Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-07
IDA GILBERT MYERS.


TIME land is Palestine And from
1t this writer has not only
drawn of to the full its effect
i of deep desolation, but he has
succeeded also in conveying this
impression to the reader. A gray and
forbidding country. Merely record
of travel, this. The story of q lone
locality Of hills and desert, sand, rocks,
inf-equent waterways, thin and trio
king; tent dwellings, ruined structures,
fragments Of city walls - desolation
The most living thing in Jerusalem Is
the spectacle at the Jews wailing
place. For centuries pious Jews have
gathered at the wall of their de-
serted sanctuary and have there be-
walled the downfall of Jerusalem, and
have there prayed for the restoration OF
their once great kingdom" Beside this
broken wall men and women are
huddled. They mutter melancholy
words: They pray and weep. They
comfort to them. And always they
implore the return Of the glory Of the
Jews.
Along with this account Of travel go
many pictures - revealing pictures.
Shrine and sepulchre, church and
chapel. Calvary and Gethsemane come
out to meet the reader In this way.
This journey through the Holy Land,
vivid and impressive. Is another con-
tribution to current writings whose eff
feet is to produce upon readers a sense
of reality about places and events that
are upon the whole most unreal to
them These writings serve as part OF
the modern movement toward the re-
covery Of Jesus and His life upon earth
Such, to be sure, Is not the prime pur-
pose OF the book, but such, neverthe-
less. Is its effect a good eefIect: co thai
Of travel in lonely land.
NATURE CRu1sINGs: To the Old
Home Town and the Little Hill
Farm. BY John Van Setback, jr.
Boston: The Murray Press.
W1AsHNGToN1ANs are bound to
w give to this book a warm welcome
For 50 many years its author was active
and we'll known In the Capital tnat
thing like the coming back home of
DR.. van Schaick. Indeed, many OF
the nature outings recorded in this
volume have Washington as their back
ground and setting So, no doubt. num-
dreds In the city will go along with
the adventures in q mood Of clear
"reminiscences as partakers IN the ex-
perience of holding hands with nature:
Bostonians, likewise, and the people OF
sense of partnership, for it Is in these
three localities that. the BOOK; Is
sourced. The outcoming spirit OF these
recordings Is the gusto In which the
| "cruisings" were put through. ana
that, l take it, is the FIRST thing 70
pack into the sack when one goes on
with nature. without it the adventure
is none such thing at all: Wen: mere
it is-the ardor of pursuit, the Joy OF
panionship. the unfolding wonders OF
the natural world. AL here. Birds,
plants, rocks soil. the face Of the coun-
try, the moods of seasons and weathers
the look of the sky by sunlight ana
in moonshine-all here. No ponderous
learning goes along upon these expeol.
tions. Just simple things. instead, tnat
warm the heart Of one without tne
dampening effect OF mere WORDS ano
goes back to the days when he. was
q little boy up in Northern New YORK
And that is good thing Tor any
man, or woman, TO do. For IN tnoSe
first DAYS are the roots OF all tnat 1ol-
lows. To those fortunate enough 70
have hailed from that region these rec
elections are specially dear. l KNOW
tutes one of the lovely features OF tne
recnrd But, after all, 1t Is something
Of a mine of facts as well as an ad.
venturing of the heart. SO; one oehC
On knowing things, on gathering In
nlans IN this end, will find the book
nf great usefulness. II l were going
to say a word against 1t In any oirec-
ton it would be to express the Wisn
i that two books had been mace OUT o. o.
taxing
Rand If looks and feels a bit packed:
as if it were carrying load, instead
al dispensing happy largess OF oelgnt.
A slight objection, maybe capVlous
thing 10 saw But I'm just telling you
that in one case at least. the volume
uoisrenresented itself-aS now ana tnen
a person does by looking snaoe p on-
derois when he is. at heart. q Wen.
spring of lightness ana JOY. ao~ett ~,
| read the book, since II Is 50 Ah'lii"O01'
worth your while.
n n
| TIE VILLAGE DOCTOR. BY Sheilaa
Yav-Smith. author Of Iron ana
smoke" etc. New York: E. P. Dut-
ton & Co.
HERE Sheila Kay-Smith gathers up
II the whole of a Sussex village ana
cote II down bodily before the reader
The ancient land soaked in mmeno.
rial custom, the countryside sometlmes
, smiling. but never gay. the yeomahly
sturdy and as proud of their lot as 10
! the r9rince of his lineage, the nelgn-
horhood WAYS of living-these provloe
! the background upon which more ttia W
! once this author has woven the iao,lC "a
| human intercourse and indlVlduaI az.
venture It is such intimacy WIN c.e
| English rootage, coupled with tne S[C.
| istry of the exceptional novelist, tnaC
| constitutes the distinction OF this Wrlter
and assures to her novels a warm wei
come from intelligently critical reaoeIs'
To read one Of these novels is an ~
venture Of the mind. not mere tickAhs
| of the senses for the moment.
Against this background is SET tne
domestic drama which has only recently
been allowed to come into the open. ~
| be sure. great dramatistS ana poets
have been suffered to write the marital
| infidelities and such, but these were so
| infreuuently read as still to keep the
dis0raceful and demoralizing business
under cover, Only within lew years
has the grip of Puritan England ana
America looSened sufficiently to let one
! of the commonest of social errancles
| have place as theme Of literature. now
sdays we read freely in novels, as we
do in the daily press, OF these poor SIN
| full mortals who can't, posslnly, max
shift to live up to their VOWS, eSpeclsliy
the marriage vow. That 1t takes a high
degree of heroism is conceded more
and more. Wei, this is that kind OF
tale. It is the village doctor, newly
come to Sussex, who has to carry the
role of good husband. of great man
even, by the way in which he sustans
himself through the trial OF discovering
an unfaithful wife. Indeed, the de-
ceived husband and the lover appear 70
be made Of the really suostantlaI sun