Evening star., 1921-04-10

4 p"hS-
The negro slaves were released in
| 1863 Where do the children of the
| slaves stand today?" BY way of the
book in hand Stephen Graham essays
| an answer to the question. The ma
| terial for it is of his own gathering
| at first hand out of the states of Nir
| ginia, Georgia, Alabama, Florida.
Tennessee. as he took his leisurely
. way through this region. He sees the
| new negro, and, of necessity, he sees
! the white man, too. In what looks
| like an honest and certainly an in
| telligent looking around he picks out
the good and promising things that
! surround this complex life Of the
! south, and he points quite fearlessly
| to the shameful things that prejudice
and bitterness and misunderstanding
foster and encourage. The book is
frank and it seems to be fair-minded.
But it is, after all. futile book. Not
in it's intent. not in its character-but
in its certain effect. Those who could
profit by it will not read it. The
others agree entirely and do not need
it. Stephen Graham Is. in way, dis
qualified for writing books. You see.
he loves folks, and, foolishly, some
say he pities so many of them-the
migrant, the negro. certain rich
men and so on. At once he comes
in to the name and reputation Of senti-
mentaliSt-and then he's done for.
However, read this book. You may
not see out of the authors eyes-but
read it.
SEED OF THE sun. By Wallace Ir-
win, author Of Venus in the East
etc New York: George H. Doran
Company.
here. One is the story. Ono is the
back ground. One is the problem The
story concerns itself with two New
York girls who experiment with a
back ground is the orchard section Of
California, the location OF the little
fruit plantation. The problem IS that
of the Japanese settler in this region
The three combine to form dramatic
and highly picturesque romance
wherein the two attractive farmer
cites are less successful in raising
prunes than they are in developing
two cases Of matrimony. And that
and engaging to-do. this. with a
couple of natural and winning girls
as principals. It is. however. the
character and the method Of the Jap
anese settler. working out, day by
day, alongside Of his American neigh
Dor, that gives the novel its high
mark. Mr. Irwin holds himself we'll
in hand here. He does not push the
point He merely records the situa-
striking. The back ground is one Of
great beauty-such as the fruit coun-
try Of the Pacific coast holds in a
peculiar charm This novel marks, up
to the present moment. Mr.. Twins
best invention.
OUR PETER. BY George Wooden. au-
thor Of Little Houses" etc. New
York: E. P. Dutton & Co.
The story of Peter Gayland. from
boy to man, might be the story Of
any average youth. moving through
the generally uneventful set of cir
cumstances that sum life. This is not
so much an invention as 1t is a record
| by hundreds of spiritual snapshots
picturing the growth of Peters char
acter in his particular setting Of fam
lily, and friends. and locality. Mr..
! Wooden is quite clear in his literary
purpose here. More than this. he is
| in competent possession of the means
of meeting this purpose. Motive and
action, these go tallying throughout
! this story. to the end that rounded
character, with whose development
out as the consumm alton and triumph
| of the completed work itself. A fresh
approach joins with the sincerity Of
these innumerable contacts. Touches
of humor and gayety. tighten the
stretches of homely and familiar ac-
ton. A sense OF good building domi-
mates the workmanship throughout
"Our Peter" is Mr.. Woden's second
triumph in fiction that is drawn
straight from life itself.
! SAMUEL LYLE, CRIMINoLoGIsT.
! By Arthur Crabb. illustrated by
! S. c. Coll. New York: The Century
| Company.
| This group Of detective stories
stands out from the common run by
chastened ambition in respect to his
inventions along this line. There is
no welter of blood and murder here.
! There is no slough of underworld
while of a character to draw out the
| tense interest Of the community and
the highest skill of the detective, are,
nevertheless lacking in the usual ex-
cesses of detect1ve-story crimes. And
I the people among whom these lapses
, of honest human nature are placed
are of the higher lift-polite and in
teresting folks of the happy play
world of wealth. Within this me-
| dium the author does delightfully."-
skillful work, finished work, under
the leadership Of Samuel Lyle, able
lawyer. expert criminologist shrewd
detective and all-around good fell
| low. The stories. painstaking and
| sincere at bottom, have an easy and
waywise fair that deepens greatly.
story.
SONS OF THE SEA. By Raymond
i Mcfarland, author OF "Skipper
| John of the Nimbus," etc. New
York: G. 2. Putnam's Sons.
The son of a self-made man, more
often than otherwise, sets out in life
with handicap. The father, under
the notion that he wants for his son
| an easier time than he himself had,
provides the handicap. This common
fact supplies the starting point of the
story in hand. Scott King will never
be the man that his father was" grew
| to village proverb. The tale is a
| refutation Of the common belief. Once
| walked to the value of holding up the
King tradition. young Scott becomes
the heroic and dominant figure in a
series OF exciting sea adventures in
| the fishery fields Of the north Atlantic
region. Dangers and escapes follow
! one another with a rapidity that keeps
| the reader in a turmoil Of apprehen-
sion and relief-to be followed by
another seizure of apprehension and
relief. In a quite remarkable man
ner the author brings the reader into
immediate touch with the sea itself
with its angers, its f1ghtfulness, its
enect OF being something alive and
| designing. A romance lightens the
| dangers that would. otherwise. make
| the tale a bit too strenuous a nd eYact :