New-York tribune., 1919-06-21
What They Read

For upward of score of wears he
has been professor Of English litera-
ture at a certain Connecticut univer-
slty- lie has risen far in the arts, till
in the kindly winter of his life his
word as Shakespearian scholar is
golden; legion is the mum Der Of boyish
minds guided by his upright example.
l met him last in a trolley car
en- route to Hartford He was lost in
the glorious fantasies Of "Alice in
" onderland"
Sat opposite me in the subway quite
the best looking girl I'd seen in a
month That marvenously well-fitting
suit must have been created at Hick-
sons, the hat was undoubtedly
Tape; those slim ankles could have
worn nothing but silk She was young.
pretty, vivacipnS Was She reading
Chambers's "Moonlit Way or Nichoi-
sons Lady Larkspur"? She was-not-
She was reading thu Bible, and as l
rose l noticed that it was open at the
Psalms
Most apparently her life had never
lowered. Full forty she Was, but sad
faced indeed-thn visags Of one who
saw no greater joys ahead Prin
rather than trim, the light that lay
within her eyes WAS cool and calru-
latfng. She WAS eagerly devouring the
weekly insra11nerft of an eTe,y-so-of1en
magazine called Adventure"
Jf,,N T1O A.
tribute literature always err? Here in
the McAlpin waiting room sits a glori-
Gus blonde. A splendid young creature
Sis, but alast her get~up and makeup
bring memories Of the tin spear row.
She was reading-,ah1 VOC have guessed
it!-"Snappy Stori@st"
H. VAN e. PROsKEY.
elf you can't boost the new books
tell us about the old good books, p
writes P. B. Il finished q new edition
of Cellinl yesterday. You've read it. Of
COURSE. But how many Of your readers
know 1t Is more Interesting Incl
dentafly, instr rud-tave-tlran all the best
ssellers Written in 1882
I'm glad / Can say yes to P. BIS ~of
COURSE and low that we have printed
the contribution We feel that We have
done Our duty to Beryenutp. q fne
ronlancer who never allowed accuracy
to spoil good story. The suggestion
has been made several times that more
attention should be given to old books
by newspaper reviewers 1t is good
suggestion, but there arc difficulties.
SO much has been written about some
Of tho oldsters that little remains to be
said, particularly By u.s. It's too late
fos us to discover that Swift is more
witty than most clergynen. or that
Poo could do thing ox two with the
short story.
Book reviews. We have found, are
read only by the authors Of the books
themselves, Even the publishers send
IN slips asking the reviewer 10 cut out
what he writes about their particular
publications and mail it to them, SO
they wont have the trouble Of stopping
around all through book page to find
what they want, There is more satis-
faction, then, in writing q piece about
Don Marquis than about Lord Byron.
Marquis lives across the alley from Us
and ws feel more confident in making
aD Sar mind about his work than in
estimating the worth Of George Mere
dith~ Not only Is he more likely to
see it. but there is much greater
probability that be may say "And what
will yours be-"
Years ago vs contracted the bad
habit OF referring to ourselves in writ
ing as "us," Every now and then we
start to reform and, beginning a story
in our usual way. say 81" but after it
gets in type We always cut 1t out and
substitute plural. We feel little
better than naked when we try to hide
behind the first person singular. It's
much too slight to shield our figure.
p, B. Is mistaken in thinking that we
find difficulty IN discovering new books
which ought to be boosted. Within a
week we have read three which we
have no hesitancy in recommending to
all those who buy books as we'll as the
larger number who ought to. For sum-
mer, winter, spring or autumn reading
we suggest John Galsworthy's Saints
Progress" published by Scribner's;
Leonard Merrick's "Cynthia," pub
lished by E. p, Dutton & Co., and
"Prefaces" Of Don Marquis which
ia an Appleton book.
HEYwoop BRouN.