Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-08-18
THE LIBRARY TABLE

| The Case Book OF Sherlock Holmes.
Conan Doyle apologies for the frequent
revivals OF his popular detective. fear
ing that he may have become like one
OF those popular tenors who. having
outlived their time, are still tempted to
make repeated farewell bows to their
indugent audiences" But now. he
says. "this must cease and he must go
the way of all flesh material or imagi-
nary" In bidding him farewell, his
creator gives brief summary OF his
fictional life His career has been
long one---though 1t is possible to ex-
aggerate It; decrepit gentlemen who ap-
proach me and declare that his adven-
! lures formed the reading of their boy
hood do not meet the response from
me which they seem to expect. One
! is not anxious to have ones personal
! dates handled so unkindly AS mat
ter of cold fact Holmes made his debut
in A Study in Scarlet and In The
Sign of Four two small booklets which
appeared between 1887 and 1889. 1t
was in 1891 that A Scandal in Bo-
! hemia' the first OF the long series OF
short stories, appeared in the Strand
Magazine. The public seemed apnre-
ciative and DESTROYS of more. so that
from that date. 36 years ago, they have
been produced in broken series which
now contains no fewer than 56 stories.
republished In The Adventures, The
Memoirs The Return and His Last
! Bow and there remain these IL pub
! lished during the last few years Wnicn
are here produced under the title OF
| The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes
He began his adventures in the very
heart of the later Victorian era. carried
it through the all-too-short reign OF
Edward. and has managed to hold his
| own little niche even In these feverish
! DAYS Thus 1t would be true to say
! that those who first read OF MIN, as
Young men. have lived to see their own
erown-up children following the same
| adventures in the same magazine. II
/ is a striking example Of the patience
and loyalty of the British public.
DESPITE the fondness OF the British.
/ and we might add the American, public
t for the lean pallid, drug-taSing. VIOLIN
1 plaving master of inductive reasoning,
| Conan DOYLE obviously holds a grudge
against him, because his popularity has
prevented his authors more serious
! work from receiving the recognition de-
sired. Il had fully determined" Conan
| DOYLE saws, "at the conclusion OF The
{
as / felt that my literary energies
| should not be directed too much into
one channel That pale. clear-cut face
and loose-limbed figure we're taking up
/ an undue share Of my Imagination.
] did the deed. but. fortunately, no coro-
! ner had pronounced upon the remains,
| and so after long interval. 1t was
not difficult for me to respond TO the
| flattering demand and to explain my
rash act away. have never regretted
! Il fhr I have not In actual practice
found that these lighter sketches have
prevented me from exploring and find--
| ing nv limitations in such varied
branches of literature as history, poetry.
| historical novels. psychic research and
! the drama Had Holmes never existed
could not have done more, though
I he may perhaps have stood little in
the way Of the recognition OF my more
| serious literary work"
Swedish history in the reign OF
Charles XI and part of the family story
Of the I0wenskolds are combined In
Selma Iagerlof's recent short romance.
THE Generals Ring" The fortune OF
Benct Lnwenskold was made when he
fought in the wars of his king and as
! a reward received the estate of Hedeby
and the title of general. When he died
his signet ring was buried with MN.
| but its presence was disclosed some
/ time later when the vault was opened
| for another interment. The theft ot
! the big ring by Bard Bardsson brought
/ many evils in its train. possibly the
| work of the dead general wreaSing
| vengeance. At the death OF Bard, the
ring was again stolen and again mis-
/ fortunes followed fast. The thief was
| murdered and his inurderers we're
hanged. but II was 30 years before the
! ring was found,
she looked like a lady, but did you
hear her TALK" is remark which moi
Gates how often people are judged by
| their conversation. One of the frequent
questions asked of librarians Is. Where
| can find books to help me improve my
| English" With this In mind the Amer
| lean Library Association has puolisneu
a reading course on Good English,
| which aims 10 help those who wish to
improve their conversation their uSe of
words and. incidentally. their apprecla-
ton of what they read and hear. Tne
| author Virginia Bacon. readers ADVISER
| az the Library Association OF Portland,
| Greg has given the reader number
of suggestions to help him in his STUDY.
| Among the things she mentions are
Use the dictionary: keep special note
book for vocabulary study: ma some
one 10 study with you and make game
OF your work wherever you can aVolo
| self-conscio,lSneSs read good books,
especially the informal essay and mod
ern drama. for help In improving con-
versationai English Mrs, Bacon recon-
mends five books. including grammar,
| all OF them simple and easy to follow.
These. together with the Introductory
essay. point the way to the correct use
| of English for conversation ana writulg,
! to the enlargement OF the vocabulary
| and to a wider understanding ana ap-
probation of the spoken and written
! language OF other people. Coco Eng
/ !iSh" is the most recent OF the heao-
ing with a Purpose" series.
| The American Revolution did not
seem as important to George III as u
old TO the American coiontSts, rms
EiS shown conclusively by the CORE
suondence of King George III from
| l76O to December. 1888" edited by Sir
John Fortescue, LII, D., d. Lit, This
work is in two volumes, the last OF slA.
From these letters. George III was
much more interested In patronage. APP
continents. pensions and titles than
In the rebellious intrigues OF certain
George Washington. of good old Eng
fish family, over In the troublesome
| British colonies i'm America. Mean
| while. the obtuSe Lord North, who was
so hated in the colonies, was trying
again and again TO resign, He pleaded
III health failing memory and general
unfltness, hut the King paid little at
tention to his complaints and retained
him, A letter of May "a 1880, Is really
pathetic; Lord North feels himself 81
weak and unable to go on for any time
that he capnot help reminding his
majesty of the request he has lately
had the honour more than once OF SUD
uniting 10 the maiesty's goodness"
Sometimes the King was half-heartedly