New-York tribune., 1919-09-20

plainly awkward" and unnatural way.
And Cobb's wrong. 1t may not be the
pest way; but in this case the best
way Is cultivated art, for the landing
platform Of all public conveyances is
on the right side of the car. There
lore, facing front, the woman, in reach
ing out to support herself with the
r,ght hand (the natural gesture) grasps
tne back of the car. Convention for
oids that she car-hop as Il girl and
learn the art after the manner Of the
youthful male There are, in Cobb's
piece regarding women, none of those
flashes Of original observation which
enrich Mrs. Rinehart's article on men.
Indeed. Mary's little witticsm con-
tains more insight into the foibes of
women than Cobb's, and all come to
hght IN relation to her contact with
man. The article is q riot of fun.
principally because the author views
herself and her sex with that Some
what ironicul humor' Of which she
writes. Every paragraph Of the essay
contains some original observation
about man or woman as a human-an
intensely human being, couchcd in
terms of contagious and sympathetic
mrth. Mrs. Rinehart, unlike Cobb,
never laughs E. man or woman. but
with him or her
We should spoil half the fun of the
man or woman who goes right out and
buys a copy of "The American" if we
quoted at length; but we can't resist
dvulging the story of the man who al
most died of embarrassment upon dis
covering that in tucking his watch in
his pocket he'd also tucked his napkin.
And the contrasting story of the woman
who appeared at luncheon in Il fashion
n Otni II
ing tied around her waist a checked
gingham apron in which she had been
dusting.
The gingham aproned lady, says
Mrs. Rnchart, "merely stood up sml-
ingly, took it off and gave it to the
waiter, who. being a man, returned it
later wrapped to look as much like a
club sandwich as possblc'
There is in Mrs. Rinchart's article
much insight into the character Of. men
and women in general-light on the
subject Of women as a monogamist. on
man as a loyal friend, and incident
ally. as hoardcr of old, familiar
things.
"IIc has to be Watched" erins lovely
Mary, for fear his hair gets too long,
and sent to the tailor's now and then
for clothes. And if some one didn't
turn his pajamas into scrub rags and
silver cloths, he would go on wearing
their ragged skeletons long after flesh
had departed hence. (And what com
fortng rags Iryin Cobb's pajamas must
make)."
Then there's the but, there we go.
Ihls ore story alone is worth the cost
Of the issue. and in addition there are
articles on the road to success by men
who have found it. Ii we think "rhc
American rather iudges success in
terms of collected shekels, that's ou.
own particular irritation. There is
readable light fiction in the magazine
and Il good dog story. We are sorry
that Bruce Barton, who has real ability,
has trltled with a story so thin as
what Shall 1t Profit Man ?" Maybe,
though, ms rent got raised, too.
mere is an amazing variety of ma
terial IN "McClure's Magazine" for Oc-
tobcr. Unfortunately, however, most
of it is mediocre in content and pre-
scntntion. The fiction is so light rs to
be transparent. and is marked by
neither originality of idea nor unique
ness of character. The non-fcton ar
tlcles are better. There is an inter-
esting piece by Maurice Francis Egan
on reasons why America should reform
her diplomatic service and avoid pac-
ing men IN responsible positions mere
ly for the sake of political pull. Rob
ert a. Anderson, American airman
brought down behind the German lines,
writes entertainingly of his expert
ences. "Trudsing Along With the
Boches. Perhaps the best piece in
the magazine is John J. Leary's ar
ticle under the caption, '"IIistoric
Talks With Roosevelt" A prohibition
story, a business article on avoiding
"ruts,' verse by Thcodosia Garrison
and more Spoon River poems by Edgar
Lee Masters complete the issue.
NATALIE McCLOSKEY