Evening star., 1926-12-18
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the Bookl0rer.


class-either history, biography
travel. fiction or poetry-and then he
Is sure that if the recipients are
not pleased 1t is their fault. OF course
he does his best to adapt his book
gifts to the individuals for whom
they are intended. He does not
send IL rare old edition of Urn
Burial" to a fiapper, Dresser =
american Tragedy" to an invalid
suffering from melancholia. nor Wig
gan's Fruit of the Family Tree to
a fundamentalist. III other words he
tries to he tactful and discriminating.
With this in mind he divides the names
on his list into groups. First. there
are his more or less serious friends,
| who rarely read fiction but like to
keep up with recent books Of other
types. For eight of them he selects
Durant's "Story of Philosophy -
Breasted's Conquest Of Civilization, y
James Harvey Robinson's ordeal of
Civilization" Sandburg's Abraham
Lincoln: the Prairie Years." Cotton's
! Life of Charles w. Eliot" Charles
Moore's Family Life of George
Washington" Hervey Aliens "Israfel:
the Life and Times Of Edgar Allan
Poe" and Cushing's Life of Sir
William Osler." Three of his friends
enjoy not too heavy books Of popular
| science and they receive William Bee
be's "Arcturus Adventure" De Kruif's
"Microbe Hunters" and Gamaliel
! Bradfortls Darwin Other friends,
who like good fiction, not too devoid
of action, are given Hergesheimer' s
"rampico," Sinclair Lewis Man.
trap" and Somerset Maugham's
| volume Of six stories 1.-THE Casuarina
| Tree"
X !: 4 4
When he comes to his own family,
he has little trouble. He knows their
| tastes; he also knows what he thinks
| will be good for them. His wife is
| something of q musician, so he gives
her Finck's my Adventures in the
Golden Age of Music" and, as she
also has a taste for psychological fic
| tion, he selects number OF good
novels Of this type for her, including
| Mary Webb's precious Bane," Arnold
BENEFITS Lord Raingo." Hugh Wal
| poles "Harmer John" Ernest Poole's
| ton Gibbs Labels" To his mother
and his sister, who live together and
| read aloud great deal, he decides tC
| send J. st. Loe Strachey's American
Soundings." Clementina Blacks 1.-THE
Linleys OF Bath" Drinkwater's "Mr
| Charles, King Of England" Mark
| Sullivan's "Our Times" Padraic
Columns THE Road Round Ireland
and Hamlin Garland's "Trial-Makers
Of the Middle Border"
X X n X
His son, who is in high school, ha:
recently shocked him by not knowing
| who Prometheus was and by confus
| ing Galahad with Siegfried, SO he de
| termines to make part of his Christ
! mas books educational and gives hin
Tatlock's Greek and Roman Mythol
ogy" and Guerber's Legends Of the
| Middle Ages" With Wren's "Beal
Sabreur" and Sabatinis ''Bellariol
| the Fortunate" to sugar-coat th'
others. He especially enjoys choosint
| the books for his two younger chill
dren. boy and a girl, and orders fo1
them Marshalrs English Literature
for Boys and Girls" Teasdale anC
| Walkers "Rainboy Cold (pOetry)
1.-THE Donegal Wonder Book" by Seu
mas MacManus; Stewart Edward
Whites Daniel Boone" Etiquette
Jr.," by Quigley and Clark; Bridges
""Young Folks Book of Invention,
and Chrisman's "Shen of the Sea.
Finally, as be has q liking for the ole
books. he makes himself q modest
ChristmaI present of Everybody
Pepys," with so illustrations, by T.. II
shepafd.
One view of the Christmas season
a rather cynical one, is expressed in
Rose Macaulay's recent novel, "Crew'
Train" which shows human beings
all hurrying about, doing futile thing:
and leading lives entirely differen
from those they would prefer to lead
| The preface motto of the novel is "Oh
/ Mr.. Porter, whatever shall l do?
i.laeant to go to Birmingham ant
| they've sent me on to Crewe." Par
| be the mad Christmas rush. Ever,
year, in the deep Midwinter, there
| descends upon this world a terrible
| fortnight. A fortnight, or 10 days, o.
week, when citizens cannot get abou
| the streets Of their cities for the surg
| ing pressure of persons who wall
| therein; when every shop Is choket
mass of humanity, and purchases, a
| the very time when purchases arr
| most numerously ordained TO be made
are only possible at the cost Of bit
| ter hours of travail; a time wher
I nerves are tangled and frayed. purses
emptied to no purpose, all amusements
and all occupations suspended in IA
vor of frightful businesses with brown
paper, string, letters, cards, stamps
and crarnmed post offices. This period
| Is doubtless q foretaSte of whatever
lpurgatory lies in store for human
creatures"
Il X 4 X.
More pioneer autobiography of the
Garland family is the substance OF
Hamlin Garland's novel, "Trailmakers
OF the Middle Border" "a Son of the
Middle Border" and "a Daughter of
the Middle Border" told of the lives
Of Hamlin Garland's parents, who
; were pioneer settlers in Wisconsin,
and of his own boyhood, growth to
manhood and hard struggle to final
success as an author. "TrailmakerS
of the Middle Border" is none the
less biography because 1t has the
form of fiction and makes use of as
sumed names. Richard Graham of
this story probably represents Ham
lin Garland's father. He leaves
Maine for work in Boston, then feels
the urge Of the California gold fever.
but stops in Wisconsin, where ro-
nance and marriage overtake him,
then interrupts his pioneer life to
serve his country in the Civil War.
These three books are not merely a
history of the Garlands, but also
serve as record of the manners and
customs Of an important and pic
turesque era in American history.
X X X X
The story of the American Indian,
admirably told for young people, is
written by Flora Warren Seymour in
her book, "The Indians OF Today"
Mrs. Seymour is a member of the
Board of Indian Commissioners. She
tells Of all the different Indian tribes