Evening star., 1924-10-14
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
JOSHUA BARNEY. Ralph D. Paine.

JOSHUA BARNEY. Ralph D. Paine.
The Century Co.
A straight, clean dive And Ralph
| 1'alno Is breasting the deep waters OF
| adventure. No cautious approach here.
NO licking of the body for the down
ward sweeping drive. Instead, an in
! stant OF poise, a flash through the air,
a knifing cut of the sca-and he is off
| upon adventure SO spectacular in its
swift SUGGESTIONS OF high enprise and
! personal daring AS to point upon pure
! 1ahcy, rather than upon sober fact,
| as the source and sustenance of this ex-
traordinary tale. Nevertheless, Joshua
Barney: A, Forgotten Hero of Blue
| Water" is true story cleaned out of
our own history. 1t is a signed and
| sealed document, so to speak, cover
! ing the Geographic facts of one mans
! life, a life so rich and fructifying in its
| essence and action as to make OF it a
high and shining mark in history itself.
| a high point long obscured, it is true.
| This, in part, no doubt, by the swift
and momentous march of surrounding
! events; i'll other part by the crowding
| and sInothering trifleS of every days
! doings; in large measure, too, by The
! easy forGettinSs OF benefits received.
/ Except for Ralph Paine, goodness knows
| how much longer yet this big story of
| a colonial seaman would have remained
hidden, meanwhile slowly retreating
| further into the blank reticencics Of
fading records.
Once entered upon this gallant ad-
| venture, Mr.. Paine cannot even If he
would. stay the impetuous rush Of the
| story itself. Immediately the matter
moves over into the driving personality
! of Joshua Barney. Mr.. Paines business
! issto keep his ready hand still ready, to
| exercise his sense of drama TO an alert
! seizure Of the flying high points in this
! dramatic transit. And the story stands
! triumphant proof of the superb col
/ laboraiorl set up here between two ucn
| with something near Two centuries
| estrange them. y tilwartcd two cen
turies, these, in respect to such scpa-
| ration and estrangement
X 4 x x
Tho boy that is more or less in
| everybody will read the first chap
| ter of this story in a genuine thrill
| Of suspense and delight And the
real boy--he whose body and years
! are at one in boyhood-ten millions
! Of him, will hal! this chapter with
| shouts Of pure gladness. Oh. for the
grit Of Joshua Barney! The grit that
every one of them has had in his
|
! had quite nerve enough to move out
| into actual practice. A regular fell
! low, Joshua Barney who. when he
was just 10 years old, stood UP and
I declared to his father and mother
! that he was done with going TO
! school" Wasn't that something.
| And wouldn't any one OF us be
| simply tickled to death If we could
| only muster the spunk TO make that
same righteous declaration today.
! And Joshua, inclined TO be patient
and reasonable with his elders. went
| on to tell them that he already had
| learnt everything the master could
| teach" that he could write good
! hand and perfectly understood arith-
! metick" Moreover, he had chosen
| to follow the sea for living. Ten
years old. Truly those were good
old days" for youngsters of the male
! persuasion,
That was away back In 1853. An
| exception to the rule among fathers
! in that austere day, the father of
Joshua was inclined to yield to so
manifest call of destiny. More
| over, there was no holding this
| skittish colt of a Joshua Barney at
| home" There was, it is true. a
| slight gesture calculated to keep the
| boy on land, under the pretense of
| some preparation for the sea But it
was of no use. 4 pilot boat cruising
| the capes of Chesapeake Bay gave
| the boy a first taste of seafaring and
! taught him many things beside. And
| in less than a year he was clamoring
| to be signed as apprentice in a real
| deep.water ship bound across the
| western ocean, He was Il years
| old, and it was time to cease coddling
/ him. as he informed his sire" Luck
| lily for Joshua there was a mariner IN
| the family, Capt. Thomas Drysdale.
! who consented to take the boy, who
! sailed with him for Liverpool. And
| Drysdale was, in little while. given
! a bigger ship. Wishing, no doubt, to
! hold honors and wages in the fam
| lily. he made Joshua. age IA, his sec
| ond mate. Sailing out of Baltimore
for Nice with a cargo of wheat, Capt.
| Drysdale was taken sick and died in
midocean. Truly the gods were good
! to Joshua Barney. For this misad-
| venture to the doubtlessly good cap
| tain left Joshua solitary ruler of the
| quarterback. Turn back to BaIti-
more? Not on your Efe-or words to
| that effect, as the young commander
| declared his clear intent of getting
| on with the business of delivering u
/ cargo of wheat at the port Of Nice,
according to agreement and schedule.
/ And he did il, too-finallE. There was
| u long interim, however, spent at a
! spanish port with repairs and pesky
| money troubles to test the stuff of
| Joshua Barney. Such a lad as that
| would find friends. This one did. At
/ Nice there was more trouble hinging &
! upon the boys minority and legal
| incapacity to transact business. Still
| a colonial, Joshua bethought himself
to appeal to the British representa-
| tive in Milan. And in no time at all
} the naughty merchants of Nice were
| fawning upon this terrible boy who
had the protection of the greatest
power on earth. Isn't that great?
i: x x
Under clear skies, himself a good
| deal of a hero. Joshua Barney then
sailed the Mediterranean, homeward
! bound, happy and no doubt q bit puff
ed up over his truly remarkable tri-
umph. the triumph of a merchant, a
seaman, even the triumph of a dip
lomat. Fifteen years old! Sailing
to the Spanish port of Alicante, there
a wondrous panorama spread iself
before the aStonished eyes of the
young commander. Charles III of
Spain was about to send 4 mighty
expedition to Algiers against Barbary
pirates. And the harbor of Alicante
was crowded with craft of every de-
scription and every seafarinG na-
tionality. And all were impressed to
the service Of the King Of Spain.
A magnificent armada under the
command of Admiral Don Pedro
do Csstijon! So-"Capt. Joshua Ear
ney, instead of sailing home to
Baltimore, took troops and supplies
aboard and received his orders from
a Spanish nagship." A wonderful
sight for adventurer Joshua-"the
blue sea covered with ships, 400 Of
them, making their way across the