Evening Star Newspaper, February 2, 1930, Page 38

Mowbray Paintings Are Attracting Unusual Attention at the Corcoran Gallery of Art—Other Local Exhibitions. Etchings and Drypoints on View. BY LEILA MECHLIN. UITE a gumber of interesting exhibitions have opened Washington during the past week and are now on view. Most notable, both on account of the celebrity of the artist and the significance of the theme. is the group of paintings by the late H. Siddons Mowbray, illustrating events in the life of Christ. placed on view in the Cor- coran Gallery of Art last Monday. These paintings, which have been placed on the walls of the south gallery 10 the left of the main entrance, through ‘which one gains admission, on the first floor, to the Clark wing, may perhaps have been done as studies for mural decorations, or with the expectation of | in | Iard chance. ise of an unfolding talent from Wi much more may b» expected in | future. | th jd | h | they bring the spirit of the garden. jof the latter paintings are of flowel | though in a few insiances objects sucl as cups and jars are introduced subsidiary. And Mrs. Hawthorne paints | flowers wi h a light. sympathetic touch. ining room. Mrs. Hawthorne's are n | preserving the essence together with | | the effect. Her flowers live, but | perishable, of the moment, and more exquisite for this reason. canvas entitled “Flowers on are the uction as illustrations for a “Life [ Window Sill” is painted in a high key reprod of Christ.” They are comparatively small in dimensions, are painted with oils on canvas and have in every in- ance of being matted, but the mat in this instance is a part of the picture. ‘To some extent these works suggest paintings done in miniature for the or- namentation and illustration of ancient missals, although they are many times | larger. And they also show a kinship in style, if not in character, with the ings by Boutet de Monvel illustrat- | the life of Jeanne D’'Arc, which are | included in the Clark collection and | hung in an adjacent gallery. According to the catalogue, Mr. Mow- | bray painted this series of pictures for | his own special delight and enjoyment. But doubtless somewhere in the back | of his mind was the thought of later utilization—a book decoration, a wall painting. Collectively, these works show strong- 1y the influence of the early Italian school, the effect of Mr. Mowbray's study of the paintings of the Italian primitives. Fine in color, simple in composition, imaginative, they fall be- tween the ancient and the modern. No painter of Mr. Mowbray's day could recapture the naive simplicity of the mitive painters, to whom art was ideed religion, and who wrought pri- marily with arduous missionary spirit— a desire to manifest Christ through the ‘vehicle of visual expression. Mr. Mowbray has brought to bear upon his task knowledge of technique and | the principles of art acquired, not by one, but by many successive genera- tions, & knowledge which inevitably per- mitted greater fluency of expression. His color is good. his themes well com- posed, his brush work skillful. But| while his attitude is undoubtedly rev-| erent, one canont say that these works have been produced with fervor. They | are lovely, but they do not, save in one or two instances, grip the heart or stir the emotions. They belong essentially to the period in which they were pro- duced, and they represent a distinct | epoch in the history of art. They should | be seen and studied, not merely as an | isolated and chance happening, but E Wwith a full palette of delicate color, and saucers. “Parrot Tulips” is a y more boldly rendered, so, Dahlias” “Dutch Jug With Flowers. on the other hand, because of their deli and manner of treatment, suggest fairy lor2, and “Annual Fhlox" and “Canter- bury Bells” take the beholder with the magic of translation into the blossom- ing Midsummer garden. A very lovely and unusual showing. * % % TCHINGS and drypoints by Benson B. Moore of this city and Rodney Thomson of New York wer: placed on view in the Smithsonian Building Jan- uary 27 to continue on view until February 24, under the auspices of the part these are of birds and beasts, though Mr. Moore, as is well known, ot casionally does landscape and street scenes, and Mr. Thomson, it is found, tries his hand now and then, skillfully and successfully, with portraiture and Winter landscape. pictures and in en atm His father and uncle ciated with the late V. his memorable gallery on _Fifteenth street years ago, and both have con- tinued “their association with art and artists ever since, the one in his own gallery at one time, now in his frame- making establishment, the other as an assistant at the Phillips Memorial Gal- lery. But Benson Moore is almost en- tirely self-taught. His professional career began as a half-tone engraver, from which his work in etching was a natural outgrowth. His painting has been done to a large extent on holidays and in playtime. His success is due to a combination of gift and industry, and here of art, ere both ass: G. Fisher in rather as & link in the long chain ex- tending from the days when Fra An-| gelico painted sacred subjects on the | walls of his monastery to the present | time, when art seems largely to have| become an instrument in the hands of | ind , but still has the power | o save. | ‘Mr. Mowbray was not only a painter | of murals, at one time director of the American Academy in Rome, but was | the painter member of the National Commission of Pine Arts appointed by | President Wilson in 1921 and serving seven years until his death in January, 1928. He was the fifth painter in the succession which began with Francis D. Millet, appointed by President Taft on the creation of the commission by Con- gress in May, 1910, who was followed successively by Edwin H. Blashfield, J. s.lltllfn Weir and William Sergeant Ken- | Charles Moore, chairman of the com- | mission, in a tribute to Mr. Mowbray, | written since his death, says: “Rarely | did he miss & meeting. He took pleasure | in association with the members, and | e relished having a part in the upbuild- | ing of the National Capital. This was the thankless task of