The New York herald., 1921-03-06

mumbled talking, as 1t We're to the little in
strument. 1t is strangely minor and so
rhythmic that feet shuttle and bodies sway;
it causes in these savages a low murmuring
OF song. and in me- who have heard 1t a
thousand times in the African nights, an
ecstasy of sadness"
From Africa he goes in the magic month
OF September" the first month of spring, to
the Australian bush. From White Aus
tralia" he travels to mines in the Andes,
Chile, Peru. Bolivia-to SIBERIA, to Alaska.
When mining days and mining experiences
were over Mr.. Curle set out to revisit the
places he had loved and to cut new path
ways across the world. Cairo, Damascus,
Stamboul-the East, the West, the North.
the South; from the South Seas to Iceland,
from India to Siberia voyaged this traveller,
who gives us history, geography, local color
everything, in fact except any rational
understanding or Interpretation OF the play
OF forces he records.
In South America Mr.. Curle gives us his
version of the Incas and the Aztec tradition.
We see modern Brazil. Patagonia, the whole
OF the Argentine focused on Buenos Aires,
plateaus and sheep lands all unrolling before
our eyes, and then after n bird's-eye pano-
ramic view we find some vivid little bit Of
description such as the following:
Might in the small Indian towns of the
plateau is strange and mysterious. Soon
dlltT HiBHLldll IL mas DeCOfne intensely dark.
Heavy clouds fit by, ii Is bitterly cold and
there is expectation of thick mist before
morning. The Indians who steal past are
seen to be shrouded in their ponchos and no
women are abroad. Once coming out of the
mist I saw n belated herd of llamas pass
For a moment a wizened camel face was
thrust in mine, then with shuffling and with
little coughs they we're gone.
I'm the remoter streets the houses open
ffNw sl.At..
Here In the darkness. for an infinite time,
there will be no sound, but of a sudden
there will come a knock, the bark OF dog.
voice at a grating then door will open
and close and the night sink again to still
ness. A dim light Is burning shaded over.
1t is candle before a stone crucifix. In the
shadows behind steps lead up to an old
church, to door all clamped with steel. A
figure looms and the night watchman goes
past he blows low. melancholy whistle.
and over vast distance comes another. This
is the roof of the world and the mystery OF
Its night Is upon you. have passed through
other ecrie nights, yet they were not like
this Things here are not what they seem"
For giving us such pictures as this Of
odd corners Of the earth we must be CRATE
ful TO Mr.. Curle. His great men to whom he
pays tribute are curiously contrasted Cecil
Rhodes and the imperturbable Diaz. or the
and simple. In the earlier years to con-
solidate his power. he killed his enemies
right and left, and up to the age OF over
70 he knew no rival. But he was entirely
constructive. He raised the status OF Mex
leo out Of all recognition. He was the strong
est statesman Latin America had produced.
On the day Rhodes died. in my opinion
Diaz became the biggest figure in the world
The most significant thing about North
America Mr.. Curle felt to be the position
OF American women. But the most inter-
esting thing In this country to-day comes
on no wave. II is this: American women
are losing respect for their men. They are
the mates of the most forceful, originating.
doing race In history, yet they treat them
by and large without respect, with scant po-
liteness, often with thinly veled contempt
az those OF an inferior mould. And why?
Because the men have set the tradition.
Because these strong. forceful males have
let the idea become nationwide and persist
ing that the woman Is superior"
Mr.. Curle possesses a curious penchant
for Northern races. The Latins he. seems 10
find unsympathetic, but with the swedes