Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-17
IDA GILBERT MYERS.


"HE source and character OF
these leaves" combine. Ger.
tainly, to give to Gen. Har-
i bords war diary" docu-
mentary value to the military
profession itself. The diary. in DIFF
ferent measure and direction. serves
also the uses OF general readers
These divide into two classes ON the
one hand are those who, for the pest
reason in the world, have a deeply
lersonal interest In every
thing pertaining to the great war. ON
the other are those VINO, as Amerl-
cans are concerned to learn about inc
leadership that inspired so glorious
following. Naturally. from the posi-
ton of Gen. Harbord as CHER or the
service of supply, this diary has more
to do with the army behind the Army
than 1t has to do with the fighting at
the front, though the closing chap
ter of this record brings the general
and the men into the common onset
at Chateau-Thierry and In the Sois-
sons offensive of the I'd Division In
July, 1918.
This is, however, by incident ana
not by intent a war document. Rather
is it's purpose to set down informally
and as hopefully a possible the events
of the passing days as these bore
upon the administration of the great
service back of the fighting ranks
And prior TO that great admlnlstra-
tive work there is much going about
in the line of duty that enables this
diartSt TO paint a thousand moving
pictures of men and places and MIS-
toric corners Of France. These pic
lures tighten this record-give TO IL
the touch Of activity that Is not all
become familiar through press &C
counts become more Intimately clear
IN this free and plain and seemingly
off hand accounting. Hundreds come
and go here. Perhaps those who
more persIstently than the others fire.
quent this record are two-Gen.
Pershing and Charles Dawes. Or 1t
may be that subsequent events have
served to emphasize the presence OF
these two, though ! think not. Gen.
Hartford is absolutely frank In what
he says about everybody. The diary
as whole is seemingly of the conf
Dental content that is the stamp of
this kind of document.
If the average reader here gathers
confirmation of his impression that
generals, after all. have nothing TO do
with actual fighting, he must remind
himself that without these there would
thermore, that all of these busy men
behind the lines have had their day
when they, too, were 'in the trenches"
ready TO go over the top" with the
boys.
A big canvas these leaves" spread
whereon great civilians do their part
whereon American military leaders
and followers DO splsndidly what they
were sent TO do-to help win the war.
The author writes as a soldier
would-he writes straight, plainly:
sometimes bluntly. A good sense OF
humor saves many an hour here that
without ii would have died of dullness
or sense of impending disaster. A
perfectly frank diarist. who deals out
his opinions of men and measur
openly and fearlessly. though always
in a good sense of the all-around pro-
portions in the case.
You may think you have had
enough of war books, but this is a
different one-different in source:
therefore decidedly different in treat
ment and effect.
+
ON NEW SHORES. BY Konrad Der.
covtci, author Of Around the
World in New York" etc. Illus
trated by Norman Borchardt. New
York: The Century Company.
THE ardent preacher upon the text
See America First" is constantly
met by the tourists charge that the
United States lacks the mellow and
evocative background of history,
which constitutes the chief lure Of
the Old World. Conceding the splen-
did and inspiring scenic values of this
country, he still maintains that Amer
lea needs yet to soak into its soil MANY
centuries of picturesque human action
before it can offer to the traveller that
in which every corner of Europe so
abounds. Yet, did the traveller but
know it. the United States is marked
all over its surface with Old World
communities. These, Loyalty support
ing their new government, are, never.
theless. so imbedded in old custom and
habit. in old ways of living and think
ing, that they are. In effect bits Of
the Old World lifted out of the native
soil and set down. whole, within the
borders Of America.
1t is these communities that we, in
the company of Konrad Bercovici. go
to find. The quest takes US from
coast to coast. from Canada to Mex
leo. The trail dotted with settle
ments-French, Italian, German.
Scandinavian. Russian, japanese,
Chinese. Jews-the whole run Of Gre
alton, giving exotic emphasis to the
common domestic web of American
life. A most interesting trail does this
one turn out TO be. A fresh one too
If Mr.. Bercovici is more concerned
with statistics than we chould ever
expect him to be, he has good reason
for this. And there is enough be
sides-pictures that move in native
colors, in native points Of peculiar at
titude and outlook, in curious and in
teresting conformities to the new en-
vironment and the new promise for
a fair future. The old blood working
under fresh impulses-this is what we
gather all the time along this absorb
ing journey to the Old World commu-
mites Of the New World. The Bor-
chardt pen-and-ink pictures push the
story along in an added illumination
of the way.
THE CHARTREUSE OF PARMA. BY
Stendhal. Translated by Lady
Mary Lloyd. New York: D. Apple
ton and Company.
4 NOVEL written almost a hundred
years ago, that moves with the
vividness OF current events. A novel
Of history. wherein events themselves
rival in interest the individual charac-
ters set forth here as hero and hero
Inc. This is the period OF Napoleon's
occupation of Italy. And it Is upon
this that the author expends his best
effort. As, indeed. he would. for Marie
lIopri p,,-Io u-bn roIla1 hi,,, Stand.