Evening star., 1917-09-09

That they are just like the rest OF US
save for the influence of motors and
movies. and crowds and hustle and
hustle and worry-is that which gives
the book its delight To read it is like
going away back into ones self to sit
down there in the quiet for a good
restful time
UNDERSTOOD BETSY. BY Dorothy
Garfield, author of The Bent
Twig." etc Illustrations by Ada c,
Williamson. New York: Henry
Holt & Co.
Betsy is as real and alive as a little
girl can be. so she is bound to be
beloved compa Mon of other girls, who
like to read about themselves and other
folks like them. If Betsy had been left
with the lady aunt who. out of the best
of Intentions. tried to make a weak
ling of her. her story would not have
been worth much. Luckily a good pro-
vidence sent her up to Vermont farm.
where some other relatives-uncles and
aunts-had the gift of common sense
all ready to apply to the case of Betsy.
1t is Betsy's everyday on the farm
with these inspired friends that makes
up this delightful story OF healthy and
happy little sirlhood. Fathers and
mothers might take many a lesson out
of the book. at odd times when the
real readers of it have run off some
where to play II is not meant, though.
to teach the grown folks. Its intent is
TO let lot of other girls get acquaint-
ed with Betsy.
VICTOR CHAPMAN's LETTERS FROM
FRANCE. With memoir by John
Jay Chapman. New York: The
Macmillan Company.
When the war broke out Victor Chap
man was studying architecture in
Paris. Joining the French Foreign
Legion at once, he was, year later,
transferred to the Aviation Corps. He
went to the front as pilot in the Ameri-
can flying squadron. The letters of this
volume corer the period of his full
service-from early in 1914 till a few
days before his death at Nerdun in
1916. These are intimate letters to his
home folks, letters in which not only
the experience of the great days find
place. but in which, too. there are many
gimpses of the real feelings and
thoughts of the boy taking part in the
war with such daring and dauntless-
ness. 1t is these fieeting views OF him
self and of the others around him. of
what they think as they hurry from
post to post of danger that gives these
letters a value, beyond that even OF
their appreciable personal worth. The
memoir by Mr.. Chapmans father gives
interesting facts in the life OF his son.
and sets the strain of Latin tenpera-
nent that accounts in part for the
dramatic and artistic drifts and tend
encies of the boy. Through these letters
one is reminded again: painfully, OF the
toll of talent and genius that the war
is taking from among the young men
of the whole world.
THE MARGIN OF HAPPINESS: The
Reward of Thrift. BY Theta Quay
Franks. author of Efficiency in the
Household etc. New York: C. p.
Putnam's Sons
This admirable and useful study is
designed primarily as textbook on
the subject of household efficiency. 1t
possesses. however. the appeal of per-
sonality and interest-qua lties that do
not commonly belong to the average
run of text books. The chapters here
are based upon lectures on cooking and
a general business mana cement of the
household. To these topics the writer
handling. and an immediacy of applica-
tion that turns the administering of
the household into one of tho exciting
business adventures of the day. Mrs.
Franks boldly discusses marriage as a
business partnership, in defiance of the
sentimentalists. who. in trying to make
1t religion, have turned II pretty com
pletely into the domain of pure skepti-
cism. In this business view she sets
out plainly square deal for wives.
complementing this with "a square deal
for husbands" Then follows a most
instructive chapter on the art of spend
ing money. in whose elaboration the
writer makes a practical program OF
actually spending money. using the
budget plan as the basis for this, Just
as advanced governments use the
budget plan for the adjustment of rev.
enues and expenditures. In its balance
of fundamental theory and practical
usage the book is one of a thousand.
THE MASTERY OF NERVOUSNESS,
Based Upon Self Re-education. By
Robert S. Carroll, NJ. D. New York:
The Macmillan Company.
If one were to take this book in time
he would not become the victim Of sick
nerves. In the clearest of statements