Evening star., 1928-12-18
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
|. G.. NJ.

basheff. E. P. Dutton & Co.
LONG HORN: Leader of the Deer.
Joseph Wharton Lippincott. The
Penn Publishing Co.
Hunters separate into two classes.
One is out to kill. The other is out to
know. The first is equipped with the
latest perfection of arms and ammuni-
ton. 1t is, likewise, supported by in
genious devices of deception and decoy.
AT the licensed point of each year these
hunters dash away upon an enterprise
which, as between man and man, would
get the prompt "low-doWn" and the
swift kick Of dismissal.
Right now, throughout the United
States, more than 100000 OF these
'Sportsmen" are engaged, body and
brain, in the heroic business of match
ing their prowess with that of rabbits
and squirrels. duck and quail-with that
Of all the other small whatnot of unpro-
tected wild life Now and then a downed
deer stamps the adventure as of clear
st. George e-andthe- Dragon pattern. And
there is the fox! Perhaps no fairly
familiar spectacle is more pitiable, on
the man side of it, than the fox hunt.
Meet. if you please, a dozen men, more
or less: all on horseback, all very much
dressed up, attended by a pack of
houndS-horse and hound of surprising
beauty and intelligence. Off and away
they go-that is, off and away, after
several carefully prepared poses before
the camera. Then, with a deal of
wheeling and caracoling, the troop sets
out. hoofs pounding and bright colors
flashing in the sunlight And what,
pray is this great emprise? Why, this
great emprise is the pursuit of one little
frightened fox, running for dear life
over hill and field, through wayside
screen and into every makeshift covert.
Mighty hunters Old Nimrod himself
was, I fancy. much of the same kidney
as these. Little Jackie HornerS, ALL
"Oh, what a great boy am II"
Now the other class. Much larger
than the first. More mixed in strain.
however. Not so firmly welded in COM
position. Less united, therefore, in
purpose and action. BY and large, this
second class is made up of men and
women the world over who through
personal experience or believable hear
say, have wakened to a keen interest in
animal life, to respect for ito the
definite sense, if you will, of noblesse
obl1ge. The courage of these hunted
things compelS tribute. For courage is
courage, you know. Their subtle knowl-
edge OF the human, friend or foe, be-
comes an aStonishment to the onlooker.
Their ingenuities of defense and escape
command admiration. In a word, the
economy of wild life, the philosophy
OF existence, so to speak, developed by
1t through a long and perilous past,
tall1es so closely with that of man him.
self as to make the ties of true kin,
ship both unmistakable and significant
Science has been the discoverer here.
Science, made popular, has been the
prime teacher. Through the work of
these there has come to man a better
sense OF proportion, truer concept
of all life. Many agencies have risen
for the support and spread of this new
vision. Organizations, societies, groups
and individuals are fronting in friendly
intent upon the facts of wild life, upon
the problems that it posits.
Students, artists, plain lovers of the
woods and fields, writers and Story-tell-
ers-these are contributing to the new
education. Beautiful books are by hun
dreds inviting children of all ages to
come to this new school of the woods.
X y y y
ST. Francis of Assist hundreds of
years ago began school of this sort.
But his lessons lapsed and were for
gotten under mans passion Of pursuit
and death.
This year is particularly rich one
in books about the animal world. Love-
ly books, inside and out. Out of these
hundreds let's look at a couple, where it
would be clear delight to talk about
them all.
"Ghond the Hunter" comes from In
dia. Long Horn" from stretch of
Virginia woods. Ghond is a high-caste
Indian boy who, when the proper age
arrived, was initiated into the ancient
and honorable career of Village hunt
er." A great ceremony this, religious
in its spirit, whereby Ghond pledged
himSelf-not to kill the jungle beasts,
not wantonly, but to hold them to the
jungle when otherwise hunger and
thirst might drive them into the viii
lagos. Such pledge, carried out, pic
lures the relationship existing in India
between man and the other animals.
God made them all, so the East Indian
says. The inhabitants, therefore, act
in accordance with such belief.
The book is a simple and beautiful
recital by the same poet, Dhan Gopal,
as made of "Gay-Neck," the story of
a pigeon, such a complete delight to
readers everywhere. Both are the same
in spirit. Both bring out the feeling
of India for the animals of its do
main. "Ghond" Is the bigger story, for
it covers all the activities of village
life, in a remote corner of the country
not yet. disturbed by the tides of this
modern day. If this book comes to you,
be sure to read 1t aloud, for it sings,
actually sings it's way through the adj
ventures of Ghond the Hunter.
In contrast to this tale of the East,
Long Horn" is clearly of our own pat
tern and locality The story of wise
buck that, starting as mere baby,
taught himself the wisdom of the.
hunter and taught himself also an
elaborate technic of evasion and escape.
many adventures, every one of
which you will read in suspense and
fear, Long Horn makes his cautious
and successful way through youth and
on up to the responsibility of bringing
up his family, as well as to the equally
burdensome business of protecting the
herd of which he is the recognized
leader. For long, for years in fact.
Long Horn was pursued by man and
his dog, neither of whom seemed able
to give up the conquest of so splendid
a creature. There came a day when
the gage of battle was actually thrown.
There they stood face to face-man
and dog here, Long Horn. there. They
looked straight across at one another.
And then Tom Gibson slid his hand
under the collar of misunderstanding
in an ague of lust for the word to go.
Then Tom and Bismark turned and
walked away. Noblesse oblige!
If you get these two books for Christ
mas-all you young folks up to 90 at
least--you are going to be rich. If
you get almost any of the great books
about animals that this Christmas is
producing-then you are equally lucky
I'm hoping
X X \ X
Friday night as I was reading The
Evening Star ! came upon this account
~ Al rNfF IN Acio