New-York tribune., 1919-04-26
BY IIeywoed Dfoun

Alos The admirers of Theodore
DRESSER arc reof pfess agents. had
eatd enough ahout his nalnstakinf
aiih literal realism 90 keen me miles
away from al hls books, Ia fact, |
pictured hun as the sort nf man Whn
SAYS "oht' when no nuts q nickel IN
me window at the subway ticket SELLER,
Then 'IWeve Men" came into the
oirlce and was tackled solely in the line
OF duty, but ! found it by far the most
readahie and Interesting hook of all
the late spring output.
1t IS probably true that Dresser
carefully avoids writing as we'll as he
might. When he makes up his mind to
split an lnfinitlve he does it with d
swagger and opens q breach for bat
tallons. Thus, we get things like "to
swiftly and agiely take bath" Also
he uses "outre" to an extent which
would seem to indicate a desire to
annoy his readers. But none of these
Things stand up against the fact that
most of the sketches in the new volume
are told with an eye to true, fascinat-
ing and essential details There is no
waste effort. Dresser not only sees his
subjects with extraordinary clarity, but
he makes Just the right selection of
lhlngs out of the whole picture when
he comes TO lot down his Impressions.
the torn Is IN general q middle ground
between the short story and the short
biography, although one OF two Of the
Sketches mlght well be classified as
stenes, lhe heek Is net uniformly
aaea, nIhe Mighty heNrkeN seems 10
me- lha Rest and NiNanitY, NanlM,'
Saith lha Preacher the Warsi. fhs
iatFeF 10 almost IA thp T0fm ~ mas
aeine aflee f0f iiiFhe MaW FafA
American MfI hfeser seams unAulN
impressed with n nlafse hlehelei lpe
tthY Hn NhNelsi' which lie encountered
Nt 4 aWaEget receptions, II was
"paeheA with nnupenei hutllas uf
ehampaHna and yuu had but tu iifi a
hand or wlnk an eve 60 have nnuther
opened fur YOU alone, ever over and
over And the tray was always full u
Getting Under the Surface
llut the greater nar Of the hook is
about people, and in dealing with them
Mr., DRESSER has an undnuhted faculty
for getting under the nickel plate,
The operation Is not more surgical
praeesa Although nrelser generaly
keeps clear at sentlmentallty, an ak
eepilon might pefhAps be Noted Ia lhe
easa oF NThe tNuntry hoetopH iIa
has q Aympathy with hiR Auhieels
which helps Ia give the aketehes pelnt
There Id an abundance al hUmof 10
Nfplsut an WE'LL net the Heft oF eN-
tho writer and the thing about which
he la writing, but humo, ntsing nat.
utally out Of the figure Ia hand We
offer In evidence u few paragraphs
from "a Doer Of the Word, one Of
the most brilliant Hbetchea In the
hook, which deals with an old man
who tries to live literal Chriatan
life and, according to all tho evidence
presented by the author, sueoeeds
The seleoton begins at point where
the old man Ia explaining his theory
Of life To Dresser, as follows
"I've been working now for twenty
years or more, and although I've
never had more money than would
last ma few days at a time I've
never wanted for anything, and I've
been able to help others, I've run
pretty close sometimes, Time and
time again I've been compelled to
say Lord, I'm all out OF coal OF.
Lord. I'm going 10 have To ask YOU
80 get nae my fare 60 New Haven
moffow.' but In the moment Of my
need He has never forgotten mo.
Why. I've gone down TO The depot
time and time again when 1t was
necessary for me TO go, without fve
cents in my pocket, and He's been
there to meet me. Why, He wouldn't
keep you waiting when you're about
His work. He wouldn't forget you
not for ~ minute
looked at the man in open-eyed
amazement.
"Dou you mean to. cay that you
would go down to depot without
any money and wait for money to
come to you?"
"Oh, brother" he said with tho
softest light in his eyes, "if you only
knew what it is to have faith!"
He laid his hand softly on mine.
what is carfare to, New Haven
or to anywhere to Him.
Equally effective is the sketch, or
Gn~su~ss.zs.zsssn>suu~s