Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-10-25
THE CITIES OF ROMAGNA AND
THF, MARCHES BY Edward Hut


THE CITIES OF ROMAGNA AND
THE MARCHES. BY Edward Hut.
ton, author of Cities of Spain"
etc. Illustrated. New York: The
Macmillan Company.
ITO the north and east of the Apen-
mines. from the crest of these
mountains to the sea. between Venetia
and the old Duchy of Modena on the
north and the AbruZzi on the south,
lie the two provinces of Romagna
and the Marches, with which / pro-
pose to deal in this book. Within
this area stand Ravenna, Ferrara,
Bologna, Rirnini, the Republic of San
Marine. Loreto. Ascoli and another
and another old Italian town that has
taken part in the rise and fall Of the
Roman Empire" And around each
OF these historic points this author
gathers the facts that have given II
fame as a participant in one or
another of the great events of Roman
and Italian life. This easy freedom
of the city, OF each city as 1t Is reach
ed is the outstanding delight of the
book as a whole. Almost any writer
knows his subject, else why does he
write? Many writer's of history. never
theless. knowing their facts fail TO
touch them with the spark of life.
So their work lies heavy and dead
on the readers hands. But here, the
case is wholly different. Mr.. Hutton
has so submerged himself in the life
of each of these historic places that
coming to the surface he is saturated
not only with the big and vital facts
concerning it but with all the animal
ing daily facts of that old life as well.
SO. while one realizes that he is read
ing history, it is a history so moved
up bodily into the present that he
himself becomes, in feeling and effect,
part of these ancient forms of civic
life. One of the really desirable books
for the traveller who, in delight, stays
at home while he roves from place
to place in search of the great places
and the great people who hold the
past secure against any invasion OF
the present or the future.
= x X
SYCAMORE BEND. BY Frazier Hunt
New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co.
SYCAMORE BEND is the familiar
little home town which serves ro-
nance chiefly as a point of departure
for youth, ardent for adventure and
outfaring. There are 10000 of these
Sycamore Bends scattered all over our
country. away from which youth is
speeding for the conquest of the
| world. Nobody stays in Sycamore
Bend except the second rater, the left
over and the ready loser. That's what
| the young folks say, in their haste to
| be out and away. This is the story
of a boy who couldn't get away. He
| wanted to, of course, but there were
always things to do-for the mother,
the smaller children, for somebody I'M
dor CT q n
| ing-always was going.
! Then one morning he woke up to
| his 39th birthday anniversary. He was
| still in Sycamore Bend, running the
Sycamore Bend Sentinel" as he had
been doing for many year. And
| only a year left for the getaway that
all these years had beckoned him.
| Surely nobody at 40 is going out to
seek his fortune. Anywhere under 40,
maybe-only a single year left. There
| fore the story of this man up to date
| simply has to be a Sycamore Bend
| story. That is what this is-the
story of the leftover village greatly
| busy with going to the post Office
every day and standing around the
store and reading the Sycamore Bend
| Sentinel" and joshing its editor in
| free-and-eas fashion. And the editor
| is a part of it all, everybody's friend,
shaping the little weekly sheet to put
| ting the best side of everything out,
| forgetting to collect the yearly dole
from the impecunious or the tax
from the hard pressed. and upon oc-
| casion writing some little thing that
is real and true and beautiful. Then
| the great chance came and this coun-
| try editor-not so young, but with
| lot of young blood in hin-went to
| New York to write on big paper
| That's enough to tell you. There is
| not at all the usual outcome of ro-
| nance here. But it is a beautiful
story. If it were not I'd give you the
conclusion just to save your wasting
| time reading the whole Of 1t.
| ~ X Y
FOLK SONGS OF THE SOUTH.
Edited by John Harrington Cox,
| PHI. D., Lift. D., professor in West
| Virginia University. Cambridge:
| Harvard University Press.
! TEN years ago at the Summer
school Of West Virginia University
| one lecturers theme was the survival
in the South of popular English and
| Scottish ballads. The audience, made
up largely of school teachers, was de-
| lighted with the lecture and in the
| enthusiasm that 1t aroused volun-
| teered the fact that some of these
| ballads were familiar to different ones
| in the audience. This was the start
| ing point of the West Virginia Folk
Lore Society, under whose activity Of
research this big body of folklore
songs has grown. Old ballad singers
| have come to light; old songs derived
from England and Scotland have been
| revived; songs of Indigenous birth
mingle modestly with the others; and.
| above, all, an enthusiastic body Of in
vestigators have united here to I'M
| cover material, truly historic in con-
| tent and implication. that forms
part of the groundwork of their own
| Commonwealth. A fine enterprise.
whose value is only partially summed
| In this admirable collection OF old