dead men. This girl is alive and importunate in her appzal | to current interest. The oid material | pertaining to this theme has been [ gathered in its completeness—fresh | additions at points here and there. And such material has been quickened | by the new outlook and method to| which nowadays historic and blographic matter is being subjected. The study shows the creative effect of this new method. With the grain of inheritance and temperament belonging to these men and this woman as her starting t, as her single legitimate point of | departure in each case, Miss cher‘ selects out of the various influences of time and event around them just such | forces of growth as naturally in every | case contributed to the work of each. | From such a constructive procedure one | after another of these famous revolu- tionists becomes alive again, becomes | an immediate personality, acting through that combination of tempera- | ment and circumstances which serves | as the motivating influence of all of us. Charlotte Corday and the others are not monsters of insane passions. She is“ instead, like the others, the lmull product of her birth and upbringing, of her nature and her desires working | out through the daily life around her,; A very vital book this, by way of which one re-enters in & new spirit of dis- cernment and understanding that hitherto half-sensed day of reckoning that goes by the name of the French Revolution. TR MERMAID AND CENTAUR. By Rup: , author of “The Lovely New York: Harper & Bros. ITHOUT love for material to work | upon the novelist would soon go bankrupt. Unhappy love it must be, too, since the other kind offers no clutch to the romancer. But. even in a world packed with unrequited pas- sion the fiction maker is more than once, no doubt, put to his wit's end for a fresh way of projecting the mani- fold miseries of love gone wrong. Here is a case in point. Rupert Hughes— 18 popular novels stacked behind him— appears to have found himself in the deep slough of overwriting, of nothing to work upon. What to do next? What to do! And here is the thing that he did. A fantastic performance! Look at the material. A deformed child. Zarna, circus magician, doing wonders of diving—whence the name “mermaid.” A singing seal, Susanne. The circus has some to the hamlet rby which the le girl' lives on farm with her brother Jason. It is Jason—father and | mother and god to the little girl—who is set to carry on in the situation. He becomes ired with the amazing hope of lettin| e little Rita see the mer- maid and the singing seal. This he ac- complishes. In a blaze of compassion the circus lady takes on Jason and| Rita. Wife and sister, you see. Suzanne | becomes a piece of household furniture. | And the relic of the “greatest show | on earth” takes its disconsolate leave | of the fateful hamlet of its undoing Nonsense! Even a novelist—that most ! self-confident and hopeful of wage-/ earners—must know that he can't get | away with & thing like that. Well, hei eannot and does not. As soon’ as a, tragedy in love takes on even a shade | of the fantastic the deep sense of pity | steps out for the income of that fatal sense of the absurdity of the matter. Rupert Hifi:u is, more than likely on vacation, g back u the poguhrlty ity—that those 18 illness, to more of effort, to ‘women and their part in the fulfiliment of art. It gives the story of the “Un- finished Symphony,” to which you listen often in these days of sheer magic. It is not & happy story that this author has to tell—work and more work. Poverty and lack of support. n{mdl:. ln“" "t‘ln general In&lflell:;:l outweighing greatly any genuine . est. However, the prime office of this highly intelligent and clearly apprecia- tive blography serves a new purpose. It brings, belatedly maybe, but yet it fresh thousands the joy of Schubert the great wizard of the day, the priceless radio. ‘Without doubt, the first appeal of this book is to the waywise in the divine art. Nevertheless, the wider fleld is here packed with thousands of people, ‘who, & touch of actual experi- ence :lhm sehube‘n. u:uln. ardently, to read the story of great_composer, A vilu.l':rry of superb conception and ual a . ,N s vis . HOME OF NYMPHS AND VAMPIRES: The Isles of Greece. Horton. Illustrated. