Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-23


aspect of the political development of the
United States which is hardly to be classed
as historic 1t is the life story of a state
boss, a man Of power. man without con
science. crude IA his views and keen in his
vision strong wiiled. silent, determined.
Jethro Bass rose in the political world by
the mortgage route. He was "a natural
aCquirer OF wealth, and he preferred his
wealth in that form. which bound other
men to his service. body and soul. He
owned his town, at first, then his neigh
borhood. and next his county. and finally
81 was JethTo Bass who sat in state at the
capital and gave his understandings by
hints and suggestiOuS-tO the legislators and
officials and henchmen. Drawn in part
from life, this portrait OF JethrG Bass is
convincing 1t is Interesting IN every de-
tail. Jethru's human side is that which
first appears. in his fTutleSs love for Gym
thia Ware. the minister's daughter. Gym
thia loved this crude, uulettcred son Of the
village tanner. To her shame she con-
fessed the fact. but she did not give herself
To him. She went off to Boston to teach,
and there lu time married a cOnsumptive
writer. But she died first and left little
girl, with whom the widower finally moves
up into the mountains where Jcthro Bass
las his home. There begins the story in
chief, and il traces a second love affair
which grips the readers heart. Jethro's
moral awakening, through his love, his
yielding to defeat when tue railroads he
has for SO long held in his grip take adj
vantage Of his lassitude and smite him hip
and thigh and his final mighty awakening
for the sake OF the child of the woman he
once loved, the tale OF these happenings
Mr. Churchill tells dramatically and feel
ingly.
In Jethro Bass Mr.. Churchill has created
a character that will live long in the world
OF fiction. He dominates the story. even
as he dominated his state. Coniston is
indeed the biography Of a man who stands
as the tyne Of the state boss, such as
throve Justify a few decades ago. and such
n
quaint types. In our American common
wealths. There are no more JethrO Bases,
hut there are bosses Of worse character,
without the elements that endear them 10
the readers Of their records
sIRoCCO; a Novel BY Kenneth Brown.
New York: Mitchell KennerIey.
The wise reader Of this stirring story Will
not ask where Sirocco Is for the knowledge
Is unnecessary. Somewhere IN Africa, near
the desert out of easy reach by the long
arm Of the European powers. tucked away
behind the date palms The Sultan Of Sirocco
Is an Butocrat a tygant. cruel. vlndictive.
From high window IN the thick wall of his
palace drops "a note that falls at the rect
OF an American trader, young active, ven
turesoue. with a shrewd knowledge Of Az
ric0n ways in general and Sroccan ways IN
particular. This note is from an English
girl who is held captive in the su.tans
harem. Young Mr.. Duncan proceeds 10 get
her out. Before he succeeds ne msses
death many times. narrowly horribly. lie
IS forced 90 DO "a little killing. lie matches
his wits against the craftiest men IN Siroc-
co, including the sultan. But ne gets The
girl out and puts her aboard a steamer,
and there the story ends. And the most
striking part OF II all is that the girl about
whom this pother occurs does not once APP
pear 81 the 1geS OF the story in her own
person. Yet the tale is romance II is
as tyr0unical iD compelling the interest as
the sultan OF Sirocco himself in requiring
obedience
SURGEONS Illus ALIVE ANEC-
DOTES. Selected and Classified by
Rev. Louis Albert Banks DID. author
OF Anecdotes and Morals" &c New
York; Funk * Wagnalls Company.
Or. Sturgeon was a believer IN the argu-
nentative. illustrative and convincing force
OF the anecdOte as a vehicle for moral
truth and his sermons and addresses were
always beautifully sprinkled with them.
lending vitality to his discourse and keep
ing his hearers alert. DR. Banks has
gathered these illustrative stories from
all available sources and has arranged
them in groups according TO their teach
ings. He offers them as winged arrows
OF the gospel"
THE NEW EARTH, Recital OF the Tri-
umphs or Modern Agriculture IN Amer
lea BY w. S. HARDWOOD author OF
New Creations In Plant Life" Illus
trated New York: The Macmillan
Company. Washington: Brentano's
"Dust-blown and blizzard-swept. with q
lean, weed grown soil on which scrawny
kline and stunted crops were raised. the
old earth was far from paradise. The
cherries. desolate home. often untidy and
usually cursed with food unfit 10 eat. the
sver-growing mountain Of debt. the dead
enIng isolation, the lack OF opportunity for
cultivation. the steadily growing dislike
of II all. not infrequently deepening into
hate--these were the things OF the oio
Earth The New Earth Is rising out OF the
old-a fine, sane resurrection BROAD
acres well kept and well stocked; spieh-
didly equipped buildings; modern nome
with it's good cheer. its books, its music,
its culture; q close touch with progress; q