Evening star., 1926-06-12
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY the BOOkL0uer.

on this planet Worth being grateful
for" William Beebe has taken many
a first wild walk, sometimes on all
fOurs, through various tropical
jungles. 1t was in connection with
his expedition to the Galapagos Archi-
pelago that he wrote this sentence in
one of his most delightful books,
Galapagos-NOrld's End" In the
Spring of 1923 he went with q group
of scientists. as director, On a cruise
to the Galapagos Islands, living in the
Pacific. about 500 miles off the coast
of Ecuador. Less than 100 hours
were actually spent on the islands,
yet, because of the scientific knowl-
edge of the party and their complete
equipment for observation and coilec
ton, d remarkable number of speci-
mems. photographs, drawings and
paintings were brought back and
many scientific papers were after
ward written about discoveries made
during the trip.
The chapter of Mr.. Beebes book de-
scribing that first walk on the large
island of interchangeable, though con-
taining no thrilling adventures, is full
Of the delight of the naturalist to
whom all the small happenings in
animal and vegetable life are signih-
cant. Landing from the yacht Mona.
with his mind full Of DarWins visit
to the same island IS years EefOre.
Mr.. Beebe had, he says, a feeling of
hopelessness, because he knew that
ms visit must be measured by days,
almost by hours The little crescent
beach, extending between two great J.,
dead. bleached, straggly bushes, was
exactly his mental picture Of a buc-
cancers and shipwrecked mariners
Deach; and, as he later learned, had
been the scene of the casting away OF
10 sailors from a Norwegian vessel
From the beach he walked up over a
sandy ridge and found himself in "a
wholly new land''-a land of cinders
and lava, for the island is volcanic
vegetation was sparse, springing from
cracks and crevices in the lava
Every step must be tested, else a 4
foot sheet of sliding clinker, changing
IKE solid metal, would precipitate one
INTO a cactus or other equally thorny
plant. A careless scrape of a shoe and
the sharp lava edges cut through the
ieather IKE raZors.' In spite of this
difficult going, Mr.. Beebe managed to
'.AN vi tiaiiipCl lIidliu ana upward
Tor miles. Sea and land birds of
many varieties. brilliantly colored liz
ards and rare insects accompanied
and delayed his walk. When he re-
turned to the yacht the swift, tropical
night was settling down and, he SAYS
II now knew something about that
beach and the life on lava and leaves
mad seen and heard and smeled It
ana L begrudged my night of sleep"
4
In recent letter TO The Star
Floyd Dell objects to a comment by
the Booklover that in his book. In
teliectual Fagabondage." he says "a
rev patronizing words of Browning
ana is contemptuOus of the Victorian
generally. He writes: Before it gets
any further / should like to deny
the rumor that | have been holding
the great Nictorians up to contempt
IN my book, intellectual Vaga
pondage.' AS your Senator's would
say, ! yield to none in my admiration
Tor the great Victorians. The idea
that l have been 'patronizing
Browning is particularly painful for
me to hear of myself, for / dote on
Browning and always have" 1t is
interesting to learn of a modern who
dotes on Browning. Perhaps there
are others. but how few Browning
societies there are today. Mr.. Dell
goes on to say that his book is in
tended to describe the attitude of
young people generally toward the
literature Of the past He is un.
doubtedly correct in his diagnosis
The moderns prefer the moderns.
dave 80
Susan Ertz, fell in love with the gra
in growing old, had not lost her youth
Almost to the same degree are we at
tracted to Charles Lester, in after
Noon Deserted by his wife, wht
leaves behind twin babies, girls
Charles finds himself at "a in an un
usual situation. A chartered account
ant, spending his days in the city an(
his evenings in a boarding house tax
ing care of his fat twin girls, who are
his now, his to keep forever" he re
fleets that Ito be the father, at "a, o.
motherless twin girls is not the lot OF
many young men," But the twin girl.
grow up with startling rapidity
Charles becomes moderately prosper
Gus. and as the years pass he dis
covers that he is perfectly happy IL
tIlS vi Ills OduS
Then the inevitable happens and botf
Caroline and Venetia fall in love ant
insist on marrying. From contented
motherly father, Charles becomes 6
desperately lonely man. OF course
Caroline and Venetia are not the only
women in the story; If they were what
would become of poor Charles? There
is also Lydia, a charming American
widow, of just the right age, appear
ance and temperament to be congenia
with Charles. His unfortunate de
termination never again to expose
himself to the risks of matrimony
makes things different between hin
and Lydia. He Is the most delightful
cynic. Lydia is super-sensitive and Still
has illusions, though her own mar
riage has not been especially happy
When Charles lightly. but feelingly
speaks of the terrible permanence'
and the appalling difficulties OF
marriage, or exclaims MY God, why
do people marry and bring these trou
bles on themselves" Lydia develop.
complex" over the whole matter
Because Susan Ertz Is a kindly. cheer
full philosopher, one does not believe
that only the tragic is realistic, the
complex" is Strengthened out and the
w
justment.
X X X X
'The Test of the Genteel' is the title
of a very interesting article by Cor
nelia James Cannon in the June Har
pers. Its theme is the enormous widen
ing of the numbers who may claim
to be cultivated. The author quotes &
trade union official as saying thai
unionists do not want their children
taught trades. I'VE want them Il
learn to see what. you see in 6
museum. and to enjoy a symphony
concert. and to like to read books the
way you do" She says that "our peo
pie as a whole are yearning to share
in the world of ideas" and instances
as proof the crowding of schools. the
thousands visiting museums and the
immense circulation of books from
our public libraries. The author says