Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-21

Limited.
- FELLOW dramatist here undertakes
m the difficult business Of digging IN to
III find the man, Shaw. Bernard shaw
has elaborated so ardently with
his public that almost every sort OF
pen addict has found him perfect cnameleon
to suit his own mood and manner 80 Chs
serious writer finds a great man in Bernard
shaw, one of political VISION of national fore
sight, of charitable activity, OF humane intent
Another sort of writer finds exactly the oppo-
site. And one is led to the notion that, atter
all is said and done, Bernard Shaw IS MIR
ror in which the sincere critic finds substance
and sobriety. in which andal-monger nnos
hiRa6elf also lurking in the whimsical oehaViofs
of this mercurial Irishman.
Maurice Colburne is one of the few who are
soberly going over the facts of Shaws life.
One of the few who are not making use OF the
man for his own specularity OF effect Here
As a plain story of Bernard Shaw-beheve 1t or
not. The record of a young fellow who tried
20 find his own job and failed, tried ana 1aheo
any number of times. The young man who
firmly believed himself to be novelist, IN en-
bryo After having written nine OF these, fruit
lessly, he reluctantly abandoned this seductive
notion A make-shift newspaper job sent him
60 see plays-not thing real about any OF
them. Not breath of life anywhere about
them, So he took a hand at playmakng. AND
there you are And there he was and Is Maui
rice Colbourne's account close frst-hand ac-
count, is a JOY of plain record-making, re-
strained and believable story OF the particular
human with whom he is engaged. 1t pays que
to Mr.. Shaw's genius. 1t pays equal Que 10 the
outstanding public spirited citizen that he Is.
Maybe the little book is joy, in part, by this
all-around view that it projects. Maybe. in
other part by the clear appreciation of values
that it conveys. In either case, or In both, 1t
Is O. most desirable study for intelligent, and
impartial readers to take in hand for near
and clear picture of Bernard Shaw.
THE REAL PERSONAGES OF MOTHER
GOOSE BY Katherine ELVES Thomas IL
Illustrated. Boston: Lothrop, Lee & Shep-
ard Co.
XXLHAT lot of things we don't know! Every
wv day, commonplace things at that. Take,
IN point. the case of Mother Goose, friend and
familiar of children, these hundreds Of years.
Who is Mother Goose? Where did she live?
Did she spend the whole Of her time making
up rhymes and singing sounds to put babies
10 sleep or make them forget to cry?
Nothing seems able nowadays to escape the
deep general passion for research, for digging
into things, for finding out all about them.
Not even Mother Goose. And here comes Kath-
crime Thomas with a packed sack Of news about
this first love of the children.
Not book for them, however, but for the
elders instead. Here Is one of those rich his
toriCal evocations that pass, only now and then,
from their own times into later ones. With
zeal and patience, with the self-exaction Of the
scholar, with the deep absorption OF the IN
vestigator, this author has, in the libraries Of
England and this country, held to the trail of
Mother Goose. Having found her, having
caused her to deliver herself over then Kath-
crime Thomas set herself to the task of making
en- orderly chronicle Of the astonishing facts
disclosed Most interesting facts. Most engag-
tngly offered to our appreciation and enjoyment.
A politician Mother Goose. Almost pure poll
tics, the guileless- seeming syllables and sonants
used in later and easier times to put babies to
sleep Political satires Of the most scathing,