Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1921-01-30
Reviews of New Books

- ~ w
OUR ECONOMIC AND OTHER PROB
LENS. BY Otto Kahn. New York:
George II. Doran Company.
"HIS volume is = budget Of au-
thority. hard sense. perfect
fair-dealing and wisdom Of
patriotic and constructive
brand. applied to the general BUSH
ness of this country from the stand
point of a financier Of international
reputation. The problems set here are
vital ones. such as every intelligent
American SHOULD have. at least, a
speaking acquaintance with. And
such an acquaintance is made posi-
BILE. for the problems, are laid out In
straight lines and stated in clear
terms. Mr.. Kahn talks here about
the unhappy situation OF the rail-
road, entangled on the one hand in
other by destructive legislation: Like
a business man-fair but wholly un.
sentimental-he presents the ism of
public ownership Of the roads. and OF
paternalism in general. He talks
aS9p hfa a ssSoa sod ts osds al
results. He gives. besides. a survey
of the past two years OF make-shift
and unscientific taxation, These are
| some Of the themes. Others touch
upon the war and our international
relations. A very Illuminating study
is that of the character and work Of
Edward H. Hartman, whom De au-
thor projects as the last figure OF an
epoch, the epoch OF unfettered indi-
vidualism. A study. OF this book.
,f, lad mi <oll ytv,cr
up of it's author by way Of the daily
press. would provide an efficacious
treatment for the generally cobwebby
condition of the average persons
mind on certain big questions that are
of immediate and vital Importance to
him.
DRAKE. NELSON AND NAPOLEON.
of 1.-The Tragedy of st. Helena"
etc. illustrated. New York: q. p.
Putnam's Sons.
This interesting study reaches it's,
peak in the middle " 18th the authors
consideration OF Nelson. In effect,
Nelson Is the standpoint from which
Mr.. Runciman looks backward to
! fleet tradition, a tradition which Nell
son carried forward with SURPRISING
! gallantry and success. A straight
line of advance would have concluded
| this study-not with Napoleon-but
! with Lord Fisher instead, who more
than another brought the English
! fleet to its latest stage of efficiency
| and power With. the great war in
mind. however-its causes and avoid
ances-the author steps aside to dis
| cuss the craftsmanship and foresight
! of Napoleon, who OWNED the recent
| worldwide calamity through the con-
! solidation of great military power in
| central Europe. England and France
! were the logical allies against such a
elimination. Napoleon made many
! overtures toward England to circum-
vent just the development that actu-
ally took place. But the rulers of
| England at that date, and earlier,
were more German than English. Be-
sides, England and France were enc
! mics OF long standing, with suspicion
| ripe between them. So England threw
! in her fortunes with central Europe.
| with the war of 1914 as the fruit of
| that union. Apart from the line of
! historic development that the author
| lays down here in the study of these
dominant characters, the sketches are
| rich in intimate views which he has
! gathered in his own exhaustive in
vestigations of European history. A
| rugged and informal handling Of the
| material in hand delivers over to
! readers an absorbing portrayal Of
| these outstanding personalities.
LIMBO. BY Aldous Huxley. New
! York: George H. Doran Company.
| Underneath the self-protective mon
! otone of our external behaviors lies
! the limbo Of actual individual life
| that neither place wherein curious
! inheritances of the blood assert them
! selves, wherein old paternities of the
spirit clamor for outlet. Such Is the
| limbo" from which Aldous Huxley,
a new English writer. draws the
group Of short stories Of this volume.
The first of these. the story Of Rich.
ard Greenow. samples them all. The
author brings into the open here the
drama set by the fact that within the
personality of Richard Greenow the
male and female elements of which
every being Is a compound. are so near
ly balanced in proportion and power
as to force a struggle for supremacy.
The boy. the brilliant Oxford student.
the distinguished man Of letters, is.
in any moment of off-guard, crowded
into obscurity to make way for a
certain Pearl Bellairs who reels on
volumes of popular stuff of which
Richard Greenow is much ashamed,
but which. nevertheless. he sells to
a welcoming public at astonishing
figures. The story suggests the Will
liam Sharp Fiona Macleod puzzle OF
a few years ago. A striking manner
and thorough workmanship carry
these weird tales over into the slight
ly frightened, but wholly captivated
consciousness of the reader.
THE STORY OF OPAL, The Journal
Of nm Understanding Heart. BY
Opal Whitley. illustrated. Ros-
ton: The Atlantic Monthly Press.
Has Daisy Ashford introduced an
era of infant authorship? 1t looks so.
For close upon the heels of Miss Ash
ford, there appears Opal Whitley.
whose literary career commences at
the age of six. Here, however. the
likeness between the two ends. The
former is the romantic adventurer OF
urban outlook and taste. The latter
is lover of nature, beginning Just
out Of the cradle. 50 to speak. to
chronicle. day by day. the doings OF
the world-half real and half mag
inary-that she herself sets up with
in the otherwise prosaic life of the
western lumber camp. The fellow
ship that many children set UP be-
tween themselves and the. whole ami
mate life around them is here in an
abandon of reality. An Imagination
rich in beautiful imagery is here. (!
And with both there is a painstaking
realism of detail. a conscientious
rounding of each incident and adven-
ture that sums the entire record to
quantity beautiful story of a girl who
impresses the whole of the nature
life about her to the service of friend
ship and a genuinely human associa-
ton. ;.