davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1921-12-25
A Symbolic Play

CHILDREN OF THE UNIVERSE. BY
schsvei Tztionok- 81.
s4GHILDREN OF THE UNIVERSE"
is a book which inspired Zona
Gale to say upon reading it: az felt
as if I never wanted to write again
about household. I, too, wanted to
write about the Universe. This Rus
sian has his attention fixed on Cosmos
and Spirit and To-morrow-the only
things there are to write about
Our enthusiasm will hardly carry us
as far as Miss Gales, but the book did
give us comfortable feeling about
putting off the butchers bill until after
Christmas. After all, time is purely
relative, and though the butcher may
not appreciate the fact, next week,
year from nova million years are
all the same in the eyes of the Universe.
Well give him our copy to insure get
ting the Christmas turkey. On second
thought, though, perhaps we had bet
ter not.
"Children Of the Universe" is a sym
bolical play in five acts, prologue and
epilogue. and presents the startling
question of whether man is really the
chosen creation Of the Universe that
he thinks himself TO be. Does it make
any difference to Eternity, the author
asks, what changes take place in mat
ter and energy, whether the birth OF a
flea or the death Of man? Bacillus
puts up an excellent case for himself
as the being for whom the Universe
was planned, but he is not allowed the
best of the argument.
The play, which is privately printed
contains number of errors, due, prob
ably, to the fact that its author has a
very recent acquaintance with the Eng
lish language, but he has chosen an ab-
sorbing topic and dealt with it in a
manner TO provoke thought. G.P.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-25
Cteator Of Moby Dick
Reviewed in Biography
p,vmond NJ. Weaver Writes of Melville, His
Life, His Sea Stories and
His Mystery

with the publication of 'Moby Dick
Melvilie's creative period was at its
close. At the age of thirty-two so
brilliant, so intense, so crowded had
been the range of experience that
burned him, that at the period of his
life when most men are just beginning
to strike their gait. Melville found him
self looking forward into utter night.
Nearly forty years before his death
he had come to be the most completely
disenchanted of all considerable Ameri-
can writer's" There is deep pathos in
that simple statement of a man of
genius arrived at terminus. The bar
rier, as Weaver shows, was in Mel
ville's mind. He had reared the OBJ
young fellow who had seen wellnigh
all that the earth has to offer in the
way of physical pageantries of beauty,
who had lived elbow to elbow with men
Questing in dangerous ventures. who
loved the eternal life of the living
seas, suddenly faced by the seemingly
insoluble problem of the futility Of
man, Melville's world was largely one
OF Illusions. When the wells parted
and were dissipated and the realities
of evil and suffering, of human effort
and reward in defeat, were spread
naked before him. he quailed and
stopped, rooted in his tracks. He
marked Schopenhaur's tribute to his
fellows: "They are just what they
seem to be and that is the worst that
can be said of them"
"In Pierre Melville coiled down into
the night of his soul, to write an
anatomy OF despair" In such words
Weaver describes the purgatory into
which Melville descended in 1851, his
thirtythird year. Students of the
subconscious will find in this somber
book a forecast of most OF the late
determinations in advanced psychology.
1t charts the secret springs of motive
in deeps far below the surface, urgings
A4.N OsAAtAOiiS HUN DHHcdLil
the film of awareness to move and vex
US. The book, when published, aroused
a hurricane of hostile comment. And
there was sound reason for the attack
Melville had striven to prove that the
reward Of virtue and truth in this
world must be wailing and gnashing
of teeth" How much Weaver's "must"
flashes light on that whole sentence
Pierre" set the seal on Melville's
gate to the world. After that book he
was immured within his own close
After all the world does not hold
that the existence of man on the earth
is an affair of illusions and that
goodness is always overcome by wrong.
But what a strange right-about-face it
was for man who had written brave
books of splendid endeavor to blot OUT
all his evaluations in an ink of the
blackness Of despair
New-York tribune., 1921-12-25

