Evening Star Newspaper, June 10, 1931, Page 4

LITERARY ADVANCE SEEN BY MENCKEN Half-Baked Writing Reduced by Hard Times, Believes Editor and Critic. The chances of an American lit- erary prodigy appearing tcmorrow are much better than they were last year, in the opinion of H. L. Mencken, editor and eritic, who believes that the depression has made it harder for the beginner to market his wares, thus discouraging half-baked work and encouragit young writers to learn their b: ness. Mencken’s article is one of a series on “What's Going on in the ‘World Today.” BY H. L. MENCKEN. (Copyright, 1931, by The Assoclated Press.) BALTIMORE, June 10 (#).—At the moment there is a sort of hiatus in American letters. A great deal of workmanlike and interesting stuff is being written, but there is a dearth ©of new and arresting authors. Certatnly no careful critic would allege that any of the novices of the last few years is as important as Dreiser and Norris were in 1900, or Miss. Cather and zlndsny in- 1913, or Frost and Hergesheimer in . 1914, or Masters and Cabell in 1915, or Sand- ?:rgmiél 1915, ar Sherwood Anderson The years at the end of the century ‘were very fruitful ones, and so_ were those which straddled the war. There was a stinfulating and ‘even thrilling air of experiment and innovation. Nov- eltles of great interest were gfimfln up on all sides and new authors o extraordinary originality were nu- merous. But today we have only a general competence. Hopeful of Future. ‘Why there should be such rises and falls in literary productivity I don’t know, and neither does any one else. ‘There are, of course, plenty of theories. One to the effect that the best writing is always done during times of peace and plenty; another is that it is done when blood is on the. moon. I could cite many other such doublets, each member extinguishing the other. All that can be said with any surety is that progress in letters, like any other kind of evolution, tends to go in waves. For 10 years past no lit- erary debutante of any real impcrtance has appeared in the United States, but I know plenty of youngsters of large promise, and next month or next year one of them may turn out to be o new Dreiser. My suspicion s that the chances of such a prodigy appearing tomorrow will be much better than they were last year. That is because we have just passed out of an era of wild over- production in the publishing business. From the end of the depression of 1921 to the beginning of the present one, the publishers of the country were so eager to print books that they took almost everything that fell into their hands, As a result, it was fatally easy for mewcomers to get into print, and many of them did so before they were ripe. Perhaps some potentially good ones were thus ruined—I don’t know—but it is surely possible. Today it is very much harder for a beginner to market his wares. XN Cnficay Emes. 1 like to believe (or, at all events, to pe) that the fact will discourage half-baked work, and -encourage many youngsters to really learn their busi- ness. Hergesheimer wrote and rewrote for seven years before he published his first book. If it had been snapped up by a publisher in its first form, there ‘would have been no Hergesheimer. ‘The mulug.llguy of magazines, and es- 1 >clally of ones, nas also worked a t good work. The wood-pulp fic- tion magazines need so much ccpy that they snap up almost anything that is literate, and in consequence they en- courage shabby writing. Similarly the cheap magazines of huge circulation, with their lavish honoraria, incite all the youn§ authors to write what is safe and lovely—and trashy. The market for really serious stuff is curiously lim- ited. Save from the so-called quality ‘magazines, of which there are only four, and one or two of the mcre ambitious women's magazines, there is no demand for it. If a new Henry James appeared suddenly tomorrow he would have trouble placing his manuscripts. But the present depressicn is punish- ing the pulp magazines very severely and not a few of them are dying. Nor is it dealing gently with tne cheap maga- zines of large citculation. The more ambitious monthlies seem to be weath- ering the storm rather better. Perhaps they will have risen in mmportance, and maybe also in number, by the time it is over. At all events, there is some ground for hoping so. One Atlantic monthly, though its circulation nas never gone beyond 150,000, has outlasted a thou- sand true affidavits and stupendous stores. NS Bird lovers and raisers of game birds recognize the common English sparrow as one of the greatest of menaces. ‘While it is not a killer it drives away desirable birds by its noise and quarrel- | someness. THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 1931 Young Farmers Plan Annual Meet This year's congress will be held P Holland, Va., second vice president; W. ington, and Henry Groseclose cf Blacksburg, Va., treasurer. at Kansas City next November. Among those who will attend are the Executive Committee members who have been in session here. are, seated, left to right: Malcolm Wilkins of Troy, Pa., student secretary; Leslie Pry of Louisiana, Mo., presi- dent, and William Showalter of Mishawaka, Ind., third vice president. Standing, left to right: Joe Henry Gardiner of H. Lane, national adviser, both of Wash- —BStar A. Ross, executive secretary, and Dr. C. