Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-17

HIS is the history OF w illlai
Porphyry Benham, the hero
of the Research Magnif-
icent." And the adventure OF
such grandiloquent naming
turns out to be the young mans far-
faring quest of the plan, if plan there
be. that is shaping the course of the
world itself, in order that he may build
his own life and work in. harmony with
that plan A matter of large propos-
ais" as Mr.. Wells suggests. Some
where toward the close of this story
Benham says of himself. Il am prlg-
am a fanatic" And he is quite cor
rect He adds further. but l have
something clear, something better
worth going on with than any adven-
ture of personal relationship could pos
sibly be" And here, too, he may be
right. Certainly in this adventure Ben
ham sheds many personal relation
ships-his political career. profession
the hopes of his friends, wife, BABY
about all, in fact of man com ,
mon social impedimenta In place OF
these he has Travelled FAR ana Wiae. eA-
pounding endlesSiy on the way his own
theory of what the world ought to be-
He takes up and abandons. one AFTER
another. the political schemes ina
have from time to time an 'mated tHls
or that part of the world. He develops
ont of his wanderings the theory of an
aristocratic republic which differs from
existing monarchies only in the quailty
of the ruling class Democracy is an
impossibility, socialism is no more tnan
vague and nebulous notion. So. 1t
remains for-the aristocratic republic to
work out the ultimate dream of com :
plete interna tionaliSm. In the midst OF
this quest Benham is shot down in a
St Thn
is a big and spacious one with the at
mosphere of high attitudes about it In
substance it is a series of essays on a
social and political scheme of world
wide dimensions These are bound to-
eether through the personality of the
Impossible hero of the magnificent re-
search.
THE GENUS" BY Theodore Dresser,
author of Sister Carrie" etc. New
York: The Macmillan Company.
Mr. Dreisers new novel is quite Rus
sian in its tedious prolixity, 1876 pages
are required to set out here the multi
tudinous love adventures of its hero in
the fuilness of realistic. detail that this
patient and conscientious writer con-
siders to be their just due. Having
religiously followed the course of this
story from cover to cover. one finds out
that this is not at ali the proper way
to read it, since time does count even
with the most negligible of US. A far
better way is to open the book at ran
dom-now here. now there. and again
In another place. In each and every
case one finds the genius" Eugene
Villa. at a most perfervid crisis of
passionate love. Each attack is an ex-
act pattern of all the others. save that
the object of Witla's devotion changes
from Stella to Ruby, from Ruby to
Angela. from Angela to Carlotta or
Susanna. or anoher. Along near the
middle of this series. one of the girls
becomes the wife of Villa. but this for
mality hardly serves to interrupt the
procession of female loneliness that
this artistic temperament finds quite
too much to withstand AS study OF
masculine vanity and esotism, as an
ANALYSIS of the male under the urge OF
beauty hunger and love hunger. the
hook is German in its quality of
thoroughness- in its mastery OF IN
finite detail. As story. as dramatic
fiction. 1t is tediously long. loose, diff
characters below the level of personal
charm and appeal.
PALS FIRST; n Romance of Love md
Comrnd~ry. BY Francis Perry Ell
lott New York: Harper & Bros.
The delicacy of Thomas Bailey Aid
rfch's Marjorie Daw" and the dash of
Turk in the surprise that waits upon
the outcome of this captivating tale.
And, what is more. good deal of the
pure JOY of William Locke's Beloved
Nagabond" walks step by step with the
ieisured and beautiful comradery of
Pals First" In single word the
story turns out to be an idyl, an idyl
of friendship and love between two
men-one of them old and bitter with
the grief of injustice, the other one
young and gay and glad and good.
All that may properly be said about
Pals First" is, read il
IN VACATION AMERICA. BY Harri-
son Rhodes. Illustrated by How
lard Giles New York: Harper &
Bros
With European Fairgrounds for the
time being closed, it becomes neces-
sary to make a new accounting of the
recreation centers on this side of the
water. And that is just what Mr..
Rhodes has done in this well organized
and inviting book. If it is the sea that
calls to the tired and idle and restless
folks here il is spread from Maine to
Florida and strung with hundred
points of welcome. II. on the other
hand. it is the inland lakes and streams
and valleys that hold out the lure. here
they are in an amazing panorama OF
are set out in orderly name and
place and trail and the wealth of en-
tertainment that they hold. Not for
getting the wise ay-at-home. Mr..
Rhodes aids and abets him most eff
GENTLY in testing the resources of the
city summer. The book closes with
program for the winter fugitive from
care and worry, or the migratory birds
OF fashion that are on the lookout for
winter Fairgrounds. The book is as
far from any member Of the guide book
ner. an instinct for the human side of
this matter of hunting up recreation
and q real artistry of feeling can make
IT, II more than serves It's purpose, for
II one is not going anywhere at all
he is able, nevertheless, to gather
considerable sum of information and
entertainment from this survey of the
vacation places Of America.
BROWNING: How to Know Him. BY
William Lyon Phelps. NJ A, PHI. d.
I.ampson Professor of English Lit
aerature at Yale. Indianapolis: The
Bobbs-Merri Company.
II is not the obscurity of this poet.
according to william Lyon Phelps. that
shuts the commonly Intelligent reader
out from the dramatic beauty and noble
optimism of Robert Browning's poetry.
The barrier, such as it is. il made up
rather of the readers own inertia. He,
having intrenched himself behind the
traditional notion that poetry, like
music. is first and foremost q matter
of sensuous appeal. matter primarily
OF golden cadences of sound refuses
to come out from behind this barri-
cade for the entertainment of a con-