Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-16
|. NEW BOOKS
= AT. RANDOM


YOUR WASHINGTON AND MINE.
Louise Payson Latimer Charles
scribher's Sons.
both written by Washington women,
both appearing at about the same
time and stepping OF. together In a
mutual helpfulness toward projecting
q complete survey of the Federal
City in its, various phases Of aspect,
significance. appeal.
*** n
Just at the right time, too, the
coming of this pair OF books. To-
gether. by way of full and ready
response, they fall in with the new
mood of general curiosity that the
automobile with its network Of
smooth highways has so deeply
stirred. turning a goodly rhare of the
population into seasonal noinads. New
ways to travel, new scenes to tread,
new cities. to know common de-
sire these days Among thel many
places there is but one in which all
citizens. of. the United States have a
proprietary right. This is Your
Washington and Nine" as Miss Lati-
mar SO sptly and dramatically points
out What more to be expecte ed
then. than that all the wheels should
finally set aturning toward Our
Capital on the Potomac" At the end
of the journey surprising climate
for Fall. and Winter and Spring. Al
it's end a setting of satisfying nat
ural charm. And in this setting a
city growing into beauty out of an
old renchmans dream. A city I'M
ike others, as Miss Nicoiay reminds
US. since these develop late such
ideals as they finally do possess
whereas Washington began with
ideals which, year by year. its citi-
zenry of the whole country may see
embedded in a consistent expansion
of its original harmonious plan. Here
the shades of great men walk its
Appian Way. Here season by season,
the lawmakers. and the Judges and
the President round out the triple
alliance by which our republican Gov
eminent carries on! Here q brilliant
social embroidery holds the eye,
quite possibly at the expense of the
substantial fabric underneath. How
ever, here II all is, set down in most
useful and readable fashion for the
great public whose interest in Wash
ington. is of peculiarly personal
and appealing nature.
If = 4 X
These two studies of the Federal
CITY cover the same ground. That
is, both set out with history of the
locality prior to it's use as the site
and surroundings Of the, Nation al
Capital. From this' common point of
departure both move forward the de-
veloping affairs of the city up to the
present time. Within these common
limits, however, marked unliknesses
occur. These, due in part to a diff
ference of outlook and objective, in
other part to the impress of two dis
tinct personalities upon the plastic
stun of history. One offers an adj
mirable organization of the material
in hand, the other a charming grace
Of narration. One bends itself 10 q
. clear setting out of the salient facts
of city growth under national enact
ment, its end a common Intelligent
understanding pointed upon an -ulti-
mate citizenship within the Federal
compound that shall be both response
BILE and efficient. The other takes it's
smiling way from stage to stage of
development and change. with an easy
gesture toward this or that of mo-
ment- in the long passage between
swamp and bog on the one hand and,
on the other. the lovely city of our
joy and pride. One is stirred by the
compelling airs of future for the
Capital that is to be infinitely greater,
individually, than 1t now is. The
other is Tapped in the atmosphere of
Washington's rich past. One IS un-
excelled for reference. The other Is
unsurpassed for leisursly forth far
ing into the birth and childhood and
youth of the city on the Potomac.
These, mind you, only the most strik-
N nf
that. covering the same, ground, mark
two studies which. together. not only
serve greatly to enrich the reader, but
which. at the same time, point so clear.
ly the special power of each writer
Having the two in hand it is not easy
to see how one could, without distinct
loss, relinQuish either.
y = = ::
Both are equally happy in Their
studies of the historic background OF
Washington. And this excellence Is no.
alone due to the fact that both obviously
made use of authentic recorded sources
of information. While this fidelity tc
such sources is equally apparent in both
there is. besides, something like equal
Zest for this part of the work some
thing like a kindred feeling for the old
days roundabout here. when the Potomac
lorded it over the land, when the In.
dian was sole recipient of its largess
and sole wayfarer from point to point
along its course. Both have caught, and
held. the picturesque and romantic
favors of this period and place, Both
have delivered these in a beautiful
freshness of effect. Indeed. at this point
the two books might change hands
without loss Of identity. 1t Is after this
that, within the same boundaries, Their
paths. so greatly diverge.
y
1t is in the history Of this early. period
that Miss NicoIay gives so clear a pic
ture of the rolling roads" These roads
grew out of the cultivation of tobacco
the taste for this weed in England, its
use as money in exchange, for Europear
wares. There were virtually no towns
in the region and no good roads, SO the
inspection (of tobacco) took place A,
the point of shipment, usually a ware.
house on some naEigable stream To-
ward this rough trails called rolling
roads. were cut through the forest from
all the plantations In the neighborhood
Down these narrow green tunnels
scarcely wider than, the hogsh eads In
which the leaves we're packed, the hogs.
heads were rolled, fitted with tongue
and axle and propelled by OK or mule
power or by the Drawn OF slaves.
Near the river, the vista at the end Of
the rolling road would be closed by q
glimpse of water or the gable end OF the
tobacco-scented warehouse. swallows
twittering under its caves" IF the
music of songbirds was sometimes
marred by the sharp tones OF an over.
seer, or the sharper sound OF his lash
the discord was soon forgotten. Slavery
was lawful throughout all the colonies
and regarded as sanctioned by Scripture
even in New England" '"Thus matters
went on while English kings were
crDwyed and habeaded opd rro,.rr~Ii,.