davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The New York herald., 1921-10-16

Army. In November, 1917,
he joined the Italian Red
Cross and drove an ambu-
lance until the summer of
1918. At this juncture he re-
turned to America and de-
spite defect in his sight he
got into section of the
American Ambulance Corps.
Just now Dos Passos is
travelling in Spain
The other two musketeers
in this column were poets
before they were novelists.
Stephen Vincent Benet's s
"The Beginning of Wisdom "
Holt was reviewed in last
weeks HERALD. Dana Bur-
nets Clark" (Little, Brown
& Coz will be reviewed next
week. It's author first proved
his lyric powers in the
EVENING Sun. Passos and
Benet head and foot this
column Burnet in the centre.
The New York herald., 1921-10-16
Walters Opinion of His Own Play
Victor Hugo. A Newspaper Novel

, others would be if they dared, and
they blamed it all on the men. You
could read their faces or overhear
their talk. One woman came alone
night after night for weeks and it
was plain that she got good deal
of satisfaction out of it-she seemed
to feel justified"
Too bad for the playwright's
twisted intention, but there's nothing
in the copyright laws to prevent
people from admiring character the
author tried to make them despise.
Moreover, it is doubtful If Laura is
admired by any great number. AS
matter of fact, being the woman she
was, the effort she actually put forth
showed more character than one
could reasonably look for in her. If
the audience-and the reader-feels
any sympathy for her it is because
the author has made her human.
Mr.. Moses's collection opens with
the text of Rip Van Wrinkle, as Joe
Jefferson finally played it, with indi-
cations of some of the changes made
by various hands. 1t is long jour
ney from Rip to Laura in the hiss
tory of the American stage. Yet the
same question was raised about the
sleepy old drunkard: Was he a per-
son one ought to permit himself to
admire? Washington Irving had no
very stern purpose to hold up his
weakness as warning.
| And now they've put Main Street
on the stage. Small town stuff, like
Rip Van Winkle, and similar ex-
ample of literary popularity forcing
a theatrical production. But there
the likeness ends. What a chance
poor. easy-going old Trying missed!
With a woman of Mrs. Van Wrinkles
courage and initiative, things might
have been done to that poor be-
nighted village of Falling Water
especially with Rip out of the way
that would have changed the whole
social history of America!
The New York herald., 1921-10-16

John Dos Passos is young.
But since old men started the
war and good many boys
died in it their side ought to
be heard. And heard it is,
through a megaphone, in
"Three Soldiers. (Doran).
1t is a very American novel
though not 100 per cent!
Dos Passos was born in
Chicago and has spent a great
deal of his life in England.
In his early youth he went to
school there, but he took his
university work at Harvard.
In 1916 he enlisted in the
Norton Hodges Volunteer
Ambulance Service, which
was incorporated with the
25th Division Of the French
The New York herald., 1921-10-16

nor pride, nor sarcasm. The tide of
talk bore along their forgotten glory
And it was NJ. Bile whose greatness
expanded all the time
The scourge has passed over the
little town without changing 1t. More
than ever, NJ. Bile imposes upon the
public his majestic embonpoint and his
authoritative word-the word of an
oracle and pontiff. humbly sought
You, NJ. Bile, who know everything,
tell u.s."
1t is the breath of his life TO believe
in his own superiority And the au-
thor has neatly contrasted the hero's
own opinion of himself with his real
stature and his petty interests. He
reminds one of his big brothers, the
immortal Monsieur Prud'homme" of
Daumier, Homais of Flaubert, Tar
tarin Of Daudet.
Certain malicious individuals who
are not extreme admirers of the
Academy would naturally discover in
the awarding of the prize to this novel
tardy sign of regret for past neglect
of books of this type. Possibly honors
bestowed on Pierre Viletard point
over his head to earlier masters that
were not so recognized. However that
may be, even though he recalls the
creations of Daudet and Flaubert. he
is individual enough, in his own fash
ion.
Villetard is quite free from the NAL
ice of those "realists" who only ap-
proach nature to punish her for pro-
h.. L.,
study the plain people only 10 tlay
mediocrity. In his first book. Mon
sieur ct Madame Billie" (Albn Michel:
Paris). this author answers the charge
of harshness:
"Some will consider the portraits Sc
we're: indeed. do not believe them To
he exaggerated" In other words there
is no cruel purpose. no systematic
pursuit of his characters. AS he de-
clares in the preface Of the earlier
book: "The personages will not turn
madly about on one pivot, like mono
maniacs." One doesn't get fairly worn
out watching them as Flaubert in
tentionally wearies the reader with the
routine of Madame Bovarys country
side When this bourgeois households
atmosphere grows too close Pierre
villetard simply let's in the lovely air
of Touraine. He paints a series of pic
lures with exact little strokes. The
light plays over the scene as over the
wavelets of a river shining in the sun
There Is only enough discreet irony
to define the artists composition
Such irony he used In referring to his
own work, in the preface to the earlier
book There you have IL, he wrote
this Is not a novel;" And perhaps
the smiling disclaimer caused the
Academy TO pass him by at first. Fol
that venerable body scarcely under
stands irony. How could II see a
prize winning novel in Monsieur e'
Madame Bile. the history of family
to which nothing happens? But IN
Billie dams la Tourments" is war bool
The New York herald., 1921-10-16
Golf for Beginners

