Evening star., 1919-05-11


BY Isaac F. Marcosson. author OF
The Business of War etc. Illus
trated from photographs. New
York: John Lane Company.
TINE operations of campaign and
battle have no place In this
particular outlook upon the
war. 1t Is the prodigious busi-
ness of war-its Industrial aspect-be-
fore which Mr.. Marcosson here takes
his competent and illuminating stand.
This business is included in the serv-
ice Of supply, a service which. broad
ly. covers the collection and distribu-
tion of war material. This material
ranges all the way from shoes for
man and mount to the equipment for
the battle line itself, and then back
again to the salvage of what Is le1t
of animate and inanimate STUN: Mr.:
Marcosson calls this business sioe OF
the war Americas miracle In france.
And it is the prodigious quality OF the
achievement that steps out here In
such clear lines of systematic plan
and in such an amazing sum OF &C
complishment.
A clean-cut order of exposition
makes a seizure of this miracle pos
sible to the onlooker. where. other-
y,
hopeless confusion. Mr.. Marcosson
describes that branch Of the busl-
ness whose duty 1t is to gather IN
formation from all quarters In re.
spect to supplies to be needeo AZ
one point and another. in order tha'
no moments of delay may intervene.
He sets out also the work of another
branch in co-ordinating the widely
separated lines Of demand and sup
ply. And. again., he gives succlncl
account Of the actual administering
Of this business-of linking up the
food. clothing. munitions, rescue ana
repair. He sketches in boldly the
cities that this miracle has built,
the enormous plants that 1T has IN
stalled. the roads that 1t has con-
structed. the harborage that it has
created. And to the personnel of TINS
vast enterprise he pays high tribute
for it's competency, its indefaueable
effort, it's heroism. Energy of treat
ment and enthusiasm Of spirit mark
this admirable summary. Short driv-
ing sentences, solid blocks Of infor-
nation. an outstanding attitude o
homage and glowing patriotism are
conspicuous marks Of this inspiring
study.
CIVILIZATION, 1s14-1917. By Georges
Duhamel. Translated by E. s.
Brooks. New York: The Century
Company.
A group of hospital and field
sketches, each of which silhouettes
manor. to be quite exact, piece OF
a man. Here at the right Is one with
ragged lungs. collopsing noisily.
Yonder is a torn and ebbing heart
Near by is a face with empty eye
sockets. and not far away a poor
fellow with no face at all. Legless
or armless bodies are common. Yonder
is a bundle of gangrene. a nauseous
stencil of a man. And this one is a
tide Of blood vomit. These are French
soldiers-Rabot and Cousin. Lieut.;
Dauche and Rechoussat, Ponceau and
another and another. And, oh. the
patience of them all! The brave front
and gallant bearing! AS only the
French writer is able to do. M. Duha-
mel takes the reader up and sets him
down bodily in the midst OF this
horror And around these ground-up
soldiers he pictures. also. the smooth
running multifarious machinery. of
the business of man salvage-science
applied in cunning ingenuity and
boundless enthusiasm to man-mend-
ing Then, taking one outside. he, in
an equal lucidity of portrayal, points
to the same science prodigiously and
ceaselessly busy with the full machin-
cry of destruction-guns of long
reach and wide spread and devastat-
ing impact are here; fnsidious gases
of deadly effect; curtains of devouring
flame; death. leaping from the depths
of the sea and swooping from the sky
Science on the one hand dedicated
to the business Of mutflation and mur-
der and. on the other hand. conse-
Grated to succor and rehabilitation
And this is civilization. The twentieth
century, a maniac run amuck. The
author of these amazing sketches is
a surgeon who for four years served
on an automobile ambulance at the
front More than this. he is q big
human being. a true artist. an ac-
cusing Judge. The book is one of
tremendous appeal.
PRESIDENT WILSON. BY Daniel
Halevy. Translated from the
French by Hugh Stokes. New
York: John Lane Company.
This is Frenchman's Interpretation
Of President Wilson. 1t is designed,
primarily. for the use Of French readers
in order that these may come into a bet
ter comprehension Of Mr.. Wilson, both
as representative Of the American peo-
pie and as a powerful and striking per-
sonality. Outside Of its original pur-
pose of appeal. the book turns out to be
an intensely interesting one to the
American reader. This is due, in part,
to its good organization as a study of
individual character and political pre-
possession. Due. also. in other part to
the corrective tendency of a perspective
that is heightened by distance and
cleared Of personal bias by the authors
sentimental aloofness from his theme
AS matter Of course, the body Of this
Interpretation Is based upon the foreign