reporting adversely | on portraits of Presidents and other statesmen, or pictures of historic scenes | painted on speculation and sponsored by | persons of influence who, while profess- ing to know little about art, generally were confident they had discovered a genius and his masterpiece. was to find an acceptable work, and | whole-hearted was his welcome of such. ‘Where he could not approve, his deci- sions were convincing and his manner | was considerate, so that he left no sears.” It was Mr. Mowbray who, after re- ?uud efforts, hit upon a shade of color | hat would “keep the cast-iron dome of the Capitol as nearly as possible in har- mony with the painted sandstone center A DRYPOINT EXHIBITION AT T They are thoughtful. in- telligent creations, and they give prom- Miss Hollerith's paintings are to be seen in the lower reception room and ung in the lounge upstairs, to which light and airy. Exquisitely rendered is a Jar of pink “Rose of Sharon” standing | stance decorative borders—the appear- | On a tea table in the midst of white cups | division of graphic arts of the United | States Naticnal Museum. For the most | Benson Moore has grown up among | BY RODNEY THOMSON. re than usual promise. Undoubtedly Mrs, Backus has cour- age as well as persistence. Some of the subjects she has undertaken are ex- tremely difficult, such, for instance, as a three-quarter-length portrait of Rear Admiral * Eberle, the interior elaborat> home or a portrait of a young gir] holding a bowl of apples. | must admit that the achievement is out | of the ordinary; that the artist has of an, Perhaps best of all of the paintings | that Mrs. Backus show: tentious study entitled dow,” showing a jar of ivy on the sill of a window, through which one looks across to a prosaic, light-colored brick is an unpre- City Win- wall—a homely scene, but so well ren- | dered in the matter of light and significant. There is good pahMting in several of the interiors which Mrs. Backus shows, but in these, which are purely academic in_ireatment, one observes a litile weakness in technique, a little lack in composition. For, after all, though the | artist may and should paint what he | or she sees, it is his or her privilege to rearrange and thus recreate. The old saying that “life is short and art is long” comes to mind in viewing | an exhibition of this sort, and one won- ders at the courage of those who enter this field at what would seem to be a moment’s notice and with the expecta- | tion of early, if not immediate, suc- | cess. But il is from this spirit that {art is born, this urge which leads to the adoption of art as a profession by | those far and wide. And though ail | may not succeed, it is the part of those who stand by to wish them “Godspeed.” PO e "[HE Society of Washington Artists, | & by special invitation, is to hold an | exhibition of works by its members and other local artists at the Maryland In- stitute, Baltimore, opening February 9 to_continue through February 28. In this connection mentiod may well be made of the fact that the Baltimore | Water Color Club will hold its thirty- third annual exhibition in the Balti- | more Museum of Art, Wyman Park, from March 1 to March 30, works to be submitted February 17. | Those who visit either of these ex- | hibitions in February or in March | should keep in mind that the Walters | Gallory is open to the public on Wed- | nesdays and Saturdays from 11 am. to |4 pm. at a nominal admission fee. |And the Walters Gallery, as almost {every cne knows, is very worth seeing. It maintains a unique assemblage of | exhibits. K NNOUNCEMENT is made of two illustrated lectures on “The Mod- | | 1! den. atmosphere that it becomes interesting, | | | Britain’s “Iro (Continued From First Page) parish council. His faithful henchmen ! got out the vote and put him on the council, and a little later they put him on_the school board. He became honorary clerk to the little parish council, and he will tell you, with his wrinkled smile—which is not untouched with pride at the recol- lection of this particular achievement— that agairst strong opfmsmon he got the houses of the village numbered. Figures! Order! They are his passion. He was 32—half-way to the Snowden of Whitehall and The Hague. Snowden a Newspaper Writer. He and his mother moved. They went to a town where Philip was elect- ed to the town council. He wrote ar- ticles for the papers and reviews and pamphiets. He also made contact with the wild young pioneers of Socialism and the first labor organizers, all the { men who were seeking to direct the new { labor unions into the channel of con- scious political action which led to Parliament and a voice in the making of laws. Invaluable he was to them, the only tratned man of figures among a group of passionate rhetoricians. From the first he was the preordained first Labor chancellor of the exchequer. No one else had a chauce against the clenched and concentrated accountant he has succeeded far beyond expecta- lern Trend in Architecture, Decoration | from the weaver's cottage and the excise | office. | It was as a temperance advocate that | he first attracted national notice, There | was a great newspaper controversy and | public debate on the liquor question, | bublic opinion being stirred by the discovery that the nation was spending more on its drink than on any other ingle item in its annual national bill. | What caused these oceans of beer and | whisky to be consumed? Poverty and a bad social envirogment, declared Snow- He said that the masses of the {poor drink in order to escape and to ! forget the bitter hopelessness of thelr { | daily lives. It wes a new idea, the propertied and | comfortable classes having always be- ileved and asserted that the masses drank to excess simply becaue they were | ,born wicked and thriftless. Snowden's | announcement sounded dangerous. | entrenched in the Tory party machine i | —With its underlying menace of political | action to come. Arouses Fierce Opposition. Enowden was abused, hounded, su | jected to endless calumnies and mis- i representation. The whole Socialist | movement in which he was becoming an outstanding figure was declared to | b2 