Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-06-04

leu we have come more and more to
consider life as great game in which
1t is decent, OF course, to observe the
rules, but the object Of which. after all,
Is to win! There is some good reading
on this topic in this book. He acknowl-
edges the value of the game In main
tanning morale, but confesses that the
give us a relish and safety valve, so
to speak, that makes for cleanness and
health. But he adds, "The tendency to
surrender too much to group loyalty,
and to idolize victory and aggressive.
ness generally, is always present and
often overshadowing. People deter
mined to win are hardly more whole
some than people unable to win, because
In winning they usually lose more than
they gain The temptation to quote
Mr.. Yeomans in his pertinent and tell
Ing phrases Is overpowering. His lido.
matte sentences need no explication and
cannot be parephrased with any saw
ing of words. With a world Of wonder
and romance about us, with nature in q
thousand silent voices calling on us for
closer acquaintance, it seems snock-
ing that man must herd under awnings
and promenade on asphalt. Mr.. Yeo-
mans is a devotee Of the out door life,
esteeming the naturalist the happiest Of
men. In two capital anecdotes whrch
have the marks of actual experience
upon them he tells of the paltry little
schoolmarm who taught geography,
the geography of information" ut a
thousand a year, but knew not the al
phabet of "the geography Of inspira
tion." The other story is Of an astrono-
mer who startled his superintendent as
well as q book agent by asking for n
telescope with which to show the chill
drcn the stars; not diagrams and In
| gcnious textbooks, written for two bad
purposes-to sell hew. but to teach at
second hand.
WITH so much that is good, It is difi
w cult to pick and choose. Instances
Of Mr.. Yeomans' felicity Of phrase
are these. Society's only applause
for a man, he tells us, is "wher
he Is seen running, like a tired dog
under vehicle called n career" D
his remark concerning a "rather me
tallic' teacher of English, "iust jugglin:
J English words" In that classroom
nothing alive Is ever exposed" An
he adds: 'If you have not a lion con
cealed about your person, dear teacher
} haven't you ut least a rabbit?" Al
eloquent passage on this maligned an
, beautiful world of ours ends: "Steam
ers and trains poke painfully along lik
insects In high grass. In little spots
illumined by electricity and smudgc
with smoke, there is rather repulsiv
swarming Of otherwise invisible huma
{ beings"
A MONG the many Independent idea
"A which make up the all too brie
pages of this book there seems to m
none so suggestive as the chapter en-
titled "cross- s-fcrtilization. Taking tn
ways of plant life in this regard, Nj
by the example of nature. Shut up eac
class within itself. we tend to the per
= retuation Of our own limitations wit
!. our own species. The upper class e
|, tablished in it's family. its social grouI
knows only it's like. With children be
fore sophistication' winged feet over
9 take them, there Is no such barrier q
!. a little more wealth or a grade MOI
, luxury. And so between the middle ar
the lower classes. In fine scorn Nj
Yeomans tells of an old man who couI
conceive in his mind and build to con-
( pletion a schooner, trim and capable.
thing of beauty, a mastery of the elt
q ments. And such a man is patronizt
. as a laboring man by bank clerks an
|. statesmen! It Is one of the advantage
i of a sojourn in the country-the re-
: country, not toy shop suburbs-th'
you can meet there on terms Of equalit
the man who tolls with his hands ar
: lives with nature. 1t is a beautif
, thought, this of human cross fertilizf
J ton; the most ideal, the most libera
the most democratic which l have con
across for many day.
sHACKLED YOUTH. Comments on School
School People rnd Other People. ny e
ward Yoemans. Boston: The Atant
Monthly Press.