Evening star., 1926-03-16

! Great buildings devoted to gas. cop.
| per, steel, etc. have become, in this
| gigantic Chicago. so many temples to
the materials which they represent.
| n \ \ +
| In such O setting the author in
PRODUCES us to Page, the Virginian,
! who has come to pay a visit to his
friend, Harvey Meachem, one of the
editors of the Tribune. We in turn
| meet DIR. Strachan, head of the Board
Of Health, who believes that science
will save mankind from what0. a
| faith.healer, Havesh, whom the med
| ical profession is after; Vita Orloff,
who really represents the vital forces
of this mysterious quality and quan-
| tity known as life, and others in
| tegral to the story.
| 1t Is not our purpose to tell here
| this interesting story, as to do SO
would deprive readers OF a pleasure
rightly theirs, for the tale Is, above
all, a corking good one.
| By its imaginative concepts, how
! ever, and its subtle interplay OF al
| legory with real life. it assumes pro
| portions outside q mere narrative.
| To the writer of these words II
| seemed a better sermon, lnnhltely
more interesting and compelling, than
any he had ever heard from u pulpit.
| This story achieves that intangible
thing, bringing Jesus Christ DOWN 20
terms Of modern life. for Havesh
the faith.healer. as you no doubt
| suspect, is simply the Christ come
| to earth again.
| It Is largely due to the restraint
| wherewith he handles this divine
character that Stribling achieves q
| quality rarely found in story. a
| proper combination OF philosophy
! and narrative.
| So cleyerly are the modern Ameri-
| can attitudes on growth. science, big
business, material possessions, etc.
woven in with the ancient doctrines
| of the soul, life eternal. the invisible
spirit and the higher things of faith
| that the reader does not feel, until
| the story ends on a strange note,
that he has participated IN mental
| adventure that runs the gamut OF
human thought.
| II * = x
| Such. however, Is the fact. Here,
in the sugar-coating of a story we
get q modern appeal for the religion
| Of Jesus Christ.
| Under the guise Of Satire with q
| large s. the reader finds himset
| pondering {as the story moves9 the
different attitudes toward life ex-
emplified in the writings of flip. su-
perficial Scientific" writer's. and as
| set forth. once and for all. in the
Bible.
"In his heart Page held the Ameri.
can view that unless a man was well
placed financially. he really did not
deserve any great amount of consid :
Grafton or respect" the story tells
US.
1.-The sharp, wrinkled face suggest
| ed acutenesS, sophistication and q
certain ironic amusement at life such
as all youngish men who are not do
ing particularly well in their pro-
| fessions."
"rhe difference between the reli-
| g:eus and the irreligious In America
lies In the degrees of their skepticfsn,.
| a skeptic's doubt stands on the sur.
face: the faithfuis covers In his
! heart"
| The girl Vita twas a poultice to
Pages mind: an easement to his inter
minable theorizing about life and
truth and morals"
! Il don't think I would care for a
world with everybody in It sound and
healthy and efficient and-heartless.
In giving these quotations. we have
| purposely left out any idea Of the
| plot of this unusual story. which is
q credit to it's author and the 1naga-
zine which publishes it.