ESSAYS IN FREEDOM AND REBEL
LION. BY Henry w. Nevinson Pub
lished by Yale University Press. s..
THE word liberal" has become am
4 biguous through its many politi-
cal applications. But Mr.. Nevn-
son, one Of the foremost living English
Journalists, is prominently an intel
lectual liberal, man whose contem-
plation of life and letters is unob-
scnred by bigotry or fanaticism Of any
kind
Like the humanists of the Renais-
sance, the author understands the art
of living; and, in addition. he pos
such as few of the humanists could
boast. He believes in the fullest pos
sible freedom of the mind and of the
body and he rebels equally against the
tyrannies imposed by an unjust law,
by a false set of social values and by
a pedantic canon Of literary criticism.
The essays included in the present
volume are generally mellow and per-
suasive, although Mr.. Nevinson is quite
capable of hurting thunders from
Mount Sinai whenever ne sees an in
stance of cruelty or injustice. AS q
rule, however, his sharpest criticisms
are cast in the form OF pungent irony.
The essays, for the most part, are uni
form in their excellence, although "Tha
Penalty Of Virtue" stands out as a
model OF penetrating humor and "In-
vested Lives" constitutes an admirable
dissection of the fallacy that a "moral
equivalent" for war is necessary or
desirable.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-25
Life of Melville Economic Problems of Mexico
Moments From Life
Distinguished Art Spread
on a Small Canvas

! TAVE ONLY MYSELF TO Bi<AAdM By
Princess a.. Bibesco. Published by George
II. Doran Company. So.
nRINCESS BIBESCO, the wife of the
present Rumanian Minister to the
United States and the daughter of
Margot Asquith, displays remarkable
talent AS a painter of literary minia-
lures in this little volume of sketches.
Princess Bibesco prefers the medium
of the very short story, seldom exceed
ing twenty pages and often setting
down an integral impression in much
less space. She has a rare facility for
picking out highly significant moments
III the lives OF her characters, elaborat-
ing them with shrewd, sophisticated
comment and then whisking off to an
alyze another interesting situation.
The author possesses notable gift of
satirical insight. She is Mt her best in
hitting Off the foibles and weaknesses
of the men and women whom one en-
counters in social and intellectual cir
cles. The following incisive sketch of
the mental and spiritual furniture of
complacent English society man is
masterpiece of it's kind:
He believed in a judicious mixture
Of armaments ard economy, imperial
ism and free trade. He believed in the
weakness OF women he believed in not
believing in God. He was shocked by
corporal punishment and prostitution,
and he had never quite been able to
make up his mind about vivisection.
He thought Freud an impostor. He
loved animals, he was on the wine com
mittee of his club. He was a good son,
a good brother, a good husband, good
citizen and a good friend"
Irony and fnesse are perhaps the
outstanding characteristics of Princess
Bibescos style. And these qualities
are sufficiently rare among modern fic-
tionists to commend a grateful welcome
whenever they appear.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-25
The Mexican Tangle Surveyed
From Two Different Angles
DR.. Dillon Praises the Obregon Government
G. L. Jones Insists That Southern Repub
lie Put Her House in Order

making the recognittcn OF the Onregon
government conditional upon the sign
ing Of a treaty Of commerce and amity,
embodying certain guarantees for tie
safeguarding Of American interests in
Mexico The guarantees themselves
are unobiectionable, but educated Mexi-
cans feel that the demand for the sign
ing of a treaty before recognition is
gratuitous insult and a menace to
their country's future independence.
DR.. Dillon declares that Obregons am
bilious and promising reconstruction
program is being severely hampered
by lack of funds, due to the informal
financial boycott which is being en-
forced by the American government.
Mr.. Jones briefly reviews Mexico's
social and economic history, presenting
valuable statistics about the country's
wealth and commerce. He is inclined
to criticize the policies both Of Diaz
and Of the revolutionary leaders who
have occupied the stage during the
last eight or nine years. Diaz gave
Mexico order and economic stability
but he took little thought for the vel
fare of the masses of the people. As
result, when his dictatorship col
lapsed before the rising forces OF dis
content the Mexicans were quite un
trained for the responsibilities Of
democratic government. The revolu
tionists, on the other hand, have often
been impractical in their schemes and
their habit of antagonizing foreign
capital is certain TO be harmful TO
Mexico in the long run The author
points out that certain provisions OF
the Mexican Constitution Of 1917 may
easily be construed as injurious to for
eign property rights.
Mexico" he says, 'is not free to
adopt any attitude she may wish to-
ward foreign interests already estab
lished within her borders. Mexico IS
foreign capital which at her invitation
has crossed her boundaries. She can
not cautiously modify the contracts
which she has herself permitted and
encouraged, and she cannot arbitrarily
denationalize her resident foreigners"
Any one who wishes to gain an ado-
quate view of two sides of the present
day Mexican problem cannot do better
than read these books. Both authors
build their conclusions upon a solid
foundation Of fact and reasoned analy-
sis.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-25
A Circus Girl
Little Maid Leaves One
Ring to Win Another

