Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-08-24


w 7 HO is the "taxer" pointed
M out in this heading? A
v v man. And what does he
take? Everything in sight
that is. everything Of the female
persuasion. First. he squeezes his
mother to the quality of q sucked
orange. From that youthful period on
it is other women-this one, that one.
the other one. Handsome. egotistical,
ambitious-bits Of his mercurial tenn
like scraps Of adhesive paper. fasten-
ing to some particular quality in this
woman, to some trick of appearance
in that. to some imaginary soul quail
ity in the one over yonder. Married?
To be sure. Respectable? Oh, very. A
figure of stability in this community
All Of that. Now. what Mr.. Goodman
has really done is to turn the inside
Of a man to the outside, laying out
in a perfect simplicity and consist
really goes on-given a certain brand
of human nature-under the suave
exterior Of the ordinarily manifest
life. 1t is stark realism-such as
Theodore he;.S, ,d Dresser PRODUCES %s Unlike
a sense Of drama and architecture.
Cumulative effects. clean and classic
building go along with the realism
of this production. But 1t is the real
ism itself that makes this book SO
notable. Courage has gone into the
complete exposure and fling of dar-
ing-for innumerable men will scut-
tie to cover under this Photographic
fidelity to. themselves in the lawless-
ness that a social conspiracy hun
t d5sds Of years old has IA festersd in
on the conviction that Ameri-
can literature is either some thing or
nothing. To be something it must
rest on substratum of truth-mod-
ern truth. American truth. human
truth This book is clear projec-
ton Of this truth into literature.
Something pretty wonderful.
THE BRANDING IRON. BY Katha-
rine Newlin Burt. illustrated.
Boston: Houghton Mifnin Company.
Joan Lands is the figure that catch
es and holds one here. She fills out
ones pattern Of the big primitive
woman. Within this original creature
are all the elements Of greatness. as
greatness is able to express itself. in
womankind. With fine feeling for
ntness and an exquisite artistry. Mrs.
Burt sets this girl in the austere SIM
plicity of the Northwest figure and
q settling of great nobility that sug-
gest, IN economy of line and single
ness OF erect something Of Greek
feeling and workmanship. This, in
sum. is the story of Joan Landis-of
her marriage to Pierre. Of his Jealous
rage that eliminated in e white-hot
branding iron set to the shoulder Of
the girl. OF her flight and rescue and,
subsequent to all this. Of her life in
IN ene e alien Lien conditions e Of the sophisti-
from the far west to the far east.
with its black-and-white Contrasts ~
cnaracter-Joan set of against one
OF the over-civilized specimens of the
metropolis-with the dramatic Incl
with all this. Mrs. Burt's novel might
easily have slipped into homeless
meiodfama. Instead, it stands as an
upright and robust drama of Distinct
ana appealing personality. It moves
through wide spaces. intersst;n~
away past the common attraction of
the novels that appear dav nv den T.,
industrious solicitation.
THE PASSIONATE Prrcpr,r
Samuel Merwin, author Of .n.n,S
peramental Henry" etc, IIlusfrat.
Cd by Stockton Milford. Indiansn-
OILS: The Bobbs-MerrilI Company
A sequence in the Henry catp.r,v
series. this At this reading. Henry
e e. with all his genius UPON him.
launched by chance into the world
OF big business. And a very activ.
ana dramatic world. indeed. doe.
Mr. Merwin make Of it. A corrunt
municipal management forms the
sroundwork OF the matter. From the
on the corner, all IL web Of w;cIpp
eaness. Corporations and city coun-
ell are hand-fn-glove for sheer and
complete robbery. The press IA IN
sneir pay; The pulpit is scared out
OF lts righteousness. into this orgy
with this move the reader begins to
nave 2 doubt here and there. OF
municipal wrongdoing he has heen
tAusnt oy every muckraker Of the
past twenty years. So he reads this
pars OF the story with sense Of
acceptance of the various modes ~
brfgandage on the one hand. and Of
covering 1t up on the other. that a
long list OF reformers has opened nm
to him. And he knows Henry, too
ina thsnks 70 MI. Merwin: And he likes
AAAPA 0CtiCAl Dreamer.
But-when It comes to putting Henry
ana the gang together for the pur-
pose OF a David-and-Goliath encoun.
ter.then, one SHES of a bit. No
not In the reading. for it is all col,
orlul and entertaining stun. One
goes right through 1t in hearty SIM.
port OF the young David. It is when
ne gets away from the real presence
OF Henry that he begins to Doubt
Henry wouldn't have done this. He
couldn't have done that Neyertheless
II Is an entertaining invention IL n
Goes strain ones acceptance in spots
a great deal better than the av-
sraee.this story-oh. q great deal
THE LAND OF TOMORROW. ~.
William b. Stephenson. ir. Illus.
trated. New York: George n M.
ran Company.
A barren land Of towering noun
tains and vast glaciers-our seoera-
phies used to call 1t. and more than
likely they have not yet got past this
mode Of designation. Stewards. ice
box" scornful politicians named it
when. through negotiations of that
statesman II was added to the United
states. But, this Is another kind of
story, this all-around description Of
Alaska at the hands of>a warmly an
thusiastic champion Of this our last
frontier land. The book fs a notably
well balanced