Gunnison news-champion., 1917-05-25
Mr.. BRITLING SEES IT
THRU (BOOK REVIEW
tBy Agnes Walker)

Desecrated hearth stones; homes
flaming; pools of blood in the streets:
men blown to pieces, fragments of hu-
man beings; explosives, shells, refu-
gees, groans and screams; the torn-off
arms and shoulder blades of women;
Zeppelins; hate, shame, torture, ag-
ony-Oh God. the utter uselessness of
il all-WARi
From away toward the church came
the sounds Of some early work
er wheting his scythe" So H. C. Wells
strikes with the delicate touch of the
master hand, the divinely prophetic
note of peace following close upon the
magnificent chord of war-his 1916
braIn-child, "Mr. Britling Sees 1t
Through"
Mr.. Britling? Well, Mr. Direck was
surprised. Mr.. Direck himself was
American; very much after the fash
ion Of that pleasant looking person
who smiles out at you from the adver-
tisements in an American magazine
and says" "My shirt front never rucks;
lis Chesson." He had come to En-
gland to interview Mr.. Britling, dis
tlnguished literary man whose name
appeared in the Who's Who of two
continents Mr.. Direck expected to
see the mildly unhappy face, pensive
even to the dropping moustache, as
r"presented in the photographs of
Mr. Britling. In fact, Mr.. Britling
was not mild, he fairly bristled. "His
little hazel eyes came out with a'ping"
and looked at Mr.. Direck. Only the
camera could have induced him TO
brush his hair, and for the camera
alone did he reserve that expression
of submission martyrdom that Mr..
Direck knew.
Mr.. Britling lived beautifully and
comfortably, if not fashionably, with
his family in an essentially English
part of England. In the midst of
wonderful Georgian architecture,
rose gardens, terraces, old oaks, loi-
tering streams, and fower-bright
country side, the Britling household
lived happy, commonplace life, en-
thusiastic followers of the hockey
zane, and of clean, healthy enjoy
ments and pastimes. They delighted
IN the animated country-house week
end political discussions that were
carried on over the tea table under the
trees on Sunday afternoons. Then
Lady Frenshaw and Lady Homartyn
and Lawrence Carmine joined them
and they talked of Home Rule; Phil
bert; Civil War; Ulster; the Prime
Minister-and rumors of a great Eu-
ropean war.
Mr.. Britling's household was made
up of his wife, Edith, his three sons,
the young secretary, Teddy and his
wife, Lefty, pretty Cecily, Herr Helm
rich, the young German tutor, and q
number of servants. Mr.. Britling him.
self was a literary man, as have said
before, and well-temperamental. He
sought inspiration. At the time the
story opened, he was engaged in his
eighth love affair, an attractive young
widow, Mrs. Harrowdean, who had
literary tastes and appreciated his
works" He had even bought car,
which he named Gladys, and after
great mental stress and many acci-
dents, learned to manipulate it
enough to journey over to see Mrs.
Harrowdean.
Then war came, and all was
changed. Mrs. Harrowdean dropped
from his life as though she had never
entered it. At first the war was big
abstraction in Mr.. Britling's life, but
with the departure of poor Herr Helm
rich to fight for the Vaterland, and his
own beloved son Hugh's enlistment,
things became more personal to Mr..
Britling. Then came word that his
old capricious, whimsical, lovable mai
den aunt had been crushed to death
by q bomb from a Zeppelin; the Brit
lings sheltered family of Belgian
refugees; news arrived telling of the
ultimate death Of scholarly, near
sighted Herr Heinrich, after long
months of suffering on the march
from terrible fostering wound.
The great heart-breaking blow all
came with a telegram one day. Hugh
had been killed in the trenches, shot
through the head; his exquisite brain
scattered and trodden under foot of
German soldiers.
Never has a more wonderful, graph
ic composite of the great problem of
war been so created as this from the
pen Of H. G. Wells "Mr. Britling Sees
It Through" Here Germany and En-
gland are contrasted in every phase
Of the war. Their individual charac-
teristics, attitudes, the development
Of feeling toward Germany in Eng
land. If you haven't read Mr.. Brit