Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-12

this region to the rest Of the United States, to
acquaint US in sweeping gesture of picture,
story, legend, with the great externals Of this
country and its people. great book Of basic
views reaching into every phase Of modern
growth for its Justification, for its enthusiastic
attitude toward the north. THE Great Bears
Cub" is o second draw-on from the first prime
essentials of the subject. Here upon the set
ting Of climate and natural features is an or
derby pattern of tribes and tribal life, patient
searching for the far sources Of this hfe,
rational accounting of 1t by way OF such agree
ments as could be reached between 1t and the
natural surroundings upon which it depended.
Here are little stories Of customs rising out Of
the daily mode Of existence and the outlook
upon something that seemed bigger than indi-
vidual existence It Is all here-work and play,
religion and war and death-just the stun Of
human life everywhere. But to this Mary Lee
Davis gives the special cast and color Of that
northern environment The book as o whole,
like Ito predecessor, Is both . treasure Of In
formation and . source Of complete delight.
The writer. just dynamo Of enthusiastic ae-
tion deeply IN love with Alaska, where she
has lived for long. Poetry. romance, classic read
ing and .allusion all come into the service Of
this writer on the beloved theme.
And yet, set on against the poet and painter
that Mary Lee Davis 30 clearly is there stands
another sort Of person. This Is an economist,
an industrialist, politician even, and the his
torian. Representing this second group Mrs.
Davis IL as exact an adding machine, there
fore clearly informative and authentic. Through
this pattern Of useful stuff, however, the lower
Of Alaska sings and chants her way into the
excited interest Of the reader, Of any reader.
CALIBAN IN GRUB STREET. BY Ronald A.
KNOX, author of Essays in Satire" etc.
New York: z. p. Dutton & Co.
EAT1IER KNOX steps into the open Of cur
rent unbelief, half belief and no belief at
all TO do battle royal for the cause Of Chris
tianity. A master of satire in its subtlest inn
plications, the author uses this as an instru-
ment Of logic in setting before intellectuals
the fallacy Of their theories, the unstable foun-
dations Of their skepticism.
1t Is Bishop Ronald Arbuthnott Knox who In
this book calls to account the deformed Calban
of rather blatant worldliness. mounting half
baked notions Of God and religion to the sor-
row Of those who believe that there Is still
heaven well as earth, still q God Of COM
passion as well as deity Of mere aecountings
It Is the quality Of modern scholarship, the
use of modern modes Of expression, that delight
one here. True the theme Is In essence suited
to the hereafter, but TO q hereafter by way Of
the present by way of human partakings IN Q
generally needy and demanding present
Beside the celebrating mental brilliance Of
the writer, beside the strength Of his logic and
eerie art IN delivering it. one enjoys particu-
larry the contemporaneous attitude Of Father
Knox. Does he want case In point? Instead
of going back to Adam or Paul or to some
ancient father Of the church, he lays his hand
on the shoulder Of Wells or Bennett or wal
pole. or other teachers Of life via the modern
novel. asking friendly question, maybe two.
But for neither Is there an answer, not from
these. Father Knox talks In his own way about
THE Boom in Religion" about 1.-THE By-path
IN
about Religion and the Future" 1t 10 "his
own way" that gives to this book Its substance
and character. 10 Is the way Of the writer that
makes this book study for every man, with