Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-13
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
I. C. NJ.
THE TEMPLE OF THE WARRIORS.
BY Earl II. Morris. New York:
Charles Carihner's Sons

THE TEMPLE OF THE WARRIORS.
BY Earl II. Morris. New York
Charles Scribner's Sons.
Speaking of hidden treasure, source
of thousand adventures and 10 times
that of record and rorIance-speaking
of this, What treasure-chest, in truth,
Is the Old Earth itself, all packed and
on its whirling way to- wonder!
However. just now the point is that
within it, here and there, under an in
finite cunning of concealment, are gems
made precious by the vanity and Gu
pidity of man. Gold and silver, iron,
coal, oil and many another priceless
hiding, besides, that, as knowledge
grows, will issue forth with the rest,
each to take its part in world service
that tends, steadily, toward miracles of
material achievement.
knowledge, therefore, is the first i'm
perative of the present and the future
And knowledge is coming by leaps and
bounds. Then. leaders to gather the
new forces as they appear. to marshal
and regiment and coordinate these
with ones already upon active duty.
And leaders have come, are coming
The high test of these is a Steadfast
demand for more of knowledge and a
substantial support of ways and means
for securing it.
EoO, Tic CdIHcSleS ana hOcReIelleTS
and Guggenheims and the rest are Gre
ating foundations, endowments. insti-
tutions for the promotion of learning
to illuminate and fire the new day, to
give it direction and objective These
are spreading wide benefactions from
the earth-treasure already given into
their hands. These are leaders who
mark a true progression in the ways
of collective human existence.
The history of the United States is,
in effect, pretty generally Englished
history Outside this British zone of
settlement, political growth, intellectual
dominance and temperamental stamp,
too little Is known of other contributory
influences. The strain of French to the
north is counted negligible. The rubble
of Spanish to the south is little more
than a picturesque motley of Column
bian and Columbian legend. The
United States itself, looking back upon
it, is but a vast wilderness, peopled
by savages, themselves without origin,
save such as backed Topsy with her
kith and kin.
The new outlook is as covetous Of the
past as it is curious about the future.
Within its rush man is, as ever, the
paramount issue. Different only, the
the angle of approach, the method of
pursuit, the scope and depth Of the
findings. The old questions persist,
goading and unacceptable. Where did
he come from? How long has he been
in residence, SO to speak? Where is he
going when, the Goals burned low and
the lights turned out, the earth is dark
and cold, inhoSpitable, uninhabitable?
And what Of gorgeous expansion waits
between the present and that grim day
of ultimate eviction? Same old Ques-
he ~ ftIr
again to the earth, already so open to
serious overture so responsive to earnest
invitings. The spade-man once more.
His digging-kit packed, the S4byls wand
OF the hazel rod of science in his hand,
he goes tapping the surface here and
there in answer to the faint Juggling of
the divining witch's-hazel that leads
him.
Down in Yucatan, that slender sud-
den outthruSt of Mexico into the Gulf,
the Psychologists made their way, under
the encouragement and support OF the
Carnegie Institution. And a sharp &C
tivity of excavation set in. Finally the
earth yielded, opening secret pouch
of astonishing treasure. Buried cities,
ar entombed civilization, a vanished
race came gradually into view. The
mystery of the Maya had come into the
open for report and accounting. 1t was
as if the earth, having again botched
the risky business of man-making, had
washed her hands of the whole affair
and had called upon her agents to clear
away the rubbish. And Time, the
greatest Of them all. set to do her COM
mand. Tidal waves from the sea helped.
So did torrents of rain seasons through,
and the weatherings Of tropic sun and
air. Earth tremors were fine, too, for
unsettling foundations. And mountains,
sick and hot, elected their fires and
threw out their molten disorders. And
this went on for a hundred years. For
five times that, and more. A mastery
Job, leaving but a monstrouS mass OF
greenery, impenetrable and, somehow,
sinister and forbidd1ng.
But science has no fear, and the
spade work went on. Then came the
emergence of a people, possessed OF an
ordered existence. of architecture and
art of military efficiency, of religion to
90 along with war as it has ever been
constrained to do. OF human sacri1ce
to some fierce god whose Symool, carved
on wall and facade. was the teathereo
serpent. between its spread jaws the
head of a human. Significant symbol.
A dizzying drama, this epic OF the
Mavas One of diScompoSure, even
fear. to the microscopic atom reaolng
it in a foreboding distrust OF MS own
fate, the fate of all. For the earth
is ruthless in a short-shrittlng 10
her own creations.
We all know little at least, ABOUT
the reconstructionS of Yucatan. Some
thing about the famous metropolis OF
Chichen It'll, piouS town given 10
human sacrifices, frequent and album
dant, for placating and suppllcatlng
the fierce and mighty Rain God. so
beautiful maidenS were gathered IN 10
propitiate this ancient goldman with
beauty, rare gems and other precious
things, but very specially with oeautllul
maidens. :.
Every scrap of the story is rich in
both historic value and engrosSlng m
terest. An up-reach from the region
to oNr own Southwest gives very
real call for study of the relics and
shreds of custom that without such
derivation would be ineXplicable at
many a point of query in that quarter.
No page of mans past is negligible
Since his future demands so much OF
illumination and direction.
Earl Norris has made record OF a
single chapter in the work of the SCI
entists in Yucatan. The first count Tor
this particular record is that OF the
plain story. If any che can deliver a
plain story" from this whole glamor-
Gus business he deserves. and will get,
wide and attentive acceptance. In the
business mood of going to work every
day, Mr.. Morris gives the inception OF
his particular work and the prepara-
tionS that he made to carry 1t out
Just another matter of digging in the
ground. with days and days of it. Then
p sign of the thing sought. A broken
shaft, a rubble of banked refuse, a
riyen column With clear design of cary
ing upon it. Moe of these, and more.
Then the cleaning Of these real sig
nificances from tn mere litter OF dirt
and piled debris. Hunting for the unit
of construction upon which the struc-
ture was based, finding the mathema-
tical key to the whole. A dream before
H. ewes for leadership, SCIENTIFICALLY