Evening star., 1926-12-13

Knoxville, Tenn.
Please state your opinion of the. ap-
petizers which head up stories TO lure
on the reader l have just Wttueu
through two of the dreariest drips OIL
my experience. Yet the inset on 'iie
first page assured me they were
masterpieces. What about itf
Answer-Not having read the stories
In ouestion I am unable to verify your
criticism. The writer's may have given
Won material worthy Of Kfpling or DE
Maupassant.
But the probability is that the
bIurbings of which you complain were
simply competitive advertising trlcKs
to PASS off very poor material. DIS
trust loud announcements of anotner
Poe or Hawthorne. Good wine needs
no bush"
Read sparingly the books which you
are assured everybody else Is readlng.
You will suffer no serious intellectual
loss if YOU avoid current "best sellers
and stick TO the really great works
which too often are neglected, al
though they can be purchased for a
nominal price.
Brooklyn, n. Y.
I frequently have heard New YORK
City referred to as the largest city
in the world. the hub of the universe,
the center of civilization, etc. Would
you kindly state when, if ever, 1t sur
passed London in these respectsf
What would you say We're the chler
distinctive characteristics or LONDON
and New York City?
Answer-There is no special merit in
size except for those who are be-
witched by the vulgarity of bulk. Nor
would Boston admit that New YORK
was the hub of the universe any more
than Rome comedies that 1t is not the
center of Christian civilization. The
remarks you note are no more than
foam on the wave, the overflow or Il
proper pride in New York's marvellous
growth. Yet London is larger than
New York and both would be more
congenial to many of their citizens II
they were not quite so big.
AS for their distinctive character
istics, despite it's interniXture of for
eign population London is typically
British. whereas New York is perhaps
the most cosmopolitan city on earth.
The former is historic to venerable
ness: the latter a relatively modern
development.
Both express the tendencies of their
builders and of the ages in which
they wrought. There are still eXtant
traces of the London of the ancient
Briton, succeeded by Roman, Anglo
Saxon, Danish, Norman. Plantagenet,
Tudor, Stuart, Georgian and Victorian
London, each in its own order. New
York's three centuries cover the Dutch
settlement, the British occupation and
the rise of American democracy.
The massiveness and solidarity of
the older capital indicate the temper
of the people who sustain the largest
empire of history. The bold and beau
tiful skyline of the younger city sug-
gests the aggressive grasp of todays
civilization upon it's material re-
sources. Yet both have souls beneath
their giant ribs. Does not London
speak to us of the past with thou
sand tongues? Does not New York
confidently predict a great future
which few will dispute who know
what the city has already achieved?
New York City.
| am an actor, 80 years of age,
run down in body, mind and resources
by my own folly, dismal failure at
the end of every engagement.
/ read your column and wonder If
there is another chance for man
of my profession, situated as / am?
AnSWer-EmphauC yes. Inere
are few more generous. sympathetic
people in the world than actors and
actresses. OF course they vary in
their benevolence, and so do those OF
my own or any other vocation. But
taken as a group they are quick to
respond to the cry Of a fellow mem.
ber in distress.
1 recently read two interesting let
ters which bear on your case. The
first was written in 1924 by an actor
down and out" as he averred,