GOLF FACTS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.
BY Francis ouimet The Century
Company.
T HIS is book of interest more
to the would be golfer than to
- the experienced player. II is
designed to point out the hows and
wherefores of golf to the aspiring. and
in particular to the young. for II Is the
authors contention that true golf form
can be acquired only by those who
commence early in life. Thus he him
self began as a boy, and many other
noted golf players started when yet
in their teens.
The book is partly autobiographical.
beginning with the authors introduc-
ton 10 golf and proceeding to a de-
scription of golf as a sport and an
argument to support the statement
that golf success and youth arc in.
separable. There are also chapters on
Tournament Play" on Watching
Master Golfers" on THE Value of
Imitation" value of Concentration
Physical Condition" Golf in Bad
Weather" Imagination in Golf,' and
kindred topics.
The New York herald., 1921-10-16
Young Roosevelt's Letters Present
Contrast to ''The Three Soldiers"

the fever of life is over and our work
is done Then in Thy mercy grant US
a safe lodging place and peace at the
last, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
I've always loved it, and now, when
life is hard, and all that is dearest to
me is far away, it is a comfort to think
that some time all this will be past,
and that we will have peace
Not that his letters are spiritual
rather are they boisterous with the
keenness of his ambition to be doing
the things that counted. He exhibits
not the slightest conjunction concern
ing killing a German, and glories in the
conquests of his fellows, all of which
is. of course, most natural. The
touches of serious thinking, however,
that show in many letters are char
acteristically illustrated in the follow
ing excerpt relating to his leaving
camp where he had been for some
time:
las we passed the hangar one of the
sergeants yelled after us: Let us know
if you're captured and We'll come after
you!, So LETT with a big lump in my
throat, for it's nice to know that your
men have liked YOU
The one fear that Quentin had, which
he constantly repeats to his family,
was that he might become an EN-
busque"-that is. the permanent holder
of a non-fghting assignment. His
biggest decisions were those necessi-
tated by the desire of his superiors
10 retain him in important executive
positions at the camps rather than let
him go to the front where he would
be but "A junior lieutenant in a squad
ron without any responsibility He
did, however, get to the front and
brought down one German plane be-
fore he passed to the Great Com
mander.
OF his death there are several letters
written to his family by friends, some
official documents, a number of let
ters from high officials and some in
teresting German comments and clip
pings. These last are remarkable in
showing the esteem with which the
Roosevelt family was held in Ger
| many despite all that they were doing
against her. The German high COM
The New York herald., 1921-10-16
Creators.
T OBODY ever used long words
so lovingly as old Sir Thomas

