Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-02-03
Reviews of New: Books

who brought her into the world-so
busy all the time bringing folks into
the world and attending others on
their way out of 1.-THE too grows
restless. under the fact that the girl
Is growing up. So the. three old men
sit together and deliberate. ponder
ously and beautifully. on what is best
to be done with this strange and
terest. And the event moves forward
In delicate blend of beauty and soft
mystery over which little smiles Of
humor play, as the opening life of
elderly guardians who fail to remem-
Der. fail to reach back to the. place
where the girl is. A. lovely and
poetic story of life embodied In this
child who. finally. discovers real life
by seeing 1t through the eyes Of
Christopher-just as all girls do.
FROM. THE MELTING POT INTO
THE MOLD. BY David A. Driscoll
Boston: The christopher Publish
ing House.
This novel takes one back to the
years immediately following the close
or the civil war. Its background of
action Is the New England of that
period. The general action itself is
outlined by the active renewal OF the
Whicn rests, In marked degree, the
CHARACTER OF the New England popu-
iauon, the sum of it's wealth and
Standing. Within this framework of
industrial life Is set the picture of
the Irish immigrant, surrounded here
as IN the old country by the English
An together proving the hazard of
sod IN the new country. The
ssory projects a realistic picture of
the Irishman on this side Of the wa
ter working In competition with 9TH
ers, as all in America must work, 1t
Is record OF success. of the ups and
GOWNS mat mark achievement every
where. For the purposes of definite
,, point and concrete appeal the action
narrows to q hapdful of characters
following the 'workaday life Of factory
hands into which enters a small share
! of pleasures and a good deal of the
sense of injustice which even the
consultations of religion do not serve
! TO turn aside. To a large extent the
story fingers over this sense Of wrong.
| IT dwells upon the daily martyrdom
ostracism and political circumven-
ton. To be sure. there are pages de-
voted to the accepted slogan that
! you can't down the Irish." but, in
the main. the story is a jeremiad.
| Much too long a story, besides too
crowded with detaiis-the most of
them relevant. many of them not
Tor clean-cut, well-balanced picture
OF the theme; Such triumph as the
Americans is wrested out of a weller
of bad treatment at the hands Of the
sons OF the sons of the sons Of the
! ancient enemy. One reads the book
with deep interest and with the con-
nursing a grievance, is about the
most futile of human performances
NOT WANTED. BY Jesse Lynch Will
iiams. author of "Why Marry?''
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons
J -A.little story for a certain mood of
some half-hour. 1t is the story of a
That is. his father didn't want him
/ though his mother wanted him like
, everything. But the mother died.
Then the father didn't want Junior
more than ever. because a great
the world. Juniors father was. and
Junior spent his time in a boys
school. where this story reaches its
high point OF interest and straight
there that Junior made up the letters
that he wished his father would
write to him, and didn't. More than
that. these were the days when he
read the letters aloud to the other
boys who had begun to wonder what
kind OF an old man Junior had. never
writing never coming to see him.
never doing a thing that proper
fathers are supposed to do: To the
1
out of whole cloth-of the wonderful
father--wbo was off. somewhere, hold
ling up a corner of the world or so
It sounded. A lovely, tender. true
little story of shy father and shy
son. both deeply in love with each
, other and neither knowing al all how
| to behave under this strange passion.
Each. afraid he'd look. foolish. each
afraid he'd offer something that was
/ not wanted. OF course. there came
! q IN
this author could not possibly have
/ written a story that would have been
! too terribly sad.
BUCKLEY'S HISTORY; OF the Great
Reunion of the North and South.
By William Buckley. Published by
the author.
! 1t is now forty years and a little
over .since that memorable meeting
at Niagara Falls between two regi-
, mentS of the civil war army-one of
these Confederate. the other Union.
The high moment of that historic
captured, twenty years before at the
battle OF Cedar Mountain. was re-
stored to the 2Sth New York, by it's
; captors. the 5th Virginia. The sig
nificance Of the meeting, with this
ceremony its GROWING point Of full
fillment. lies in the fact that this was
a definite declaration of peace be-
. tween two, hitherto hostile army
, Units OF the civil war: that this was
! a gesture of friendliness made in a
spirit OF sincere friendship; that it
was an explicit expression of hope
for q future amity. In the forty in
tervening years that momentous
meeting has: in purpose and effect,
been multiplied many times, through
an .erer-increasing. zeal for better
mutual understanding between the
south and north, for a restoration of
the old unity. This initial act of re-
union SO fraught with promise for
the future of a reunited country,
might. have been completely buried
! under the pack of succeeding events
had it not been for the labors of one
man. In q spirit of patriotism that
has a good deal of religion about 1t
William Buckley has in infinite pa
thence and painstakinE gathered up
from many a scattered source the
facts of that meeting at Niagara
Falls. So that, in this little book, one
is permitted to sit in attendance at
the meeting itself. Only the slightest
power of imagination is needed here
to project ones self here, to see the
faces and know the names Of those
directly active in the unusual event,
clearly an event of historic meeting.
; The work of special committees, the
mention of side events and many an
other act of painstaking gives COM
p1ete lifelikeness to this picture. The
book as a whole presents the clear
case of a man who gives time and
money and himself to the service Of
an idea-this time the idea of
brotherhood restored in this great
country.