Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-07-18


order that he might study
.s ,,d make public record of his op-
.ervations. This large and Impressive
,..,,rna 10 the outcome of that adVeh-
,ure The distinguished Swedish eN-
-. .,d writer sets out from Berlin
upon this occasion under some'hins
,iLo rova1 escort He is. moreover III
tho finest of mental fettle for the en-
..,,,;se Like the real scientist that
he ia DIR. Hedin makes open aEo"a'
that nothing in the way OF hearsaN
w,u do for him, and that no second
hand war stories need apply to MIN LOT
credence and dissemination. Only ms
our naIr of trained eyes and his own
nracticed powers of scientific deduction
will serve in this single-minded out
fartne after the truth. And the Jour
n.y berins Relays of automopiies
whirl the war student from place 10
Mace in the company of pollte ana
attentive German officers, VINO POins
out and explain to him the as1ouhuii.
perfection and preparedness %! ~
great war machine. Scraps OF Papsi
IN the way of credentials and pass
ports and privileges are as supernuous
as they have been before. Tor sates
omen by magic, and what appears TO oS
= full retinue of old and influential
friends are forever coming forward 10
claim acquaintance and smooth tns
massage of this observer. one Is liiueii
jnnreSsed with the SuaVe urbanltS anu
buoyancy of the whole proceeding Dr.
Hedin spins through Belgium ana 70
the east of France. taking notes. ll.'
ing pictures, recording impressions. Hn1
one comes out of this reading: hilea
with the really innocuous quality OF
the great war, ard nightly pieaseu
with the jovial and kindly canarauelle
of the German soldiery. Alons tHe e
al
of the time to be walking about merely
and talking to Belgian women. or
nlaying with their children hKe
uncles." To be sure. some French anu 't
these are in nothing like the state OF
ruin that rumor has declared them 70
be And the damage done couid nave
been avoided entirely had the citizens
not fired from their houses upon the
German troops And to be sure again
some priceless structures ana nooie
works of art have been hurt-a n1tie-
But the most of this, too. was done Dy
the retreating Belgians. Right here is
a rift in the writer's stiff resolution 10
take not a word of hearsay Ana tne
rift once made, the tide OF rumor
flows In to the complete drowning
ont of the scientific spirit of investiga-
ton. An amusing example of TINS IS
given upon an occasion when the doc-
tor is forced to make desired point
By way of the post wagon. On the way
he entertains himself with imaginings
as to the nature of these letters from
German homes to their soldier folks az
the front Then the writer begins the
rnake-believe of reproducing some OF
these letters The experiment rounds TO
a full eulogy of German character and
achievement. of the German point OF
view, of German aims and ultimate am
billions. In sum. the book represents a
childishly frank attitude of pure parti-
sanship. despite the hullabaloo of i'm
partiaiity promised for 1t at the outset.
Interesting? Tremendously interesting
prepossession. And interesting, too, in
many of its descriptions and In much
Of its relatively inconsequential detail
WAR AND WORLD GOVERNMENT.
BY Frank Crane. D. D., author OF
John Lane Company.
Since THE Great Illusion" by Nor
man Angel no one has brought to-
gether such a body Of plain, hard COM
mon sense about war as Dr. Frank
Crane offers in this volume of collected
editorials on the subject. In energetic
and business-like fashion he rounds up
here the incorrect thinking, the cratic
judgments and the unsupported tradi-
lions upon which war has, from age to
age. reared and sustained itself TO the
delay and damage of civilization. Dr
Crane has the gift of telling speech
With this he reaches out and seizes
upon the reader. directing his thoughts
and shaping his convictions. Under
such tutelage it becomes as plain as
daylight that there is no actual cause
for war in any possible set of modern
international relations. Equally clear
is il that war is relic of barbarous
days, kept warm in its potential wick
edness under the brooding care of the
handful of feudal lords still left over
from the middle ages. Those who do
the fighting have no grievance The
nd hr
Crane has some very telling things to
say about those who should determine
whether or not war should be in1tlat-
ed and sustained. This writer Is not a
pure pacifist Rather is he an advocate
of intelligent and sincere measures
looking toward the federation of ma
lions, in order that the worlds con-
structive work may move forward I'M
Interrupted by these periodic lapses
back into the brute stage. From one
and another all this has been said be-
fore. But not before has II been said
with Just the biting force that DIR.
Crane puts into this plain every mans
book on the war.
z. Charles Vivian and J. f. Holder
Williams. New York: Holder &
Stoughton.
This IL a group of quite wonderful
war stories. There is one about the
trooper and one about the sergeant. one
about the guardsman and another
about the gunner. The doctor has a
story and so has the nurse. One is
called "A Pair of Clutches" and one
Queen Alexandra's Walking Stick"
And there are others. fourteen all to-
Hether. Each Is written with a Kip
ling grip on the plain soldiers way of
looking at war and with more than
Kfpiing's usual reach down into the
human heart The Gunner" il a short
story masterpiece. drawn from life
right out of a Red Cross hospital. And
these admirable stories sum to a de-
scr1ption of the way Of the Red Cross
giving in full its high aims. its COM
prehensive plan, Its business-like exc
cutfon. its general beneficence OF spirit.
No better chapter of woman's work in
the world can be found than Is here set
forth in this true account of the WON
ems part in the war. both In the field
and at homo preparing field supplies.
The profits from the sale of this book
are given over to the Times fund for
the sick and wounded, q fund divided
between the British Red Cross Society
and the Order of st. John. Red Cross
societies everywhere, and women the
this dramatic summary Of what the or
gantzation IL doing in behalf Of the
allied armies Of the war.
FIELD HOSPITAL AND FLYING COL
UMN. By violetta Thurstan. New
York: 9. p. Putnams Sons.
Violetta Thurstan 10 an English Red
Cross nursing sister. And this little
volume is a Journal of her experiences
in the field hospitals of Belgium and