The Washington herald., 1912-11-03
NJ A. d. JACOBSON.
THE AMERICANS IN PANAMA: BY william
scott. 1ha btatler Puhaishing Company. n

NJ A. d. JACOBSON.
THE AMERICANS IN PANAMA: By william Y
scott. Ms btsticr Publishing Company. Neu
veracity to the facts concerning the
not merely views the object which he de-
scribes but that he actually become 2
part Of the mechanism that is giving u
form. He may thus practically illumi'
nate observation with experience, and %
vivify the object of his own thought that
his attempt to present 1t to others WI
be q close approximation of the truth.
In the five months the author spent "
Panama he was more than three month";
an employe Of the Isthmian Canal Com.
NISSAN. living the routine life Of cana
employe. He discovered that. had ne
followed the usual method OF coming into
the Canal Zone on one steamer. takins
notes. and leaving on the next steamer.
he would have missed many fundamentai
facts which must be known II q trust.
worthy account of the greatest task OF
the age Is desired.
The Panama Canal is not the monu-
ment Of any one individual American nor
of any select few Americans In Senef-
ations to come the canal. like the SKY
scrapers of our cities, will be viewed az
a manifestation Of the building genius OF
the American people, just as the fy1-
mids Of Egypt are not recomemDeIea ~
much as the work of q given Rameses
as q manifestation Of the big ouidins
instinct OF the entire race. Some DAY tne
government will authorize q history OF
the canal that will give the proper prom
ineuce to the rank and file as well a. 70
the subordinate onicials. But the treat
ment here undertaken. through tns
necessity OF condemnation. toucnes Only
tNd
the broadest way.
The average American layman oesHes
an authoritative history OF the pro1eet;
but he particularly desires a nontecnhiceI
review. and one which disuneuisnes
events from Incidents, 30 that ne may
not be burdened with a mass OF oe.ai,
which makes 1t dimcult for the essehtial
facts 10 be kept in mind and at the
tongues end for immediate ana ihteii'-
gent conversation.
Central America and the islands OF the
Caribbean Sea afford a rich neio LOT MS
torical writing of the most intenseiy IN
teresting character. but one volume can
not adequately cover SO much grouno'
The scope of this book is limited to tine
Isthmus Of Panama, covering a period
of 40 wears. Only SO much OF the MIS-
tory of the isthmus under the Spanish
and during the construction OF the ran
anna Railroad and the French attempt 10
dig a canal is given as was necessary 20
lend a perspective to the work OF the
Americans.
THE LOST WORLD: BY Sir Arthur Con,n Doyle.
Illustrated George H. Doran COMPANY. Ne"
York. Price SIS.
Rider Haggard should enjoy this book
1t is much like his own Haggardish,
with a dash of Wells There is the
well-known expedition OF four men. one
of them short and strong and unbeauti-
full into a great. wild land. this time IN
South America. There Is also the 81
Rantic negro. faithful and magnificent.
though the creator of Cnslopogass woulo
never have left Zambu on the far side
of safety, but would have given US a
sla sbine combat. in which he alone would
have Stained thousands There II. more
over. any amount of stirring fighting
The Lost World" is a Joyous sphere ol
dashing and romantic adventure
Somewhere in that great unknown
land to the south Of the Amazons Is q
plateau in which the prehistoric mon.
sters which Punch" Mr.. Read. and
their imitators have made familiar to III
the pterodactyl. phororachus. toxodon
ichthyosawrus. ignanodon IA nice DO
mestic creature), and deuce knows what
else-survive and wailow.
There were also. until the agency OF
arrows and magazine rifles swept them
away. a whole colony of ape-men. the
one and original missing links. very like
Gulliver's acquaintances, the Yahoos
but still more determined and terrible
and endowed with the pleasant gift OF
easy strengling. The famous Prof.
Challenger had asserted that such sur
yival of prehistoric monsters existed, out
the pundits of science regarded him with
scorn, and those tollerent crusaders In
the cause of truth. the medical students
fessor plucked at his beard. gnashed his
moiars, and used the language that Is
strong 1t ended with the fitting ou,
and dispatch Of an expedition composed
of Prof Summerlee. a scientific rival tc
Challenger. a titled sportsman. Roston
the DIR. Watson of the story, whose name
is Malone. a journalist
Getting to the plateau was compara'
lively easy. though how Jose was goins
to return alone with Malone's first let
ter without taking one of the precious
boats cannot be comprehended by ordi
nary brains. However. after their eager
ness was whetted by the sight of the
body of a dead white man. impaled or
trees, the four adventures entered the
plateau and were there stranded. prac
tically deserted, surrounded by danger'
and terrors of all sorts, conditions. anC
sizes, which would be incredible IL W.
had not Mr. Malone's assurance to thu
contrary. What the four had to gt
through would make an adequate night
mare. The monsters and the ape-mer
kept the ball rolling. and there had tt
be a portentious amount of slaughter
before to our relief. the adventurers re-
turned to England. home. and the medi
cal student.
The book is full of impossibilities. bu
with all his cleverness-and The Los
World as story is ingeniously devised
Sir Arthur might have explained how
it is that the pterodactyic. with theil
enormous powers of fight. do not ven
ture beyond the plateau, which is. W.
are told. only the size of an average
English county. There must be som'
invisible cause of their restraint; other
wise could they resist flying?
THE DRAGON AND THE CROSS: By Ralph d
Paine. Illustrated. Charles soihnrs Sons
New York.
This stirring story of life in China will
come to Mr.. Paine's boy readers Al
how Missionary DR.. Luther Trask. ath
lete. tames the Chinese bully. WANG
Chow. and makes Of said bully a firm
friend. A way to the hearts of thu
Chinese youths is gained through the or
ganization Of a football team, with Vans
Chow as captain. In time of trouble
this football disciple counts for much
that is helpful to the besiezed or fleeing
missionaries. Jack Langworthy. the soI
of q missionary, Is one OF the heroes Of
the book. and between him and Barbars
Ellsworth. the daughter of another mis-
sionary. there is. of course, a sweet littl,
love affair.
The reader of this quick-movins stor,