Evening star., 1920-06-27

Boston: Houghton Miff1in Com
| pany.
l LEARLY, this book stands as
a part of the Roosevelt liter
~ ature. Placing it, one puts it
beside Mr.. Roosevelt's inti-
mate self-revelations. like. for in
stance, his letters to his children, pub
lished not SO long ago. John ]. Leary
was a member of the newspaper
cabinet"-and the story of that cab
met is, in and of itself, very touch
ing disclosure of the nature of Mr..
! Roosevelt. This is rich book. 1t
would have to be-made up as it is of
daily jottings, straight out OF the
mouth of the beloved T. r. himself,
the most of which were not, at the
time, matters of publications at all. Each
serves as clearer light. or new
light, upon the dominating and often
misunderstood personality of the
great American. Each Is compact
little body-now of deep political wis
DOM now of a pounding and forth
standing Americanism, and now OF
sheer and sturdy good fun. Abundant
wit. comprehensive intellectually and
sheer human nature as open as day
light stand here on every page. One
loves the wide range of his fellow
ship-all the way from Henry Cabot
Lodge to Big Tim" Sullivan good
| stretch, that. One loves his courage.
One loves his mistakes-for they are
honest mistakes. Plenty of the pathetic
here-though Theodore Roosevelt is the
last man to want to enlist sympathy.
Eut he gets it, now and then-tor IN
stance, when, try as hard as he might,
he was not allowed to go to the war.
And an interesting point, interesting
at this particular moment. is that IN
this connection. it was Warren u.
Harding who offered the amendment
to the pending Army bill, an amend
Tnent that was designed to overcome
the legal handicap to Mr.. Roosevelt S
active personal entrance into the
great war. Another point OF equal
Immediate interest is the fact that II
was Mr.. Eoosevelts sister who occu-
pied the convention platform in chi
cago as the stanch and brilliant ad-
, vocate of Gen. Leonard Wood as the
republican nominee for the presidency.
Thousands of readers will thank Jonn
: Leary for this contribution to the
story of Theodore Roosevelt.
THE STORY OF A NEW ZEALAND
RIVER. By Jane Mander. New
York: John Lane Company.
Something strikingly fresh in the
story line. The plot, the setting ana
romance stand about equally strong
in qualities of newness and vigor.
New Zealand is the scene of this
action. The authors intimate hold
not only on the look of the land
scape. but on it's meanings as we'll
on those positive understandings that
lie between man and the nature
around him-this is one of the dis
tinctive and delightful features OF
the story. And the romance itself
is OF a piece with the feeling and
insight that have made so complete
, a triumph of the BACKGROUND against
which it is defined. very human
story of the inherent waywardness
} of men and women. An isolated lum.
Der camp in that remote land OF
women here from the endless re-
! straints of convention, permitting
them to behave, in a measure, ac.
cording to their individual wish and
will The heart of the story, how
ever. has to do with a woman in
whose nature is deeply planted a
strain of Puritan austerity. a refined
and lovely woman. the wife OF
clear brute of man-good fellow
and boss of the camp. The situation
| usual and rather idyllic fronting of
this woman upon the tremendous
personal turmoil and resistance
against what appears to be pas
sion of true love. The little daugh-
ter of this woman, grown to the age
of love, leads the reader into an ad-
| venture of unconvention. The whole
is remarkable for its insight, for its
! honest attitude toward a modern
probability, for it's workmanship and
for it's beautiful Intervening Of the
| spirit of the land with the human
| issues at stake here.
LIFE OF WALTER QUINTIN GRES-
| HAM: 1S32-1S95. By Matilda Gres-
! ham. Chicago: Rand, McNa1ly &
| Co.
Soldier. lawyer, judge, statesman
these are the greater waymarks in
the career of Walter @. Gresham. This
career conceded with the period OF
| important national construction that
marked the second half of the nine
teenth century. Using this period as
a background. Mrs. Gresham gathers
out of it those points at which the
work and influence of Judge Gresham
produce, finally, the story of this ac-
tive and useful life. This is history
made concrete and direct by the use
of biography. 1t is voluminous
story-one of many details. whose ef-
feet is to animate the great points
in the national activity Of the period.
Informal in manner and with def
mite personality of its own. the book
is calculated to be generally appeal
ing. But in addition to this feminine
grace of presentation one is impressed
with the authors grasp Of events that
are political and otherwise historical
| in essence-slavery, secession, the civil
war, reconstruction. the period Of in
ldustrial expansion, labor troubles,
foreign relations with the many cele-
brated cases that these relations have
involved. In addition to its very posi-
tive immediate value and interest, the
book promises to be a highly useful
and available source Of information
for the student of history and for the
historian himself.
THE MELWOOD MYSTERY, BY
James Hay, jr. author of THE
. Winning Clue" etc. New York:
Dodd, Mead & Co.
l The detective story does not often
l center in the capital. The city is not
l calculated to lend itself readily to
: this sort of invention. It is too bland
and childlike of face. too innocent
5 and rural of demeanor to give ready
} plausibility to the ins and outs of
crime and it's pursuits However,
: Notwithstanding this so obvious ham
! dicap. James Hay, jr., has produced a
corking good story of this brand
with the heart of Washington as it's
picturesque and believable back
ground. After following the excite
lments Of this episode, which goes
back to wartime spy activity, one
CAN SINKS