n TOBODY ever used long words
M so lovingly as old Sir Thomas
Browne. But he could use
short ones on occasion. And he rose
to one of the heights of simple hu-
man expression when he said Ma
ture is the art of God" 1t is kind
of extension of the same thought to
say that art is mans Nature. There
he goes on creating in such ways as
he can. But feeling his personal
limitations of time and place he
seeks to draw the riches of the uni
verse into his hands or within the
range of his senses-the harmony Of
all winds and seas in symphony
the forest and the sky in pilIared
temple and dome.
Victor Hugo had grotesque, even
ridiculous aspect. But there was a
look of creative divinity in the work
ing of his genius. And when he wrote
of Notre Dame he expressed not only
the direct meanings of it's architec-
ture but the dim relation of mans
art to nature and the primitive world.
This is beautifully made clear in
Madame Duclaux's "victor Hugo"
(Holt).
"The real heroine lof Notre-Ddnte
is the Cathedral, which Victor Hugo
knew inch small, which he had visited
perhaps a thousand times in his eight
and twenty years, which he loved
and, above all, in which he recog-
nized the expression Of his own
genius. Victor Hugo was of the same
race as the medi@val masons who
had transposed into stone the i'm
mense variety of Nature. Here was
an example to show that Beauty can
exist outside the limits of Measure,
Unity, Order; that there can be a
grace and grandeur independent of
the laws of classic perfection; a
Beauty that draws its elements from
the abundance and the complexity
OF the elements that IL associates, in
harmony as elastic as that of the
trees in forest or the leaves on a
.bough.
Everything in Gothic art is cal
culated, but nothing Is exact, no
angle true. no line straight, and 1t is
this supple and, as it were spontane'
GUS asymmetry, these most imper-
ceptible curves and irregularities,
which give their look of growth and
life to these immense cathedrals
Whether we see them from without,
with the contrast of their vast plain
stretches of masonry, their portals
full of piled up figures and shadows
and their towers soaring high in the
air and sprouting into innumerable
pinnacles and gargoyles that break
The New York herald., 1921-10-16

uland made much of Quentin Roose-
velt death, using it as propaganda
to hearten both soldiers and their kins-
folk at home. Photographs were made
and spread broadcast of the grave,
the wrecked plane, and the reviewer
has even seen cards reputing to show
the body. The effect of this Hunnish
propaganda, according to German re-
ports, was exactly the reverse, be-
cause of the obvious comparison be-
tween Quentin Roosevelt and the sew
eral sons Of the Kaiser, who had not
even been scratched. There is no doubt
that many soldiers thought Col Roose-
welt still to be the President of the
United States, and the vision of his
son fighting to his death while their
own autocratic dynasty fought in per-
feet safety in concrete dugouts miles
behind the front did much to break
the morale of the German troops.
There can, of course, be great regret
and sorrow over Quentin's passing, out
no pity He went forth on the day of
his death with an early patrol Of Amer
lean flyers to engage any German
p!dneS LTdt were out. lney IIleI Il
similar squadron of the enemy, and in
the fight that followed Quentin was
shot by a German on-commissioned
flyer. 1t was a case of one or the
other, both were soldiers and both
knew there could not be the slightest
mercy on either side in such a fight.
To the German the death or defeat of
his antagonist was the means of saw
ing his own life, and he could do
naught but try 10 do so If possible.
There is no doubt that Quentin battled
bravely without assistance from his
comrades, who were heavily engaged,
but that the god of battles was not on
his side-a fact that leads us into
most serious thinking concerning the
makeup of our PHILOSOPHERS. His death
must have profoundly affected his
father and mother, but there can be no
uncertainty as to the willingness for
such a sacrifice in the name of their
country.
! Would that all parents of boys who
| fell in the war had such an inheritance
as the letters and documents that have
come to Kermit Roosevelt.
The New York herald., 1921-10-16
An American Knight of the Air

