Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-06
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the Bookl0ver

The. Serbian women were first In
structed in the art Of embroidery by
the French Princess Helen of Anjou,
who married Dragoutine, brother of the
Tsar Miloutine. This art of the needle
has persisted in Serbia to the present
day and Is richly evidenced in the cos
tunes of the national dress. still worn
among the country and village people
and on festal occasions among the up
per classes. A typical costume Is of
white wool. embroidered in black or
dark blue, worn with an apron of bright
color, usually red. In THE Stricken
Land; Serbia as We Saw It," by Alice
and Claude Askew, a Serbian wedding
in well-to-do family is described On
such an occasion all the heirloom cos
tunes and jewelry Of the family are
brought out of solid old chests and
displayed on the persons OF the proud
poSsessors. The bride of this particular
wedding. l6 and very shy, was dressed
In white brocade. with a cloak of pale
yellow brocade edged with brown fur,
and the universal veil and orange bios
SONS. The mothers of bride and groom
wore, respectively, dresses of heavy yell
low and crimson satin, richly embroid-
cred aprons and kerchiefs, and quanti-
ties of old jewelry. A feast followed
the wedding. then dancing on the green
outside the gray church, with a gypsy
band to furnish gay music. More eat
ing and drinking filled the intervals of
the dance, chiefly of hot roast lamb
and wine.
The Serbian festival dance Is a pic
tureSque affair. 1t is called the "kolo. y
and is danced more frequently among
the village people, but is not altogether
despised by higher society. There are
no chosen partners, but all join hands
and participants come and go as they
choose. The steps are simple, slow and
rhythmic-two to the right and one to
the left, or the reverse. There is always
slow, steady movement onward. to one
side or the other. The leader makes
variations, odd turnings and twistings
so that the effect of the whole Is I'M
dulating. almost serpentine. The gypsy
musicians pour forth wild music, to
which the dances sway. The varegated,
tatterdemalion garments of the gypsies
and the heavily embroidered national
costumes Of the dancers make a brill
liant spectacle. 1t Is to be hoped that
the national costumes Of Serbia will not
as Is the case in so many other coun-
Vi bIlG IEdI dIlu L al E1doJ, III do~
ually disappear in favor of the conven-
tionalized and not always artistic garh
dictated by the fashion makers of
Paris and New York The purchase of
peasant heirloom costumes by foreign
tourists, for amateur stage property
rooms or for hobby collections, Is a
menace to the continuance of the ma
tional dress. OF course, Just as trav-
elers at least occasionally buy Egyptian
scarabs at the tombS of the kings and
Athenian lamps on the Acropolis which
have been made in modern German fac
tories, so many tourist buys at some
village fair a hastily embroidered mod
ern garment, aged by artificial means,
and brings it home as Serbian
heirloom. fr
X y 4 X
The beginnings of many medical
practices, as well as the explosions OF
many medical myths, are told, and
argued when necessary, in 1.-THE Human
Body" by Logan Clendening, M. D. 1t
Is in the first place comprehensive
book on physiology and anatomy, but
after that it is much more. There are
rules of health, not at all dogmatic,
considerable information about the COM
monest diseases and how to detect them
early, and many interesting facts about
the history of medicine. The admin
istration of the first anesthetic and the
first vaccination are described. DR..
Clendening also tells us that 1.-The span
of life of any individual is largely de-
termined, barring accidents, at the mo-
ment when he starts off," and IAN i'm
partial examination OF all the means
yet proposed to prevent early death or
lengthen life leaves me with the con-
viction that nothing anybody does to
himself after he is born makes more
than few hours difference at the
most" An odd conclusion for doctor |!
Is 1t fatalism or complete belief In
hetedity? at5
Probably the most dramatic and pic
tutesque man in recent American poll
tics was william Jennings Bryan. De-
notiffcede praised, champtoned and ridi-
culed, he held unabashed the center of
the public spotlight for 80 years.
Always during his lifetime he was news
and front page news. Whenever his
name appeared one-third of the Nation
said. He Is a fnenacel" another third
Grief, HE is prophet" and the re-
mainder shouted, Here Is good
show!" 1t is the combination of these
points Of view that makes J. G. Longs
Bryan, the Great Commoner." such
an entertaining biography. The book
is neither an attack nor defense, for
Mr.. Long Is one of those rare biog-
raphers who has an eye for his sub
ject's foibles and picturesque qualities
and yet gives fair credit to his accom-
-plishmentss and virtues. But the per-
Sonal idiosyncrasies, the endless cpl
sodes, climaxeS and almost overhu-
manity of Bryan make this tale of the
alpaca coat and broad-b rimmed hat q
story as we'll as a biography. Il will
give $4,000 to any one who will XIII
him! screamed delegate to the Balti-
more convention, leveling his arm
toward Bryan. Time and again 1t was
thought that Bryan was done for and
was out of public life, but always he
bobbed up again, ready for another fray,
and always there was some one who
wanted him aSSaSsinated. You shall
not cruelty mankind upon a cross or
gold" Bryan shouted at the convention
in 1896 and won the nomination: IN
1912 he served grape juice at his official
dinners as Secretary of State, to the
amazement of the whole Nation; In 1925
he led the banners of the righteous
against the forces of evolution, never
once faltering in his role of the peerless
leader. He was not afraid of ridicule
nor of being ridiculous. He was not
afraid of making mistakes. A cross
between st. George and Don Quixote,
BRYAN was for 80 years the voice of the
Nations conscience, a voice, however,
that was neither small nor still. The
gusto with which Mr. Long writes makes
a rich story of Bryan, the Great Com
moner." He has assembled his ma
terial carefully and well and used 1t
with evident fairness. He gives bril-
liant picture of the days when politics
were played in the grand manner and
an intimate picture of hearty and
vital figure in the Nations life. The
cotemporary cartoons and photographs
that illustrate the book tell story
by themselves.
\ r
A new biography of Cecil Rhodes by
one who knew him well during the last