Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-28

changes and the work which the world s
gold reserves must accomplish. and when
the untouched resources of the tropics
yield up their treasures they viii not long
anticipate the imperative need for the
money which they will produce
ROBERT e. LEE: The Southerner BY
Thomas Nelson Page. With Por
trait New York: Charles Scribners
Sons. Washington: Woodward &
LothrOp.
Mr. Page is we'll equipped to prepare
an appreciation of Robert +. Lee. for he
is a. southerner and has made a deep
study of tle south's foremost military
commander He considers Lee from two
points of view-as the man and as the
soIdier-portray wing his character as the
fruit of modern civilization. as Washing
tons character was of colonial Virginia
civilization. Devotion to duty was Lee
keynote from first to last. Mr.. Page m
terprets Lees noble faults as soldier.
his magnanimity, generosity and tendency
to underestimate tho power Of his adver-
sary. as the natural products of his high
ideals. and vet he views him as soldier
of the first rank. notwithstanding his
final inability to defeat Grant. The work
written with the loyalty and affection of A
Firginan. is an important estimate of the
career of one of the foremost men of this
country.
THE FORBIDDEN BOUNDARY, And
Other Stories. BY B. =. Putnam
Weale author of ''Manchu and Mus
covite.'' New York: Macmillan &,
Co Washington: Brentano's-
These eight stories of the far east
breathe the spirit of the orient and repro
duce that strange, fascinating. glamour
Gus atmosphere which travellers have felt
ever since westerners sought to penetrate
the mysteries Of the great Asiatic> CONT
nent. Mr. Weale has closely studied the
east. especially the relations of the white
and the yellow races. and in the initial
story. The Forbidden Boundary, he
treats suggestively of the problem Of in
termarriage. Drugs and the Man., the
shortest story of the collection. Is a dra-
matte picture of the degradation which
has been caused in China by opium.
THE STORY OF THE NEW ENGLAND
WHALERS. BY John r. Spears. New
York: The Macmillan Company.
Washington: Brentanos.
Talk about hunting big game! There
is no sport as dangerous as chasing the
sperm whale If one may judge from the
entertaining story Of the whalers Of New
England told by John r. Spears. who
is best known for his tales OF the sea.
tie quotes one shipmaster who says that
in the twenty-nine years in which he
commanded a ship not one of his crew
was killed or even had a limb broken
by whale. He is given as rare excep-
ton. Usually whalemen had fierce COM
bats In every cruise. A whale will leap
from the water and crunch the bow OF
a boat in his teeth. A whale will turn
when pursued. when least expected. and
kill the man with the lance then chew
the boat into kindling wood. A whale
will grasp the boat by the bow and shake
it to pieces. scattering the crew and i'm
pIements far and wide. 1t will turn.
become pursuer. turn on boat and force
the crew to flee for their lives. The abl-
ity of the fighting whales to stand pun
ishment is almost incredible. Mr.. Spears
tells of a whale that kept all the boats
of whaler busy for nine hours. 1t was
struck by five harpoons, and seven bombs
were exploded in it. yet it destroyed three
boats. Another whale wrecked two boats
that were sent after It, When the ship
came to pick up the men the whale turned
on it. striking the vessel on the bluff OF
the bow. knocking off the cutwater. The
ship trembled from stem to stern. The
whale was finally killed. after a desperate
battle OF twelve hours. Thirty-one bombs
were fired into the monster before it was
dispatched. Great sport that! President
Roosevelt should look into the whaling
business If he wants something worthy
of his proWeSS