QUENTIN ROOSEVELT A Sketch With
Letters. Edited by Kermit Roosevelt.
Charles Scribner's Sons.
r IKE a breeze from the highlands
clearing away the low hanging
mists from the marshes comes
the story of Quentin Roosevelt to
sweep away the sordid impressions of
our army life that seep from the pages
of Three Soldiers" Told in the form
of letters to his family. supplemented
by official documents and other letters.
the book of Quentin Roosevelt is the
simple story of a brave boy who missed
nothing in the way of hard soldier life
and who went to his death cheerful
and happy in the thought of serving
his country.
1t is not book Of thrills, and hardly
a war book, this series Of letters edited
by Kermit Roosevelt, and its youthful
accounts Of routine adventures in camp
and barrack might not interest the
average soldier. 1t Is rather book for
mothers and fathers, who will delight
in the lovable boy Quentin and who
will envy Mrs. Roosevelt in the men,
ory of such a son. These older. readers
will feel the greatest response to Quen-
tins intense appreciation of the gifts
he received from home, to his ardent
PATRIOTISM to his love of everything
that was fine and honorable, and they
will appreciate particularly this further
exposition Of that wonderfully intimate
family life that was the Roosevelts'.
The book of Quentin is one for them
to send to their boys in college, that
their sons may emulate the character
istics that were his-a love and APP
probation of the finer things in life,
free from all trace of intellectual or
social snobbery, coupled with an in
tense fairness and bravery. How many
boys, we wonder that is. boys of the
Inheritance of Quentin Roosevelt
brought UP as a son of great and
aristocratic family. subject to all the
social influences that surround the po-
sition of President of the United States
would write home such paragraph in
his letters:
II wonder If / ever told you my pet
prayer-almost the only one care for?
II was written, think, by Bishop Pot
ter: o Lord. protect us all the day
long of our troublous life on earth until
he shadows lengthen and the evening
comes. and the busy world is hushed
The New York herald., 1921-10-16

Win the way uc JuuScS OIA-
ers. He knows how many difficulties
lie between plan and it's accomplish
ment. He has at least rough idea
of cause and effect and a human
standard of proportion which he can
apply to his fellows.
But above all, he has better bal
anced mind when some kind Of ac-
tivity concentrates the forces of his
nature and draws him out of HIM
self.
The second volume Of Mr.. Clutton-
Brooks literary comment More
Essays on Books" (Dutton), like the
first, gives the reader something to
think about. And his good counsel
extends beyond the library. One of
the best of his essays Is on Worldly
Wisdom" He analyses an often
tTdHSldteQ DOOk vi lie SeNcHLccHIu
century, Gracian's Oraculo Manual y
Arte dc Prudentid.
Gracian's wisdom is folly, because
it is based on admiring observation
Of the petty tricks of idle courtiers
in their struggle to secure honor and
advantage, for the most part not
worth gaining. Clutton-Brock sets
in contrast with Gracian's gospel Of
intrigue the spirit of the true work
er. And what could be more perti-
nent to book page than this:
There is always some honesty,
some positive virtue, and usually
some charity, in the man who has
learned to do useful job really well.
He does know what life is like. .
Perhaps the greatest virtue of the
best modern literature is that it re-
mains conscious of the fact that the
mass of men have to earn their liv-
ing, that it thinks and feels in terms
of that fact, and does not judge man
kind with the implacable fastidious.
ness of the idle"
The New York herald., 1921-10-16
A Wasted Hero.

TITO name book Success"
(Houghton, Mifflin Company
= as Samuel Hopkins Adams's
new novel is called, is to tempt fail
ure. Very likely the title is meant
-satirically. But if the hero failed it
is the authors fault, not his. The
Banneker defined in the books open
ing chapters would never have done
the fool things he is made to do
when he gets his chance.
Adams has been reporter and
knows about newspapers. He finds
good deal of fault with them in this
book. Some of the criticisms are
well based. Nobody intelligent
enough to edit a city daily would
contend that his paper was perfect.
Probably thousands of men have
dreamed of showing the world how
newspaper ought to be run. A few
of them try-in fiction and outside.
It's a great field for constructive
suggestion. The astounding thing is
that Samuel Hopkins Adams, with all
his experience and all his indigna-
tion against existing conditions,
doesn't make any! He personifies
the dream of something better in
young reporter and in an older man
who has gone through the mill and
kept his ideals. He brings to them
rich newspaper owner who offers
to let them try out their theories.
without any pressure from the pro-
prietor, or other adverse influence OF
any kind, these two idealists delib-
erately incorporate the worst fea-
lures of the papers already popular
They go vicious sensationalism one
better. The excuse is that Banneker
can thus win attention for his pre-
cious editorials. But there is moth
ing to show that these are really
worth the sacrifice of principle. The
whole affair is futile and disappoint-
ing.
OF course the hero becomes in
volved in trouble with advertisers,
politicians, financial interests and at
last even with the papers owner.
Probsbly Adams intends to make
some kind of indictment. But the
point is that he never presents
clear issue because his protagonist
betrays the cause from the outset.
A few years ago there was a pop
ular musical comedy which held its
place for a season by virtue of one
singable song. At the end Of the
first act one woman had been fixed
in the mind or the audience as a ro-
mantle heroine. The second act was
devoted to jeering at her till the first
impression was completely spoiled.
!, don't find any excuse for that even
in musical comedy. In a suppos
edly serious novel 1t is objectionable.
Adams writes forcibly and carries
the reader along through more than
five hundred pages. There are many
kinds of interest in the book. But in
the presentation of it's main theme
g'Success' is failure.
The New York herald., 1921-10-16

