Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-26
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
L. C. NJ.

ICY nOII' OOupAeuay, OoIah % w.
The farm Is fast moving into the
city. Finally completed, this process
will disclose as one of its essential eff
fects the loss Of great American ira
dition, the obsoleScence Of q respected
formula for the aspiring youth Of the
! country.
From farm to White House or to
governors mansion. From country lad
to great banker. or merchant, or legis-
lator, or executive. So the tradition
| runs, SO the formula reads.
FROM Lincoln to the present the fact
| has held with enough of constancy to
| warrant general faith in the efficacy
OF scant means, with its implied COM
ponent OF hard work, to open wide the
| door OF opportunity to individual hopes
and ambitions.
1t Is science that is urbanizing the
farm. An electrified homestead is, to
all intentS and purposes, a city in its
impacts and effects. A genius Of me-
| chanical efficiency plows and plants,
tends and harvests and markets. In
doors very demon of automatic house
W1fery cleans and cooks, sewS and
| mends in swift and tireless perfec-
ton. The nominal lady of the house
Is, meanwhile, sitting by listening to q
| grooming tune from Honolulu, or a
symphony from London, or the market
reports from New York. Down by the
gate the mail box is piling up with half
dozen daily papers. The telephone
brings Good morning!" from a neigh
Dor In the next county, and at night
motor spin OF SO miles, or twice that
distance, freshens the farm folks up for
sliced and dreams. Upon occasion wings
take the place of wheels and the farmer
Mes half across the country upon some
errand OF moment and requirement.
Clearly. the farm is moving into
town. The old isolation is going. So
Is the hard muscle pull of farm work. So
Is the good digestion, the sound sleep.
so the Self-reliance, the independence
OF thought and action that have made
the farmer the prime individualist of
the world. Unfamiliar accommodations
must now direct him, and strange COM
pllanceS lead him. He is now, or Is
speedily becoming, part in some
thing UNNECESSARILY bigger than him
SELF Cooperation is the new and not
altogether welcome lesson for the
farmer of the immediate future to
learn.
A new sort of man will emerge from
this new sort of farm.
Indeed, he is already here, recog-
nlzably straight product OF the new
condition. Between him and the long
line OF distinguished men who have
sprung literally from the soil of America
there lies, in effect, a full thousand years.
ana yet 1t Is but yesterday since one
OUT OF That earlier tradition stood face
TO race. hand in hand with the vital
and stupendous present. II one had
searched, never so diligently, hardly
could he have found another who, in
personality, character and service.
represents 50 fully, as does Myron T.
Herrick, both the old and the new in
pubic hne-fulhlling the earlier as
sumption in spirit that partakes of
Doth present and future as well.
| \ X II
Farmer boy. country school teacher.
business man. head OF q great banking
| concern, political leader, governor of his
own State. Ambassador to France dur
ing the World War and again during
the peace conference So stand the
words that touch the high points In the
public career of Mr.. Herrick. 1t is around
these names that the deep interest in
this book centers. Biography, auto
biography, story-yes, all Of these.
ABOVE all else. however, the record is
adventure. Adventure, too, into which
the reader plungeS with the clear gusto
OF going along, Of partaking in situa-
tons and events that are Of q substance
10 STIR and engroSs one. In q meas
| ure this effect of immediacy Is due to
the manner In which the story Is pro-
jected. Here are two friends together
riding, walking, going here and there
| upon one mission or another. But al
ways are they talking. Rather. Mr..
Herrlck talks. Col. Mott listens, with
the sort Of listening that feels and en-
joys, that is keen to catch the flashes
OF mood and MISUNDERSTANDING
wit, open avowal and frank disclosure,
grave statement about some momentous
matter OF world concern. There are
tender reflections here about this or
that In the old days, the simpler life
There are gay and amusing reminis-
cences. There are seriously bright fore
casts OF the oncoming feature with its
J marvels OF discovery, invention, eco
nomic unity of the world, international
adjustments along the lines Of sanity
and cooperation. It is not possible to
name the various points of simplicity
and charm that come in the intercourse
OF these two friends who are so frankly
willing for you and me to go along, to
hear it all, to rejoice openly in it all.
And when the adventure is over-the
book closest is not over at all, not
ended. For out Of it-perSonal adven-
ture or the mere reading of book, as
you will-there emerges a man who
falls into step beside you, talking still
about the good things that men are
doing, the fine enterprises that are
Springing up for the well-being of--not
just a few who are called selfish men,
but the well-being of all instead, in
proof that these men, are public-Spirited
and holc-hearted, working for the
country as a whole. And this man, be-
side us, is so clearly a friendly man, a
smiling warm-hearted one, who loves
| young folk and children and all the
little things roundabout. Listen
That night my dog Max, who always
slept In my room, having made Lind
bergh's acquaintance, decided he was a
better man than was and went in and
passed the night on Lindbergh's bed,
with his head on the pillow. You can't
beat dogs instinct-not a good dogs!"
A light quotation, out of a big book that
contains letters to Presidents, messages
from the big folk Of the world? Well,
maybe so. But like 1t, not bet
ter perhaps than some Of the grave
substantialities of the big story-but I
like 1t! So, here 1t is-to me q reveal
ing truth, a happy flash upon this
American. one can hardly do better
just about now than to sit down with
these two men for an hour or so in I'M
deniably fine company.
Want a word about this author. Col.
Mott? Probably you know already that
he was a warm personal friend of AM
bassador Herrick; that he for this rea-
son was chosen as the one to COL
laborate in the friendly intercourse
from which the book itself comes.
That's about all--Save for the plain
oneness of heart and mind existing
between them, for the common expert
ences-substantial and influential
that united them as they are so clearly
united here. I suppose this makes for
the authentic record" about which
SO much Is heard. Essential, too, this
authoritative essence of Geographic re-
port. But the finest flower of this great
American story-and that is what this