Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-08
REVIEWS OF SUMMER BOOKS
c. Bascom Semp Contributes Volume About President Cool
idge-Disraeli and Gladstone-More Concerning Air
planes and the Newest Novels.

| craft power plants in as direct and
| clear a manner as the nature of the
subject and the newness of the sub
ject permit.
! MASTERSON. BY Gilbert F'rankau,
author of "Life-and Erica etc.
New York: Harper & Bros.
THIS is the story of an English gen.
tleman. 1t is also the story of a
| man endowed with a sense of obllga-
| ton to his time and his place. When
| the story opens he is leading a happy
and obscure life in eastern Africa.
| That which breaks up this comfort
| able estate is the news of his father S
| death and an immense fortune left
for him to take in charge. An unex-
! pected event but others standing in
between him and this issue had sud
denly met disaster of one sort and
another Immediately the Unborn sense
of responsibility rises in the man, and
he returns to England to do the part
set by this new situation. The long
and carefully wrought story has to do
with the career of MasterSOn as poll
tician of the reforming brand, as up
holder of the standard that his wealth
imposes upon him. Society as we'll
as public political life claims him, and
it is here that much of importance
takes place in its effect upon the char
acter of MastersOn. Two women hg-
ure strongly in his new life. lie mar
ries one of thenl-the wrong one. Inc
story is thereafter one of awakening
and disilusionment And old story,
you say SO it is. That of newnesS
belonging to it is the reaction of
Masterson to the various crises that
arise around him. Yet. after ALL it is
the old story of the tWO-and-One. But
around this primitive complex Gilbert
E'rankau WeaVeS an elaborate picture
of modern life, of English society, of
English politics. An enormous amount
of painStaking went into this picture.
There appears to be no corner Where
any careless work appears. AS a re-
suit the effect is a bit StupendouS.
And the story is too long: good as it
is, the story is too long. There is no
time for it-not for all of it-but it is
great work in its own way, notwith-
standing.
THE WOMEN OF THE SALONS. BY
s. G. Tallentyre. Illustrated. New
York: {. p. Putnam'S Sons.
by way of these women of the salons
~ this author reviews a. chapter of
ighteenth-Century Paris, equivalent
politically at that time to the whole of
France We already know many of
these women--Recamier, de Stael,
Sevigne, Nine. du Deffand, quite in
love with Horace Walpole when she
was an old woman and terribly trOu-
besome to that not willing gentleman.
But this writer has brought them to-
gether here in a big company. and
one 50 we'll ARA ged and projected as
TO afford excellent chances to set them
up side by side for an estimate OF
their various powers and charms.
These women constitute, too, picture
Of the political intrigueS and passions
of that day. for they were terrible
meddlers, as women are apt to be az
the first access of influence. In a way
these women are the forerunnerS of
the emancirated and active women of
the present In another way they are
worlds away from this present. They
frankly used their feminine charms
and sometimes even sacrificed their
modesty and morals for the sake of
influencing this line of political action
that man of dominating influence.
To be sure, such sacrifice is all done
away with in these days. The resem-
blance between that past and this
present lies only in the expanded
sphere of life belonging to the two
eras. a thoughtful and capable study
of subject that never loses its lure
for readers. France is notably inter
esting in its history. No chapter of
it has greater interest than that period
when the women came into the open
as political factors in the life of the
country.
SINGING RAWHIDE: 4 Book of
Western Ballads. BY Harold Her
sey. Illustrations by Jerry Delano.
New York: George II. Doran Com
pany.
THE ballad is one form Of poetry at
least that does not lose it's charm.
that does not go out of fashion For
good reason. too. Within it lies the
story, actions racing to a climax pic
turesque and stirring. And every
body likes the story. Here is an affec-
ton that begins in the cradle and
thereafter runs along beside man in
appeal. Tell me
story" is a call that does not stale
And beside this the ballad sings on
it's way. measuring out it's adventures
in cadences that capture and hOh one.
Now. if this singing story come from
the heart of the singer. it is bound to
carry all before it, Singing Raw
hide" covers an irresistible theme
Ever since Bret Harte set the West
before the East in such inimitable
fashion. that West has been the goal
of many Il writer of prose and poetry.
This Harold Hersey more than sug-
gests Bret Harte, lie seems to have
had an even closer share in that wild
life than Harte ever did have. Maybe
not. though. 1t may be pure art that
swings along here through scenes of
mol lrnl nf of
monty in the vernacular OF the COW
boy and the bad man, of the poker
playing. siX-gun bad man, some of
these songs. on the other hand, fall
into Il beauty of word that is but
slightly hidden under the speech of
tie locality. And all of them GER
tainly hold the swing and dash of
freedom and daring. All of them are
exciting and compelling. both in their
music and in their adventure. 1t
would he unfair not to give Il lot of ,
credit here to Jerry Delano. whose
sketches are as alive and vital as are
he ballads themselves.
X x x
THE RED LEDGER. BY Frank L.
Packard, author of The Miracle
Man" etc New York: George II. /
Doran Company.
THE Ledger" suggests the Book of
Life in which are recorded the !
leeds of man upon the earth. Within |
t Charlebo!s had set down the names
If those from whom he had received |
10Th benefits and hardshipS between !
, boyhoOd Of deep poverty and n man. |
lood of affiuence and power. Bring |
ng the book Of accounting up to date |
provides material for the collection of |
mystery tales that Frank Packard |
pffers to readers in this installment. |
These would be separate, disconnected |
stories of crime and mystery We're it |
not for Charlebois himself and his |
-oung protege, Even Stranway, who |
furnish the link that binds them into |
L sort of unity. The hero OF these |