n II BILLIE DAMS LA TOUR
MI MENTE," winner of the
=. French >Academy's first
prize in fiction. is the provinces in
wartime, far from the front. Its char
acters are the men who were toe
young to fight in 1870. too old in 1914.
They upheld the morale of the rear.
formed committees. discussed the plan
of operations in cafes, explained bull
letins to the bystanders cried out,
Something must be done!" and on
the least excuse they covered them
selves with laurels which outshone the
humble cross from the front
1t is the war seen through small
town eyes upon a horizon limited by
the country streets and walls, entering
the lives of two small property owners
only to furnish new grounds for the
old strife which went on ceaselessly
between their prejudices and petty
vanities.
In the first place, although he had
season-without conviction-the war
really surprised M. Billie. But 1t soon
appeared that he had always fore
seen 1t and that peoples, nations
armies, had meekly followed the way
he had marked out for them. A mu-
nicipal councillor, charged with issuing
permits for travel. he terrorized the
family grocer who only wanted TO de-
liver a cask in the next village. on
such an occasion he would cry out
to his fellow officials:
mo more weakness! No more per-
missions. France before everything!
But NJ. Bilie's class was called. After
the first dismay, ne saw in his forced
advance toward a glorious destiny the
discomforture of his wife and the
son -in-law with whom she had been
comparing him scornfully.
His adventure was peaceable enough
service at the rear. But he came
home loaded with glorious memories Oh
noble suffering. AS matter OF fact
like the lion hunting Tartarin and
his ingiorious quarry. M. Bile had
shot a calf
Madame didn't trouble her head over
her husbands record In his absence
she had boarded provisions. speculated
made money. She was too busy to
listen to him. 1t was only after the
war was over. when the soldiers came
home, that he could spread himself
| He invited the wounded to his house
and there. in the little garden. n
calmly recounted his share in tho
| war.
The visitors were silent. they ef.
faced themselves--the real heroes
] before a braggart. Neither bitterness
The New York herald., 1921-10-16
Paris Reads Fiction About the Provinces

NJ. BILLIE DAMS LA TOURMENTE
BY Pierre Villetard. Fasquelle.
Paris.
La vdnfte ne nous ntunQue jdndis,
m6me dams Pdbscnce Ia plus complete
de toutes les rdisons den dpoir; royez
les bourgeois dune petite rille.-
STENDHAL.
The New York herald., 1921-10-16
Work and Criticism.

ANS feeling about his own
task has a great deal to do
with the way he judges 9th
The New York herald., 1921-10-16

GOLF FACTS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.
BY Francis Ouimet. The Century
Company.
The Nevada County picayune., 1921-10-27

dollars would be saved every year that otherwise go To enrich the manu- lecturers of fertilizers.
 Many other instances could be cited, and d world of advice given on this question. but il seems suporlluoas to % on The Tact is if nc farmer would pull himself out and get on solid ground he must do it= largely himself, taking advantage of course. of all reliable agencies established to assist him in the solution of his pro. bIemS The farmer must study his oWa# business and he q farmer. and not long to he merchant, | banker or manufacturer. He must also stop losing so much time from his business. The farmer comes to town Saturday morning. and usually brings his family along. They spend the entire day standing on the streets talking about everything except the business of farming What would we think if the merchants. the bankers, the doctors. lawyers and other professional men should leave their business every Sat