Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-02
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
I. G.. NJ.
MY STUDY WINDOW. Marietta
Minnigcrode Andrews. E. p. Dutton
q IN

The United States in point of age is
but a mere younTS.er. It's cities there
fore, even the oldest Of these, lack much
of che mellow beauty that long centuries
OF existence have bestowed upon many
a famous center of the Old World.
Nevertheless. there are here and there
spots in our own country which, out of
general condition and special circum-
stance, have gathered, are Sill gather
ing, those ess1 noes and fragrances that
stand for the spirit of locality. giving
to this place or that one the effect OF
personality itself A case in point Is
esquely reminiscent of French adven-
turer and settler. Another Is Charleston.
still so strongly remindful Of its Hu9ue-
not strain. Still another is Boston, even
yet barricaded behind rs Puritan
austerity. And there is Washington.
youngest of them all. unique among
American cities. the center Of Nation
wide affection, the immediate concern
of the people as whole.
The story OF Washington has been
told many times. From many POM
of view 1t has been Approximations
By the grave historian, or by the scien-
tist; now by the political writer or the
pure story-teller. Among these none
has done better service than two or
three women who have competently and
brilliantly reproduced the social drama
of the Capital, drama OF interviewer
personalities and problems, where poll
tics, craftsmanship, diplomacy, society
are the threads of such weaving. A
long time ago Mrs. Bayard Smith
told the story of Washington society as
1t was around the Jackson period. To-
day, Mrs Minnigsrode Andrews produces
by way of My STUDY window" the last
40-year span Of the psgeantry that
social Washington so clearly is
Now. here in the Capital, President
passing along the street is no over
whelming sight. A Senator in his daily
walk causes no upheaval In the quiet
run of things Diplomats are pretty
much In the days work. as are both
generals and admirals. But try to re-
member back when you first came to
the city. Try to recall the thrilling
possibility of actually seeing a live
Senator OF the United States or other
dignitary approaching this one In lofty
position. Well. that is the present state
of mind OF 100, 200, 900 people, more or
less. who In this day Of spinning wheels
fully expect to look out upon the big
parade OF their Capital city!
To such my Study window" is both
preparation and partaking. Here is a
woman, waywise and sophisticate. a
smiling woman with wit upon her
tongue, with keen appraisal in her eye,
with great good sense abiding in her
heart And this woman. Mrs. Min
nigerode Andrews, from the slightest
window in Washington points out the
people that you so much want to see,
want to hear, want to have take you
by the hand. And past this window
the great procession moves. Yet, its
effect Is not at all that of a procession.
nothing so formal, so wooden as that.
Rather Is 1t, by way of a nearer ap-
! proach, Of a friendlier and warmer
meeting that you see these notablcs
of the Capital-PreSident, cabinet Of
| ficer, soldier. diplomat, scholar. man
about town and his wife. Everybody S
| wife Is here, and we women like that.
Social gathering, formal function. ex-
elusive meeting, public ceremony-these
are the ways by which approach is
made to the celebrities of Washington
Nor Is humorous incident lacking. Ger
tainly not lacking with this writer,
who appears to have more fun out of
her own mild errancies than she seems
able to gather from the more serious
misadventures Of those who take their
society In a ponderous gravity. In this
social survey. as companionable as it is
inclusive. personalities abound. No,
not that sort of personality" Mrs.
Andrews appears not to have that kind
in her makeup. These are of the
illuminative brand, giving just a little
more about the worth of this woman,
or that man, than comes to surface
OF casual meetings. l quote a person.
atty, which in marked degree repre-
sents the spirit of all of them: Mrs.
Coolidge has won the love of the peo-
pile of Washington. Her girlish-one
might almost say, her boyish-fgure,
the buoyancy of her step and the alert
ness of her mind create happy i'm
pressions. She Is beyond criticism" A
frank. warm. wise lady. this one look
ing from her studio window Listen
again: IF In the makeup of the
President there is something of the
austerity suggesting the solemnity of
! his Puritan ancestors and the stability
of the New England granite. there Is
In her sunshine that breaks out even
through the heavy clouds of personal
sorrow which have overShadowed them
both: she never fails to give the warm
handshake. the cheering word. that
stimulate all who meet her" This rep
! resents the spirit Of Mrs. Minnigerode
Andrews work throughout. Here are
views and opinions so broadly human.
so deeply intelligent, so kindly disposed
that they deserve streSsing, particularly
just now when partisan madness is pre-
vailing.
And the writer goes back to the
earlier years in Washington, to the days
of other Presidents and of other ma
tional celebrities. always, too. In the
same poised spirit Of observation, Opin-
ion. Judgment. The story begins back
with the ClevelandS and the McKinleys.
moving forward from this point up into
the immediate present. Like so many
| books of historic and geographic es-
sence. this is clearly another one that
should be read from back to front.
Such an order permits a face-to-face
meeting with the distinguished and in
teresting people of today and from these
a gradual moving back toward those of
less direct appeal. The book is dedi-
Gated to Edith Boiling Wilson"
Just a word about the writer who Is,
besides a poet. an artist. and-best of
ala gallant woman. Listen to her
for second: Happy? should rather
say! To have drawn from life, In graft
tude. all one is capable Of using, at
every stage OF the game; to pour back
into life sincerely all that one has had
to offer; to have and to hold forever.
all that was ever dea:; to forget all that
hes been unprofitable-is 1t not
enough?"
SELECTED POEMS OF AMY LOW
ELL. Edited by John Livingston
Loves. Houghton Miff1in Co.
None but the special student of Amy
Lowell's poetry could make use of Its
great bulk, II big volumes. There are
many. however, not special students,
who find intellectual and emotional en-
joyment In this writer's work as 1t
objectifies In verse the principles of
poetic construction that underlie what
Is called free verse. 1t is for such gen.
eral readers Of poetry that the book
in hand is provided. This is, out
standingly, comprehensive selection,