New-York tribune., 1919-07-25
Books
By Heywood Broun

~ y
kicked in the head by mule .na
thereafter believed everything he read i,
the Sunday newspapers We are nor !,
position to pity the young man because We
make it practice to accept all the nuh.
fishers announcements. Being suspicior.
involves too much hard work When p booi,
comes in labelled "by Barbellion" We d.
not stop to seek internal evidence that n.
real author is H. G. Wells Since Swimmer
ton and Wells have both asserted recen+,r
that "The Journal of a Disappointed Man.
(Doran) was not literary hoax, suspicion
seems to have been unfair as we'll .s
laborious
We find it much more difficult to believe
that Daisy Ashford's "The Young yisitersp
(Doran) is actually the work of nine
yoar-old child, but Barrie seems to be snon-
sor for the authenticity of the book, and WA
are not going to let difficulty stand in tbs
way of belief. If the book were avowedlv
an imitation of the style of child writer. Wa
should say that parts of it were overdone
| Certainly, it presents an amazing combins.
tion of naivete and sophstication. Perhaps
this is not unusual in certain precociou,
children. Daisy Ashford's head seems "a
have been crammed with tags which shs
must have absorbed from passing conversa-
tions and from books we'll beyond her Years.
The Young Nisters" is decidedly amusing.
but it is difficult to determine whether its
various telling devices for mirth are wholly
unconscious or deliberately planned. If the
first, the book is an amazing literary accj-
dent, and if the second, young Miss Ashford
possesses a subtle sense of humor almost
unknown in children. There is, for in
stance, the scene in which Mr.. Salteena has
his first experience with a valet. The lack
of quotation marks to indicate direct dis
course are Miss Ashford's:
"Then he opened door saying This il
the bath room shall turn on hot or sold
Il don't mind said Mr.. Salteena feeling
very hot and ignorant.
ut is best afor you to decide sir said
Procurio firmly.
"Wel 1 will try cold said Mr. salteena
feeling it was more manly to say that"
Now, that does not sound like a child's
method of thought. MANLY" is not word
that little girls or boys use, but, of course,
it is entirely possible that it stuck in the
back Of Miss Ashford's head when used by
some grown-up in calling boy "a manly
little fellow" And here it has popped out
into the story at precisely the right mo-
ment.
There is great deal about bathtubs in
"The Young Visiters," and this we have no
difficulty in accepting as the authentic re-
action of child's mind Heaven knows, the
word "bath" is one which few children can
forget. There is, then, a fine note of revolt
in the scene in which Bernard asks Ethel
to go to London, and the narrative con-
tinues: ooh hurrah shouted Ethel shall
soon be ready as I had my bath last night
SO wont wash very much now"
Nothing in the book puzzles US so much
the spelling. We fnd for instance,
buckingham palace" with nothing out Of
the way but the failure of capital letter.
but earlier in the book there is Crystal
Palace" and later "Crystale Palace"
while in still another place it IS plain
Crystal Palace" We can't quite under
stand why Daisy Ashford should have spelled
the same word in so many different ways.
We are not Offering this as evidence that
the book is a hoax, because if it were the
spelling would be consistently bad through
out. Miss Ashford is good deal of a
puzzle to US, because while it is rare in
deed for nine-y year old girls to write books,
and such books as "The Young Nisiters," it
is by no means rare for them to spell pass
ably we'll. Indeed, we are of tho opinion
that people who have not learned to spell
by the time they are nine never will. Per-
haps Miss Ashford didn't She is now, we
understand, q young woman, and the book
represents work which she did some fifteen
years ago. Nevertheless, We assured
that the manuscript has not been altered
in any way. The book is a sensation in
England, where it has sold into the hundred
thousands.
J. NJ. Barrie's preface is not particu-
larly skilfu piece of work, for, like book
reviewer, he ekes out his own copy by quot
ing all the best lines in the book. Still, We
cannot resist quoting little Of the de-
scription of Mr.. Salteena's visit to Buckng-
ham Palace. The Prince of Wales edward
the SEVENTH is found "In lovely ermlne
cloak and small but costly crown" The
Earl Of Clincham, Mr.. Salteena's sponsor,
receives hearty welcome. "Hullo Clin-
cham cried the Prince quite homely and not
at all grand SO glad you turned up-quite q
squash en-"
1t may be noted that Miss Ashford, in
spite Of her unfamiliarity with commas and
question marks, is familiar with the dash.
Later the Prince comments on the trials OF
court life. at upsets said the prince
tapping up his strawberry ice all want Is
peace and quiut and little fun and here
ON, tind down 70 This life ho said taking oif
his crown being royal has many PAINFUL
drawbacks"