atheistic, and the men directing it |to be out to line their own pockets. | Snowden learned to take brickbats with | an Indestructible grim grin. He also | began to cherish Parllamentary ambi- | tions and to control tongue and brain; but he never lost an underlying fierce- ness of temper, and his dasger of a tongue was always ready to whip out of | | its sheath at a challenge, a breath of { anch supporter opposition. His mother was his s in those days. He ved with her, talked to her, was inspired by her. A sturdy old lady. She saw her son, now !a well known Jocal politician, journalist d and Soclalist lecturer, made chairman WHOSE WORK I5 NOW ON HE SMITHSONIAN: and the marble wings.” He was espe- cially interested and rendered valuabl service in the standardization of the United States flag undertaken by th Department of Commerce during his term of office, with the co-operation of the Departments of War and of the Navy. He strove, with the Bureau of | Standards, to obtain fast colors and| S0 comprehensive a collection of Mr.| Decoration,” will be given by Prof. Jean | His It is interesting and helpful to see { { tion. His etchings are Included todny |and Garden Design,” with special ref- o |in some of the leading collections not | erence to domestic work, to be given | <|only of this country but abroad. l\wcrk is known to all collectors and is | held in- high esteem. here under distinguished patronage by | professors of the Gambridge School, ‘ Harvard University. The first, on “The Modern Trend in Architecture and better colors than had been used hereto- | Moore'’s_etchings as are now on view | Jacques Haffner February 6; the sec- s Se of these |in the Smithsonian. PR it e e e ot thest | neludad i this exhibition vital quality which would cause it to|MAls end a few o'her subjects. | He was alwavs an ardent | 80imals that he has portrayed have | take place at the Mayflower Hotel at | carry further. Thirty prints are irds, ani- ‘The | ond, on “Modern Trend in Garden De- sign,” by Prof. Fletcher Steele Feb- | ruary 13. These dectures will both supporter of the plan of 1901. “Quite | been studied at the Zoo, but they are |4:30 o'clock in the afiernoon, unassertive and unassuming, at the interpreted as wild life, not as in cap- | same time firm, full of knowledge. and actuated by the feeling of an artist, Mr. | Mowbray’s usefulness,” says Mr. Moore, | bare branches of which a family of | W. Donn, j “as & member of the commission was of the very greatest.” * ko % T would be difficult to find works by two cotemporary artists more differ- ent in style and character than the paintings by Mrs. Hawthorne and Miss Hollerith now on exhibition at the Arts | I8 suggestive of the environment of | Club. | Marion C. Hawthorne of New York | and Provincetown, the wife of Charles | W. Hawthorne, on of our leading Amer- | ican painters, ‘uses for her paintings in | ofis whst might be described as a water | color technique—comparat! thin color, broad strokes, loose treatment. On tivity. entitled Very delightful is an etching “The Family Tree” to the are his coons cling. Excellent also, | studies of red fox, and greatly admired | Luqu-r, | by his fellow etchers is a decorative Wyeth, | study | His of “White Pelicans After a Bath. Great Blue Herons” is an admir- able interpretation, not only interesting in line but full of subtle feeling, feci- the herons' nesting places in the great Scuthern swamps. After all, one does not have to go far afield for subjects. If one has gift the best are found close at hand. * r % % ODNEY THOMSON is a Californian by birth, but has in recent years Among tures are a number of local architects, Frederick Brooke, Ward Brown, Edward Charles Elot, 2d; Wil- liam Harris, municipal architect; Lynch Victor Mindeleff and Nathan | _The fee for admicsion will be $3, or $5 for the two. Ticke’s may be had from Miss Anne Butler, 1229 Nineteenth street. | * * Kk K ANT\'OL' 'CEMENT has been made by the division of fine arts, Library of Congress, of an exhibition of photo- | eraphic studies by Frances Benjamin Johnston of this eity, which collectively | constitute a pictorial survey of the ar- the other hand, Miss Hollerith employs | taken up his residence in New York, | chitecture and gardens of old Fred- to & great extent the technique invented by the Prench impressionists of short | strokes, pure_color, broken surfaces, a | technique which suggests embroidery | rather than painting. But the French impressionists used almost entirely color in a hizh key, and the purpose of their litt!» dots and dashes was to recapture the jllusion of light. atmosphere. Miss Hollerith's palette is low in tone, her color in many instances dark, and the effect is by no means luminous, but it is ri~h and tone- ful. For her flower and still life pieces it is extremely satls For_ sub- | Honfleur,” “Tunnv Boats. Concarneau” and “Rue Notre Dame du Chamus” it serves well enough. But for portraits it is far from | 2. Art is, of course, not !mitation. But | there is & charm in surface textures | beautifully rendered which cannot be | ) . Just as a beautifu! piece of | fur or the exquisite sof ness of a pie of silk inevitably tempts the fingers, | 50 surfaces of paint can invite touch. | or repulse it. Obviously, there are great | works of art which lack the interest | and charm of surface finish, but these works are great not because of this lack but in spite of it. Por instance, some of Renoir’s paintings, some of the paint- of Cezanne; notably. as in th» lic eye today, the paintings of Van th. is the first exhibition that Miss Hollerith has held here. and it is an interesting and admirable introduction. ‘Whether one likes Miss Hollerith’s style or not, none who is discerning could fail to in her works not only evidence partly, perhaps. because N the big publishing center, and Mr. Thomson is primarily an_illustrator. Most interesting of all Mr. Thomson's w York is { etchings included in this exhibition are | reference to th these of Pumas,” Tion Pum: the the e¢at femily—“Hunting “Pelis Conenlor,” ountain and Doe ™ “Sultar “Head of " and_“Temple of the Jungl lost showing two gr tg stret d out before the temnle door. Of all, th and the head are perhzps the best. supremely good. sensitively renderad, sufficiently i but not ovirstated. The s'eekncss the creatures of the cat tribe he pe | fectly presents. either in tense atten tion or complete relaxation, but always the cat. Verv charming are Mr. Thomson's"in- terpretations cf Wn such, for in- stance. 