Evening star., 1923-07-01

ANthONH JOhN. by Jerome n. Je-
rome. author of Passing of the
Third Floor Back" etc. New York:
Dodd, Mead & Co.
1oU recall the rich man who
" asked Jesus what he could do
to save himself. and that he
was told to sell what he had
and give to the poor. Anthony JohL
Is q finer man than that other, for he
wants to know how to save the world.
The answer comes-from somewhere
that he must let his riches go
while he fares out to preach to the
world the great gospel of human
service. This comes at the end of
the story. 1t begins with Anthony
John, little boy--a very dear and
beautiful boy whose father dreams,
dreams and fiddles with inventions,
and never gets ahead. all to the grief
and discomfort of his practical and
thrifty mother. Anthony John loves
those foolish things that his father
tries to do but. very early, he gets
the idea that he must buckle down to
earn money. He does this. He be-
comes q rich man. Then the father
in him breaks out again and Anthony
John worries over the troubles of the
poor. He gives and gives. The more
he gives the greater appears to be the
capacity of the poor toward growing
destination. And by way of this
beautiful and dignified story we fol-
low Anthony John to the place where
he gives il all up and casts his lot
with the great majority. Love and
marriage and fine friendships and
much good work lie along this way.
Wc, too. become stanch friends of
Anthony John. Nevertheless, An
thony John is dead wrong. Gifts do
no good. only harm. Preaching does
the really divine gift. Why didn't
Anthony John do what thousands of
rich men are doing today-despite
assertions to the contrary? Why
didn't he put these less capable ones
in the way Of actually earning the
pleasant things of life, and more of
the necessary things? Many fine men
in industry are doing this very thing
today and IL beats giving all to tine
poor" by the worldwide difference
between heggary and the manfulness
of the earned competence. A lovely
story, worked out in "a beautiful
spirit. as dream. But it is wrong
as social philosophy-dead wrong.
STICkFULS; Compositions of 81 News
paper MIniOn. BY Irwin $. Cobb
author of old Judge Priest" etc
New York: George ii. Doran Com
parry.
Irwin Cobb just tells 4 plain story
here about himself. He goes back to
the time when. realizing that the in
heritance OF Adam had fallen upon
him, he cast about to see what he
was going to do to earn a living.
Chance, much as anything-that
god who measures out life to the most
OF uS-turned him TO the paper. as it
ambled out each week in the country
town to tell the folks over again
what they had been about in the pre-
cedinE seven days. And from this
point Mr.. Cobb comes along up, mod
estly, to his present high estate.
That is the touch Ot this book that
makes it go-that modesty. Mr. Cobb
it appears opposite the title page
of this book-has written great
many things and of sufficient Variet y
to sustain n CLASSIFIED list under
Fiction" Wit and Humor." Mis-
cellany." We've read some of these
not a great many. We do know that
! he is immensely popular and there is
always Il reason for that. What we
started to say is that in so far as our
somewhat limited reading OF Cobb
justifes any statement at all. the
statement stands here-that he has
never done anything more human.
more simple. more honest. more spon-
taneous, more modest. more alto