Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-18
WITH TIE BOOKS

woods would surely have starved and could
not be carried to camp.
Mr. Roosevelt dedlcates the volume to
John Burroughs, whom he addresses as
Dear Dom john In the letter OF dedica-
ton he expresses his appreciation of the
warfare Mr.. Burroughs has waged against
the sham nature writers-those whom you
have called the yellow journalists of the
woods " Mr.. Roosevelt agrees that 1t Is
objectionable TO write fiction and publish
1t truth.
There is wholesome outdoor atmos-
phere 10 the volume, rugged quality of
hard riding, keen enjoyment, sharp appe-
tites, sturdy endurance. The book indeed
presents the thinking man In his most en-
JuyiLble recreation, deriving pleasure from
the physical exercise, from the sport and
from the communion with nature. The au-
thor displays wide acquaintance with the
deniZens of the woods, telling of their traits
ard habits, and distinguishing between spe-
cies in scientific manner.
The final chapter of the book is an In
teresting account of the home pets at Sag
amOre Hill and the White House. The ami
NAL friends of the boys are introduced.
guinea pigs. ponies. dogs, and especially
Josiah the badger. In a chapter on will
derness Reserves the President paints
full-length portrait of John Burroughs as
seeker after knowledge and the friend of
nature. Another chapter on Books on Big
Game" discloses the Presidents large fund
of information regarding the literature OF
hunting. He Is yoracious reader or all
hooks, but he seems to linger with special
fondness over works on outdoor LIE. In
an appendix are given some letters that
have passed between Mr.. Roosevelt and
Mr. BOStock, the animal trainer, and is
literary secretary, regarding the relative
fighting spirit courage of the puma Or
cougar and the leopard or old world panther
and the jaguar The reply to the Presl-
dents inquiry on the subject was to the
effect that the puma Is a cowardly crea-
ture. In his comment on this matter Mr..
Roosevelt says:
How fortunate we should be If only
sufficient number of big-game hunters
would train themselves, as the best field
naturalists do, to habits of close and ac-
curate observation 1t is fairly astonish-
ing to see how often the professional hunt
er-not only the white man, but the In
dian-is either ignorant or utterly m sim
formed to all the habits of the game
except those which he must know n order
to kill it. This was eminently true of the
sport-loving mobiles of the middle ages.
They constantly repeated the same baseiess
fables about the very animals which they
spent their lives in hunting. Thus for in
stance CASTOR Phoebus writes much that
is sheer nonsense about the wolf; his &C
count of the wolf does not begin to COM
pare in interest and value with that of
modern French hunter and close observer,
lie Couteulx.
II wish, for example, that I could get
trustworthy information of any instance In
which the male wolf or coyote has re-
manned with his mate and Joined in the
care of the cubs. In the cases of breeding
wolves which have come to my personal
knowledge, the mother has been alone, and
no male has had anything to do with the
care Of the family. Some nature writer's,
whose writings are mere agreeable fiction,
describe the father and mother wolves s
living together and caring jointly for the
family; but they also describe this arrange
ment as existing among cougars, with
which animal, as l know, it does not obtain
at all, the male having no share whatever
in caring for the young, and not assoc at
ing with the female while she Is herself
caring for the litter. My own observations
tend to show that the same Is true of
wolves, but these observations are not nu-
merous enough for me TO be sure on this
point"
A sELF-SUPPORTING HOME. BY Kate
V. Saint Maur. Illustrated from photo
graphs. New York. The Macmillan
Company.
This is no fancy sketch, no fiction of the
farm no theory. 1t is a straightforward
account of a womans experiment in semi
suburban farming, an experiment which
succeeded and yielded a home, an income
and an unreckoned total of health and
pleasure Mrs. ST. Maur is a business wo-
man and tells her story in a businesslike
way There is no plot no sequence Of
events, save as the calendar requires no
sentimentalizng about the joys of the coun-
try. In the beginning 1t was necessity.
the need to find a place where the family
could live economically. up to that time"
says the author II was a city woman,
striving, like hundreds of others. to MAIN
tain appearances on a housekeeping allow
ance which needed coaxing over every lit
tie bump of hospitality to induce the two
ends to meet Through all the petty war
fare Of bad times, one desire, one hope,
was paramount dOuntry home where
plenty should make visitors an unalloyed
pleasure. Chance, Fate, Providence or
whatever name is preferred for the Power
which shapes our ends, led me to the pet
stock and poultry show, and there it sud-
denly occurred to me that instead Of wait
ing for the acquisition of fortune to realize
the desire, the desire might be made TO
help acquire some of the fortune"
The thing was done. The book is evil
dence, trustworthy because the facts and
figures are logical, reasonable. One uncer-
tain element in such an enterprise is INTEL
ligence and another IS grit. These assured
Mrs. St. Maur accomplished the evolution
of "self-supporting home" The book