APRILLY BY Jane Abbott Published By
3he J. B. Llppincott Company. $1.75.
TNHE ability to write really good
scarce as snow in June We re-
fer to the powers to re-create the life of
the teens, after years away from it,
building on ones own memories and
present observations and presenting it
true and not trite or preachy Mrs.
Abbott is blessed with the sanity Of
clear vision. She sees her young peo-
rle as realities of flesh and blood that
move and talk naturally and ever in a
mood that contributes to fashioning a
successful novel.
In her "Aprilly" we have the ac-
count of little girl, late a possession
of circus, who runs away from Bos-
ton, with less than s3 in her purse, and
lands in the seacoast town Of Blossom,
| Me. In answer TO an advertisement in
paper, inserted by an old maid, she
becomes for time "a companion.'
Her stay is terminated by her i'm
pulsive yielding to logical tempta-
ton, that of mounting a horse and
doing one of her old stunts But she
eventually wins the love and respect OF
the villagers, and with her origins and
family connections made clear and
with love at her side, conquers the COM
: munity and bows herself from the ring
I of her engaging story. A remarkably
we'll planned and written story 70,
girls, one to be placed at the top o1
the pyramid of childrens books of the
! YEAR.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-25
A Wee Chap

THE LITTLEsT ONE. BY Marion ST.
John Webb Published By Frederick a.
Stokes Company 81.
HERE is collection Of thirty short
Il u poems inspired by the presence in
home Of tiny fellow, boy with all
the traits of a real youngster of his
age. One finds the tear of laughter or
the tear of a deeper feeling in the
corner of an eye as he reads these
verses. THE Little One7 speaks for
himself, all through them, and Trey
are, one and all, true TO the trouble
and the gIadness of the young child
whom we so often overlook in his
small world in our midst.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-25
Boards Animals

AMERICAN BOYS BOOK OF WILD AN
IMALS BY Dan Beard Published by
J. Il. Lippincott Co. $500.
'THIS is one of the Woodcraft series
That it is by Dan Beard is a war
rant of it's reliability and consuming
interest for boys. Between it's covers
are stories of adventures with animals,
hints as to humane methods with them
and host of brief incidents connected
with loving study Of their doings in
the open. There are sketches drawn
by Uncle Dan" all through the chap
ters, and great deal of wise sugges-
ton for boys who wish to be manly
and cultivate a gentle attitude toward
the wild things of river, lake, sea, for
est and field. A book that any real
boy will greet with enthusiasm.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-25
Jingles for Kids

LAZY MATILDA. BY Katherine Pyle
Pubished by E. p. Durton q Co. 81
TX ATHERINE PYLE has gone and
a = done it again in her Lazy Ma
tilda, "a series of short, funny poems,
all with tang of individuality in
them. She sings Of Lazy Matilda, The
Witch and the Truant Boys. Envious
Eliza and other queer little people
Children will chuckle over this book
and find much to amuse them in the
authors illustrations for her verses
Jingles full of fun.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-25

t'oicned- Fubllshed BY Boni Liveright.
81 so.
behind it q problem as yet un-
solved, although the current of
history now in full tide at Washington,
in the international conference, may
give us the solution greatly to be de-
sired. We refer to the popular senti-
ment that the huge vote cast for Har-
ding implied rejection in toto of the
principles at the heart of the Wilson
program for world union to prevent
war. The logical corollary would ap-
pear to prove that the people Of the
United States did not wish to unite
with any European nations to establish
a court that should be empowered TO
shnckle Mars.
Samuel Colcord, in his "The Great
Deception" states his fear that we, as
people, swerved from duty by con-
scnsus of voters, may decide to stand
aloof from fraternal comradeship
for the Immediate bettering and en-
nobling of humanity. Personally, we
have feeling that the Republican
victory Of last year was little more
than a rebuke delivered to the auto
cratic methods employed by the leader
OF the Democratic national wing, and
that many thousands of voters, of
whom the writer is one, have been and
are eager to see their country take a
definite, commanding position in a
world jury to act finally on all issues
of international polity.
The meat of this book lies in the
following paragraph: "There is need
to expose the deception, whether it be
honest or intended, when wide
credence is given to the absurd claim
that the vote for Senator Harding was
a Reputation Of both league and asso-
citation of nations in face of the fact
that in nearly every speech in his
campaign, in keeping with the platform
assurance of an international asso-
ciatior' through which the nations
! pledged to do and insist upon what is
just and fair may exercise their in
iuence and power for the prevention
OF war he made emphatic declaration
| in favor of such association, if con-
sideration for the peace of Europe
should not require that we enter a re-
vised and modified league"
1t would be a mistake tantamount to
sin for Americans to neglect to-day
the golden opportunity Of being cloud
of smoke by day and pillar of fire
by might've trust the phrase is
correctly stated-in maintaining a
place in the van of all tribes and races
in steady march to state Of no more
selfish scheming and ugly strife among
nations. History is being made to-day
at pace that has much of the eagle g
wing in its fight. and not the dilatory,
difficult crawl Of the snail We are
more than confident. We are sure
that Americans at last recognize with
pride their dominance for peace in the
councils of leaders This pride is an
honest one, justly won, and it will be-
come a saving grace when fortified by
the fact of the creation of a consulship
for all the world maintained through
the force and inexhaustble strength
of justice exercised everywhere for the
lasting comfort and happiness Of man.
S. A.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-25
Bv Samuel Abbott