2s “Wint Sunset”—subtle, sincere, indicative of a sympathetic and poetic attitude toward nature_on the mart of rthe etcher. “Bronx River un Winter,” both plates 1 and 2, are haps more vigcrous, but not so riti or so_complete. Giving per- cent ings preduced as Christm2s cards, cne representing on a plum puddix in art which ki ihe artist bridges many difficult streams, * o ox o |P AINTINGS by Mrs. J. C. Backus will anather week. Mrs. Backus It is the laugh! find ft.” but deliberate purpose. Her - are not the result of haphaz- struction. With “Sultana” | explicit, | i I'ghtness of tcuch’ to this Propriete nate of gavetv, kg e jolly itz | deed. from start to finish, an ideal ert- it h-althy and for | Gents of the Abhott §+hon), M be on view at the Yorke Gallery for as only been painting for three years and has achieved the results she shows without special in- this knowledge one | the eye. | ericksburg. old Falmouth and other | nearby Virginia places, commissioned by | Mrs. Daxiel B. Devore of Chatham and | exhibited thro: her courtesy. Further It exhibit will be made later, IT I" 2em NN fitting that mention should de in this column of the ex- istry displayed in both deco- d pictorial effects produced in connection with the Bal Boheme, held s Club of Wa-hington last rd Hotel decorations, planned by-Mr. Inde and cvecuted by students of the Abbott ‘Fu'-_!\rul under the immediate direction of Miss Abbott, were unigue. modern in eoirit end extremely beautiful, in keep- ing with their purnose and most pleas- |Ing in effect. The “Pageant of the Americ planned by a special com- | mittee of the Arts Club and earriad out | tmder the dirnct supervizion of Mrs. john Otto Johnson, wes a distinctly ertistis nerformonee, end through both dezorations and pageant ran an ap- This was in- | | ists' revel. pnd frem the ‘standpoint of 5y caroler dancing 3Tt A Moteble achievement. b { | o nre Tnde. Mic: Abbot. the stu- | spinion as to whe her Snowden should | . John- w"»!:x and her collaborators, great credit | 15 due, Make Ours Rose-Colored. | Prom the Tcire Haute Star. l Styles in spectacles have been an- nounced for Spring, but individualism will still be permitted in,the color of . i those sponsoring these lec- | | of the young independent labor party. | She saw him three years later, now 42 and a year married, returned to Parlia- ment by the electorate of a big cotton town of the north. She was past 80 when she sat in the gallery of the House of Commons and floor of the House. She died in her ninety-second year, two years before Fhilip became ‘a privy councillor and “Right Honorable,” first Labor chancel- lor of the Exchequer and a great man in_the land. Her voice, however, survives; Moor- {man, a famous Yorkshive dialect poet, was 5o struck by the old lady's perso ality and characteristic Yorkshire dia- lect that he got hor to make a record, and this wax disk is now preserved for 1;][ud\-nls of language to hear centuries | hence. Good Wishes Sent in Dialect. Snowden himself, talking today with a north coun'ry burr, has not forgotten | the dialect he learned at his mother's knee. When an old friend of his, Ben | Turner, a veteran trade union leader | and minister of mines in the present government, was having a stiff fight in the election of 1924. Snowden sent him good wishes in this bit of dialect verse: Tha'rt a bit of a poet thi'sel, Ben. | | | Just to wish thi' luck and to say ha’ much I want thee to win this time, For tha’ been tried and tested I' Parlia- ment, And tha's proved a reight good chap; As were not in Luxury's lap. We want noa taxes on food, lad, Nor on clothes nor shoes nor light; Tha’s & beiter plan ner that, Ben, For keeping t' home fires bright. { Soa Aw hoap at Batley and Morley { _An’ Ossctt an’ all the rest, we'll stick to Ben and re‘urn him, For he's one of our very best. Snowden lived with his mother unul he marrled, at the age of 41. His wife has been his comrade and aide since he became a national politician. She wards off unnecessary callers, fills his cigarette case, puts flowers on his little desk, decides his menus—he is a frugal eater—discusses his important corre- spondence and problems, carries his sec- ond stick ang lends him her arm and plays the nurse by day and night. Sh has a strong mind, a firm mouth, | watchful eye, & ready tongue and a keen awarcness of her husband's position in the party. Wife Settles Controversy. ‘When there was some difference of | occupy No. 11 Downing Strect, the of- ficlal residence of the chancellor of the cx('heguer at the time of the first Mac- donald ministry, or another cabinet minister should occupy the house so as to be in close touch with the big chief in No. 10, Mrs. Snowden told reporters in no uncertain tone that her husband was the correct tenant for No. 11 and that no one else was going into resi- dence there. And that was that. heard her son make a speech from the | Soa Aw think Aw'l send thi & rhyme, | Tha's allus spokken and voated for them | BY BENSON B. MOORE. THE ARTIST 1S NOW EXHIBITING HIS WORK AT THE SMITHSONIAN n Chancellor” She has paid tribute to her husband’s domestic character. “In the home he is the most considerate of husbands. . . . He lives frugally, although he is no fad- dist. He is sweetness itself, and patience personified. . . . His one fault is de- votion to work. . Ifell in love with Philip when I his smile. Snowden has indeed a very sweet and tender smile when his heart is touched. But his heart never is touched by the perplexities of political opponents nor the difficulties of his own colleagues. It has been said that if Ramsay Mac- donald were to go—and there have been many intrigues against him in the past —Snowden would succeed him as leader of the party. But that is improbable, because although he is in some respects the most powerful man in the party, he is far from being