Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-08-14
IDA GILBERT MYERS.

tive of the Fifth Thule EXpedltlon.
BY Knud Rasmussen. Illustrated.
New York: G. +. Putnam's Sons.
GIN my joy at having been permitted
to take this long sledge journey
my thoughts turn Involuntary to Il
contrasting enterprise, ending also in
Alaska, where last Spring people were
awaiting the visit of daring aviators
from the other side of the globe. And
from my heart l bless the fate that
allowed me to be born at time when
Arctic exploration by dog sledge was
not a thing of the past. In this sud
den retrospect. kindled by the great
backward view from East Cape:
bless the whole journey. forgetting
hardship and chance misfortune, by the
way, in the exultation l feel at the
successful conclusion Of Il high ad-
venture"
Such is the key of unmistakable
rejoicing TO which is pitched this mar
ratiye of hardship and danger. Right
here is a good time for us to DO
little rejoicing on our own account
that we are privileged TO partake.
though at second hand, of so great an
enterprise, carried out in so gallant
spirit. The airship will, it is easy 10
conjecture put the dog siedge out Oh
business as a means OF eXplofatioil'
Therefore. here is an era OF Arctlc
travel coming to an end--a fact whlcn
gives added zest to the reading OF
Rasmussen's story, quite apart from
the clear. intrinsic value of the re-
cital itself. AS record of personal
experience it is amazing, with no need
Of outside support of any SORE FROM
Danish Greenland across to Alaska
poinrs out the route. Look at the
man right at hand to renew your IDEAS
AZ to the enormous stretch OF Arctlc
cold and hardship to be endured whlle
covering the intervening spaces.
Clearly the airship will cover dis
tances more quickly. but the dog
sledge favors intimacy of contacts ana
provides closer means OF study-lor
some time vet to come, at any Iate.
And, besides, Rasmussens way now
possesses the glamour of an era tna'
is just moving off into an increasing
distance from the present. 1t Is q
great story. by way of which we meet
innumerable tribes of Eskimo, whose
WAYS of combating the frozen North
and of wrestling subsistence from II
become here a story of such quailty
as to read like romance-llke the ro-
nance of men and nature nghtlnS
together for supremacy.
The outstanding purpose OF TINS
expedition was a study of the raclal
element to be found in this Arctic re.
gion. In pursuit and fulfillment or
such purpose the author says: Ihe
Eskimo and North American Indians
were once the same people. N was
G came
from Asia. The Eskimos are only a
section of this stock which split Off
and migrated eastward across the
northern hemisphere" Traveller, eX-
nlorer. scholar and adventurer, knud
Rasmussen here rounds the whole or
himself. versatile and ardent man
of special training and experience
into this absorbing story OF crossing
Arctic America.
PROHIBITION AND CHRISTIAN
ITY: And other Paradoxes of the
American Spirit. BY John Erskine,
a.. author of THE Private Life OF
= Helen of Troy" etc. Indianapolis:
The Bobbs-Merrill Co.
TOHN ERSKINE, in the same smii-
- ing urbanity as that when
brought Miss Helen of Troy out OF
a long seclusion, here seats himseil
face to face with the American splrit
in order to commune with 1t awhlle
along certain lines of its many mani
festations. And since prohibition is
now pretty much to the fore, ana
since the church prides itself on belng
the most powerful anti in the drink
crusade, he naturally turns to TINS
tonic. With him right here is
l.
Gus prohibitionist. And they talk the
question out together. This is no
cheated argument" wherein passions
and prepudices get out of hand.
Nothing like that. Instead, Erskine
mentions rather casually the part that
wine has played, according to the
Bible, in many Christian ritual.
And then he moves on to that other
topic, the dictatorship of the few to
the many in this great democracy OF
ours, with it's curb on individual lib
erty. Nothing brash about the talk.
not ever from John Erskine. Just
easy comment that somehow never
misses the mark and that is equally
sure to stir ones own thinking along
the lines laid down. Sometimes Frs
kline falls into meditations here. from
which emerge his own mellowed opin-
ions upon lot of matters American
life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness,
marriage of the pagan brand and vir- |
tues of the same stripe. What We
See in the Mirror" is good reading for
all of us. Indeed. the whole of this
book of rambling thoughts and
picked-up topics is a JOY of fresh out |
look, of good courage. of plain sense,
of honest opinion, with no nonsense
about it anywhere. save the blessed
IF ind IL.
ing philosophy and a Willingness to let
the other fellow live according to his
lights.
THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK. |
BY Grace MacGowan Cooke. New |
York: Frederick A. Stokes Co.
WE humans love the Incredible
W myth, legend. fable, the sheerest |
current nvention-provided it be |
made up out of whole cloth. There |
must be deep reason for this. Pos |
sibly that life itself as we are per- |
mitted to grasp broken bits of 1t, is |
also wholly unbelievable. However, |
this is no place TO pursue SO elusive a |
question. Let us get back to the obvi |
Gus and simple fact that our surest |
diversions run along the line Of bizarre |
and unbelievable things. And here |
we are facing upon mystery story |
built to suit us from the ground up. |
Not a shred Of possible things any |
where about it; yet it is a plausible |
and clever invention. once you have |
accepted its wholly fictitious ground |
work. Cest la guerre. The war set !
it going in the person of a man SO |
wrecked and then patched up as to |
lie sent home In a mummylike casing, |
which thereafter shut him off from |
the eyes of his family. A rich man |
he'd have to be to account for the |
elaborate ceremonial of daily life in |
which he lived. Two devoted friends |
are needed to carry on. Here they |
are. even three of them at a pinch. |
One other situation must be SWal. |