Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-01-17
BOOK REVIEWS.
On THE: SEABOARD.

Room etc. Translated from the
swedish by Elizabeth Clarke Wes-
,.rgren. Cincinnati: Stewart & Kidd
company.
- K time out of mind the old
East Skerries"-a group of
- rocky islets of the Baltic off the
coast of Sweden-was the great
fishing port of this neighborhood.
Here in immense numbers. the strornling
were found, IL fish that constituted the
winter food of middle Sweden as the her
ring did of Norway. The stromlinS was
money. too, as well as food. Wages were
paid with the salt fish and bargains were
carried through upon this currency. In
time the fishing of East Skerres became
AN eager speculation. The fishing nets
crew steadily finer and the spawning sea-
son no longer gave sanctuary to the fish.
Finally. the dimlnution of the stromlins
attracted the notice of government and
a trained man of science was sent to East
Skerries to investigate the causes and to
apply the remedy to the situation OF East
Skerries. Strindbergs story begins with
the introduction of Commissioner Borg to
the islands. clothed with the powers of
government and armed with the argu-
ments of scientific knowledge. The lonely
ishermen-ignorant, supersttious and
iiercely opposed to any outside interior
ence with their affairs-make Just the
bristling background of hostility that
Strindberg himself saw and felt so con-
Stautly at every turn and in every stage
oi his own tumultuous career. For Borg,
the hero of this adventure, is no more
than one of the multitudinous men that
struggled one with another in the person.
.tlity of August Strindberg. Borg is the
.trniS he iS
with sense of his superiority to the rude
folks about him. and he takes a childish
and naive pleasure in the exercise of his
brief authority. At last, and chiefly
through the stresses and inadequacies of
.Hs own ndividualism, this arrant egoist
i overthrown. consumed by himself. The
book is compound of the keen and I'M
si.aring self-anals sis that sets Str1nd-
borg above all other writer's in this par
trElar 1t is instinct, from start to mn
ish with the true Strindberg distrust.
suspicion. violence and spiritual chaos. 1t
is darkly beautiful with amazing pictures
of this gloomy, sullen coast. and fascl-
mating in its descriptions of the sea
depths and its philosophic musings upon
The. life there struggling surfaceward in
AN evolution toward the land environment
that so many countless forms of life have
ALREADY ac hieved. This novel, published
i'll 1890 under the title AT the Edge of the
Sea" is pronounced by one critic to De
Inc only WOTh OIL III TIC doiisSHi "
Nietzschean morals yet written which IS
destined to endure
WONDERFUL ESCAPES BY AMERI-
CANS. Arranged and edited by Will
liam Stone Booth. Boston. Houghton
Mitflin Company
At the age when youth must have its
heroes, this is one of the best possible
hooks. For those, too who have reach !,
FL :; less colorful period it is stirring |
and reviving collection of tales. From |
many scattered sources Mr.. Booth has
brought together here group of stories
each of which eliminates in remark |
able escape from some extreme and i'm |
niineut danger The personal qualities |
brought out in these accounts-the cool |
Ii,ss courage, quick-thinking, the prompt |
and efficient action-make them, one ana
all. stand as beacon Lights of American
bravery. an admirable supplement to the
study of American history. The heroes
of these adventures range from colonial
days to the present. Indians, wars, hre,
food, tornado and hazardous explora-
tons build the perils from which these |
wonderful deliverances are made. Here |
are miraculous escapes from the In
dams, stories of spies and prisoners In |
the revolution and civil war periods, the !
peri,ous journey of a pair of slaves 10 |
Canada by way of the underground |
railroad" the personal account of the
sole survivor of a sh pwreck. the rescue |
of Il family from the Johnstown Hood OF
another from a forest fire in the north |
west and of another from Missouri
tornado Partly because the risk taken
was who ly voluntary and partly be-
cause of the character of the results OBJ
tanned one of the most notable of these
adventures is that of the exploration OF
,he Colorado river and the shooting OF
the Grand Canyon by John wesley |
Pow ell former head of the United States
eeolog cal survey. 1t is certainly, pc
as. one of the most exciting and IN
sting The whole gives fresh out |
upon man, and as ii happenes in |
r. case upon the American man. in
eiods OF impending and urgent danger !
NEW BRoOMS. BY Robert j. shores. |
indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill
Company.
over many names as wandering
fancy has gathered themes, this engaging
essayist writes. i'll a succession of heart |
Jn-heart moods, to 1.-THE editor of the
Ider- The table of contents exhibits |
butterfly vagrancy of flight and poise-a
dIffusc. od-fashioncd page, reminiscent
of times when each day spun long and
loose around the relative leisure of its
events. Under the gay and whimsical
titles that nod al one so socially here,
}evy of timely topics. CARRIED in great
good sense, good heart and sober intent. |
look laughingiy out at the reader. BAR
discourse in the role of a philosophical
COOK. '.Fortunatus Freeman con-
!rmed bachelor. talAs sapiently upon the
subject of woman. In this vein, society
at large in one and another of its in
terests and occupations, Earades in joy
uus masquerade through these pages. Mr..
Shore has most agreeable humor. rs
Chesterton Man Alive2" is a delicious
illustration of il. a tidbit for Chesterton
readers. The whole. in its droll gayety.
its light touch, its exquisitely limpid use
OF word, its odors of lavender, goes back
10 the essays OF a hundred years ago, re-
yving them in all of those qualities that
served to establish the essay as one of
the most intimate and pleasing means of
bringing writer's and readers together in
friendly and felicitous fashion.
THE STORY OF AN OUTING. BY A
Barton Hepburn. Illustrations from
photogra phs. New York: Harper &
Bros.
The general spirit and drift of this lit
tie hunGred-page volume go to show that
II there could only have been more kill
ings there would also have been more