Evening star., 1912-11-16

of Norman history and Italian begin
1 ningS. The subject Is the Kingdom or
! Sicily founded by Norman valor and en-
terprise and craftsmanship, and brought
| to its full height of power through the
! sagacious policies of the Norman KING,
Roger of Sicily. The author spreads the
, map of southern Italy as it looked we'll
nigh d thousand years ago. when the ad-
! venturous Normans made this region
| the. prize of one of their many marauo-
| ings. A swift summary of fifty years OF
Norman rule in Sicily brings the reader
/ to n study of the life of Roger this.
through a quarter of century. shaped
and administered the Kingdom through
| revolt and crusade and conquest to a
strong constitutional government complil-
ing both. power and justice. The history
of Sicily at this period is a vital ana Sig
nificant chapter in the universal. age-od
struGsl" of the people against personal
deSpotism and toward a constitutional lh-
strument of government.
INTERPRETATION IN SONG. By
Harry Plunket Greene New York:
The Macmillan Company.
Students and singers who have already
served their apprenticeship in the body of
practices calculated to produce the auto
matically perfect singing instrument, and
who are ready to apply this instrument
to song Interpretation, will find a unit
of definitely planned instruction and rich
suggestion in Mr.. Greene's discussion of
the subject According to this author the
essen .ialS of this Interpretation go deeper
and spread further than voice quality and
the mechanics of perfect technic. These
are the sparks to set off and sustain the
grand illumination. Behind them mus.
be the singers intellectual and emotional
apprehension of the original spirit of the
song i'll its full flight, and his keen sense
of drama, his deep feeling for all the
subtle airs and atmospheres in which the
song lies bathed. and his complete
mastery of the magnetic current along
which it must flow from him into the
heart of the listener. With skill and fine
teaching art Mr.. Greene makes concrete
demons, ration of one or another of these
essentials. either in method or effect, or
when this is possible in both. Any
amount of related miscellaneous in
struction accompanies the main body of
this study. The discussion-so refresh
insly informal and friendly in manner. SO
plain and untechnical in speech, and SO
ripe in Observation-Disclosures the mere
reader as an inspired source of authori-
tative and useful information put out for
the benefit of the serious student of
singing.
THE SAVING PRIDE. BY Yvette
Prost. Translated from the French
by Frank Alvah Dearborn. Illus
trated by Joseph Cummings Chase.
New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. Wash
ington: Brentano's.
A French girl here tells her own story.
A poor girl not pretty. bit lame. Upon
it's face this looks like thin material for
any sort of appeal to readers. save that
of plain sympathy But since poor girls,
and not pretty girls. and even lame girls
along with the rich, and beautiful. and
free-stepping ones-have hearts that will
nest dreams OF happiness 1t turns out
that this little confession is not only
touching, it is beautiful and heroic as
! well. One tries to seize a examine and
name the peculiar aroma of the French
story-of the French story at it's best.
Simplicity appears to be the real clue to
its superior quality. And then delicacy,
and then grace. both Towering from just
the right measure of essential detail and
an infinite patience of painstaklng. In
bringing this story across into English
Mr.. Dearborn appears to have centered
his intent upon conserving the fuil french
fragrance of this charming story.
THE LADY DOC. BY Caroline Lock-
hart author of "Me-Smith." Illus
trations by Gayle Hoskins. Phila-
delphia: J. B. Lippincott Company.
1t is. according to our way of thinking,
much pleasanter to remember Miss Lock-
Smith, than by the one in hand. Both of
these brim with what is still accepted by
readers-though accepted with an in
creasing indulgence that begins to look
like gentle protest-as the breezy spirit of
the west Both revel in sortie, and am
bush and escapade. Both ride impossible
wild beasts by courtesy alone called
horses. Both abound in saloons and the
spirituous adventures incident thereto.
Both shoot straight and to kill. Both
swear in full and open tones. Both es-
chew polite speech and conventional COW
ering. Here the lInenesS ends Me
Smith is rough, but wholesome The
book is always smart and sometimes
clever. Smith himself is whimsical,
likable possibility as hero. The heroine
of this story. on the contrary, can be OF
no possible concern, except to Lombroso
and his confreres. Not even a free-and-
easy "out west would in actually per-
nit this character to remain at large. In
Workmanship too, in snug and coherent
building, The Lady Doc is poor sec
ond to "Me-Smith.
CITIZENS MADE AND RENiDE: an
Interpretation of the Significance and
Influence of George Junior Repub-
lies. BY William r. George ana
Lyman Beecher stowe. Boston:
Houghton Mitiiin Company.
This collaboration has been effectively