Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-13
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
I. G. NJ.

Interest In an autobiography spreads
and deepens when readers are able to
draw from it q sense of individual par
taking In its main substance or Of de-
irving personal benefit from its record
of useful achievement. Self-advantage
is an inclusive and absorbing prepos-
session.
The high mark Of DIR. Harvey wiley's
autobiography Is reached with the
story Of his 30-year fight for pure
food" A finally successful campaign
through whose issue the public Is now
protected by law from harmful food
authorizations and methods Of food
preservation. 1t Is at this point that
nership with Or. Wiley in his pure-food
program.
Not far behind US is that historic
legislative struggle. In outline, there
fore, It is familiar to the majority.
However useful an outline may be in
defining plans and setting their limits,
it, nevertheless, Is lacking in power to
bestow vivid reality upon the matter
In hand. For such desirable actually
of effect this framework must be filled
in with personality and color, with
action and incident and circumstance.
These vitalizing forces are assembled
here in full measure with the effect
that, by way Of print, this scientist and
his work are delivered to readers, alive
and near-standing. Forgotten news
paper accounts come back into the
present serving as points of attachment
for this fresh and full account OF the
battle for pure food. Here are arrayed
the opposing forces. Here are set out
the persistence and ingenuity Of at
tack. Here by name and date and
activity are outstanding figures in the
legislative combat Oh, it was a great
fight! Again it is re-embodied IN every
detail and in its outcome with a Joy Of
recital, in a virility of projection that
makes the whole an immediate combat,
enlisting a fervor of participation in
readers over this struggle for their own
well-being.
Leading up to this climax in the Of
fetal career Of DR.. Wiley may be found
the common run of geographic fact
ancestry, childhood, preparatory school
ing, ultimate choice Of occupation and
It's pursuit. Leading away from this
high point stands the plain account Of
changed conditions, o new situation, q
fresh field for carrying on the espoused
life work-that Of promoting the well
fare Of the American household by way
Of better knowledge of certain facts
cured protection by law in respect TO
these matters, DR.. Wiley's next project
was to increase the common store of
knowledge concerning them. To meet
this purpose, the scientist turns teach
er again, editing magazine for wide
spread Of his lessons, lecturlng all over
the country to meet the same end.
And, 50, the story comes to pause. In
addition to the sound substance OF the
record Of achievement; the book has a
striking personality of its own. Definite
purpose and fortnight speech are its
outstanding externals. A keen wit that
now with rapier, now with bludgeon.
A lusty fighter who accords to comb6t
no amenfty whatever. Almost q battle
cry of victory Is this story Of winning
a single 30-year struggle for the people.
Yet. a plain tale of actual fact.
There are certain intangibleS flowing
from this autobiography that are deeply
significant and widely applicable to al
Of us. Let us look at one or two Of
these. First. there is the spirit Of DR.
Wiley In separating himself from the
Government service. Contention leaves
Of necessity, a residue of remembering
Of resentment, on both sides. of the
case; Of 1istless corporation, of indif.
DR.. Wiley. A Government bureau is an
agent operating for the public, not ar
arena for the settlement of persona
antagonisms. He did not say exactly
this, but he acted it by leaving the
service without Ill will and in a fine
dignity Of loyal devotion to his former
position. Rejecting offers that are
likely to come to the Government ex-
pert from business on the outside, this
man without-a-job looked about In
stole compoSure for the place from
which he could carry on as he had
begun. This Is one of the "intangibles'
that can be used by every one placed
in a position something like this one.
No one wants to be a parable or an
exemplar. Nevertheless, here Is point
of profound practical meaning for the
use OF many a man or woman set
down in an immediate difficulty. Again,
in lecturing throughout the country, he
came upon q great truth. More than
that, he owned UP to It. Nothing less
than his own discovery that in teach
ing the public along his own cruSading
taught. Every teacher in the world
knows this. This Is one among the
first to mention it. Once more, from
these wide journeyings and their in
contacts with people of all
sorts, DR.. Wiley comes into a robust
and communicable conviction that 1t Is
good to share. 1T have q higher re-
gard for our citizens from having met
so many hundreds Of thousands of
them and seeing just what
splendid men and women our country
produces. It gives me an inspiration for
the future which will require a great
deal Of Communism and hard times
and unsound political economy to take
out Of me-" More in the same strain,
pitched to the same high and hopeful
In this somewhat sketchy survey-ex-
cept to say that here is sturdy book
for Americans to read, both for its
substance and for its spirit.
X
LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG. Will
liam e. Barton. illustrated. The
BobbS-Merriu Co.
Lincoln at Gettysburg Is the ninth
study produced by this Barton-Boswell
to Abraham Lincoln. 1.-THE Life of Lin
coin" served as a foundation for the
various special themes that have risen
from 1t. Primarily, the book in hand
Is an expert examination of the great
Gettysburg address. Pursuing every
trail, hunting down every item of re-
liable information upon the subject, Mr..
Barton is able to give authentic &C.
count of what Lincoln intended to say
upon that occasion, what he did say,
what he was reported to have said, and,
finally, what he wished he had said.
A certain pattern and quality Of mind
will follow this investigation with zeal
and deep satisfaction. But there are
others, many others, who will appre-
ciate, even more deeply, the vivid pic
ture that Mr.. Barton has created of
that day, of Gettysburg itself, of the
midwar desolation and encouragement,
of Lincoln as a family negligible par
ticipant in the dedicatory services of
that famous battlefield. I doubt If any
where can be found more realistic
~. s.S.iss&