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF FUTURE FARMERS OF AMERICA HERE. LANS for the 1931 congress of the Future Farmers of America, the national organization of boys enrclled in voca- tional agricultural courses in the United States, were laid here last week by the group’s Executive Committee. ‘They taff Photo. CHIOCHARTOKILL TS FRST WOMAN Mother, 23, of Boy, 7, Asks Elsctrocution in Slaying. Man Also Doomed. By the Associated Press. JEFFERSON, Ohio, June 10.—Mrs. Jillia Maude Lowther, 23-year-old do- | mestic and mother of a boy of 7, today awaited sentence that will order the electrocution of a woman in Ohio for the first time. A jury of 12 men yesterday convicted her of first-degree murder for the slay- ing of Mrs. Clara Smith, 28 years old, of Ashtabula, wife of the man with whom she carried on a 10-day romance. By falling to recommend mercy, the jury made the death senience manda- tory under Ohio law. Tilby Smith, 27-year-oid husband of the slain woman, also is under a death sentence. Mrs. Lowther on the wit- ness stand confessed lying in wait on a lonely road ncar Ashtabula the night of May 29, 1930. As Smith drove his ‘wife to the appointed place in his truck, Mrs. Lowther stepped from concealment and fired the fatal shot. Mrs. Smith died with one of her two small children in her arms. Attorneys for the defendant pleaded for mercy on the ground that Mrs. Lowther was blinded by love of Smith. The woman had testified they wanted “to go away together.” . Mrs, Lowther paled, but heard the death verdict stoically. She had asserted she would prefer the electric chair to life imprisonment. The defense an- nounced a motion for a new trial would be filed today. Violin Like Human Ear. A German musical instrument maker has built & violin on the principle of the human ear. It s altogether differ- ent in appearance from the usual in- strument, but it is claimed that its tone is a _great jmprovement. Glasses Fitted Eyes Examined DR. CLAUDE S. 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C. “Character and Earning Power Are the Basis of Credit” “Blankets I Can Bank On”’ ST I ) SO you send us. This that your blankets can bank on” just Single Blankets. .. P I W PR O O 0 Home Laundry's @ DoUBLE (HecK, 4 Protects Your Blankets The Double Check System protects your Blankets, the same as it protects everything dual supervision means will be made spotlessly " clean, they will be soft and fluffy, fresh and sweet as a clover-field. For Blankets “you Call Atlantic 2400 30c Let the Home Laundry Route Man call for. your Blankets just once, and yow'll never want to be without our service. Double. Blankets. .. 60c GREEN ASKS WORK INU.S. BE DIVIDED A. F. of L. Proposes Split-up and Guarantee of Jobs to End pepresslon. By the Assoclated Press. NEW BRUNSWICK, N. J.,, June 10— A splitting-up of employment to de- crease joblessness, coupled with a guarantee of continuing work, was named last night by Willlam Green as an initial step for ending the business depression. » The president of the American Fed- eration cf Labor told the unemploy- ment and economic conference of Rutgers University that with this step, and a speeding of public construction, improvement in the industrial situation ought to be quite noticeable within a reasonable length of time. “The millions cf people who suffer want,” Green said, “constitute indus- try’s best market. That market is at home, at our very door.” Would Release Buying Power. He contended a release of the buy- ing power of millions who have been held back by fear of losing their jobs, and of additional millions who could be given assurance even of part-time jobs, would be “dramatic in its con- sequences and powerful in its results. “First of all,” he said, “those who are employed shculd be given assur- ance that their services would not be | dispensed with. A public work policy could be formulated and announced, through - which those now employed could be guaranteed a share of all work available. ““This would mean that, instead of dis- charging workers, managements should arrange the ber of hours worked per day so as to | give cach worker now employed an | equal share of all wcrk available, Asks Work Distribution. “The announcement of this policy should be supplemented by a further announcement that as rapidly as pos- TO week and the num- |. sible those who are idle would be re- employed. “Such a public work policy might in- volve the adjustment of working time and the atoption and execution of plans that would bring about an equitable di- vision of the limited amount of em- ployment which existing market con- ditions afford.” ‘The 1abor chief said the demand for wage reductions during the present de- pression had not been as vociferous as in former periods, but that nevertheless some had recommended reduced wages as a remedy for unemployment. 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