the most poj and the capacity for charming and win ning men not been included in his make-up. He is an intellectualist, with all the tastes and foibles, strengths and weak- nesses of the type. He does not like the hurly-burly of mass meetings, nor is he skilled in the maneuvers necessary to keep a political pack in line and in good temper. His is not and never has been the soft answer that turneth away wrath. His tongue has rasped as many in his own camp as in the enemy'’s. ‘Would “Soak” the Millionaires. He would like to soak the millionaires in order to ease the tax burden on the hard-pressed bourgeoisie. But he has nothing save scorn for the wild ideas of the reds and pinks for nationalizing the banks and imposing a capital levy, nor will he yield an inch to the self- expressed desires of some of his emo- tional colleagues for a little injection of inflation in order to ease the unem- ployment problem. He was not always thus. He has made pronouncements in the past which would have caused a shudder to run through the city had they been made just before a Labor government came into office. But he has evolved. He has met great financiers and men of business on intimate terms, and he | grasps the intricacies of economic sys- tem which keeps 45,000,000 human | beings fed, housed and amused in their arious ys on the island. He has trimmed the salls of his early hining Socialist dreams to the winds f everyday realities; and when he was entertained by big business recently he made a speech which read like one of the annual addresses of the big bank chairmen, and which caused gilt-edged securities to brighten in a dull market. The financiers gratefully responded by keeping the bank rate down against the pressure of French gold withdrawals, that time Philip was fighting the Frenchmen at The Hague. He has saved money now, and made a little. He is comfortably off, with a pleasant small house in the shadow of the old abbey overlooking the river at Westminster and a pleasant little coun- fry house with a large garden not far | from his friend, Lloyd George's (Lloyd | George is a rich man) fine estate in Surrey. Wins Praise for His Courage. ‘When he was fighting on The Hague front the classes “hlc¥| had (ormfiy denounced him and all his kind went into raptures over him and praised him for his courage. But that is like saying that Tunney was brave to fight Demp- sey. Snowden had been spoiling for that fight. He likes the French no more than the old islanders liked them in Bonaparte’s day. In two words, ridiculous” and “grotesque,” he wiped out the memory of the spacious days when Austen Chamberlain, of Anglo- French naval pact fame, had looked nto the eyes of la belle France and said he loved her like a mistress (which even the French thought a little extra’ gant). He sounded the tom-toms, struck out from the shoulder, unloosed his fiercest epithets and demanded Britain's rights—or chaos, . He took his political life in his hands. It was a narrow shave. If he had mot succeeded there would not have béen wanting those to ery: “There! See what comes of letting a crude, ill-manered parochial Socialist loose’ among the Rreat statesmen of Europe. He doesn't even know how to behave. He has offended Briand, outraged Mussolini broken Stresemann’s heart and set the clock of the liquidation of the war back a decade. Kick him out!" | _But he succeeded, and nothing suc- | ceeds like success. ' His opponents at | The Hague knew they had more to lose | than to f"" by standing out against | him and letting ‘the Young plan perish, | In ing their own bacon they saved | his_as well, Retired generals drank Lis health in Die-hards wrete let- ¢lub port wine. | ters the papers saying that that is the Stuff to give the damned forelguce. He was the Saint George, waving the m{gd:lfk‘ns he rode " against_tne rying c! of the isiand Tace. .\ 't Pockets Fighting Qualities Stressed. But that was yesterday. The mil- lionaires, while paying him lip-service :"(‘rc nlw:y\.nd ‘n';n their newspaj ers, S a trifle . | Agheing uneasy. ‘Those that ruthless financial logic, applied in other fields besides of international affairs. Thi; man 1s. after all, a Socialist. He is & doctri~ naire free trader who wants to abolish all tarifls and safeguarding duties, He wants to milk the rich for the benefit of the workers and the harassed middle class. True, the Conservative- | Liberal opposition has & curb rein on | him while' the Macdonald government | l.::‘l'(elrl m-{arlty, bu;em:norrn'# & Labor nment may n power, ana | then the “Iron Chancellor” will have la v'v"fi t!;‘lndT“-nd. A ell, the millionaires pat him op the ck, and call on h!m,pp!y him lip- service at banquels and praise him in their newspapers, But they are uneasy. As for Snowden, he has hard nuts to crack in the twin problem of taxes and tariffs in the next budget, and on the way he cracks them the populari* of the Macdonald regime is going larg-- |ly to depend—that and the Labor-So- cialist party’s chance of oresentl; per suading the people of England to give it a parliamentary majority and reel power. a Le those | ‘t | | Premier Macdonald of England has received the freedom of Shefeld, Eng- l!aendr,a ?vm l; Eofl;nct l;lfiyor. C. al ardsley, wi a locomotive engineer and premier, an old friengd the ualitics, that fron inflexibility, | BY IDA GILBERT MYERS. AYDN, Bach, Beethoven, Grieg, Mozart, Wagner, and, and, and names that but a short while ago stirred no answer save in a little group here and there. Exclusive hands, these, that through arduous special training, or through the subtle enrichments of an envelop- ing culture, found deep satisfactions in the genius of these master music makers. Even here there were not a few pretenders—posturing appreciation, bowing understanding. Today by virtue of that miracle of discovery and invention, the radio, More people are coming to know these names. More of the commonalty— more of the you and me—are coming to know them, to feel the joy of a growing response to music created by genius itself. It is clear that this best in music is gradually supplanting the less than best. Even the great sym- phony—the Alpine height of composi- tion, the