Evening star., 1923-05-29
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
Chile and Argentina. Frank G.
| Carpenter. Doubleday, Page and
| ~ppnapv

The traveller, like every other hu-
man, gets out of his experiences
pretty much what he puts into them.
So, back from going UP and down
the earth, one comes laden with pic
lures Of the landscape. those combi-
nations of land and water, those
gradations of mountain and plain.
that set off region from region. An
other brings back the varied peo-
Piles, each set in it's own proposes
sions of race, religion, society, gov
ernment. One comes with poetry, art,
literature. Another maybe. with the
progress of science or the fruits of
archaeological research. Each ac-
cording to to his own bent and his
own power to seize. The traveller who
serves best the greatest number Of
the reading folks left at home is the
one who, drawing in due proportion
from these various special lines,
builds with them the common basic
life OF all human beings Humanity
the world over has but a mere hand
ful or fundamental preoccupations.
These are identical among all orders
and grades of mankind. Food. shelter.
procreation-secured on the one hand
through the elaborate intricacies of
an advanced civilization and on the
other hand in the bare simplicity of
primitive existence. At root both the
same, however. And this fact the
good traveller must keep in mind. if
he have any hope at all of delivering
remote peoples over into the interest
and understanding of the reading
folks at home.
Enter Frank G. Carpenter in the
unassailable role of the good trav-
eler-not only the good traveller. but
great one as we'll In a literal.
dictionary sense. Mr.. Carpenter is
neither explorer nor discoverer. In
a very real sense, however, he Is both.
To be sure he was not the first to
penetrate any part of the two hemi-
spheres, nor any part of the seven
seas. And to be sure no single spot
of earth can claim him as it's dis
coverer. Nevertheless in his effect
upon thousands of readers he has
brought to them many a distant re-
gion in the vivid coIors of its new
and only real significance. A clear
explorer. this. AS discoverer he has
more than once uncovered for US
from it's blanketings Of false informa-
tion the first-hand truth about this
far place or that one. Mr.. Carpenter
is as interesting and as profitable
in outlook and method as he is in
his ultimate findings. Neither his
torian nor prophet does this traveller
choose to be. Instead. wholly modern
and practical. he elects to be an OBJ
server and recorder of facts, both
in their actuality and in the most
immediate OF their useful implica-
tions. His mind is bent to such as
poets of any locality as are calculated
TO contribute to the general current
Of important affairs the world over.
This questing mind Is fitted with
pair Of very keen eyes that look
around on every side, rarely back
ward or far forward. Under the hand
is a ready notebook. and into this
Mr.. Carpenter pours. while they are
vet hot the vital facts and striking
impressions that region after region
yields to this eager and importunate
traveller And this notebook. with
practically no fXing-up at all. turns
out. finally. to be the book itself that,
vivid and alive. passes over TO read
ers one or another of the far places
of the earth.
This time the places are Chile ana
Argentina A new Chile and Argentina.
The old school books-some of them
still goine-catch US young when we
are plastic to take in and to hold fast
to impressions. Since these school DAYS
we have found out that many OF the
things we learned we're not SO at az.
and the rest of them were hardly worth
while. Still the old notions persist,
among them. in an odd perversity, that
old notion about Patagonia. Up until
Yesterday we were actually cilnging 10
that uninhabitab bic region, to those des-
IL esSz ,,al raT-n-
historic relic. their handful of savage
tribes living on nothing at all but sand
and the scant airs that heaven assigned
to this reach Of desolation. Then YES
terday Mr.. Carpenter came along bear
ing this Tail of the Hemisphere" for
ords-'irrigation,' intensive cultiva-
ton" electricity" modern mechanics
of production. transportation, communl-
cation modern methods OF co-ordina-
ton and administration" and there YOU
are. with live, human, growing.
productive and progressive Chile and
Argentina spread out before you.
Good maps add to our sense of an
actual partaking in this travel adven-
ture. BY way of these we go along
with Mr., Carpenter, entering Chile from rom
the north. Then south. threading like
bright beads upon string such color
full objects as. IQuiQue. Antofagasta.
Valparaiso. Santiago, Punta Arenas.
then turning northward. Bahia Blanca
and. finally. Buenos Aires. This inclu-
sive chain points upon various pictur-
esque features of natural setting to
which the author gives good heed In
passing These melodious names point
also upon mines OF copper. gold. silver.
upon the rich nitrate fields, upon the
great fruit-growing region OF the in
terror above and below Santiago, upon
the immense plains where millions OF
cattle Craze, upon busy seaports and
manufacturing centers.
There are interesting descriptions
Of growing enterprise with such
names as Bethlehem Steel and the
Guegenheims to indicate the increas-
ing solidari- of industry in the west
ern hemisphere. The fruit region
around Santiago will supplement that
of California in providing the eastern
seaboard with fresh fruits the year
around. the short cut of the Panama
canal making this possible and en-
ttrely feasible. Here are deScrlp-
tions. too. of the people and the daily
life of work and play and recreations
of every sort. Here we get acquaint-
ed with the Araucanian Indians in
existence away back and setting. up
an impa ssable barrier to the ancient
dominion of the Incas. A remnant
now whose state is here set before
US. At Valparaiso Mr.. Carpenter takes
us across for a hasty overlooking of
the lone island that gave rise to the
story of Robinson Crusoe. Then back
and on again in this interesting tide
of life in lower South America. An
absorbing book from first to last in
it's latest account of the present state
and the promised fulfllment of a
rich and growing region.
X
Mr.. Carpenter, eminently practical
and businesslike. is. nevertheless. an
amazing colorist. Let us hear him
talk a minute. 'I am on a little