Evening star., 1924-07-20

Mead & Co.
TOR the quarter of a century
only lately come to an end
Bertram Lenox Simpson, Eng
lishman. was in intimate Of
ncial contact with the involved poll
tics OF China. Packed to bursting
with knowledge on this subject and
with opinions derived therefrom, Mr.
Simpson resigned from his official
post in China and. out of his seasoned
store commenced writing under the
name of Putnam Weale. From this
neld Putnam Weale has drawn po-
Iltical discussion. romance, economics
hiStory-twenty books, or thereabout
embodylng one or another aspect OF
this ancient empire stumbling on
toward modernism. The book in hand
follows Immediately upon the Wash
inGton conference on world disarm :
ment, set by Mr.. Harding during his
presidency. Its definite purpose is
TO present the steps by which the
formal alliance between England and
Japan was brought to an end, as
without doubt one of the most i'm
portant and significant results of the
disarmament conference. In the pur-
suit of this purpose Putnam Weale
deals broadly with the conference
itself, not only in its open and OBJ
Vious intent, but in many of it's less
patent designs, in many of the less
easily discernible effects of the agree
ments entered into at Washington
1t Is needless to speak of either the
substance or form of this discussion
Expert knowledge and trained analy-
SIS form its background. Its manner
well, If you have ever read any
thing by Putnam Weale, YOU are
familiar with the spirit Of the man.
his frankness, his audacity, his strik-
ing appeal. Putnam Weale at his
best of 'indiscretion'' is a long cold
drink in dry and torrid land.
THE SANDS OF TIME: Recollection.
and Reflections. BY Walter Sichel,
author of "DisraeH." etc. IL
lustrated. George II. Doran Com
pany.
Astonishing that so many interest
ing people can crowd into a single
volume, one of no inordinate length
at that. No magic about it, though
1t is simply that the covers are closed
or so il appears, to all save such as
have something to bring to the gen
cral entertainment. The making of
friends of the best sort began early
with Walter Sichel--before he was
born, when Mrs. Gaskell of Gran
ford was the friend of his mother.
And throughout boyhood and school
years at Harrow and oxford young
Sichel kept on gathering in the
bright lights or so it seems. Under
the later inspiration of Law, Lit
crature and London" this mark ed
genius for friendship hlossomed into
its finest flower. With London as
the background, MIR sichei sets
against its richness a pageant of
writer's. artists, musicians. actors.
statesmen. lords and ladies, plain
men and women, who. by name and
in characteristic habit. stand out s
plain as life itself 4 rare expert
cnce opens to tho reader here. An
experience that breathes the very
air of eminisc"nce-easy. meditative
that come and go. Like the right
kind of recollections, this one has
the hither-and-tht flight of MEM
ory-a thing natural. alive and love-
~. Organized and scheduled it
would have been dead, like all cut
and-dried things Instead. it is vital
and imme mediate with the actual pres
ence of real men and women of
worth and distinction and charm.
THE FAILURE. BY Giovanni Papini,
author of THE Life of Christ"
Translated by Virginia Pope. New
York: Harcourt, Brace and Com
pany.
'1 was never child | never had
childhood. Childhood is love; it is
gaiety; childhood knows no cares
But | always remember myself, in the
sad, thoughtful" And Papini adds
rather pathetically, Il don't know
why" Here is the keynote of this
personal study. of this autobiography
OF mind and soul. Born questioning
this child, and he goes on question
ing himself from one state of feeling
into another, from one state of mind
into another, till, at an early age, he
presents succession of theories and
beliefs that would more properly