Evening star., 1932-01-10
% IDA GILBERT MYER
High Ad0enture in the eFarWen-Exploring
and Building Beyond the Mississippi.
WIdeVar1etyofBooks FromP Publishers.

THE general aim OF these two writers is iden-
| tical with that of the author of Forty
Miners" All are bent upon re-discovery of
the early West, upon re-vitalizing the pioneer
spirit of that time and place. All possess the
modern outlook upon history a natural force
in subsequent events and succeeding periods
when 1t is offered in its integrity of accurately
related facts, in their clearly defined effects.
Where one chose a great adventure as his
theme, these have projected the geographic
study. of picturesque character, of a. great
explorer of the West. In some measure the
design of this study is to give recognition that
has been too long neglected, too long withheld
But the genuine interest of the story lies in
the varied powers and parts of the man him
self-Broken Hand his Indian name-Thomas
Fitzpatrick.
For 80 years, starting away back in the early
1B0os this man was trapper, fur trader, ex
plorer, guide to early emigrant trains bound
for oregon. Guide to Fremont also and to
adventures in hostile Indian zones. After
every kind Of dangerous activity throughout
the far West. he became the first Indian agent
to the rowing tribes around the Platte and
Arkansas Rivers. 1t is not possible here to
name even the different roads of adventure
and service pursued by Thomas Fitzpatrick.
Nor Is it necessary to narne them. For here,
under the manifest sympathy Of these two
writers and, equally, under the efficiency Of
their modern training and outlook, there comes
to the reader q most dramatic and picturesque
man who did great deeds out in the new West,
where life was rough and dangerous and deeply
exacting The quality of the man, the service
that he performed, his Identification with 80
much of vital movement in that early period
of the region-these make OF Thomas Fitzpat-
rick an outstanding pioneer to whom tribute
is due To whom tribute has come in this
splendid and engrossing biography, which no
one can read without pride and interest in
the subject without gratitude to the public
spirited competency OF this study in American
history.
A KENTUCKY JUDGE. BY George Gilpin
Perkins. Washington, D. C.
. DURLTNGTON, KY, July 1889. Two items
- that give substance and point to this story
of "A Kentucky Judge" This, the Southern
home town. This, the date of birth. long
stretch Of memory to traverse. Within its
limits the high points of our national develop
ment. The growth of parties, the shifting of
political power in this new President or that
one, the opening up of the West, four wars,
the abolition of slavery, the rise of industry,
trade, commerce, transportation, finance to i'm
perial proportions. These the great movements
of this long stretch of time. To the writer,
childhood, education, profession. legislative
preferment, judicial duties friends many,
honors not a few Such, the form and sub
stance of the long backward journey Yet to
one going along privileged to do this, 1t is the
spirit of the traveller himself that gives beauty
and happiness to the adventure.
Pictures of When was a boy" are the home,
the surrounding fields, the gay chatter of Gun
powder Creek, the school house. the church
each as vivid and outstanding as If it were
in body present at this hour of remembering.
That is one of the truly beautiful aspects OF
this very unusual retrospect. There is another,
equally enjoyable. That is the sincere klndh-
ness of it all. Speaking of the old days, the
pre-war slavery days Judge Perkins says: The
relation of master and servant had its endear-
ing ties To EACH the other was always My
people The boys of both races in the
same families always stood stanchly by one an
other, and between the girls and their young
white mistresses were warm domestic attach
ments through school days, marriages and into
the grandchildren era"
It is this friendly spirit that counts SO solidly
here this freedom from local prejudice, this
understanding and sympathy as broad as the
land itself and the years that cover them. A
truly rich remembering" that any reader Will
count himself fortunate to come upon for the
warming of his own heart, for the widening out
of his own understanding.
THEY WON THE WAR. By Frank H. Simonds,
Lift D, author of History OF the World
War" etc. New York: Harper IL Bros
| IERE is book of only hundred pages that
! summarizes the World War by way of
study of its ieaders-Foch, Pershing, Petain,
Haig Joffre. The study is model OF condensa-
ton model, too of the comparative method
as means of appraisal and placement. Chapter
headings themselves partake of the terse char
acter yet OF the Illuminating substance of the
text itself:
"pershing-He Made the A. E F.; "Foch,
Marshal of victory; "Petain, Soldier of YER
dun; "Haig The Perfect Ally "Joffre, the
Miracle of the Marne"; 'Ludendorf-He Al
r,aSt Won