Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-16
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
I. G.. NJ.


Many thousands living along the
rural borders OF Erie Canal would, nc
doubt. be glad to write down their
names In formal attestation OF the
simon pure truth Of Rome Haul,
story OF this historic waterway.
within city limits the evidence might
not be SO fortnight, for there old Ere.
like many another, becomes dimlnlsneq
in effect by the crowds around It.. Out
in the open country, however, cnndren,
parents and grandparents, living along
side, show clearly that for three genera
tions at least this handmade waterway
has been a potency in their daily lives.
He is holding his own amazingly" Is
often heard in respect to some aging
man. And old Erie. turned the century
mark five years ago. is certainly hold
ing his own" To be sure, under the
universal modern slogan, Step on the
gas!" the leisurely canal has had 70
hurry the old spell still holds. / know.
For. as a child, the Erie Canal was my
dream of adventure-the long, bright
way to shining deeds. When grew
up was going to be cook on canal
boat, sitting on the deck across which
were strung pink aprons and blue shirts
Tapping in laughter at the JOY Of going
somewhere. And no matter how far
away / may go, either in time or place,
the name Erie Canal" brings me back,
hot-foot, to find out what this old friend
Is doing.
And / read Rome Haul in very
dear delight over its actually of fact,
over the true essence of its spirit, over
its power Of revival.
In effect this is history, the authentic
account Of the beginnings of internal
improvements in the country, OF en-
enlargement to domestic commerce, OF
means by which the near West could
be reached by immigrants for settle
ment and farm making. All this-but
1t Is, first and foremost, q story, GEN.
tered chiefly in the stretch OF canal that
approaches the -AouriShing city Of
Rome. Its chief figure Is Dan, country
boy gone out adventuring. as country
boys have done and will dc, much to the
advantage of the world at large. The
Erie Canal provides Dan with the way
for his great outfaring-that Of driving
q mule team on the Erie towpath.
Around this lad the intimate business
Of "canal-ing" grows. The long. sluggish
craft, the captain, the steersman and
the cook, the mules and the drivers, the
short days run, the frequent 'tie-ups"
for sober-usuaily sober-dealings with
the shore folks and long talks with other
bcatmen over this wonder OF the times
handmade river. If you please.
stretched from Albany clear to Buffalo.
Seems sit the times have gone crazy
over business. And around the resting
boats come the people from roundabout
farmer, storekeeper, blacksmith. ped
dler, preacher, gambler and loafer, with
a gY7rff1 kiiY10 nf the yrnYf1enfnlkS
There is talk and more talk in this ex-
change of different ways Of life. The
canal men coming and going leave their
mark upon the banks to the end that
this waterway has established certain
kind of population different from that
further inland from it, All this Mr.. Ed
monds has realized. This Is, indeed, his
theme. And around 1T he has built in
Vulnerable contributory elements. He
has pictured the creation Of this par
ticular canal zone, by way OF the Erie
Canal itself. The story becomes mat
ter Of dealing with such material-siZ-
ing it up, choosing, rejecting, CO.
ordinating, rounding the whole into a
unity that becomes animate and keen
with the spirit of Old Erie, as it was
so years age. Maybe not so long ago,
maybe longer. But no matter. For here,
positively, is spirit, embodied in the
story of short run of the Erie Canal
in the good old Empire State. Not the
Mississippi, 1t is true, nor the Nile. nor
the Gauges. just nnan-made canal,
threading narrow valley and. in large
measure, shaping the lives of the peo-
pie of that valley. Encrmous drudgery
Of research lies behind the story. But
the digging doesn't appear. Only the
story showS-and what fine one!
DOWN WIND. Donald and Louise
Peattie. d. Appleton a. Co.
Having stepped out separately at first
each on its own. so to speak-in che
or another current magazine, these
stories come together here by way of a
common kinship.
Animal stories" may signify almost
anything In the story line. The term
on the one hand may cover the bone
dry rattle Of the bone-dry scientist or
on the other the sudsy nun of the stark
Sentimentalist. Between these two there
Is, however, q happy man, q growing
company Of writers who have discovered
the truth and wonder and beauty Of
the natural world. These two writer's,
Donald and Louise Peattie, live In that
world. No, not Adam and Eve In the
Garden. These appear to have gone the
first pair one better in that they have
scotched the snake to harmless desue-
tude, leaving them free for q wider
range than the original reptile would
allow. To such freedom the Peatties
have added the discovery that their
quarry does not live on the other side of
the world, but In their own dooryard in
stead, and in the surrounding fields and
the nearby woods. And that Is an i'm
portant find for their readers. who,
under the lure of this book, would much
like to follow along, and can since the
road is not distant one. Another
vital discovery is revealed by these
stories. And this Is that the mystery of
all hfe-of your life and mine-looks out
from the existence of bird and bee and
bug no less than from that Of man him
self. Takes poet to find this out. But
these are poets, these two. And so you
read about-well, maybe about a bear
or q cat or possibly raccoon, or about
birds, or any whatnot of animal doingS
and thinkings. Whatever the particular
subject, you are certain to be absorbed
at once In some incident that Is vital to
the animal in question and, so, 1t be-
comes vital to you. Pretty soon you have
read them all, the whole Is stories.
Having been deeply interested, quite lost
in fact; you grow critical. We are that
way. Puritans at heart, you see, suspi-
cious of any source of great delight.
In this mood Of reaction you begin
to poke and prod these stories one
after another. For instance, that
"Weirwood Marsh" couldn't possibly be
so beautiful and at the same time true
1t is against the law of our early teach
ing. And you sniff at every one Of
these tales that might have been stories
about humans themselves. And really
that's the point. With but shred Of
experience. no more than feeding the
live things in the park every day, rain
or Shine--you come after q while to
realize that, within their own needs,
these things-sparrows pigeons, robins,
squirrels and the ike-know just about
as much as we do In the way of shaping
activities to needs. Such recognition as
that, but In much wider reach, is the
keynote of these stories. You grant