Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-15
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY the B0okIoper

/ Scribed it is 1.-The story of his first book
| cAlmayers FollyO and of his first
| contact with the sea-" THE Mirror
of the Sea" was characterized by Con-
rad to his publisher as IAN imaginative
| rendering of a reminiscent mood" and
IAN attempt to set down graphically
certain genuine feelings and emotions
born from the experience of respec-
table and useful calling, which, at the
same time, happens to be OF national
| Importance. 1t may be defined as
discourse with personal note) on
ships seamen and the sea-" OF THE
Shadow Line" Conrad said, THAT
piece of work is not story really, but
an exact autobiography" 1t relates the
mand of sailing vessel, after follow
| ing the sea for nearly IA years. In
January, 1888. Conrad had left the
ship Vidar at Singapore, with no other
berth in view. He was preparing to re-
turn to Europe when the marine super
intendent at Singapore offered him the
command of an English ship then at
| Bangkok, whose captain had recently
died. Conrad accepted and immediate
| ly took passage for Bangkok, where he
| took over his ship for a voyage to Mel
| bourne. This first command brought
many difficulties and dangers, which
are related in 1.-THE Shadow Line"
Apart from these admittedly autobi-
cgraphical works, nearly all of Con-
RAIDS romances are to large extent
autobiographical The first book he
ever wrote, "Almayers Folly" draws an
exact picture OF half-caste Dutchman
| whom Conrad met at Bulungan, in
| Borneo. on one of his early voyages He
| was married to a Malayan woman, had
| son (whom Conrad made daughter
| in the story. cherished ambitions to
| the end of his derelict life, and finally
| died from wound received in python
hunt. During five or six voyages made
between Singapore and Bulungan. Con-
| rad met the originals of Willems. the
| Dutch sailor wrecked by drink Abdul
| la, Babalatchi and Lakamba, two ma
tive merchants from the Celebes, and
Tom and Jim Lingard, characters of
"Almayer's Folly" AN Outcast Of the
| Islands," 1.-The Rescue" and Lord Jim"
| The real Tom Lingard was captain of
a trading schooner, visiting Singapore
| and Borneo ports. Lord JIM was his
nephew who served for a time on his
uncle's ship and then became trader
at Bulungan and married a Malayan
woman. The places visited in these
voyages also furnished Conrad the
| MdIdydIl SeIIiIiSS IOI Tile UeSC TWO SIloIt
stories in the collection, "Tales of I'm
rest" "Karain' and 1.-The Lagoon
From the captain of the Vidar, in which
Conrad made his Malayan voyages, and
| from the first and second engineers, he
| learned all he could about the natives
and the foreign sailors and traders. and
collected many story of the clash of
races, religions and passions This ma
terial was used very fully later on, when
Conrad began to write.
X X X
The most romantic period of Con-
RAIDS lifE~was responsible for one of his
best romances. THE Arrow of Gold"
His first departure from his Polish
home, when he was only II, was to
Marseille, from which he hoped to go
to seq. There he met the Corsican,
Dominic Cervoni, officer on the st.
Antoine, on which Conrad embarked.
and by him was so much influenced
that under different guises Dominic ap-
pears in 1.-THE Arrow of Gold" 1.-THE
Rover" and Suspense" cleft unfinished
| at Conrad's. DEATH. AT Marseille in
intervals between voyages. Conrad fell
| in with group of Carlist intriguers,
became involved in the arms smuggling
adventure described in THE Arrow of
Gold" and met the adventures who
| figures as Rita de Lastaola in that ro-
nance. With her he was violently and
| briefly in love. Years later. when. as a
| family man. he was staying at Mont
pellier, he used to loaf about the cafes,
| as he had done at Marseille in the
early days, and in one of them came
across the chief character for Victory"
and one Of the striking scenes in that
| ka IF fhn
sus" is realistic story of Conrad's ex-
perience of six months as second mate
on the NarcisSus on her voyage from
Bombay to London.
X X X
| In 1.-The Heart of Darkness" Conrad
gives a faithful account of his period
! ment and hardship, which left lasting
| ill effects on his health. can outpost
of Progress" also grew out of this ex-
perience. When he was child of 9
in Poland he had seen map of Africa
and determined to visit the UNEMPLOYED
center of that continent. In 1889, when
King Leopold of Belgium and the Kongo
were being much discussed on the streets
and in the press, and Stanley had gone
to find Livingstone, Conrad suddenly
determined that he would like to run
tie trouble in finding such command,
as it was not considered very desirable
What makes me rather uneasy" he
wrote to his cousin, "is the information
that 60 per cent of our companyS en-
ployes return to Europe before they
have completed even six months serv-
ice. Fever and dySentery! There are
oths:s who are sent home in hurry
at the end of year, so that they
Is,sh liA d. h.
bid! 1t would spoil the statistics, which
are excellent, you see! In a word, it
seems there are only per cent who can
do their three years service" The
long journey into the interior from Ma
| tadi to KinchaSSa was made to the ac-
compartment of feverish illness, ag-
gravated by the scorching days, the
miasmic nights, foul drinking water and
swarTnS of mosquitoes and other insects.
After reaching the Kongo, Conrad made
but one voyage from Kinchassa to STAN
ley Falls and back. Fortunately, for
his health was already suffering from
fever and dysentery, the manager of
the steamboat company refused to
promise him any advancement, so Con-
rad abandoned the Kongo. This Afri-
can adventure was followed by long
| illness, with slow convalescence, and
| the frequent and severe attacks of govt
which Conrad endured all the rest of
| his life were attributed to African in
| fections and the resultant lowering of
| his resistance.
X X
Joab Banton, district attorney of New
/ York City, wrote in a recent letter that
| his father drew up the will of Sam
! Houston, mentioned at the close of
George Creel's biography, Sam Hous-
ton: Colossus in Buckskin" The will,
writes Mr.. Creel, written at the time
when Houston knew that he had not
long to live, contained the curiously
characteristic provision that his sons
should be taught an entire contempt for
novels and light reading together with