cathedral of pure tone—while not susceptible to any sort of analysis by the average, does stand, neverthless, as a lordly gesture to the spirit of even the least trained, and is growing in this beneficence of a general bestowing. The radio is doing this for one of the arts, at least. And with the wakened interest in music at its highest there is manifest a wakened desire to know about these makers of great rmusic. Books are emerging to meet this roused and redirected desire. Where did this one live, and when? What the habit of his early years, when he was in the making, so to’speak? What the far influence that reached into him, turn- ing him to the rhythms of the universe, fashioning him into a strong and deli- cate instrument for the recordings of far and yet intimate communings? More and more are the people reading these books. More and more are they minding the celebrations of homage that recurrently remind the world of its debt to the deepest of the arts, to one of the most primitive of the arts as well. And much of this “common school education,” as it may be called, is due to the democracy of the radio, coupled with the natural impulse of the human toward rich and varied and compensating growth. And here is a book for you: 5E e BEETHOVEN THE CREATOR. By Romain Rolland, author of “Jean Christophe.” Translated by Ernest Newman. New York: Harper & Bros. AYBE this is not your book, not yet. Maybe you need to go to school, to the radio and other newly opened avenues of information for a while before taking this one up. Yet a trial is richly worth any work you may put upon it. For writing here is a very distinguished artist, whose out- look is clear with both knowledge and vision, whose words comport with his profound spiritual simplicity. Himself deeply and widely instructed in music, Romain Rolland here presents a study of the harvest time of Betthoven's genius. He measures this period in the grand manner—“The Great Creative Epochs—From the Eroica to the Ap- passionata” It is as the musician, ex- pert in technic and unassailable in ap- praisals, that M. Rolland works here. Yet, side by side with such special and difficult artistry, the writer projects enough of the man, Beethoven, to give & communicable effect to the whole. In other words, Beethoven is not every minute the remote superman, absorbed in the music of the spheres. To give more of simplicity to a matter essen- tially intricate, M. Rolland makes use of frequent illustrations—something as ‘Walter Damrosch does in his work with listeners. A musical score is set to show its relation to the idea aimed at by its technical form. In this way one, even the unaccustomed one, comes gradually to feel the force of this par- ticular kind of language. It is, all said and done, the Creator that stands paramount here. And this is the aim of the study. to show Beethoven at his height. Fortunate for us, and for Bee- thoven, that this_expositor and inter- preter is Romain Rolland, with his cul- tural possession in music and his lofty outlook upon man’s obligation to the world in which he is placed. If you re- call, and you do, the big story of “Jean Christophe.” which is in substance the Nfe-story of a musical genius, you will realize anew M. Rolland's preoccupa- tion with his particular art and with his absorption, besides, with the true nobility of man’s life at its highest in and conduct. Much of this is for the one informed in the art itself. Much of it, on the other hand, is a series of personal illuminations upon Beethoven, sometimes from his own secret thoughts and feelings, sometimes from the intimacies of his friends. A noble contribution to a high theme by perhaps the one best qualified of all in many directions to offer to the world & competent and inspired study | of Beethoven, |‘he .Cr:wgr. THE WHITE HOUSE GANG. By Earle Looker (One of the Gang). Illustrated. New York: Fleming H. Revell Co. THE author of “The White House Gang” has accomplished two things. He has given readers of his pages an average of a good laugh a page and. whether intentionally or not, has paid to Theodore Roosevelt, the father. a | the Roosevelt children were in the White House one knew from various sources of information that there was “much doing” there, as in the case of most good-sized American families. But apparently not only not the half but not the tenth part was ever told until Mr. Looker, himself schoolmate and sidekick of Quentin, the youngest and the livest wire, came forward with this frank, yet never ill-advised, well told and highly amusing reminiscence of the days when the gang led by Quentin performed almost incredible feats of mischief, of maladventure and, 0c- casionally of derring-do. Had Quentin lived he would have chuckled most merrily of all its readers. His Force Scm:ol trx;i:‘l;d‘ the author, enkjloyedh-: reat privilege; grown-up, he ?u]lnd it, and he has shared it with his fellow countrymen. And, as said before, all through his pages runs the theme of Theodore the wise, the un- derstanding, the tolerant, the instant selzer of opportunities to make of h's | boys and his boys' friends better men and better Americans, the jolly com- panion, and when need arose the awful, implacable, jove-like referee, judge and even executioner. It Is to be hoped that Mr. Looker enjoyed writing this book full as much as his public will enjoy reading it. To_ quote a entinism, “By buzzard! It's a peach.” R. M. K. * oK K K THE MIDNIGHT BELL. By Patrick Hamilton, Boston: Little, Brown & Co. ¢T'HE Midnight Bell"—an old Lon- don inn. A barmaid. A waiter. lA street wall ‘This, the scant prov- yender with which Patrick Hamilton 1sets out adventuring. hardly 'more than this is needed. A square this way or that. out from the inn ai then back again. covers the field set here. Yet all of life lies in these short outfarings and roturnings. It is youth ‘on its immemorial quest for that which 1its dreams have built. It is all here in the Midnight Bell and on the street walker’s beat roundabout it. Th's is the story of Bob,the waiter who, in thrall to | dreams and decency and untried youth, finds the reality to all these in the ma- donna look of Jenny soliciting