Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-04-11

1vN YE hear a great deal, these
| days, about Americaniza-
ton. And, in truth. this is
| vital and SURPRISING
theme. Americanization, in it's begin
nings. appears to be little more than
the teaching of English. True, 1t is
too early to pass judgment upon a
pia,. so new. but beginnings contain
the end in view, or should. All this to
say that If we were responsible for
Americanization plans we should, first
of all. saturate the teachers in this
work with books like the one in
hand Here Mr.. Pepper gives the story
| of an American who, throughout, Is
| sound and solid and unmovable in the
possession of those experiences and
qualities that go to make up the
body of what our American spirit i'm
| plies. A many-sided American this
pioneer In the. big romance of rail,
way building. leader in political
thought and action, so sagacious in
political outlook as to take rank with
statesmen, man of wide phllan-
thropy, a good citizen, an all-round
man who. in the long and eventful pc
Rod lying between 1923 and 1916-an
exacting time, you observe-lived up
to the measure of genuine American
manhood. This Is the romantic story
of one of the great constructive
forces of American life. Mr.. Pepper
has held to its romance and its in
| SEPARATION by a simple adherence to
the facts cast into dramatic climaXes.
THE HOUSE OF BALTAZAR. BY
| William j. Locke. author of The
| Beloved Vagabond." etc. New
| York: John Lane Company.
No novelist. save this one, would
| expect to get away with a hero like
| John Baltazar-a dead-and-burieda and
| dug-up hero. None of the craft
do with his public than does William
]. Locke. So, in his own bland man
ner of good faith and complete con-
| fidence he presents Baltazar in about
! the state of general uninformation
| with which, some fifty years earlier,
into the here. Two decades in
1 Gilman a wholly unreachable sec
! ton of China-and two years in an
J unbelievably secret corner of Eng
land, provide the situation out of
which this new Van Wrinkle wakes
second year. From this point on
4 John Baltazar is a meteor of I'M
expected appearances, human dy.
namo of energy and force. marvel
of endurance, a sweeping flame OF
4 patriotism. good deal Of the time
he is wrong, but good deal more
of the time he is right. and. either
4 right or wrong, he holds the reader
!. in a suspension of hope and fear,
!, just as William j. Locke knows how
to do. regardless of plausibillty or
any other of the stodgy laws and by
laws that cramp the writing hand of
most novelists. With John Baltazar
and the amazing oriental-Quong
Ho-brought with him out of China,
no reader can have moment in this
book that is not at the top notch
of full Endorsement of anything and
everything that William J. Locke
. | takes a notion to put over on him.
! Delightful from the first to the last
moment.
MIsER's MONEY. BY Eden Phillpotts.
/ author Of "Bruners Tower" etc.
New York: The Macmillan Com
pany.
This is Eden Phillpott's world-this
country of west England. To the
seeing eye and the feeling heart Of
this writer, all of nature. animate
and inanimate, lies complete within
the narrow borders of Devon. One
novel after another, developed out
Of this passion of exclusive devotion,
stands as evidence of the world pat
tern Of the little west. country. The
novel in hand is but another case in
point. Within the hand s-breadth OF
landscape that is now so dearly ia
miliar to Phillpotts' readers is set the
human struggle, that goes on the
world over. between the tight fist and
the open hand-between the calculat-
| ing brain and the friendly heart. be-
tween the pessimist and the optlmlst.
| Here in Devon is miser. to be sure
He is a woman hater besides Set
over against this particular pattern OF
| ~, pffaStafiop is a youth with
TRUST and hopefulness and love as his
| outlook upon what appears to be
beautiful world. In the trivial detail
| of life that makes up the sum OF
| things in this Quarter..a detail with
1 which Phillpotts is wholly enamor-
ed and equally at home-the strug-
| gle of forces goes on. Much of general
Significance comes out here as 10
where real values lie, as to the actuai
right and wrong of many common pc
haviors, as to the essence OF Ialr pay
and square dealing. These are brought
into the open in the natural and be-
lievable ways from which this writer
never strays. A love story, sulteo ex-
actly to the surroundings from when
4 II is drawn, serves the purposes OF
bringing out with coior anu M n atnre
ment the universal human mature
1 that here as elsewhere, is making the
1 struggle between self and the other
folks in the world. Phillpotts is al
WAYS himself in steadfastness OF out
| look and action. So. he is always
| however. the theme is even more than
| Commonly appealing. By this fact the
Surprising workmanship of the man
| takes on an extra quality and Mis-
| er's Money" stands to win an IN
| creased share Of honor for its autnor.
THE HAPPY WOMAN. BY Maurice
| weyl. author of "The Choice" New
| york: Mitchell Kennerley.
| Maurice Weyl did it before in ''The
| Choice" Now. in 1.-THE Happy Woman
he does 1t again. That is, out Of the un-
eventful run Of everyday appearances
| he delivers, bodily and spiritually. one
81 the tnnumerable dramas Of which our
| commonplace existence Is made. rms
| ia modern story-a story OF certain
| dominating personal qualities applied to
story in it's scope No captain of in
| dustry this, with no business monopoly
for his field. Rather Is 1t a. study Of the
NAV Of personal overlordship in highly
/ nerfected organization, a study OF the
erect of this mastery on the individual
Who exercises it, and on the spirit Of
| those controlled by it. On the whole
| It is a study of the inhibitions-the
! all around suppressions, that lie IN
| situation of this kind. Understand,
| this story has none OF the thumb
! marks of a study. 1t Is a story, pure
| and simple, wherein girl, seeing the
! ultimate personal and business dis
aster that this unrelenting dominance
| assures, puts a quietly strong will
against this harmful influence Under
| the story of business, involving more
\ than one interesting personality, IS
| the duel between the girl and the
mastery man who is both her EN-.