Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-30
BOOK REVIEWS.

THE OLD TOWN. by Jacob A Rlls, au-
thor of The Battle With the Slum.
etc etc. Illustrations by W. 7.
Renda. New York: The Macmillan
Company.
AUFS most American Dane man.
busy one day with spade and
trowel in his Long Island gar
den, maybe during breathing
spell between battles with the
slim, or measures for lif ing the misery
Of the .other half" heard high above MS
garden space the sound of birds In nlgh''
Some habit of their movement or Hooking
stood him up straight. his heart a-thril
and forty years younger all at once.
For, they were starlings, beloved frlehos
OF my boyhood, come across the seas a'
last after all these years, looking Tor me-
perhaps" Dropping the trowel, he 'o'h
I'D hammer and saw to make boxes ioi
them "as l used to do, while youthiui
recolections swarmed like golden nu'ter-
flies about his head and heart.
"Ah. we'll: they were the old days Oh
sweet memories, and here they nave
come back to me on the wings Oh the
black starting. Who brought nm OF iio"
he came do not know, but Siad am !.
And while / am waiting for him 10 souiiu
his message of cheer and sood VIII "t
my window. let me try ana iioid i"'e
.,hi,e tho old town we both loved, and
from which II must be that lie has come
s,raivb, Else WHY should he seek me
ont, p, So with memory cleared and fresh
cned by these sweeping wings, he builds
again the little Danish town of his birth
and boyhood. A narrow land. CROWDED
between the northern sea and the south
crn course of empire; the one-greedy'
pitiiess, monstrous-taught these hemmed-
in people daring and endurance. with
thrift and industry besides, gained while
wrinsng from the sucked-out soil the
wherewithal to live: the other-greedy and
pitiless. too-taught them a fierce love of
country and stubborn resistance to the
arms of encroachment- Narrowing from
these wider reaches of environment, he
settles at the home nest where he broods
long and lovingly. There are the narrow
streets through which the Waterman
sings OF the hours, and on either side of
them the old houses almost touching
hands across the way. Above all the
gray head Of the Domkirke lifts, "a splen-
did vision of the great things that were
A town of medieval mold. but, in the re-
collecting mind of this forty years
younger man, 1t Is the spirit of youth
that laughs along It's somber streets. The
boys and the girls-their play and their
fun are uppermost; their work. too. Then
come older neighbors and friends, told
off by name and occupation and circum-
stance; and quaint customs. rooted deep
In the traditions of sea and soil. The
book Is a charming Renaissance, famed
to life by the futter of black starling's
wing. Far deeper than its charm, how
ever, is Its value as partial accounting
for this man to whom mankind is so
deeply in debt. From the seacoast town
in Denmark to the Long Island garden is
highway, forty years long. and the
making of this most useful citizen of
New York is the day by day journey
along the road. whose beginning is here
laid out with loving. painstaking care.
well. Illustrations by Spurrier. New
York: d. Appleton Co.
somewhat tiresome tale of English
society life, English political life and
also English matrimony. Pages and
of a great thinker. his home troubles
and his political strife. Seymour Charl-
ton. the second son OF a peer. falls hei-
to his, fathers estate at the death OF
his Older brother. In, the meantime the
younger son has fallen in love- with a
young girl of common parents and the
marriage occurs after the estate has
changed hands. On account OF the
wife's personality many difficulties
arise. and through wildcat speculations
the husband loses the greater portion
of his large fortune. The wife's love
is lost. but through the husbands ILL
ness 1t is regained. At times the book
Is disgusting to the extreme. while at
others interesting incidents are related
in a dramatic way.
A WANDERER IN PARIS. BY f. V.
Lucas. With sixteen illustrations in
color by Walter Dexter and thirty
Siy of fyoy Of
New York: The Macmillan Company.
Washington: Brentano's
Although Mr.. Lucas Is turning out
books at an amazing rate. thus far his
quality has not deteriorated. The latest
from his pen is an intimate guide to the
charms of the French capital, the mere
reading Of which Is an instruction In the
history as well as the present appear
ance Of Paris. 1t is the result of twenty
years of study. 1t being evidently Mr.. Luz
cas- thought that two decades are nee
essary to enable one to become sufficient
ly familiar with the streets and stories,
the museums and traditions of Paris to
be qualified In the role of guide. This is
10 set series of directions to this, that
and another point OF interest, but a chat
~. informal. discursive array of chapters
which, by somewhat devious routes, bring
the "wanderer in Paris to those places
q
volume is virtually a history Of Paris,
though the chronological method is far
from being followed. Incidents are local
lied regardless of dates: anecdotes are
related apropos of the place. Mr. Lucas
comments on the contents of the art gal
leries with which Paris abounds enable
the reader of this work who carries il
with him to Paris to visit those places in
diligently. Mr.. Dexter's sixteen color
illustrations are admirable while the
pages contain numerous other pictures
chiefly reproductions of the best known
works of art in Paris.
At THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND
BY George Macdonald, author OF
The Princess and the Goblin" ETC.
With twelve Illustrations in Color
by Maria L. Kirk. Philadelphia: T.
B. Lippincott Company.
This new and beautifully pictured adj
tion will bring back tender memories TO
old-time boys and girls who long ago
knew and loved little Diamond and his
friend. the North Wind. Diamonds
father was coachman. who named his
son after his favorite horse. And 1t
was while the child was a tiny fellow,
sleeping in a truss of hay in the stable
loft. that the North Wind paid him her
first visit, whistling in one blowy night
through a knothole in the plank wall.
After that she came to him many times
in many shapes and in most unexpected