Evening star., 1926-12-12
BY IDA GILBERT MYERS.

PORTS OF FRANCE. BY Herbert
Adams Gibbons, author of THE
New Map of Europe" etc. Illus
trated by Giovanni Petrini. New
York: The Century Co.
TN "Ports of France" Herbert
Adams Gibbons turns story tel
ler. Yet, SO ingrained in the his
i toric attitude is this writer that
he takes 1t as a matter of course
before a subject that Is not, in intent,
history at all. And thereby are readers
all the richer. This book embodies a
vacation, a rest, a bit of sightseeing,
All around France, Mr.. Gibbons said
to himself he would go, wandering
along, touching it's various ports,
maybe just to keep his excursion to
some kind of order. And this is what
he does. To Dunkirk and Boulogne at
the north, and on around to st. Malo
and Brest, and then down to the
ports of the Loire and so along to
Marseilles does he go, stopping at
some ports not named here. and pass
ing some that there Is not time for
him to consider within the limits of
this book. First, according to origi-
nal design, Mr.. Gibbons is the mere
and scenery Of his journey. And we
get a great deal from this role. AS
soon, however, as he reaches one of
the ports which he Is seeking, he be-
comes the artist, composing the port
hamlet or town into it's unity of mass
and color, into its neighborliness of
land and sea, into the character that
usage has bred in its personality. And
that Is most interesting, too. It is
only, however. when the true and in
stinctive historian steps out that one
gets the full content of each Of these
ports of France. How old is It? What
gave rise to it just at this point?
What peoples have used 1t? What
civilizations have fostered 1t and given
it form and spirit? Just how in it's
record of these various contributions
to it's present being? What is it's
present in relation to the life OF
France, of the world itself? What is
its future, and why do you say this.
Stroller, artist. historian, story teller
all around the coast of France does
he go, we close upon his heels, listen
ing to the fascinating story of these
outposts of France.
THROUGH MANY WINDOWS. BY
Helen Woodward. New York: Har.
lust this day in world affairs there
- Is no subject more important than
that OF the success of women In bust
ness. For they are all out after bust
ness success, these women-young and
old, the serious and light-minded, the
and the muddle-headed.
Many will fail, as many men do; a
few will succeed, as q few men do.
And there are all sorts of life.savers
out for these seeking women. The
most of the rules are worth nothing.
Some of them are mildly suggestive.
But there iS a book, so sourced and
projected as to promise first aid of
effective sort to serious woman work.
ers. In this book Mrs. Woodward tells
of her own career as business wom-
an---tells 1t, too. in a clear sincerity,
with dispassion, without vanity, with
field into which women are nowadays
swarming. She goes back to the be-
ginning, to the days when, with not
a thing on earth to sell, she sailed
forth to sell it. She had scrambled to-
gether a. few marks that she called
stenography. With these. and her
youth, she made shift to get into an
ONCE, trusting simply In a good God
and a kindly employer to keep her on
there. OF a more serious sort than
many, she began to see that business
implies some useful thing to offer,
some real thing to sell. So she began
to develop her own slim stock of
wares. She began to create her own
the step that not many take. With
this her road not only began to
straighten, but II began to climb slow
ly the hills of success. And all along
the way the girl saw into the inside
Of other businesses than her own, and
upon these she makes keen comment
"a comment that Is never bitter, that
Is shrewd and sane rather. Well, in
a word, this is a useful story-not one
Of the dull, useful stories, but an ex.
citing one instead that Is calculated to
fire many a woman with q better
sense Of her "job" than she now holds.
Better than set rules, this book;
better than any daily dozen Of bust.
perience projected with sincerity, with
a fine intelligence Of understanding,
with vivacity and interest and charm.
A GIRL FROM CHINA. BY b. Van
Worst, author Of "A Popular His
tory Of France" New York: Fred.
erick A. Stokes Co.
TT has a historic implication, that
L day in July, 1925, when q Chinese
girl passed her examinations at the
Sorbonne and received her degree as
a lawyer. A woman out of the East
standing as an equal in the great field
of occidental learning. That girl is
Soumay Tcheng, and this book covers
Sounnay Tcheng's story related by her.
self. Projected In a complete SIMPLE
ity Of manner, the story, nevertheless,
spreads behind and around this strik.
ing personality the full tradition of
the Chinese family of high degree.
The daily life is tradition in the East,
blend in customs and ceremonials
whose origin Is of truly venerable
cast. But this Is the story Of rebel,
of mild-mannered and most engag-
ing rebel, but of an uncomfortable one
at that. The girl goes on to tell how,
little by little, she set herself against
the narrowed life of the women Of the
East. How little by little she gained
here and there, until now she Is a free
woman, as women everywhere are
coming to be free to follow their own
inner urges, their own intellectually,
their own tastes, their own Occupa-
tions. A common tale here in the West,
but with Soumay Tcheng a very Alad.
din adventure Of romance, as gaining
Of personal freedom she
steps out into the dream of greater
for China itself. A very win.
ming, q very strong personality looks
out from this recital of a soul adven-
turing out into the windy places Of the
worlds outreachings toward its Wis.,
ions Of universal well being. And a