Evening star., 1909-04-17
COLLEGES. BY Clarence F. Birds
eve author of '1ndividual Train
;p~ in nur CoIIaCaS New York:

To know OF abuses and to show how
they may be corrected is work worthy
of any. man who loves his fellow-man.
The author has done this work with such
a singleness of purpose to better the
conditions of college life that his efforts
should be of vital interest to all men
and women who do the worlds thinking
In his presentation of the moral and
mental drawbacks Of our current school
system, Mr.. Birdseye evnces a thorough
familiarity with existing conditions. 10
rectify these prevalent abuses he sug-
gests that our institutions of learning
should be reorganiZed upon substantially
the lines with which we are conversant
i'm business and corporate affairs and his
book is intended to lift such institutions
Ito the plane of the best with which
We are familiar in the business world, for
otter college ideals and results fall far
below the best business practice and re-
suits. -
He points out that the first form of our
college Was taken almost entirely from
Englishs Schools and colleges, not uni
ver4{ies. and that our present form OF
lniJersity-college has been largely Affect
Ell By the EGermanic ideals. 1t Is possi-
bic that a radical reorganization may
he our opportunity to give our higher
education new anD strictly american
form and content"
In closing his really important book.
which, incidentally, is the first OF Its
kind in the field, the author sums up
suggestions under three heads: First-If
our college education is to be distinctly
nationalizeds and to be primarily for the
training of problem solvers and thinkers
in citizenship and clean manhood, 1t lol-
lows that the institution which fully de-
veIops sthis new ideal may be entitled to
direct national or state aid. Second-lf
the colleges are to reorganize their COM
munity life upon true business principles
they will call for and get the aid of their
best business alumni and of high grade
of non-coliege business men-to under
take a new work I'm preparing their un-
dergraduates for business and the pro
fessfans. Third" But If the institutions
of higher learning are to reorganize their
college homes they will call for and surely
havel the cordial cooperation of the par
ents of the land, who now too often look
askance at course in college. Ana
who shall say that the aid. financial and
otherwise, of the parents will not be
the greatest Of all? The state. the COM
munity and the home-these three; but
the greatest of these is the home.
WITH THE NIGHT MAIL; Story of
2OOO A.D.l (Together with Extracts
from the Contemporary Magazine in
which it appeared. BY Rudyard
Kipling. Illustrated in Color by
Frank X. Leyendecker and H. Reu
terdahl. New York: Doubleday,
Page & Co.
RudyArd kipling is "a master hand at
the invention of new vernacular In all
that pertains to mechanism he is never
at a loss to coin phrases and words
which exactly meet the needs of his
narration. In this short tale of aerial
navigation in the year 20OO which is
one of the most convincing peeps into
the future that has been essayed by
fiction writers. he, produces what is vir-
lon y.sa nro. ha a
of air mastery in days OF almost COM
plete emancipation from the restric.
tions of surface travel. The story OF.
the passage from Icndons to QueHec in.
twelve hours is in Itself eh4Artaining
and suggestive, but even more 30 are
the appendices in which Mr.. Kipling
creates most successfully an atmos-
phere of actual achievement. He gives
a bulletin of the aerial board of con-
troll noting changes in lights, casual
ties, penalties, ETC., and follows this
with correspondence, notes, a book re-
view and .even advertising, all peril
nent to the period. of universal naviga-
tion of the air q century hence. Moth
ing has heretofore appeared which so
dramatically undertakes the possjbili-
ties Of the future with regard to the
conquest of the atmosphere.
THE MAN IN LOWER TEN. BY
Mary Roberts Rinehart, author of
The Circular Staircase" Indian
apolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company.
When a man leaves Pittsburg as
passenger in lower nine berth<in the Pull
man and awakens to find himself in lower
seven without any knowledge of how he
made the change. and when he discovers
later that in lower ten. which he was
originally booked to occupy, a man lies
dead murdered in his sleep, it is plain
that there is something doing in the way
of mystery. That is what happened to
Lawrence Blakeley. but it is only the be-
ginning of series of experiences cal
mental balance. For following closely
upon the heels of the discovery of the
murder comes a rear-end collision that
throws him almost literally into the arms
soon y suspect against his will of a too
intimate knowledge of the crime in lower
ten. Mr.. Blakeley's adventures carry
him and his friends through complexity
of happenings that would be confusing
were it not for the authors clever crafts
manship in rendering vivid every stage
of the narrative. AS is proper in the case
of detective story, there are false clues
that lead to anti-climaxes. and there is
the omnipresent amateur detective with
his naive methods OF sleuthing. The story
is largely located in Washington, but not
convincingly so. 1t would for some be
interesting to know where dwelling of
the pretentious character of Dallas home
could be so located in this city as to
overlook the Mall However, this is only
a slight defect, which does not in the
least mar the vivid reality of this stirring
story.
THROUGH WELSH DOORWAYS. By
'1f Jeannette Marks. With illustrations
by Anna Whelan Belts. Boston
Houghton, Miff1in Company
These stories, sketchy in outline, have
for their central interest some touch of
the human nature that makes the worl.I
.;kin. The Merry Merry Cuckoo for
an Instance. appeals because Of the pa
thetic humor of the old wife who mi
tates bird call to crafty the longing
Of her dying husband. "Mors Tri-
umphanSr tells of the rivalry Of two
ancient women to which shall die
ahead of the other and so attain the
honor of a first ride in the new town
hearse.
Each story has it's own bit of fun and
wilderness. with just enough dialect tn
remind the reader that he is look ing
Through Welsh Doorways."
NEW IDEALS IN HEALING. BY Ray
Stannard Baker. author of Our New
Prosperity" etc. With twelve full
page illustrations from photo
graphs New York: Frederick a.
Stokes Company.
This little book of which portions have
appeared in magazine form, is divided
into two parts. Healing the Sick in the
Churches and THE New Mission of the