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Co. go along in the TheBook You Want < When You Want It l.l-lglsufir_n:obuhfor-mll WOMRATH'S is&ssi 1919 F Swroer, 2046 14eh Swreet, N. W, (Open Evenings Till 9 P.M. JANE BARTLETT, 1608 Conneeticut Ave, N.W. Eargains n Used Books other novels have given him. To be sure, there here tender and lovely spots. But “spots,” be they ever so tender and lovely, do not answer for a sustained and plausible work of art by way of fiction. L | THE BERKELEY STREET MYSTERY. | By M. R. P. Hatch, author of “Th | Missing Man,” ete. : L C. | Page & Co. 'Is the author & man or a woman? I've made my guess. Now you make yours. Not vital, maybe, still the ques- ?or; om.ruhfle; at certain points, obtrudes ust a shade provokingly. Ought | have it settled. ¥ e o | However, here is another mystery tale of murder and the pursuit of the crim- inal. ‘Theft, smuggling. love go along with the real issue—that of murder and finding the guilty one. The story has certain excellencies, despite certain clear | handicaps. It is well written—to the joy of those who care about so negligible a thing as mere ways of speech. It is well sustained in adroit side-step- pings of the issue. Good handling of the element of suspense, the very breath of life to & mystery tale. Its picturing of the local scene of the crime—Boston, Berkeley street at that!—is enough to make the staid sons of staider fathers roundabout a bit uneasy. All this is good. It does seem to me, never- theless, that the author shivers on the brink a little too long before making the plunge into such dark business. And no wonder. Yet, there are ways of temporizing before the great issue. ways that have more to do with the oncoming action than are set out here. For, the author is as busy in laying the groundwork for an innocent and ab- sorbing love story—for two of them in fact—as she, or he, is in developing & perfectly good murder. I'm afraid it is Boston. I doubt if one could get away with a real crime in print up that way. Maybe, however, I'm all wrong. One can tell only of an effect upon himself in making these appraisals. And, as for me. I was much diverted from the murder by the engagin, qualities of these lovers, all four of 'em. BOOKS RECEIVED THE ETERNAL FOREST: Under West- ern Skies. By George Godwin. New Yorl D. Appleton & Co. THE POWER THAT WINS. By Ralph Waldo Trine. Indianapolis: Bobbs- X — . By Armstron; gli\"':ln'!!fin.wlulhcr of “The Monll{ amblef " etc. New York: I'Hg' sHTerl;'klP Co., Inc. par G. By William Le eu; uthor of “The Crime Codtgu Ht New York: The Macaulay Co. a Story Without a Plot. By e n‘x(zhc;(r o{HHome to i ork: Ha Bros. Sy THE MEMOIRS OF J. M. DENT, 1849- 1926. With Some Additions by New York: E. P. M. Kgllen. New York: Horace Live- right. BARTOLOME DE LAS CASAS, By Mar- “Father of the Indians.” cel Brion. Transiated from the French by Coley B. Taylor. With an Introduction by Ernesto Monte- negro. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. THE MIRACLE MERCHANT. By Condordia Merrel. New York: Dou- bleday, Doran & Co., Inc. THE LASLETT AFFAIR. By a Gentle- man With a Duster. New York: ‘The Macaulay Co. THE LAWLESS HAND. By William Le Queux, New York: The Macau- lay Co. THE VALLEY OF OLYMPUS. By Octavus Roy Cohen. New York: D. Appleton & Co. THE RIVER OF MUSIC: and Other Poems. By Arthur Orison Dillon. Pomona, Calif.: The Progress-Bul- letin Publishing Co. HOW TO SPEAK EFFECTIVELY: With Some Simple Rules of Parli- amentary Practice, By George Bric Peabody. assistant professor of ex- tension teaching at New York State College of Agriculture, Cornell Uni- versity. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. GOLD DUST. By Edward Holstius. New York: Duffield & Co. THE BOYHOODS OF THE PRESI- DENTS. By Bessie White Smith. Tiustrated from photographs. Bos- ton: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. ARIE BONIFAS. By Jacques de Lacretelle. Translated from the French by Winifred Stephens Whale, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. THE GOLDEN ALTAR. By John Sutherland. author of “Challenge, etc. New York: Harper & Bros. STONE DAUGHERTY. By John P. Fort. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. THE NEW CURIOSITY SHOP. By Hariette R. Campbell, author of “The Mystery of Saint's Island,” etc. New York: Harper & Bros. THE BOY PROPHET., By Edmund Fleg. A translation made by D. L. o New York: E. P. Dutton & c. AlLLQuIET WESTERN F ALL QUIET ON\THE WESTERN ' FRONT 2 4 E. M. REMARQUS N 4 700th Thousand in Germany 200th Thousand in America 155th Thousand in England 185th Thousand'in France and translations published"or planned in seventeen. other language: S. . - Read “All' Quiet” before you read otherb‘mbzoon 8o that you may al to them with this, the greatest of all! $2.50 Everywhere | Little, Brown & Co., Publishers