Evening star., 1922-12-04
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
THE IRON PUDDLER. James J. Da-
Wis. (The Bobbs-Merrill Com'

THE IRON PUDDLER. James J: Da-
Wis. (The Bobbs-Merrill Conn
pany).
He used to be an iron puddler.
Today he is member of President
Harding's cabinet-Secretary OF La
Dor James J. Davis.
Much earlier he was reiuetant
emigrant from Wales: a small bundle
to Be pulled by the heels out from
under the bed to get his start for
America.
In this book, James j. Davis-cabi-
net officer, master iron worker. immi-
grant-links up these widely separate
points through the story OF his own
life.
What is an iron puddler"? Briehy.
and most auperfcially. il is a man-in
this particular case A boy-standink.
stripped to the waist. sooty and
sweaty. before the open door OF
"seven times heated" furnace. In his
hand is a heavy iron rabbie. a paddle:
prizes and prods the boiling pigs"
He liz simply helping the fierce heat
whose work il ;s to hunt out each
corner Of the mass and TO chnse from
itself. This rot done. iron would be
brittle. unfit for industrial uses. The
job Of pudding calls for the rtuscles
OF Hercules and the heat reristahcs
OF the tabled salamandef. Beside this
one furnace there arc in the great In.
closure many furnaces. The heat
from these, the glare. the roar Of the
fire. the flaming eye OF each open
door. the thunder OF machinery. the
shouts of men. the molten metal -un-
ming from red TO silver. the dancing
iridescence of escaping gases. the sur
lr"unding gloon pierced by the fantas-
tic thrusts OF mahy-colored lights.
and before each furnace a stalwart
rre-Eod welding hfk mighty sp.hr--
OF all this Mr.. Davis paints a picture
OF the Inferno of Dante. and to max.
others grumble. Just plain hell"
Pudding In one of the hieh points Of
ironmakins. the fine art of the proc
ess. 30 to speak. It's complexities
as all the old crafts used to do. The
father of James Davis, his grand
father, and even further back. were
workers in iron over in Wales. the
father in Ruseia. also. Ro II is easy
I" see why being an iron puddier
with a furnace Of his own became 4
eonl for young Davis. a peak In his
career.
1t took many little hills Of effort.
however, to reach this commanding
height of iron puidiinss Jimmie
Davis commenced young. No sooner
did the Immigrant family reach the
iron fields than the boy began his
climbing. Right away he had sofr,e-
thing on his mind that pushed him.
War something" was two feather
beds. These we're his mothers house.
hold treasure, lost past finding at
Castle Garden. where the family
landed. Nowadays it Is hard to look
upon this as a calamity. But these
beds meant desire. and work. and
thrift. and the final glory of beds.
plucked. little by little. from live
geese. with not a single contamiaat-
ing hens feather about them. The
bed episode is sign. The boy be-
gins early to carry on for others.
He drove cows TO and from pasture
for the hotel keeper-s1.25 a month
/ He blacked the shoes Of the dude
drummers that now and then came
to Sharon. He carried kilograms from
the station. From the last OF these
he came TO see that he was invariably
/ carrier Of sorrow. In those days.
and in that place. a telegram meant
. death and shoca and grief and
speedy desfitution. This fact drop
bSu IEtO aIOfK Win many
of it's kind, like eeeds planted i'll the
soil.
Jimmie Davis went to echoo!. Then
, he quit school. The iron was In his
a lure. There was immediate need.
; besides. and the public schools were
too slow IN delivering the goods In
a Few years, however, he felt the
demand for education and he here
tells how he grabbed this along the
clsi course. and all the'time study. on
! the side, in off moments and hours.
:: K X ::
Finally. the familiar Odyssey of
the laborcr was rounded out-the
full days. the slack days. the idle
days looking for "a job. finding 1t.
I losing it and SO on In regular repeti.
tion. Out OF these years innumerabie
human contacts were set up. And by
process of natural selection James
Davis moved out of the field of
iron into the field of men. From this
point on. the passage of Mr.. Davis in
steady progression. to his present of.
fetal distinction. appears to the
reader to stand merely as an uncom-
monty complete Identification of
man in his Industrial and political
OUTLOOK, With q peTiCu OF
Industrial and political change.
Coming out of this story. one counts
that the highest achievement, of its
author has been. and will be. the
that this school signifies. For fifteen
years Mr.. Davis travelled and lectured
for the purpose OF rsvfving and en-
larginE the Loyal Order of Moose. q
social organization whose possibill-
ties fired his imagination as ain in
satisfy mans fraternal instinct. This
order raised to the lalf-millioh mark.
the real purpose of Mr.. Davis-that
of the Mooseheatt School-stood
clear. In the city of Mooseheart.
about thirty mileo west of Chicago.
the Mooseheart School is fact to-
day. A thousand fatherless children
live there in home and school. The
vision that projected this school. its
industrial character. the direct bear
ing of it's work upon the facts and
practices of industry. its ideal of
citizenship. the happiness which it
creates and sustains-these are call
culated to add. in Justice. educator"
to the other titles of the Secretary
OF Labor.
1t is Impossible TO oescrlDe tne
simplicity Of this story. MIR. Davis Is
not a writer. He is q talker. And the
story moves forward. talkingly. in
straight line. With never flourish
about it anywhere. 1t is, in its bare
facts, q remarkable story-ohe that
ufyes. without intending to do so,
surpassing picture of achievement out
OF a sheer. stubborn determination to
succeed. TO this is coupled lust for
work; a healthy body. a friendly
heart. an ability to see both sides Of