Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-20

words of comfort-"Don't be I'M
happy I'm not suffering"-till both hand and
brain gave out turned to ice And so Capt
Scott died. He failed. Amundsen won Byrd,
not discoverer of the South Pole, but great
and daring explorer, won, too. Yet reading
Stephen Gwynns starkly simple story of Scott
one pays devoted homage, fearful homage, to
the man who died so calamity. And Scott won
also in the universal adventure that all must
go out to meet. true epic. A great story.
And to it Stephen Gwynn gives a straight
telling, rugged accounting, an Unconditional
summary of the years of this man, fair ap-
prafsal of the conditions attending his search
for the South Pole, an impartial pointing upon
inherences of the situation that might have
caused the final defeat. Just these things are
set down here without emotionalism of any
sort. And this outstanding attitude, strangely
enough, only adds to the readers intimate en-
tering into the tragic hours in the Antarctic
SHOWS. Mr.. Gwynn understands. He knows
Capt. Scott has always known him. It is upon
this basis of friendship, of professional COM
radeship, of intuitive comprehension, and warm
feeling that he writes the story. A biography.
A biography that is vital with character, with
personality, with career born of English blood
and held in devotion to the soil of England.
So instead of book, here is life passed
on to us for our own sake, not in the interest
of Capt. SCOTS name. nor for his family, nor
for the British Empire. 1t is a high adventure
in great living and great dying-an unforget-
table experience is any ones who viii read this
simply related true story.
LONG HUNT. BY James Boyd, author of
Drums" etc. New York: Charles Serb
ner'S Sons.
THE Oregon trail movement is now reaching
its hundredth birthday. During this year
there win be line Of commemorative cele-
brations throughout the West in honor of men
and events that contributed to that epic ex-
pansion in pioneering and settlement. Scat
tered along this trail there may be found, even
yet. relics of the wilderness life which has,
in the main. been supplanted by civilization
few animals rapidly fading out where once
millions herded and increased. An occasional
man, representing an occupation that has long
ceased to call to the many. Trappers, hunters
woodsmen. adventures and plain vagabonds
have, in the old sense. become practically ex-
tinct.
Long Hunt" is q contribution to the spirit
OF that day which il this year to be renewed
In graphic portrayals of various kinds for the
purpose of wholesome reminder and high in
centive. 1t sets out from the East in North
Carolina, and finally crosses the Mississippi,
an earlier movement than that technically IN
ciuded in "the Oregon trail" but a part of it.
nevertheless In substance it is true history,
pioneer history, objectifed in the life of Muir
free Rinnard-wilderneSs man. hunter free
man-and the occasional settlers with whom
he infrequently comes in contact. In the large
this Is o demonstration Of the fact that one is
made by his surroundings is fashioned by the
habits imposed by the daily life. Freedom,
personal freedom Of body and mind, is the
gospel Of this pioneer accounting. free ami
mal-in this case, free mans the issue Of the
story. Not q honne-that Is not the goal Of a
man, a real man Of the woods. Not woman
not that either, in any lasting or considerable
S0AAse Not any other Of the chains In which
civilized man binds himself are to be suffered
in the open life. These denials bring more or
less discomfort, even Of hardship but all are
borne, In the main, gladly, for the supreme gift
or free me This idea is worked out In the
true James Boyd particularly Of detail, by way
OF complete seizure Of the period with which
the record deals by an imaginative rebuilding
OF the early days Of this country, when the
pioneer was the leader, when the wilderness
was the school BY this time the most Of us
are glad to acknowledge James Boyd as one Of
the bes Of cur novelists. His themes are not
spectacular. In the first place they are big
rather impersonal In effect and, therefore not
calculated for sweeping popularity. They are
not concerned In the man. and woman complex
have no interest in the current social problem
another quality that holds James Boyd away
from the sensation fan and close to the SUBJ
Stantial reader. The novels by this man are
not turned out between dark and daylight
They are long in the making They are mar
wells Of painstaking, Of fine selection, of way
wise arrangement for the mounting line Of
action, for the moments of anxious suspension,
for the properly prepared sequence and the
logic Of the outcome. Here is an artist with
the conscience Of one. novelist Of big out
look, of substantial purpose, OF creative inagi-
nation, of distinguished powers of expression.
To read this writer Is to feel the stir of some
OF the excellencies that so clearly animate his
own work. Drums" Marching On" and
Long Hunt" are among the noVels-among the
few noyels-that give distinction to the fiction
Of this country In this dav