The Washington herald., 1913-08-31
By A. ID. JACOBSON.

THE SEINE FROM HAvRE TO PARIS: By 81
Edward Thorpe. Illustrated and with maps
The Macmillan Company. New York.
How rarely do English tourists betai:
themselves TO the unrivaled waterway
OF France, whose chemine qui marchent
as Michelet called them, constitute il
greatest physical feature.
l have jOurned by steamer from Lyon!
to AvignOn, from Angars 10 Nantes
from Nantes to st. Nazaire, from La
Rochelle to the Isle de Re, from St
Malo to Dinan, to say nothing of short
excursions on the Endre, the Garonne
and other rivers, without once encounter.
ing a tourist. And today it is less likely
than ever that American tourists viii
forsake the motor and follow the au.
thOr's example.
Sir Edward Thorp is no impressionist
on the 'oOl-CUt for lovely scenes and na.
tural effects He Is a scientific traveller
and ris opening chapters, dealing with
the lydIUgTaphy of the Seine and with
the Seine as waterway, are the result
Of close study. as well as of accurate
observation. We are given the river his
tory frozl the tiny sources in West Cen
trail France until after a serpentine
course of 40 miles, $50 of them navigabIe.
it ends near Havre.
One regrets, perhaps, that the author
did not describe the rise of the noble
river, third of Frances greatest water
ways. drive through the Val Suzon 10
st. Seine / Abbaye, visiting the source,
Is as delightful as any excursion in Bu--
Sundy. In an hour lou have left Dion
behind, with its new barracks, drying
grounds. and market gardens. You reach
tile head of a lovely valley within a val
ley. where lawny terraces and goId-green
dingles gradually unfold to view. Some
thing of alpine ruggedness is seen fr,r-
ther Oh, rocky parapets showing grapdi-
uSe forms larch and pine-Iifting tbeir
crests against the sky and mountain
streams stumbling horizontally down
shelving crags and verdant hillsides.
II may be news to some readers that
Paris is the second port of France. its
tonnage being the mean between the ton
mage OF Marseilles and Havre. But busiest
are the Quays of Bercy. st. Martin
Mazas, and the rest. each being reserved
for special freights. Thus only wine
reaches the first-named, wood the second
charcoal the third. Apples are unIoaded
on the quay Of La Greve. These various
little ports AFFORD amusing scenes as,
seated On the boulevard, one watches
what is going on '..-.." -
Having mastered the history of the
river, all that nature Goes for it, and all
that human ingenuity has effected for
the utilization Of its forces, we follow the
author from Havrer to Paris, hating at
many picturesque, Quaint towns before
reaching Rouen. where the maritime
Seine ends but not the least delightful
stages Of the cruise begin.
At the "ity OF Jeanne dare the yachts
man enters the inland waterways of
France, and becomes subject to the spe-
cial regulations regarding them, none of
them being very irksome.
MURDER AT ANY DECREE; AND OTHER
STORIES: By Owen johnson. illustrated. New
York-The Century Company. t~-f
This collection Of short stories makes a
1iverting book Of fiction. Several of the
tales are even rollicking. The moral
of the first one, Bohemian story in
very smart setting. is stated as follows:
'on the contrary" said Dummy. every
artist should marry. The only danger is
that he may marry happily"
"A Comedy for Wives teaches aban-
doned husbands to consider first and
shoot after"
A hilarious skit is MY wife's Wedding
Present" In which a much-embarrassed