Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-07-25

In TACT. tradition OF pride in this
very Oregonian field. So the story
ready throw-back of Dan Failing to
the art of the pioneer, to the prim
tive feeling of the man for the wild
life to which he takes like a duck
to water; A strenuous adventure. in
volving human enemies of the brute
stamp, and a romance circling around
an outstanding modern girl, look
out for the human interest of this
tale. Its deepest appeal. however,
lies in its understanding Of this un-
sympathy for the life that this re-
mote quarter pursues in its own
strenuous and exciting struggle for
,existence-one animal against an
other. and man against them all.
INvINCIBLE MINNIE. BY Elizabeth
Sanxay Holding. New York:
George H. Doran Company.
The instinct of food-hunger to pro-
long life, and the instinct of sex
hunger to reproduce life. have de-
F., veloped certain animals-outside OF
nnan-each into mere bundle OF
qualities-such as craftiness. strength.
; swiftness. fecundity and the like. The
fox. the elephant. the rabbit are ex-
| amples of these supertraits. Man. sur
| rounded with innumerable artificial
props. is clumsy and inept in his in
stinctive efforts toward complete
self-realization. This is the point for
i the appearance Of Minnie. Here is a
| character that has in feeling and
! method. gone back to the instructive
processes of the unhuman tribes. The
author projects Minnie in com
monplace set Of human surroundings
IA sister, friend. an old grand
mother, her sisters lover, benefac-
tor, and the less vivid personalities
OF the small neighborhood round
al, n raalizo in material way
the desires that beset her is Minnies
Job. And no denizen of the wild ever
pursued his singleminded existence
with more patience, more industry
more unconscious art than does MIN
ME The dependent grandmother de-
serted, the sister betrayed. the SIS
ter's lover seduced. the friend cruel.
! fied-and all this in a manner OF
small town propriety and circum
spection: This is the story OF
Invinciple Minnie The author taxes
such person as Minnie. What she has
!, done is to boil out of several par
ticularly nasty women OF hleniy re-
spectable standing whatever OF Eooo
there might have been In them. then
with the residue of triple extract OF
selfishness she has made mere IN
stinctive and ruthless creature whose
name is Minnie. Yes. very well done.
Excellent of its kinda poor kind
THE GATE OF FULFILLMENT. BY
Knowles Ridsdale. New York: u.
P. Putnam's Sons.
This is an Indian summer romance.
Both the man and the woman nase
found out that life is not what II Is
commonly cracked up to be. This ex-
perience-bought knowledge has done
the man up-making him take the
trying role of semi-invalid. The wom-
an, sweeter by nature and with the
greater resiliency of the woman tenn
permanent. is lovable and young In
spirit. wholesome, attractive: They
come together by accident The man
advertises for a secretary. The woman
answers this. only to receive a caus-
tic. refusal of her services. on ac-
count of some casual statement in her
letter that disturbs the captious in
valid. A dauntless woman. so she
writes again. more guardedly. signing
another name. So, they come to-
gether. The matter progresses by
way of the double role that the new
secretary has to play. since the man
insists on keeping up a correspond
ishly denied. The story ends. to be
sure. in the simplicity of a plain.
everyday. middle-aged marriage. 1t
is developed with skill and ingenuity,
even though it be handicapped by
the correspondence medium. Letters.
x,
the immediacy of their appeal. as a
rule, since they come under the head
of secondhand information, some
thing designed. not for the reader.
but for one of the partners in the cor
respondence. This story suffers, to an
extent. from this method, even
though the substance of the matter
requires this form of unfolding.
THE ORIENT IN BIBLE TIMES. BIZ
Elihu Grant. Philadelphia: J. B.
Lippincott Company.
Travellers familiar with the Tesla
ment times of the east and students
who must depend on books. maps and
photographs will realize the history
value of this work which Prof Grant
supreme moment Of opportuneness when
Palestine, freed from pagan domino
ton, is being considered as home for
and to be governed by descendants
of the ancient Hebrews.
A very real sense of the human
nature as well as spiritual atmosphere
Of the Biblical era is conveyed in the
sixteen chapters. which present a
comprehe nsive and historically accu-
rate panorama of the oriental world
and the trade, politics, war. social
institutions and International rela-
tions developed during those GEN.
turtles. Notable sections give concep-
tions of the civilization Of the Nile
to 1900 B. C.-the establishment of the
Hebrews in Palestine; the social and
religious conditions Of the Jews; a
description of the neighbors Of Pales-
tine from ocean to desert. and a final
showing of the political background
for New Testament times"
There are many reproductions Of
scenes, peoples and customs photo
graphed on the way, especially of Je-
rusalem. whose history is known for
3,4Oo years and which today is sacred
city to Jews, Christians and Mos
lems"-with a froptispiece of the
coast of Jaffa. where ships must