the streets for a livelihood. No, the fine up- standing barmaid. does not answer to Bob's v She never does. She is too close, too obvious—no tantalizing about Ella, the maid. It is, m the remoter Lady of the Streets splendid and a deserved tribute. When | that binds the heart of Bob. And so he sets out on man’'s besetment, that of the rescue of beauty distress. Here are but three figures. Each done in three or four sharp hines. But with these the etcher bites deep into life, bringing out in clear relief the sub- stance of human existence in pretty much all that counts about it—upon this plane at any rate. The zest of this performance is electric in effect. Its simplicity an amazement. Its richness of tone and color embraces realities that lie far beyond the walter and the bar- maid and the street walker. Even so, the local savors of the time and place are complete and true—and distur] r‘:‘s“ Patrick Hamilton has a notably fi | approach to the business of writing. His portraits are of his own hand. His speech is of his own tongue, There are no borrowings, no beggings here. Stirred by this unusual manner, excited by it, some of the readers call this a deeply humorous matter. It is a deep matter, no doubt about that, but it is of such tragic content and import that to read it is a blend of sorrow at the bottom and of delighted surprise over the origi- nality and vigor of the u%per layers of this sad comedy of youth hunting down its visions and dreams. Poor Bob! Yet —with all three here is a sheer perfec- tion of artistry in the delivery of a bar- maid, a waiter and a street walker, whereby all of the human tribe may see spots and patches of itself. Great work, done in the laughter of perfect truth and similitude. * ok K X EDWIN CERIO: That Capri Air. Fore- word by Francis Brett Young. New York: Harper & Bros. EEN to Capri? To be sure—but no matter. That aneient grotto of the gods has been so rhapsodized by poet and painter on the one hand. S0 shop- ped over by touring' souvenir hounds on the other that, Capri to be seized in any measure of adequacy must be taken as “a state of mind. here comes a p of wa ers through the domain of letters and are as well as in the flelds of solid earth who claim to deliver to us the only authentic, reliable, sufficing Capri that there is. To make good their promise they introduce “the man of Capri” Edwin Cerio, who, so it appears, let soul out to pasture in Capri. There the beauties of the spot together with its soldier gifts of soil and plant and scented blossoms, and these touched with the essence of legend and myth and song—all became the transcendent thing, “That Capri Air." This distila- tion through the being of Edwin Cerio, “man of Capri,”” becomes here a series of translations from Cerio himself by one and another person—each indubita- bly alive and responsiblé for his acts. Doubt has been thrown against these. It is a work of pure imagination—a fantasy, a play time for a troupe of wandering pagans. All right. The dis- pute serves to rouse curiosity at any rate, an effort greatly to be desired in the purveying of goods of any sort. That is something else. As for this, it is deliclous—just that—a thing to taste, to move upon the tongue for the sub- tlest of its flavors. If we become dis- trustful of so much of undilute pleasure we may read here: “Every word of this remarkable book is true. Each one of these fantastic figures that makes his gesture on Cerio's canvas has existed in the flesh or (wavering a bit) if not in the flesh at least in the spirit. Never mind. Tn either case, or in both, here is something to delight in for its sheer uninhibited artistry. Get into it with- out any dubleties and doubts. * k% ok BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION. By A. A. Milne, author of “Not That It Matters,” etc. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. A A. MILNE is in command of leisure * —at least that is the effect of him—kindliness, understanding, a whim- sical way with him, a fine touch with th2 innumerable little thin; t, all, serve to deliver any subject alive and on top of the ground. It is with |these marks of himself that he here talks about writers and artists, about the dram: nd stagecraft, love a | marriage, a “group of silver birches, | about almost anything, or almost noth- |ing at all. But it doesn't matter. Milne |is Milne, however b'g or however little his theme may be. There is one law to guide him in his estimate of the work of wrltt:m—x;lo- m';‘tm what :,:e theme, no matter what the presen ing it or the methommmz this, an |author inevitably and unvaryingly livers himself. What he is and what he thinks, what the shape of his mind, what his attitude toward life—it is this |that gets first place upon the printed page. So, too, don't you think? This is the Milne foundation upon which he builds often and well in the undertsand- ing and appreciation of readers. In this book, so packed with the author's sense and genial manner, there is one essay—are these “essays?"—that pleases me most of all. “Children’s Books.” It seems so simple and so obvious that, of all writing, this branch should never be “written down” to an assumed lower level for children. He is right—simple words. This is his single concession. Let the story iun big and free, right from the mind of the great artists. Don't dilute it to its ruination for these most divin'ng and understanding of the human tribe. At this point he gives an example of the common way of “writ- ing for children.” It sounds like a gross and farcical exaggeration, but it is not. I've ssen it done by teachers, scores of them, working themselves down to the children. A" grotesque performance were it not much worse than that. However, the children themselves take care of th's, for they are surpassing critics whose cool aloofness sets the |stamp on such proceedings. I've gone oft on my own here, but it is Milne's own,” too—and I'm proud of my com- pany. We mustn't believe him at one point. though—that he is through writ- ing about Christopher Robin and his friends. That would not do at all. IR MURDER YET TO COME. By Isabel Briggs Myers. New York: Prederick A. Stokes Co. “ A