Evening star., 1913-02-22

bI the New ork LOolpSlcdl N.
author Of The American Natural
History etc. New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons. Washington: Wood
ward X Lothrop.
- ~R. ITORNADAY'S remarkable
study is crowding. eager
book whore. for foo pages,
facts and figures. accusation
argument and appeal JostIe
one another TO bc heard in behalf of our
rapidly disappearing wild life. The book
in effect il an urgent alarm call. III Is
moreover an arraignmcnt of our game
laws, state 10y state, tn prove the futliity
OF open seasons and bag limits" and
other catch words of flagrantly loose and
defective enactments. 1t is. besides an
open rebuke TO the wanton public spirit
in which hunters, calling it sport, need
lessly destroy enormous quantities OF
game. and other hunters Wickedly
slaughter millions of feathered and furred
creatures for no better reason than to
bedeck women for their own peculiar line
of hunting. At this point the author
tells the tragic story of Laysan Island,
where vast colonies or sea birds We're
literally wiped out for the purpose OF fem
inine adornment a brighter touch comes
with the story of Marsh Island. bought
by Mrs. Russell Sage to be a sort of
bird sanctuary. \ plain and detailed
chapter on the economic uses of birds
adds "A practical note to reinforce the
authors appeal TO the merely humane
aspect of calling a halt on the destruc-
tion of our animal life. An enormous
amount of information is gathered into
this densely packed volume. a careful
analysis Of the full situation leads in
evitably to the issue which this author
so vigorously and with such plain dealing
hopes to avert The Illustrations alone
are of character to arouse a mission
ing zeal in behalf of the wild life of
our continent. People-parents and teach
ers-having intimately TO do with the
thoughts and feelings and attitude of
children. should fill themselves with
both the facts and spirit of this splendid
study, for after all any substantial re-
of prevention. through wiser cooper
alton OF grown folks with the oncomins
generation.
row Wilson. Phi. D.. Lift. D.. LID.
President of the United States. IL
lustrated. New York: Harper &
Brothers.
Mr. Wilson's George Washington is
history of American life as this
parallels tire life of Washington himself
In plain and easy narrative that makes
no pretense of delving into the philosophy
and psychology of history. Mr.. Wilson
sketches a broad View OF COLONIAL days In
the south. where Washington spent his
youth in the pleasant roominess OF plan
tation life. The overthrow of the French
in America the revolution and the estab-
hShment of the republic with Washington
"a its head are graphically defined and
set as the gigantic stepping stones of this
heroic and exemplary career. Issued first
in lsJ6 the volume appears at this moment
in new inaugural dress. as it We're. Re-
pictured finely Sarbed ii stands poised
for March 4, 1913. the publishers desig-
nation of the distinguished author. MAX
ing II quite clear that the circulation of
this edition is to be withheld until the
afternoon, at least of our next Inaugural
tion day.
THE MORTAL GODS; and Other Plays.
BY Olive Tilford Dargan. author of
Lords and Lovers" etc. New York:
Charles ScribnerS Sons. Washington
Brentano's.
The outside and the inside of these
plays are at such deadly odds that where
the one by itself might make a fine spec
tacle and the other. equally by itself, a
good lesson, the two together are
farcical as the gorgeous grotesquerie of a
very Frank Daniels and those of his
harlequin tribe. Mrs. Dargan here sets
a tragic stage. across which buSkin6d
heroes strut in a swirl of menacing togas,
and flourish of bodeful weapons. mean
while mouthing blank Verse i'm a more
oF less meiodious hye-metered flow OF
sound. The plays themselves-what is
really being said and done in this swaS-
gering declamatory performance can
only be described as tumble of odds
and sorts topical procession of every
social and political and economic abuse
that. for few years past. has galvanized
certain sWoonins and desperate pcriodi-
Gals into sickly. feNcrish activity. And
vet in spite of this jumbled nonsense,
there rDw and then looks out from this
tangle an image of pure beauty. a phras-
ing of honeyed words. that dip into ones
deep places. making him wish. ardcntly,
that some day some fine lyric flow from
Mrs. Dargan may come his way
WRITINGS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS;
Volume 1; I..o-I!o6. Edited by
Worthingtun Chauncey Ford. New
York The Macmillan Company.
Distinct from the voluminous memoirs
of John Quincy ADAMS published by his
son this correspondence hitherto un-
published promises to be an important
supplement to our history of the period
with which il deals. Drawn in part from
state papers and in other part from letters
to his family and friends, the bulk of the
correspondence furnishes the personal in
umate touch that the bare facts of his
tory require To render them most useful
in their effects. Living in Europe at the
time of the French revolution and Napo-
leou Mr. ADAMS eIn bodies in these letters
many important matters coming directly
under his own eye. and attaches TO these
a keen ANALYSIS Of underlying motives
and "A shrewd reading of foreign designs
and poIicics The. impressions made upon
him by one and another OF the great po-
UticaI leaders of England and other
eminent men is very interesting and
valuable part OF these VIKINGS MT
E',rd appears TO have chosen the signih-
cant substantial parts of TINS corre-
spondence-those that have meaning for
every student Of American history. The
arrangement is admirable for "A conti-
,,uitv of ones view The freedom from