Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-05-15
THE LIBRARY TABLE
Ry The BOOki0uer.

ity or great Movement, or both.
Writers of n prevailing type OF DO
era phical novel sometimes forget the
necessity for either personality or
achievement in their heroes. These
fictitious gentlemen are too often hre'
from youth to old age but think ana
talk about themselves their emotions
a nd their Srieva noes against life. Inc
facts of their existence are strikipgly
alike in many such noVels-a desolalf,
misunderstood childhood. rebelliouS
youth. II plunge into the underworld.
an unhappy marriage. various unsuc-
cessful vocational experiments. ana
seIf.pitH, self-pity, seifpity
Pig Iron" by Charles q. Morris.
has some points in common with his
type of biogra phical novel. but the
differences are more numerous than
the resemble noes. In the first
place, Samuel OseoOd Smith has per
! sonality from the day of his birth.
the day when the news of Lees sur
! render reached his parents home a I
| Mendon. Mass, until he has arrived
Pat his siXtieth year, when pig Iron
ends. and Samuel. now become s.
| Osgood Smith, Is a vigorous. portly,
! smOOth-faced. white-haired man. He
| has also abundant achievement to his
credit. He IL the producer and owner
OF millions. SO. in respect to person
/ aIity and achievement, he is not at all
! like the futile, whining heroes of a. :.
/ NJ Hutchinson. Arnold Bennett, J.
| -. BereSford and Gilbert Cannon. lie
! is much more akin to GaiSW0rth$' =
/ Soar mes t'UrSHte Vet Samuel OSgoOd
! Smith like the wea ker heroes of some
Of these other biographical novels. has
/ his excursion into sex connection
i which he prefers To keep secret. a
| brieft excursion and one which ha =
upon his life II lasting influence. for
good. MOI for evil. He also has Il mar
| rage which. out wardly successful.
does moi bring him much inner con
/ tentnent
lt would seem that Samuel Smith,
| successful in a dozen lines Of indus
| try and fina nee. who cannot enter his
country club without being ed Geriy de-
/ ferred TO for advice about business
! openings. tips on the market and
| methods Of financing new enterprises.
! has little reason for Self.pitY or The
! pity of others. No one else does pity
| him. every one enVies him. But
| Samuel pities himself as he sits in the
sun on The broad vera nda Of his mag
! niiiceni country home. MerrNwold.
/ lie thinks over the friends OF his
| youth and their present lives and de-
| cides that he envies none Of them.
All are poor, or Al least comparatively
| So according TO his standards. What
they had achieved would never have
contented him" Yes. he had every
thing he wanted. lie deserved 10 have
| everything he wanted. for he had
| worked for 1t; he had d right 10 sue
| cess" His wealth has brought him
security and power and now. al 60. he
| is going to give up business. He has
| invested the bulk Of his money where
| the ups and downs of the market ca n
not affect ii. More money did not
| interest him: II he made more he
would have To think up ways 10 spend
| il or hire somebody to do the think
| ing for him" He is going to spend
the rest of his life in enjoying himself.
| When he comes to this point in his
! thoughts there is shadow. There
! lies the whole trouble. lie does not
! know how to enjoy himself. He no
! longer has any real interest in any
| thing. Moneyma king has been his
whole life: when that is stopped moth
| ing remains. His wife and he ha We
nothing in common: his children are
entirely unlike him and ne finds no
| satisfaction in them: his friends are
! either dead or have drifted far ava
| from him; now that his Ella bon a { ?
house is completed he has lost interest
| in it: art. music. literature mea II
nothing Ia him: his philanthrophy is
all ha nded by his able secretary he
sees nothing ahead but boredom and
a lonely old age. "Nought's had. alI's
spent. where our desire Is got wit hout
content.
"The Liberty Bell. Its History and
Sig niticance' is the title of an inter
estins book by Victor Rosewater. Be
fore the Libery Bell settled down in
its present home at the base OF the
tower of independence Hall in Phila
deiphia II had many and various
travels. In 1177 it made a hurried
flight to Allentown 10 escape capture
by the British; in 1885 it made de
luxe trip to New Orleans for the In
dustrial and Cotton Exposition; in
1898 and 1895 it visited the Chicago
and Atlanta Expositions, respectively
in 1902 il went 10 CharlestOn: In 1908
ii was in attenda nee at the Bunker
was at the st. Louis Exposition. and
in 1918 at the San Francisco Exposi
ton. In addition TO these long
journies ii has made various day
| trips in the form OF Philadelphia pa
triOtic street psrsdes. Wherever IT
has gone IL has been greeted by the
applause of crowds Of enthusia 81 ic
Americans lined mp along its path.
The big Jagged crack in the bell orig
,I@flx IL -
Justice Marshall in 1885. The crack
has grown larger on account Of the
eXpa nsionS and contractionS due TO
changes of temperature and the jar
rings Of it's travels. so that TODAY, on
the advice Of metallurgists. no further
journies are permitted.
The Albany. exclusive retreat of
well-to-do bachelors and would be
bachelors. the most famous apart
ment house of London and probably
of the world. has been made the sub
ject of book, Paradise in Piccadil-
ly." The book was begun by Harry
Furniss, who died before it was com
pleted. John Lane, the publisher,
then continued the work, but he also
died before the proofs We're ready; so
the book was finished by the pub
fishers. The Albany was purchased
during the reign of George III. from
the Duke of York, by London
builder. who turned it into an apart
ment building Of 62 suites. Bachelors
or widowers are supposed to be the
only tenants and no business or pro
fession may be housed in the building.
| Many famous men have been resi-
dents of the Albany. among them
Canning. Gladstone. Macaulay Bul.
wer.Lytton, Byron. Sir Herbert Tree
and Arnold Bennett. The list of the
tenants in full is given in the appendix.
This unique building Is scarcely less
famous in fiction than in fact Most of