Evening star., 1929-12-15
IDA GILBERT MYERS.
N intimate and true disclosure Of

~ the human would pe, were IL
IA possible to secure this, the most
1 y useful of contributions to the
rest of the world for the pur-
pose of a general self-revelation Words
are the instrument, the only instrument,
of such disclosure. Libraries and vol
umes are packed with these, all pur-
porting to project among us this char
acter or that one exactly as he existed
in the flesh, exactly as he continued to
exert influence beyond the short period
Of bodily tenure.
Biography, autobiography, formal
correspondence, the diary-these are
especially dedicated to deliver, body and
soul, this man or that woman to us for
our schooling-for schooling in our
selves and in the others so little differ
ent from us.
Yet, the biography is but second
hand dealer in the goods, bodily and
spiritual, that it offers. The autobi-
ography is bound from its very nature
to be written line or so above its au-
thor, rather than alongside him. The
book of formal correspondence suffers
the same expansion OF exact truth.
Even the diary is penned day by day In
the presence of imaginary onlookerS
and listeners. Hunting for a true
source of information about one indi-
source as may be found-it seems to
me that body of casual friendly let
ters comes near to the goal of ones
quest. These must cover fair period
of time. They must not deal with
epochal events, such as stir one out OF
himself. They must run along beside
the common current of life IN its con-
facts with between the writer and
goodly variety and number OF friends.
These are not for publication and so do
not make appeal to the strain OF vanity
that all have in common. They are
not eventful in content. Instead. they
are the simple overflow of friendly and
unpretentious intercourse, revealing,
these seem to me. And here are just
such letters, interviewer with the story
Of q mans life:
THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF JOHN
HAY. BY William Roscoe Thayer.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
THE nucleus of this book is the let
L ters of John Hay, covering the
events of his whole life and including
friends of wide and significant range.
With these as the centers OF advance,
Mr.. Thayer has created a record OF
fact that possesses the substance and
vitality and charm Of the story itself.
AS the matter grows, from letter to let
ter, from one connecting anecdote to
another, there emerges one OF the sim
pleSt and most likable Of men-juSt the
kind of man that John Hay was, and
is. certainly to the people Of Washing
ton, where he still lives, vitally and
beautifully. More than this comes out
besides. For within this volume Wash
ington itself exists-the great and beau-
tiful city, stretching from the days OF
Lincoln to yesterday, when the John
Hay house, facing Lafayette Park, gave
wav to the promoter. Either of these
effects-that of the man himself, that
of the Capital itself-would be of high
value for any book But here the two
unite In a volume of high historic
value and of great personal diStinc-
tion. The mark of the book, whether
considering the man in his usefulness
or the city in its beauty, is simplicity,
an absolute charm Of just that. To
catch the manner of Mr.. Hay Is proof
of this simple quality Of the man. listen
to him for q minute about his citizen
ship: when I look back upon the
shifting scenes Of my life, If I am not
that altogether deplorable creature, q
man without country, I am, when 1t
comes to pull and prestige, almost
equally bereft, as I am a man without
q State. was born in Indiana, grew
up in Illinois, was educated in Rhode
Island and it is no blame to that
scholarly community that I know so
little. learned my law in Springfield
and INV politics in Washington, my
diplomacy in Europe, Asia and Africa.
have q farm in New Hampshire and
desk room in the District of Columbia.
When look to the springs from which
my blood deScendS' so he goes on
to name a Scotch ancestor, half Eng
lish. and another of both German and
French strains, Whimsical, genial,
lovable he, in this mood, by way Of his
letters re-creates the Washington Of
Lincoln's day so vividly as to give the
reader a clear partaking part in the
affairs of that terrible period. Through
out the letters and Mr.. Thayer con-
tribute to a volume of American views
that are invaluable in substance as
they are invaluable also in spirit and
the manner Of their projection.
SEVEN IRON MEN. BY Paul De Kruif.
Illustrated. New York: Harcourt,
Brace g. Co.
BIOLOGISTS told Leonidas Merritt,
~ not once but many times, that
there was no iron in the Mis-sa-be
Range, up beyond Duluth. In turn he
called them scientific squirts" (al-
LAOJ w I1ACh A0SCoI aASAB WASAA OAAC
misery STRAP" pressing his sweating
forehead, wore out many pairs Of shoe
pacs tramping the back brush in his
indefatigable search for ore, simply be-
cause his father, the pioneer, who did
not even know iron when he saw it, had
assured him and his close-knit band of
brothers that 1t was there. The
brothers, aided later by husky sons and
nephews, plugged away year after year
and it was there and they found 1t. And
when they did find it. lying In great
open basins lust under the topsoil and