.sx MELVILLE, MARINER AND
EsSsss,s~ Iy Raymond n. Weaver.
gssss,sse,s by Gearge Il. Boran Company
$50
vyoND the figures Of South
Ses fiction ana trave' now on
N the literary stage, with pleas
~ ing trio, A. Safroni- Middleton,
s.u.rset Maughan and Frederick
op,;en s at the footlights, is a wide and
~. curtain embellished with the i'm
,.;rSs Of Herman Melville. He was.
s;s biorrapher asserts in his book,
!. literary discoverer of the South
- Far years-we refer to the last
=. ar three decades. alive in our
-.uorv-shere have been men. far re-
-. from one another and in many
.tmss whe have come upon Me,ville's
so.ss read and extolled them. An
.a,or;al in "The London Nation" for
,,,pary %. 1921, bespeaks the setting
!, of tide OF recognition OF this SUI
.,sre nortrsyer of life at sea, espe-
sally in zones below the ring Of the
.,ustor. In most eulog;stic para
.,,nb the writer puts Melville with
psbssais. Swift. Shakespeare and the
r.;ncr and disputable worthless A bit
Il sx.ravagant praise. but not so far
.snhed as one might assume on first
thought
Yalrille's life story is strange
hing Lured by the sea TO search out
nd study it's mysteries II quarters far
Distant from New England. he was
,,urat in the net Of its glamour and
ssde one With its infinite moods.
ghsn he was moved 10 write he drew
vpsn copious treasury Of curious in
.srnation. His pen was in tune with
the imagery in his mind and the
,ssult, embodied in his two or three
nsor books, is not equaled in its mode
il any other literature Of the sea. This
output was bracketed between limiting
yssrs OF his young manhood. Then
cane silence, cessation Of writing,
withdrawal from the sea lanes, a posi-
ton as an Inspector Of customs in
4 Ssw York City.
Before We take up the portion of this
I 1ooz that interests US the most we
;suse to mention. parentheticalIy, the
eaerously complete pages that go
4 avsr the whole known ground of Mel
I lilies days while writing his ten pub
ished novels and delivering mis- lee
4 ares. The author has been most
I iartunate in securing tne sympathetic
4 cooperation Of Mrs Eleanor Melville
4 Ae.calf, who gave him access TO her
B glandfather's surviving manuscripts,
s..ers, journals. annotated books and
& autographs. Her shrewd Insight was
4 ser Welcome aid Happy, indeed,
4 the biographer who obtains such
l'al assistance. 1t IS safe TO claim
tat the result Of their research and
N,liity to sense tie peculiar individu-
ility that was Herman Melville, given
lFishiy to the making Of these chap
:Fs has been big factor in fashion
ag what well may be last word on
ss nan Of their study.
D We quote; ~ is patent fact that
New-York tribune., 1921-12-25
The Soul

THE DEPTHS OF THE SOUL. BY Will
liam stekel, Ph. p. Published by Afof-
fat. Yard & Co. S2.50
psYCHO-ANALYsIs is widening its
= field daily Thousands of people
have been helped through an intelli-
gent application of its methods in
healing. In this book, ably translated,
we have chapters on Gratitude, I'm
packing Ones Heart, Laziness, What
Children Aspire To, Jealousy ard a
small regiment of affairs Of the mind
below the surface Of the pool Of con-
sciousness. We are revealed, all
through its pages, as slaves Of one or
another individual fetter that must
be found and broken ere we are free to
live our lives as they should be lived.
An intensely graphic study Of certain
phases Of All important science.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-25
A Small Door

