Evening star., 1926-05-02

Personalities Art Conditions Mexico and Woman Wo Was P
in French Polics-The Latest Fiction From the Publishers

volved here outstanding face to face
with the present.
BUFFALO DAYS. BY Col. Homer w.
Wheeler. Indianapolis: The Bobbs'
Merrill Company.
LONE THOUSAND Main streets,
~ 10000 Rabbits, kiwanians, Ro-
tarians. boosters of every brand, long
miles of wheat range, counties of corn
| belt, strange politics, naive economics
in word. modern progress now
spreads the pattern of the great West.
But little more than a half century
ago the wild buffalo and the native red
man constituted the romantic and pic
turesque history of that region. Yet
this chapter of our hitsory Is as re-
mote as the days before the flood.
The present is an amazing period. The
immediate future promises to be morei
astounding. Not strange that even SO
recent page of the countrS's record
should have passed into general un-
concern. Nevertheless, this is a valid
| chapter of American history. One
| too, upon which the present rests and
without whose understanding the pres
ent itself remains in a measure un-
explained.
When, therefore, out of that period
emerges one who was himself an agent
in the general task of finally pushing
the frontier over into the Pacific,
then this one-soldier, Indian fighter,
Army yotticer--becomes a person of gen
eral interest, a story teller Of immedi-
ate concern. Col. Homer Wheeler's
story justif1es the promise of its au-
thor's active and varied experiences.
! The story becomes, too, d valuable
chapter in the history of that time and
place. Its effect upon the reader is
that of personal experience. Names
become persons-brilliant leaders and
soldiers, famous Indian chiefs, places
Of fierce encounter, examples of spe
cial modes of warfare. points of hero
ism and ultimate victory. This is the
story of soldier and fighter, pro
| jected in the economy of the soldiers
general training.
THE ARISTOCRATIC WEST. By
Katherine Fullerton Gerould, au
thor Of Lost Valley" etc. New
| York: Harper & Bros.
TT is the neighborhood of the Pacific
- that Mrs. Gerould gathers up here
as The Aristocratic West" a neigh
borhood including not only the coast
itself. but one that reaches back into
New Mexico, Utah. Nevada. AS the
| title implies, these passing views have
! to do largely with the states of mind
toward other parts of the country that
these localities have come to possess.
For instance, their contempt for the
Middle West, their lukewarm accept
ance of the Atlantic Coast. The book
as a whole, therefore, is a character
| istic Mrs. Gerould performance that
! here constitutes a sort Of running
psychology picked off from journey
ings in the far West. The local his
tory is sketched here from point to
point, each in It's special features,
each the seat of some particular cause
for pride and self-congratulation. To
the history are added pictures of place
and people, Of custom and outlook.
Engaging and brilliant matter the
whole of it, with which one does not
at every point have to agree in order
to receive the full entertainment Of
the whole. For Mrs. Gerould is, un.
failingly, most exciting companion
for one to fare out with, either among
actual people or among the institu-
tions and theories created and sustain
ed by them.
FABER: OR. THE LOST YEARS. BY
Jacob Wassermann, author Of 'The
Worlds Illusion" etc. Translated
by Harry Hansen. New York:
Harcourt, Brace & Co.
MO one came out of the World
War the man who went into it.
Not even the least of those who took
part in this great conflict. Each one,
taking up the ways of peace again,
found himself confronted with a sense
Of lost years. Such is the theme Of
this novel by Jacob Wassermann.
deeply intellectual man and highly
dramatic artist. A novel that repays
one uncommonly we'll for it's reading,
since to the authors genuine artistry
as writer of fiction is added here a
clear spiritual purpose. The story
itself has to do with a returned sol
dier who finds new world in the
familiar spot that was his old home.
Everything is changed. He, most of
all. is changed. To pursue the old
ways. even with home and wife, is
impossible. The story has to do with
the slow rebuilding of the home and
family relationships upon a. basis of
new freedom. of new equality, of new
respects and new allegiances. The
book is well worth while for its no.
bility of conception in harmony with
new and higher ideals, for the beauty
of its true and gracious development.
* X X
THE HOUSE. By Grace kellogg Crit
fifth, author of 1.-The Mould" Phil
adelphia: The Penn Publishing Co.
MOT SO many years ago the Watch
and Ward clans would have been
after novels of this sort as revolution
ary and demoralizing. But matters
have moved fast since mot so many
years ago. and nowadays novels sim
To- tn fhnfl1n under
the common name of legion. To ques-
! ton the power of the family, wife
| hood, motherhood. the very house
| indeed, the entire domestic complex
| would then have savored of the devil
and his works. Now the question in
one or another of it's parts, or as a
whole, turns out to be one of daily
consideration, not by the mass Of the
people, to be sure, but in enough indi-
vidual cases as to make it a real and
! serious problem. Here is an eXcep.
tionally capable story upon this theme.
| The woman of the house is no Stacker.
With unusual competence and zest
she does her bit by husband, by chill
dren, by the house itself. But chill.
dren do not remain children. Hus-
| bands are sadly preoccupied factors
In the house and family whole. A
mere house can ride any woman to
! her death. Struggle? Oh, yes. But
( the house is still there Nearly empty
now, certainly, but Unsuitable never.
theless. What's the answer? One an
swer is given here, a logical and dra-
matte answer. A strong novel, the
question well set. the solution as fair
as one can ask for a problem to which
| there is no key.
| X x X X
80 CANDLES. BY Earl Derr Biggers,
| author of Seven Keys to Bald
pate" etc. Indianapolis: The
| Bobbs. Merrill Company.