Evening star., 1922-08-13
f., H. HARTMAN; n biography. BY
George kennan. Illustrated. Bos-
ton: Houghton Miffiin Company.

II ts clifIldA VI Il. hAehi 'ii'->''
work as great organizer
and administrator in the field
OF transportation conceded
exactly with that period in which
political and Legislative restraints
were closing down upon our famous
Captains of industry" This coinci-
dence between the man and the mo-
ment stood in between any immedl-
ate just estimate of the value of Mr..
Harriman's public service--any just
estimate. indeed. as to the quality OF
his personal character. 1t was a time
of suspicion. of bitter feeling. of snap
judgments. of deeply personal views.
The executive himself-always ardent
for the right-was, by temperament,
en- impetuous judge. rather than cir
cumSpect one. One cannot thlnk Oh
Mr. Hartman as victim OF clrcuhh
stance The name victim does not
fit this reSolute and compelling man
Nevertheless, he did suffer through
the particula'r juncture in which ne
found himself And now. years after
more than dozen years OF quiet re-
valuations since the death of Mr..
Farriman-George KEENAN, offers to
us the story of a great personality.
One cannot read this serious. substan-
tial. appraising book without reach
ing the fact that, page by page. a
mana typically American man--is
growing here to the stature of great
ness in his own field. The surface of
Mr.. Harriman's railway work is gen
orally known. Here one gets the in
side of it-gets the imagination that
sees great country tied together by
steel rails, gets the practical turn
and the indomita BILE will that changes
the dream to reality. Nor did one
know OF the many-sidedness OF this
l. Nf
the Imperial valley when the Colo
RADIO river went on a rampage and ran
away, to the dreadful menace of the
people and the property of the val
ley. Read of his dynamic action when
San Francisco was shaken by earth
quake and consumed by fire. Read of
the great park gathered little by lit
tie, beautified. perfected-and then
handed over to the state of New York.
Read of the Boys Club. started with
three street waifs-then take look
a that club today. oh, read of any
number of big-hearted. big-visioned
things that are brought together
here by the sober reliability of George
kennan. who. somehow. conveys the
impression that he is engaged in
something like solemn duty as he so
clearly rounds out the life and char
acter. the work and the influence Of
E. II. Hartman. The man-and the
story-are so of America. and so il
Illustrative. withal. of what America
offers. of what an American can do
that the book stands with the best
among the stories of gre at Americans.
THE BLOCKING OF ZEEBRUGGE.
BY Capt. a. +. B. Carpenter. V. c.,
r. n. Illustrated Boston: Hough-
ton Mifflin Company.
This account of the blocking of
ZeebrugGe during the great war has
a brilliant backing. Admiral Earl
Beatty. Marshal Foch. Rear Admiral
Sims and the burgoma ster of Bruges,
Count Visart--all affirm that the
story is a completely trustworthy
record of the brilliant military ex-
pIoit by which Zeebrugge was
blocked and thereby rendered useless
as d point of exit for the deadly
submarines Of the enemy. once into
the story itself. however. the reader
forgets the quality of its sponsors.
forgets all about them. since he is.
from that moment. absorbed in the
tension and excitement of the great
enterprise. The book is dedicated to
THE Man-in- the Street" Therefore,
this man Is able to read every word
of it with understanding and high
apprecia ton Keeping away from
the technic of war strategy and the
straight and vigorous words defines
the general situation of the sub
marine attacks by the enemy with
it's sequence of deadly peril to Eng
land. What to do and how to do it?
Here he spreads out the purpose and
the plan by way of which. if success
follows. the danger may be averted
Step by step he leads along. till the
plan is perfected and then the Won
derful exploit is repeated. by way
of readers the world over. Queen
Elizabeth's seamen. who have since
shaped a thousand tales of romance
and adventure. have nothing more
here in this single war measure of
four or five years ago. The bare
facts of authentic history and the
brilliant colors of prime adventure
unite in this account with inspiring
effect.
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS. BY Err |
nest Wadsworth Longfellow. IL
lustrated. Boston: Houghton Mif- !
fin Company.
fellows son was a rich one. The |
family circle alone would have Sc ,
cured him in this advantage. But !
there were other influences to en-
these was the neighborly group Of !
poets and statesmen to whom New |
England has since been in debt for |
its atmosphere of quality and cul- |
ture. And, again. the period itself |
was vital one. with New England |
foremost in the agitation against |
slavery and with the civil war re-
spending to its fury of claim and
counter-claim. 1t is from such a
fruitful field Of recollection that this
author draws the book in hand. The
title Is an exact one, for. in place
of the orderly arrangement of events
as they came along in his own life.
Mr.. Longfellow selects here and there
for incidents that serve to objectify
some phase of that life when the
locality was pretty GpneralIv given
over to plain living and high think
ing" One catches Intimate glimpses
OF men who. as a rule, have ap-
peared to him in formal dress and
attitude-glimpses of Lowell and
a host of others. Here is a good
little story, one, too, that sets forth
the simple and engaging quality of
the whole book. His (Emerson's)
wonderful. benignant' smile is the
Then he tells the story of Bronson
Alcott, Emerson's neighbor in Con-
cord. TT seems that Alcott used
to visit Emerson in the mornings :
and Emerson would get off some of |
his Orphic sayings. Then in the aft |
when the latter would repeat what |
Emerson had said in the morning
Emerson. quite forgetting that these |
were his own words, would say:
What remarkable mind Alcott |
has" The book, as a whole, is a |
precious relic of a period and To- |
cality that Americans must keep well !
in mind.
WOMEN PROFESSIONAL WORKERS. !
By Elizabeth Kemper Adams, |
Phi. D. New York: The Macmillan |
Company.
A scholarly study that covers a wide
field Of investigation and suggestion. |