Evening star., 1924-10-21
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
THE LETTERS OF ARCHIE BUTT.
Lawrence r. Abbott. Doubleday.

| Lawrence +. Abbott. Doubleday.
Page & Co.
| You remember it-that tansie Of
ordered grsenery. not tar below tho
Presidents house. the one through
which faint sheen of marble CLEANS.
And you recall the Summer day. not
SO long ago, when the little pathway
| leading to 1t beckoned you inside
into a quiet chamber walled by tree
and shrub. whose leaves at play with
sun and wind were dappling the big
water-brimmed bowl and the grassy
| floor and the tawny tree stems with a
dancing movement of joy. And how
the birds. confident Of safety and well
come. came darting In to drink and
| dip and fly away again. scattering
| rainbow drops as they hurried out
| on some prodigious bird busy-ness Of
tnterludes of flight you trailed q
questing finger around the lettered
brim of the wide marble basin, SPELL
tnE out two names as you rounded
the circle. And how then upon you,
waiting, the spirit Of the little sane
tuary fell, the spirit Of peace and full
| dllment
But the mird is ever ranging away
from the thing at hand, be 1t never
so urgent and dear. seeking for con-
nections and relativities. And so into
| the quietude Of this lovely retreat
| there ohtruded the picture of a great
| ship In the North Atlantic come upon
Its last moment. going down, how
ever, In glory through the presence
OF group of brave and gallant gem
tlenien facing with steady front that
which was 50 soon to be. Among
these, Maj Archibald Butt and Frank
Millet, whose names YOU had just
traced around their memorial fount.
4 r 4 Il
Here at hand is The Letters Of
Archie Butt" whose prompt ard posi-
tive effect Is TO make denial Of that
ship lost at sea and to dismiss as
the nero workings of ones own ro-
mantle imagination tho spirit OF
peace and fulfiilment that so flooded
tho little sanctuary seated just off
the roadway. not far below the Presi-
dents house. For of a certainty you
are here face. TO face with q live
and living mar. The dozen years
lying in between you and the sub
stance of these letters have fallen out,
or else they have narrowed to yes
terday, wherein the same persons
and places and Incidents are still a
part OF the days doings around the
Presidents house at the Capital. Not
literally true, to be sure But that Is
the clear and striking effect Of these
letters written over dozen years ago.
x X x X
The gossip of courts and kings. of
great and near-great folks the world
over is Of general and persistent ap-
peal. Everybody sits up to it, to this
little talk about little things which
a q far ~.
OF the lesser. Our nearest approach
10 court and king IS no approach at
all. But we do have a President and
a White House and certain formalities
ano disnities belonging to these. And
, about them circles a keen and un.
railing interest. The letters OF Archie
Butt-simple. intimate. serious, as
tonishingly frank-satisfy this natur-
al curiosity and interest in full
measure. Indeed. one wonders II
they, set up beside we'll known rec
ords OF this kind, will not hold their
oWa with grace and distinction.
= * Y =
By the time and terms Of his as
signment to the White House, It Is
the personality OF Theodore Roose-
Welt and the quality OF the Roosevelt
family both at home and in the open
that chiefly engage the interest of
this correspondent with the home
folks. Chiefly. but not wholly, for
Archie Butt becomes a sort of liaison
officer between the White House and
the immediate world rounda bout
society. And he takes his job serious
~, becoming under its demands and
exactions quite magnificent figure
OF correct and imposing front. once
turned out, perfect, however, he dis
misses himself, so to speak, and
moves over smartly and efficiently TO
!lt himself into the strenuous and
varied hours OF the Presidents daily
here reaninaate the White House with
the spirit Of Theodore Roosevelt.
Many Of these sketches are new. All
of them are fresh. All, too, quite in
character and keeping with what we
already know of the man himself.
And. besides, there are passing views
OF many another-this one and that
views astoundingly frank and reveal
Ing, as directly applicable, too, many
OF them. as they were 12 years and
more ago.
One easily envisages a great sour
rying through these pages in hopeful
mood that this LAS in a Looking
Glass" may prove kind Better keep
away. Else you may find yourself
still rather pretty" set down by
name and place. Or that one NAV
occasion much as Oscar Wilde habitu-
ally found his wife to be---"as If her
clothes were made in a tempest and
put on In g. rage" Here a great man
may read himself as responsive as
"a Cuban potato"-an uncommoniy
pallid and wooden spud. one takes It.
Senator So-and-So-the real name
yr-rtt a. H.
lieved and that particular Solon Is a
small, mean man. If not worse. And
along the way Archie Butt gives Mr..
Roosevelt's own explanation Of the
famous "Ananias Club" A plausible
! Interpretation. One Is not certain
that it is not altogether sound. though
a bit involved in metaphysics II is
| easy to see that no end OF folks will
have a deep and personal interest in
this intimate accounting of momen-
tous matters sent back to his South
ern home by Archie Butt from his
vantage point Of chief aide to SO pic.
! turesque and forceful a President as
Theodore Roosevelt
The enduring quality OF these let
| ters-and they clearly possess such
quality-lies. however. In their pre-
ponderant attention to President
Roosevelt and his family. Immedi-
ately upon approach to any or to all
of this group. Maj. Butt becomes
| serious. devoted, loyal and sincere,
| revealing much Of ultimate historical
value which he alone. by virtue OF
his position, Is able to disclose. Frank
at this point as he Ia throughout the
letters there Is, consequently, no such
| thing in them as blind praise" OF
| the Roosevelts. TherG is, however
an attitude toward them induced