Evening star., 1925-04-25
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY THE BOOKL0yER

tions, become infatuated Win edch
other. Such is the situation IN no,
main Rolland's novel, Annette ana
Sylvie," the first part or long plo'
graphical novel. 1.-The Soul Enchant-
ed" which is to be similar in type TO
jean Christophe." Annette and Syl;
vie are both daughters of Raoul HI
Were. scholar of a sort, man OF aIalrs
and connoisseur in pleasure. Nine.
Riviere had had the bad taste 10 op-
ject to her husbands many lnndehties'
but had, in a measure, atoned 1or TINS
by having the good taste to die some
years before her husband. flVlere
himself died protesting Indignantly
against fate that took him OF III ms
so. when life still held for MIN
much of interest and of enjoyment.
Annette, the only child of his mar
riage, inherited not only all or ms
property, but also his papers, which
held for her a number of unpleasant
surprises. Chief of these was the
revelation that another girl, signify
younger than herself, shared with her
the right in fact, if not in law, to calt
Riviere father Sylvie, she discovered
through some letters, was a little
seamstress, daughter of a charming
florist, Delphine, now dead. For Gays
Annette ragged with Indignation and
fathers secret life, for she had be-
lieved herself to be his sole compan-
ion and confidante in recent years.
Then curiosity crept into her mlnd,
then something else-a vague nope
that perhaps this unknown sister
might be something to her in her lone
ly life. So, one day she went TO see
Sylvie at the address found in some
of the letters. In low room, up un.
der the caves, overlooking roofs and
chimneys, she found Sylvie, and the
two girls confronted each other. Mel
ther showed any surprise. Annette
recognized her father in Sylyie's broad
forehead and dropping mouth. and Syl-
vie knew all about Annette and had
seen her many times before. RiViere
had talked freely to his little seam
stress daughter about the d1gnlhed
daughter in his home, though he had
not reversed these condolences Syl-
vie, walking by the handsome home OF
the father who never acknowledged
her, had often seen Annette coming
and going, and had been present in
the church only a few weeks before
when Annette mourned alone at her
fathers funeral. A friendship swift
and vehement sprang up between the
two girls. They poured out all of
their condolences upon each other and
compared opinions of their father
now a shattered idol to Annette. Both
agreed that he was a man of much
charm, but was decidedly not well be-
havedJ IF he had been well behaved, -
said Syivie, Il wouldn't be here" The
friendship of the sisters proved
stormy, devoted, jealous, capricious,
but lasting.
1t is pleasant for both child lovers
and book lovers to know that one of
the old childhood homes of Charles
Dickens has been turned into a libra
ry for children. In David Copper
field" Mr.. Micawber, who was drawn
from Dickens own debtladen father,
says: MY address is Windsor Ter.
race, City road" The house referred
to here was one occupied by the elder
Dickens and his family just after his
emergence. for the first time from
the Marshalsea debtors prison 1t is
now No. 49, Johnson street Somers
Town. one of the most crowded slums
districts of London. Some time ago
the house. which had become a
wretched tenement, was condemned
as unsafe and insanitary. To save
it as a literary landmark, a number
of persons. most of them literary folk,
started a movement to restore the
house and make it a permanent lit
erary memorial. 1t was accordingly
purchased, thoroughly fumigated and
then pretty well ripped to pieces and
made over, though care was taken to
preserve as far as possible the origi-
nal plan of the house. 1t is now a
library for children and ministers. to
the pleasure and education of those
whom Dickens himself especially
loved In a cupboard in an upper
room are all of Dickens works and
editions of the books Dickens is sup
posed to have read as a boy. Artists
of note have contributed original
sketches for the decoration of the
walls, among them many sketches OF
Dickens characters.
Readers of 1.-The New Decalogue OF
Science" by DIR, Albert L. Wiggam
will remember that the first and great
commandment proclaimed in that
book was the duty of eugenics. That
becomes the central theme of the
authors latest book, THE Fruit OF
the Family Tree" which he dedicates
to .'the health, intelligence and beauty
of the unborn" The author makes nc
narrow Interpretation of eugenics, but
points out that the problems of eu
genics are problems of psychology
of biology. of economics, of political
science, of practical politics, of ele
ment, of race, of art, history. educa
ton. morals, religion and of all those
forces which play ceaselessly =
upon the organic nature and destiny
of man. Eugenics is =
the application of human intelligence
to human evolution" According to
the author, man is now able to direct
. tl.a 1f h
that he may produce almost any kind
of a human race he wants Prof
Wiggam contrasts the wonderful re
suits of good human breeding in the
case of the Edwards family, with its
impressive complement of college
presidents and professors, clergymen
physicians, public officers, judges
authors and others of high social
worth, with the descendants of the
lazy vagabond. Max Jukes. composed
of the diseased. the feeble-minded
thieves, prostitutes and murderers
Perhaps even more striking, he re
counts the two lines of descent OF
Martin Kallikak, a young soldier OF
the American Revolution, one through
a feeble minded girl, resulting in
wickedness and sorrow, and the other
through a young Quaker woman OF
high character, contributing happiness
and achievement. The author demon.
strates with impressive figures the
dire results to the world of the con.
tinued breeding of the defective, the
feeble minded and the criminal and
gives it as his opinion that three
fourths of, the misery of mankind re
suits from the fact that the wrong
people married. Prof. Wiggam sue
ceeds to a high degree in making dra
matte and readable the results of the
latest scientific researches in this i'm
portant field of investigation.
4
An acid old cynic is O'Mailey ir
Dopp Rvrpe'S novel "O'MalIey M