Evening star., 1926-03-16
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
OREGON SKETCHES. Wallace Smith.
q u 1l1fta
I. C.. NJ.

Mullarkey and his partner, that morn
Ing when the covered Wagon--1925
model-a clearly inebriate vehicle,
staggered and slouched into the Ore
gon end Of the Lewis and Clark trail.
well. cOmpanero," ,"-Mullarkey talk
lng-lt's time to shove off. The coun-
tryS getting too so-andso crowded.
Another couple weeks and therell be
more asterisk-dash tourists in this
country than there are smelt in the
Sandy River. I'm for heading some
where where the wide open spaces
aren't SO blinkety-blank wide open"
A futile word Of protest, q feeble
gesture of exclusion flung out against
the h1ccuping invader. and the pair in
silent accord closed the door Of the
little shack. "said adios to the wood
bile" and showed off.
The eloquence Of the Oregon booster
registered with these two lust nothing
at all. THE automobile tourists are
me coIoniZerS Of today. The railroads
lid all the pioneer work. They built
me country. But side by side with
thelr work stands the ~ork of the
motor pioneers. Even this Rotaria N
nignt drew no more than "All-i
right! Perhaps next year I'll be TAX
'ng on my hat. too. when see an
automobile toting phonograph and a
snotted eeranium and terrier named
Trix. But not this year" And, turn
ing away. Mullarkev and his COM
oanero signed up for the slow, sea.
going journey to Alaska.
* I: X X
In this retreat by sea Mullarkev's
partner Kept looking back upon the
oregon country, marked by the Lewis
- t~s, -
l34 years ago sailed the Boston clip.
ner. Columbia. discovering and nam
ing the great river of this region. lie
saw again the land so long unknown
20 the white man and. later, so long
IN dispute before ii settled down as
= part Of the great Republic. land
he reasoned. whose underworld must
have been peopled by uneasy and tur.
hulent gods to present upon it's face
such clear evidence of stuDandouS
inner turmoil and cataclysm. For long
'he land Of the Indian and vast herds
'f wild creatures. Then the goal of
adventurers, hard men. Now
!. X 1: x
And Mullarkey's partner consolet
himself. in part, by gathering up and
setting side by side sketches Of the
old Oregon and the new. Here are
nance. Here are the gay buckaroc
and the bronco-bustel'; here are the
last OF the wild herds and the baG
mans last stand. A brightly inter
woven web of fact and fancy spreads
here for reminiscent delight in the
days when Oregon was q part Of the
vast domain known as the "Wilc
West And upon this fabric Null
larkey's partner sets the stamp Of
the radio. the moving picture, the
motor tourist-lnagic innovations that
are exercising tremendous influence
on the wide open spaces" The
motor and the radio are. clearly. doine
away with distance, effecting inmedi
ate contacts that. uneQuivocally, fac,
forward. The movie is at the rnornen
holding the past OF the Wild Wes-
static in certain OF its most pictur
esque aspects for the purposes O.
transferring 1t to the film. OF these
the old and the new, Wallace Smith
writes with q keen appreciation thai
he makes communicable by way Of {
rood wit and straight speech and the
mower to gather into live moving pic
lures certain outstanding character
tstics. An eloquent and picturesque
man. this partner OF Mullarkey. Lis
ten to him:
;: "a \; =
"Wild horses running free on the
open plain: There are few spectacles
TO equal that. But there was some
thing beside unfettered, swift grace
in this frantic flight. Tragedy gal
loped stride for stride with these fee
ing animals. They We're the last 0,
fhe wild herd-the last Of the grea-
bands OF 10000 wild horses that one.
roaIned the legendary stretches OF III,
Horse Heaven country. This band
racing after its frenZied leader, wa.
ealloping to extinction. This was II,
splendid contest between horse an,
man. to have its end In q fair strug
gle Tor mastery under a bucking sad
die. These horses were being driver
70 slaughter. II NAV have been
knowledge Of that tragedy which CAV,
the forlorn stamDede new dramatt
color as we watched. Or it NAV hay.
heen q sentimental memory of bette
davs on the wide range. Th.
leader was shaggy knob-kneed staI
lion. His rolling eyes made q fierc,
search for liberty. He swerved to III,
left. One of the horsemen swung hi
lone-looped lasso. The stallion suueal
ed and ran straight. After him tn,
whole pied cavalry. Behind then
rode three cowpunchers. yipping an,
swinging their ropes. Long after th,
1e""sd colt. 1t whimpered as the dis
rang down a slow curtain ON the Lit
tie play
There's a heap written about tn,
passing of the old West: the fencini
or the open range: the gathering O
the ancient, picturesque men to til.
long shadows. Mournful chants from
the romancers. Spirited brochure
| from the commercial associations
Be that as it may
When the Young buckaroos at Pen
dleton ride there ride again all tn,
dashing figures who ever swung int,
| saddle and galloned across the plains
| All the great horsemen Of legend an,
history and fiction. The pony ey
nress rider. Buffalo Ri,I tho yellow
striped cavalry after Geronimo, In
dian scouts in buckSkin shirts. "T.or,
| HAIR Custer, the lone Texas
/ ranger
1t is Romance that is in the saddl
when the young buckaroo tells tn
| wrangler to turn FER loose and let e
! buck. And Romance remains in tn
| saddle. no matter how quickly TIN
| vouugster comes sprawling to tn
| ground.
\: + * X
| That's my movie smile declare
| Paddy. Won't / he q romantics
looking actor?'" This is the lane
| nowadays, Of emotional COWBOYS an
rhetorical redskins-every one of tn
lot an aspirant for movie honors. Al
Of them living scenarios. all Of ther
! talking in SubtitleS The scenery q
! the West. its past and the contagfo
| Of HOLLYWOOD are at the moment tn
GREAT triumvirate of the picturesnu
| West. "It heats me.'' said a cattl
man. chow these hands will turn
| good living down to starve in tn
movies" An unhaDpv man for laho
could gather no workers under IN
| greater lure of the screen. Gas h
/ smoke we req ched the TON of En-,