CORKING mystery yarn.” “Much better than the average of these. So the readers say. A {' 500 prige awarded to it appears to give good sup- port to the judgment of such readers. If you chance to b2 of the sapper tribe you will fall to digging in at once for the “how-cum?" of this effect. In terms of the houscholder this writer is a “bountiful provider” of ma- terfal. Listen—Wicked old Malachi Trent in gloomy Cairnstone House. An- other servant of the devil, shrewder, deadlier. A girl, persecuted to the edge of insanity. " A ruby stolen from the Temple of Kali. Ram Singh in pursuit of it, bitter toward such sacrilege. Pol- soned arrows. A female servant of the witch-woman type. What do you think of that as bare material! Don't see any trouble for this writer. For, steppin into 1t she moves about fn a manner fine management, streteh) the line of action, assigning each to part in following it, indicating the points where the stress of action is to mount and then ually to fall away into the end of Whole matter. An admirable sense of sequence and order holds the auther to a simplicity of effect that can hardly be imagined such a lavish supply working material. A distinet advantage to this sense of plot is the wholly be- livable quality of the characters them- selves. The three detectives, profes- sional and amateur, are pleasingly free from the over-sleuthiness of the a of these. It is at this point that excess is 1-ost frequent and most weakening. But 1ot here. Indeed, over and above the cx~llence of the work is the manh fest composure and competency of the -uthzl:lr herself, & sort of em-nntk;: "t.l:: supplies a tonic atmosphere ‘wholz. she can turn this o e Romain Rolland Writes a New Volume on “Beethoven the Creator” —“The White House Gang” in the Roosevelt Administration —New Novels. trick. That is obvious. And she does. Not, of course, that she expected very first try at novel-making to gather in the prize. But to make fair way through the business in hand, of that she was clearly confident. Or so it looks here. A Washington girl of whom we are all rather proud. No doubt at all about the pride of her parents in this truly creditable send-off into fiction. P, I forgot to say that the “Mur~ der yet to come” did not eventuate. A ;!:'l:!ng instead, which is better, some T. BOOKS RECEIVED BEATING THE STOCK MARKET. By R. W. McNeel. New York: Duf- field & Co. GERMAN DICTION IN SINGING. By Eva Wilcke. Translated from the German by Arthur Edward Smith, M. D. Revised -and Edited by Bainbridge Crist. Illustrated. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. THE HUMS OF POOH. Lyrics by Pooh. Music by H. Fraser-Simson, Introduction and notes by A. A. Milne. Decorations by E. H. Shep- ard. Additional lyric by Eeyore. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. PINWHEEL PUZZLES. By Abraham g. Sakier. New York: The Century 0. PRIVATE LETTERS; Pagan _and Christian; an_Anthology of Greek and Roman Private Letters From the Pifth Century Before Christ to the Fifth Century of Our Era. Selecte¢ by Dorothy Brooke. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. MUSIC IN THE STREET, By Vera Caspary, author of “White Girl."” New York: Sears Publishing Co. A HUNGRY YOUNG LADY. By Marian Spitzer, New York: Horace Liveright. THE SCARLET CHARM: a Romance of Alaska. By A. Warren West. With an introduction by Capt. Argyle McTavish. _ Tllustrated by Willard Vaughn. Boston: Chapple Publishing Co. THE QUINTESSENCE OF NATHAN- ISM. By Viadimar Kozlenko. New York: Vrest Orton. THE FOREIGNER IN THE FAMILY. By Wilfred Benson, New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co. LIFE ISN'T SO BAD. By May Edgin- ton, Philadelphia: The Penn Pub- lishing Co. ‘THE CANON OF LOST WATERS. By Hoffman Birney. Philadelphia: The Penn Publishing Co. PARTY GOVERNMENT UNITED STATES. By Davis. ~ Princeton: Princef versity Press. THE SOUTH ' AMERICAN HAND- lon. lon : ade Publications, Ltd. HERE'S FOR A GOOD TIME: a Col- lection of Parties for Holidays and All Kinds of Miscellaneous Social IN THE John W. ton Uni- THE ETERNAL PMHJMA(S!. By Rose - Marie . Los Angeles: Austin Publishing Co. APHRODITE; and other sonnets. By Alexander Hynd-Lindsay, author of “Sonnets,” etc. Published by the author. “MANNA-HATIN"; the s of New é’oork. New York: _m:p fi-nhnun RHYI;H)flb INFINITY: a Philosophic Hypothesis. By John E. Dakin. New * York: Walter ilelle. it HONEYMOON FOR THREE. By Gwendolyn Ross_ Mandell. New ;{::I: : Authors & Publishers’ Corpo~ i . AFTER lg;’l’lfl POEMS. By Paul 8. Bliss. St. Louis: Privately printed. s foreward, edited ang panyished o an; Herman Behr, New Yo?g City. o SEE AND; HEAR. By Will H. Hi President Motion P{ctuu Pfod\lb‘!’l’ll. and Distributors of America, Inc. ‘A Brief History of Motion Pictures and the Development of Sound, THE WEST VIRGINIA ENCYCLOPE- 5 ar] g Publishing Cc.u g PUBLIC LIBRARY Recent a to the Public Li- :l;:lry ::d u:u‘ox nlmmzrlxded rudll;ll pear in H column every Royal Biography. argaret. Great. F47Pr-G57. onh-m,oggepmn. Peter the Great, P544- G. My Uncle, King Lewis, . B, W, King vis, D. B. W, ng_Spider;: Some Aspects of Louls X! = nm:‘_w& ul I of France, less, M. T. O. C-W. furstin, von, Daisy, Princess of Pless, by Herself. Poxalnn. utales, Guy de, comte. The Mad King; Ludwig II, £ -;u.lg:‘.'u King of Bavaria, Redlich, Josef. Emperor Fr. -Cook, Elsie, Royal - beths. E-9T396. ’ Civilization. Adams, J. T. Our Business Ci - tion. G83Ad 18 Gy 3 Borsodi, Ralph. This Ugly Civilization. Romier, Lucien. Who Will Be Master, P g X T . . “The Drift of Civilization. FE-Sa26. Health Education. Allen, F. M Diabetes and Its Treat- ment. QFY-Al 53, Cobb, W. F. Values and Methods in Health Education. QH-C636. Gordon, R. G. The Neurotic Persons ality. 1927, QFN-G653n. Lewis, F. P What Every One Shouid Know About Eyes. QU-L58. Millar, Ronald, and Free, E. E. Sun- o8 and ne-vx;: 1. borne, O. T at Every One Ought 5 to KEe\':., QH-Os 12w, Pierce, 8. W., pseud., and J. T, pseud. The Layman Looks at Doctors. QFN-P61. Stoloff, C. I. _Your Teeth. QV-Sté5y. mOl 8. Your Eyes and Their re. . TR T Yorke Gallery Exhibition of Paintings by J. C. BACKUS II 2000 S Street | | January 27th to February 8th