Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-10-10
Reviews of New Books

people who made those years of prog
ress possible. Following. the various
waves of advance. through mountain
gap, along the waterways. over the
unmapped plains. he crests each of
these waves of empire with the well
known figures that inspired and di-
rected the successive advances. The
stories are lifelike. They present
these men and women true. One sees
wildly here the stern partners-dan-
ger and privation-that wrought
these pioneer folks into courageous.
straight-thinking. fair-dealing Amer
leans. the real source of that Ameri-
canism of which one hears so much
of late. This is useful work. 1t is
interesting work. 1t serves to touch
the records of formal history with
mind Americans of the sources Of
their being, of the qualities of their
common inheritance.
isiana Girl. BY Stella G.. S. Perry.
New York: Frederick A Stokes
Company.
This story suggests slender
branch. so weighted with blossoms
and leaf as to conceal, almost, the
frail stem that supports them. This
does not mean that the story itself is
inconsiderable in line and substance
1t is not. 1t does mean. however. that
it's clear and irresistible charm lies
in the fidelity and redolence of it's
atmosphere-people of low and high
degree. daily occupations, bits Of
scenery, touches of strange city life,
the air. the sky, the sea-these come
together in blend that is touched
to- the heart with the tang of a par
ticnlar spot-the south coast of Louis
lana. The story itself is frail and deli
cate. Palmetto is waif around
whom mystery grows and thickens
The action concerns itself with the
passage of PALMETTO out Of waifdom
into a circle of friendship and love-
An author could easily drivel over
this girl, this situation. Not this au-
thor. Palmetto is a charm of real
and lovely girlhood. And there she
stays. The beautiful simplicity holds
through the stages of Palmetto's uIti-
mate successes. through her final true
homing back to the plain people of
her early days. SO unhappy at first,
beautiful work Of Of art. l A touch ine
human story. Can this author do it
again: One wonders.
BY-PATHs IN SICILY. By Eliza
/ r..
Putnam & Co.
other than the usual time-ridden
tourist. driven by crowded schedule
from point to point. Leisure is the
dominant note here. For the back
ground of these views there are long
days of strolling about. of endless
ton of native folk. There is friend
illness of deep and genuine stamp.
And out of the long days, out of the
plain goodfellowship, these innumer-
able pictures of Sicily take on color
and charm and appeal. What the ST.
Gillian believes in about the hidden
powers that have charge Of the SIM
plest acts of his life. the magic. the
sorcery. the ritual of daily living. the
outlook upon nature-these are the
intimate things that give this book
a most engaging personality of it's
own. The face of the island is pre-
sented here with sympathy and a del
icate touch of artistry. but it is. after
all, the human element in it's reac-
lions to an ancient past and a per-
picking present that enlists the heart
of this author. In this respect the
book stands somewhat by itself, apart
from the long line of travel books as
they are commonly produced.
MUSICAL PORTRAITS; Interpreter
lions Of Twenty Modern CompOs-
ers. BY Paul Resented. New
York: Harcourt, Brace & Howe.
Wagner, List, Strauss. Berlioz, De-
busy, Franck are. to the general
reader, the names that stand famil-
iarly out here in this group of twenty
composers. Music lovers. students of
know the remaining ones. All
readers. however. will read and study
the full list by virtue Of the admirable
work of this interpreter. If one has
a hold on the aim and meaning of any
art. he will settle at once into the
rich field of Mr.. Rosenfeld's knowl-
edge. into the simplicity of his illus
trations,' into the free flow of his m
agery, into the originality of his out
look, into the beauty of his writing.
pleasure. Under the pleasure lies in
formation, to be sure. That is tho
of the whole. But the
whole is an adventure into the sig
various artists, and under the guild
ance of an inspired and poetic ana
lyst.
BY Max McConn.. Frontispiece by
Edward c. Caswell. New York:
Dodd, Mead & Co.
Two men. as alike as two peas in
a pod. stand sponsor for the ups and
downs of this involved tale. One of
these is a proper young fellow, pro-
fessor in some modest college. The
other is a rapid youth-the boy sena-
tor" from some irresponsible COM
monwealth. ''Mollie" is the senator's
wife. Years before-not too many
of them-she had been a pupil of the
professor back in the old town. The
two men get into the same neigh
borhood by way of an authors power
over fate. And then the turmoil be-
gins. Neither Mollie nor the people
at large knows which is the husband
and which the old-time admirer,
which is the senator and which the