THE LITTLE GREEN DOOR. Ey Zoe
Meyer Published by Little. Brown &
Co. s1.00.
HERE is another admirable nature
A Il book for children up to the age
of ten. The little green door opens
into the green forest. In the wood
lives the Fairy of the Forest, who cares
for the tiny people who dwell within
it. Children who read this book will
find out how the hermit thrush got mis-
song, why owls fly at night and many
other things OF the wild places While
the treatment of the many subjects is
fanciful, along lines of pure romance,
the aim OF the book is toward beauty
and an awakening OF sense of finer
values.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-25

MEXICO AND IT'S RECONSTRUCTION
BY Chester Lloyd Jones. Published by
ID. Appleton &. Company $3.50.
~~HE ethical principles which
should govern relations be-
n tween industrially advanced
and industrially backward
countries have always been vague and
subject to dispute. On the one hand,
it is contended that the full develop
ment of the worlds natural resources
is an essential condition of the advance
Of civilization. A nation that is unable
or unwilling to exploit it's mines and
oil wells has no right to withhold
these treasures from a general use It
must submit to the penetration Of for
eign capital and enterprise
This is the theory which dominated
the careers of Cecil Rhodes and other
famous British empire builders. In a
modified form it is the theory of
Roosevelt, who used to indulge occa-
sionally in a very plain speaking about
the police functions which the United
States government would be bound to
assume if any Of the South or Central
American countries should prove delin-
quent in the discharge Of their obliga-
tions
On the other hand, it is argued that
every people has right tn the undis-
turbed possession of It's native coun-
try, that penetration by foreign capital
Is not always benefcent process, that
a powerful and wealthy country has nc
moral right to impose its own civiliza
tion and culture upon an unwilling
weaker neighbor.
1t may be said that DR.. Dillon favors
the latter Of these two viewpoints
while Mr.. Jones upholds the former
Neither, it is true, carries mis- position
to its extreme limit. DR. Dillon con.
cedes that foreign capital in Mexico has
rights which must be respected. Mr.
Jones makes q similar admission about
the rights Of the Mexican government
The difference between the two book.
is primarily 2 difference of emphasis
DR.. Dillon stresses the large profits
which foreign capitalists have draw,
from Mexican investments and praises
the forwardlooking reforms of the
Obregon government. Mr.. Jones dwells
upon the losses which foreigners of all
nationalities sustained during the pro
longed Mexican revolution, and insists
rather sharply that the southern re-
public must puts its own house in order
If outside Intervention is to be averted
DR.. Dillon speaks of alleged atrocities
committed by American troops in
Hayti- Mr.. Jones speaks OF alleged
atrocities committed By Mexican revo-
lutionists against American citizens.
General Obregon, in Or. Dillon Is
opinion, is a genuine patriot and a
worthy leader of the Mexican people
in their difficult tasks of reconstruc-
tion. Since the downfall Of Carranza
banditry has been largely suppressed
trade and industry have been revived
the legitimate complaints of foreign
concessionaires have been satisfied
and gratifying progress has been made
toward practical solutions of the land
and labor problems.
Dr. Dillon feels that Mexlcos pres.
ent position is made unnecessarily diff
cult by Secretary Hughes's stand in
New-York tribune., 1921-12-25
Babe Ruth's Book
THE HOME RUN KING BY "Ba be-
Ruth. Published by A. L. Burt Com.

1ffA HUME Kun hlNG. by Ia Dc
Ruth. Published by A L. Burt Conn
pany.
ssRABE" RUTH's name appears as
author on the title page of an
appropriately named story for boys,
"The Home Run King" In it is re-
lated the rise to fame Of lad, "Pen"
Pindar, who, starting as heavy hitter
on kid team in country village, grad
yates to place On a leading prep school
nine. What we Ike in this story is its
emphasis on clean dealing and main
tenance Of honor on the diamond. Pep"
shirks his classroom work and is made
to realize his delinquency, and that's
good lesson to hand cut to boys who are
inclined to overestimate athletic PROV
ess. The baseball stuff in 'The Home
Run King" is, of course, faultless.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-25

I yAvE ONLY MYSELF TO BlAMm By
Princess a.. Bibesco Published by George
II. Doran Company. So.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-25

MEXICO on THE VERGE BY Or e. J.
Dillon. Published by George Fl. Doran
Company. So
MEXICO AND IT'S RECONSTRUCTION
BY Chester Lloyd Jones' Published by
d. Appleton &s Company. $3.50.
"HE ethical principles which
should govern relations be-
tween industrially advanced
and industriallY backward
New-York tribune., 1921-12-25
A Grave Problem
Does the United States
p~afar Isolatioro

THE GREAT DECEPTION BY Samuel
Coicned- Published by Boni Liveright.