Evening star., 1928-05-13

SGT SAW It with my own eyes" souncs
l. convincing. II is not as everybody
has proved many times over. The eye
witness is unable to report In exact
counterpart that upon which he Is look
ing. There are goou reasons for tins
Just as there are for the fact that eacn
succeeding repetition OF the matte,
serves only to remove 1t further away
from actually. Think of it, The
great bulk Of accumulated knowledge
consists Of gradual departures from the
pure truth. Only upon the rise OF mod
ern science and its drive for nothing
less than tested and proved authenticity
of Its various pursuits has there be-
come general an unqualified urge to-
ward first-hand sources OF information
in every field. One OF the most useful
lines of such endeavor is that OF history.
To know the worlds leaders as they
were, and are. in spirit and motive ana
achievement. is a vital thing in every
country where the people are them
selves leaders, in theory at least.
This book is a case in point. Wash
ington is character of worldwide
interest. Many volumes have been
written about him. Yet readers are
waiting for information, for more light
on a subject that Is literally inexhaustl-
BILE. What better thing to do than 10
invite Washington himself to tell OF MS
ife-his youth. his home. his growth
into active manhood, the beginnings Of
his public service and the progress CT
this till the highest honor that could
be given him was his. To insure sucn
meeting between Washington and ms
countrymen of all periods of time. Mrs
Osborn has gathered up the personal
correspondence of Washington, arrarg-
| ing 1t in its time sequence, thereby pro-
| ducing the effect of a narration thai
| covers the life of this great man. Vivid
| and vital Is the story here being told D.
| the writer through his letters. 1t be-
comes the means of a nearer approach
| than would otherwise be possible. A
| fact. as stimulation and inspiration the
book Is one of immediate effect, one
| OF deep Importance. Yes, clearly. an
| other book of Warrington is an I'M
| portant event. Others Of the same
spirit and quality will be welcome &c
| deepen still further general appreci-
| alton of our greatest man, OF one OF tne
greatest of all men.
THE MEMOIRS OF QUEEN HoR'
TENSE. Edited by Jean Hanoteau
Translated by Arthur K. Griggs. New
York: Cosmopolitan Book Corpora
ton.
NEW light on an already well-worr
Y theme is offered by these memoirs
| Napoleon from the woman standpoint
| that of his stepdaughter Queen Hor'
/ tense. loses something Of his heroiS
stature under the anxious feminine re-
gard bestowed upon him. And that l:
| not so bad. Not even Napoleon coule
| have been uninterruptedly at the neae
| of armies. seeking to conquer all Eu-
rope and q part of Africa. ANY ngnt.
| ing human-Alexander, XerxeS, all o.
| them, even Napoleon-must have nae
! of moments of truce and comparative
| peace. So-of course not entirely. pu
| as best she can-Hortense concerns
| herself here with Napoleon as the ram
| lily man regretfully shifting his marta
| allegiance under political pressure; a:
| the dispenser Of kingdoms to his orotn'
ers smoothing out or steAlly represS.
| ing the difficulties bound TO arise out o.
such larsess of honors. Yes, there Il
a great deal of Napoleon In these rec
| objections. It Is by virtue Of such fac
no doubt that the book makes claim
| to historic value. But. besides. there
| is in ii no end Of woman stuh-talk
| of personal disappoirtments. rebutta
| of unjust personal attack upon her. re-
cital of her own deep merits and equally
deep neglect. faint illusions to persona
popularity all quite seemly and de'
served. A picture OF the period? NO
n doubt In the world about that. a.
such the book deserves the place u
/ history that all such period pictures
| finally reach and merit. II there l
| time for these recollections In any
| bodv,s present scheme of existence, i
| will give good entertainment. But
| there's the rub Is there time, any
more. except at an occasional here anc
| there, for the two-volume treatment o.
any subject under the sun? What DC
| you think?
GENEvIEvE GERTRUDE. BY Mariel
Brady. New York: D. Appleton &
ONLY by a shade does this story
~ fall short Of being q real Joy. The
common sin OF OVERRIDING the job ac-
| counts for little disappointment In the
| whole. That Genevieve Gertrude Is an
up-and-coming little girl Is beyond dis
| pute. Happily the world is rich IN
such nowadays. as no doubt 1t has al
ways been. That she Is one Of those
ready and competent youngsters who
can. In equal ease. manage the whole
! neighborhood of children with one
hand while she untangles teachers
| love snari with the other Is quite be-
| lievable. That you are bound to love
her goes without saying But--let some
one read the story to you. The adven-
| lures OF Genevieve Gertrude sound bet
| ter than they look Hearing them. you
| will vote for her early and often
| Reading the story is another matter
For this child-Grade 5. TOBIAS the
most deplorable disregard for the Eng
ltSh mode Of speech that can be I'M
agtned. You don't have to be a schoo
| teacher to know that young one OF
| this grade. and age. ought TO be able
| to manage at least one word in ten. both
as to Its use and spelling, Up In New
| England, too. where American schools
were born and where learning Is or
altar OF devotion. It's the teacher
one assumes that this writer is. or was
! a teacher. She ought not 10 have giver
so overwhelming bias TO Genevieve's
lack OF schooling. What she has realls
| done, one assumes, Is 20 turn this one
| little girl into an extract of all the
| children together In their common and
! natural reluctance To take on "spellin
n grammar" All the same, even with
her extravaganceS deep upon her, Gen.
evieve Gertrude Is good deal Of a
| Joy