Evening star., 1915-02-07

ern as Jesus Christ is modern. and like
Him In loving kindness. and simplicity,
and IN "A broad world sympathy.
a preface by Evelyn Jlnderhiii
sketches the life of kabir and gives an
outline of his work and his influence.
As one reads this translation he feels
keehiy that the genius of Tagore him
self is the best of all mediums for the
poems of this fellow mystic.
EDUCATION THROUGH PLAY. Ry
Henry :. Curtis. author OF play
and Recreation in the Open Coun-
try" etc. New York: The Macmil-
Ian Company.
The distinctive feature of this valu-
able book is that il is the outgrowth
OF practical experiment and actual eN-
perience- To be sure. there is book au-
thority here also. psychology. physiol-
! ogy and specialized Investigation. But,
happily. the book is not overloaded
with such authority, nor are its facts
smothered by il. What is set down
here is what has been done in a natu-
raj way under normal conditions, what
has been seen and tested and freed
from the superfluity of nonsense that
| is likely to attach itself to the formal
| study of children. Out OF the real
play of children Mr.. Curtis has gather
ed up and put into this book the
growth that this play is able to con-
| tribute to the bodies. and minds, and
| morals. of children. And he has.
moreover. expressed this in the lam
guage of fathers and mothers and not
exclusively IN the terms of pedagogy.
This gives The study wider useful
ness than il could otherwise acquire.
II is a comprehensive study of play
an educative force. The writer ex-
amines English and German, as we'll AZ
4 r ican m hna1S 10 rln.f[ ~
play has in their studies and recrea-
tions. In this connection he gives an
interesting account of the well known
( schools of Gary, Ind. The book incluues
a practical discussion of high school
athletics, of summer Fairgrounds, of
vacation recreations. 1t gives, besides
a well organized view of the school as
a social center. All in all, ii is al
admirable study. stamped with good
sense and an easy communicab BILE man
1 ner. on very important and funda-
mental subject Mr.. Curtis has had a
large experience in formulating and
| carrying out public recreation plans
| Therefore. what he has to say on this
subject is well worth the attentive
| consideration of those having to do
with the general welfare of children.
THE MODERN CITY AND ITS PROB
LENS. By Frederic c. Howe, Phi. D.,
fu1nor ol The etc city New sss H0gs gerS
Charles Scribner's Sons Washing
| ton: Woodward q Lothrop.
| This is fresh and lively study OF
the modern city, set in what the au-
thor considers the most urgent of its
| many problems. By way of approach
| to this subject Mr.. Howe passes in re-
view the ancient city and the medic
val The bulk of this study centers
upon the American city, though the
author makes frequent use of Euro
pean cities for the sake of comparison
and illustration, often, too. for the sake
| OF emulation. The topics here are IA
miliar. Municipal housing, municipal
Ownership of public utilities. city plan
ming. municipal home rule, the new
city charter and the old, the city as a
social agency. and so on. What one
! gets out of this very up-to-date ana
interesting study is that the city
=. should take over certain lines of city
business. He learns. too. that America
Is far behind Europe in this respect He
Is made aware that the piecemeal ana
unorganized social efforts of the aver
age American city are futile where
they are not positively harmful The
book is a suggestive and stimulating
study of a social experiment abouI
whose value authority is prey evenly
divided. Indeed. these social studies
or municipal administration alternate
In their advocacy of it and their op-
position to il, much a. the daily press
accounts OF the war publish in parallel
columns the contradictory claims OF
the Germans and the allies. This stu
atlon Is, however, nothing against the
studies, for out of the general aeita-
tion the public is getting an education.