Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-14
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the BookLorer

Catherine, carried the small bundle
which was their son to the parish
church of st. Herbland in Rouen, ON
November %, 1913, they were probably
chiefly concerned that the child should
not be chilled by the bleak November
winds or the dank atmosphere of the
unheated church. 1t Is altogether un-
likely that they gave a thought at that
time to what the future of that mite of
humanity would be. If they had done
so, it is certain that they would never
have forecast a life of hardship and adj
venture in the wildernesses of New
France and a death by violence in the
forests of the Mississippi Valley. That
child was christened Rene Robert
Cavelier de La Sale. The title of La
Sale came from the fact that Jean
wooded estate called La Sale near
Rouen. The unplacid life story of this
little boy OF Rouen is told, not for the
first time, of course, by L. v. Jacks in
his book, La Sale"
When only % years old La Sale
abandoned his ancestral land and
sailed to seek his fortune in Montreal"
AS his vessel sailed into the st. Law
renee, after a wearisome voyage, he
looked with intense interest upon the
! fir-creSted hills and the broad, rolling
river, fed by numerous small streams
threading their way through marshy
meadows. Quebec had already become
we'll developed town. Settlers had
divided of land into many estates.
But the frontier lay about a hundred
and eighty miles west. at Montreal
Beyond that outpost city bristled the
wilderness. Thither went all adven-
turous men, and in its charities depths
5eieil all manner Of strange and splen-
| mediately La Sale became a land
owner, through the proposal of Father
t2ueyllls, superior of the Sulpicians, that
ne take over and develop about nine
miles OF land extending up the river
west OF Montreal. His new Seignory
was called La Chine. La Sales house
SUI stands, within a stones throw of
tne bank, overlooking the mighty pam
Drama Of the La Chine Rapids" Here
ne ne was as obliged to do outpost duty, for
the land lay directly in the path of
tndlan raids. The cruel Iroquois, most
dangerous of Indian enemies, came
downstream, from the West.
X \
But outpost duty and clearing the
forest were not enough for the adven-
turous young man from Rouen. Some
OF the Indians with whom he had made
friends had told him stories of a great
river which flowed into the western
ocean. Visions of a northwest route to
Cnlna and Japan, and trade, riches and
empire, more and more occupied his
mind. Finally he determined to find
TINS river. The Governor of Canada,
Courcelle, authorized him to make
lip Tor purposes of exploration. but
wltnout furnishing funds La Sale Sc
cured the needed money by persuading
Inc Sulpicians to buy back the land
Iney mad given him two years before.
IT'S information about the location of
Ine mysterious river was vague. His
tnoian lnformants could only tell him.
II tnelr rude way, that "the easiest
route, as all woodsmen knew. Law hv
water westward. and the trip would re-
cure long, long time" with La Sale
on nus Journey Of exploration went the
oulplclan missionary, Dollier de Casson
ana Q group Of Sulpieian priests. to
convert the Indians encountered on the
way 30 into the wilderness La save
t Tau ms IoloWers went, and many of
tnem never returned. La Sale himself
olo return and in Montreal. ain the
quaint winding streets of the old city,
tne man stood like one returned from
sne dead. Folk gathered to stare at
LHm: Bearded and ragged, his deerskin
ciotnes blackened and torn, his nnocca-
SINS Shabby, the Norman rose like a
snost from the grave" But his fever
aOr exploration WIS in no way assuared
Inc year 1854 found him at the Court
LOUIS XIV, attempting to fire that
sn, sensual bourbon with ambi,
lions for an empire in the new worId
Down the Mississippi Valley. the Ohio
valley, and the prairies of adiscent
ianos. he painted an empire for
france more wealthy than Pisarro,s
conquests In Peru, wider than Cores,
dominion in Mexico, drained by a river
as great as and longer than the vast
stream Orellana had discovered" Louis
1Lv responded with support and Ia
derness-and his death. There was
mutiny among his followers and Ia
SaIle was treacherously shot in the
back. With La Sales death the last
giimmer1ng spark of hope, however
Ialnt, Tor the success of his COLONY. was
covered by impenetrable darkness.
Death and night swallowed I'D the
last wrecks OF the great Norman's en-
terprise. Thus ended, in undeseryed
misery ana utter humiliation. the life
ana fortunes Of Rene Robert Cavelier
the sieur de La Sale"
y
The death early In November Of Ole
Edvart Rolvaag, at the age of SIS. In
evttably causes reflection on the ironv
OF life-that, having struggled so lonS
and through such hardships to attain
the education and freedom to do the
work he loved, he should for so Short
a time have been able to enjoy the sue
cess that came to him. He was born
In . poor fishing hamlet on the shores
OF Helgeland,. Norway, where his onIv
prospect was to become a fisherman
His mother laughed at him when he
cnce said that he would like to be a
poet. He began writing a novel when
ne was 10. but concealed the manu-
script for fear OF further ridicule Ar
IA he was taken out Of school because
his father thought he was not worth
educating, and for the next six wears
led the usual life Of fisherman. Then
he refused the offer CT a fishing boat
and its mastership and left for Americs
whittier many of his countrynen had
preceded him. In South Dakota he
worked as q farm laborer until he had
saved a little money and learned
working amount Of English. Then he
entered the AuguStana College ats Cam
ton, S. Oak, where he remained thre.
years, and then went to st. Olaf Col
lege, Mortified. MINI. He said of his
early college experiences: "The mo-
HeHt So1Ie Ii couCi Win DOCKS and
study it was as If a heavy curtain had
been lifted" His first novel was writ
ten in his senior year, but it was never
published. After graduation he studied
year at the University of Oslo. ir,
Norway, on borrowed money. He be-
came member Of the faculty of St
Olaf College in 1906 and remained
there until his death. In 1908 he he
came a naturalized citizen of the
United States. His novels, which have
made him well known, have been writ
ten during Summer vacations. All were
first written in Norwegian, In which
he expressed himself mare huently, and
then translated. The best, Giants in