Evening star., 1924-07-12


opening in the trees. the warm. glor-
ious flood of light which was moving
like something alive, swiftly over the
tops of the hills. And yet 1t was
strange-for he could not tell
whether or not this light were real
this fresh, astounding radiance which
now came stealing into him. Into his
body or into his spirit? Mysterious: !:
He could not know! But now he did
not care to know. He was so alb
sorbed in feeling It grow. He had
felt it so many, many times. up here
in the past when he was a boy-but
never as he felt it now. Warm and
| clear. it seemed to fill himself and
the whole world with light.
In contrast to this sensitive idealist
| is the woman he loves-brilliant,
hard, self-centered, always in search
| of some new sensation; a vampire,
not in the sense of the joke column,
but in the sense of Kipling's poem:
Oh. the years we waste and the tears we
And the work Of our head and hand.
| Belong to the woman who did not know
| tAnd now we know that she never could
And did not understand
/"
| md ii isn't the shame and IT isn't the blame
! That stings like a white-hot brand.
| It's coming to know that she never knew why
| tseeing at last she conld never know whyl
And never could understand!
| Not as a reformer inveighing against
| a system, but as a dispassionate
scientist investigator in search of
| knowledge does the author Of Boss
I a
approach his subject Dr. Harold F.
Gosnelrs book is further described as
"a study of the political leadership of
Thomas c. Platt Theodore Roosevelt
| and others" In it the author outlines
the social background. the personal
| qualities and the technique of typi-
cal state political boss at a period in
| the late nineties. when the boss system
was in a particularly foUrishing con-
dition. Although Senator Platt is
not without interest on his own ac-
| count, the chief interest in him to-
day is due to the fact that Platt was
| recognized as the leader of the Re
! publican party in New York State at
| the time when Roosevelt was coming
| into national notice. This book
studies their political relations for
about twenty years 1t also analyzes
| PlattS control over legislation and
his contacts with the press. BY his
/ impersonaI. cautious, objective meth
! cd, the author has produced book
| of great value to students OF politics.
The Philosophers Stone" by ].
Anker Larsen-the novel, which re-
Gently won a 10000 kroner prize in
! Denmark-is a many sided illustra-
ton of the theme that a religion of
f, mysticism is again taking hold upon
! the world. The two chief characters
are two boys who have from the start
unusual religious SenSitiveneSS. AS
| Jens BAIL and Christian Barnes de-
| velop and grow to manhood they be-
| come differentiated until they repre-
sent two distinct types of religious
mind AS a child Jens Dahl has the
! gift Of seeing things open" or in
| their inner significance: as man he
| does not lose this gift and becomes a
| tireless and worshipful seeker after
| mystical truth. He has, like all myS-
| tics, his illuminating experiences
.The whole room lay in radiant light
| which cast no shadow, and which
| penetrated tables and chairs so that
| he seemed to see through them. he
| could not determine whether this all
| pervading light was the divine love
| itself or something belonging to it
as mans body belongs to his soul
| Christian Barnes. the pastors son, Is
| also a boy who has glimpses of un-
1
cock looking UP into the blue sky, he
| feels united with the heavens, or
| blue inside" When his mother dies
and he sees his father composing a
| funeral eulogy for her, he hates his
! father; but when he sees his father
break down and weep, he loves him
| for the first time. At the university
Christian studies theology and ac-
| quires the rather diSagreeable habit
! of analy8ing other peoples religious
To- n6
CT Jens Dahl leads him to mental
! frenzy and a tragic end; the religion
of Christian Barnes takes more
| practical turn and he finally becomes
with a simple labor and simple hap
| piness.
| wonder how many readers OF
this column were familiar with the
thirty or forty years ago? This
| question is suggested by the recent
publication N handsome form OF
Halibuton. edited with a critical es,
innate and photography by DR.
Ray Palmer Baker. The Booklover's
first acquaintanee with Sam Slick
the Sayings and Doings of Samue
Slick of Slickville'-was gained
through an Alden reprint of that
| Nova Scotian classic. That edition
it was issued in blue paper covers
like many other reprints of impor.
tant books published by Alden and
was sold for perhaps 10 cents a copy
many readers of his day and tn.
memory of them is by contrast
evoked by the sumptuous edition OF
the humorist. who, according to w. D
erations the humorists Of the United
States. The first series of Sam Slicl
was originally published in Halifa,
in 1886, and many subsequent edi.
tions Ip $ Of it and and Of 9Th, The Attache,,
and The Old Judge" show that the
dispenser of soft sawder and human
natur'' was a best seller. In tn,
best parts of the homely philosophy
of one who has often been called
the father of American humor"
y
Cosmo Hamilton's career as a pIay.
wrightnovelist began when he wa.
| yet in his early twenties, and he wa.
thrown in contact with many of the
leading lights of London's literary
and dramatic world. In his "Un.
written History" volume of remi.
nard Shaw. Always in the highes
spirits, and the strangest clothes
that might quite easily have beer
made at home. bilious in color ant
in pattern vegetarian like his liet
his red hair and beard cracking will
electricity, his quick wits SPARKLING
like running water in the sun, George
Bernard Shaw was then, in middle
! age, the 'enfant terrible of London
| who put his fingers to his nose a
all the stodgy critics. Barrie
going one day to speak to Bernard
Shaw at a table in the coffee room
near the window Cat the Garrick)
looked for a moment at the curiou.
mess upon which the master wa.
browsing, and said, In his rolling
Scotch, oh, tell me, Shaw. Have "