Evening star., 1933-07-29
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH G. BOHERMAN.
OUT or THE WEST. BY Rufus Rock
we'll Wilson. New York: The Press


OUT or THE WEST. BY Rufus Rock
we'll Wilson. New York: The Press
Of the Pioneers.
This is not an ordered, Chronological
history Of the settlement Of the West.
That phase Of our history has been COW
cred by many historians. either in sep
afate histories or In sections Of ex-
haustive histories Of the United States.
Mr.. Wilson, an BAsterner who has
spent much time In the West, intensely
open country and the pioneering period.
He has searched for the color in events
and personalities and has presented q
moving picture Of "glamorous years and
Of valprous men," We meet the noun
tain men and pathfinders Of the early
days, the miner, the peny express rider,
the buffalo hunter, the cowboy. and the
courageous men who tried to keep order
in boisterous frontier settlements. We
travel over the Oregon and Santa re
trails. When the nineteenth century
began, . thousand miles of plains and
mountains separated the Spanish out
posts In, what u now New Mexico from
what was then the American frontier" !"
In century and . quarter that frontier
has extended until It has dropped into
the PAcinc Ocean. Motors now whiz
by the Thousands over the ground
which was once the old santa Fs Trail
now. . broad highway. It Is not fittinr
that the men-and the women-.who
travelled that trail and the other trails
should: be forgotten, nor that either
their hardships or their high hopes
should be buried under the mass of
hard historical facts. Mr.. Wilson does
real service to the lover Of the human
side Of the past by the gathering Of
his extensive material and the interest
Ing telling Of his story. The history
OF all the forts planted by the Govern
ment along the Oregon Trail, beginning
IN the late 40s, Is given with adequate
detail: These forts played . helpful
part In the making Of the West. Mr.
wilson believes that there Il only one
OF the daredevil riders of the pony ex-
!: press stu alive-Willam Campbell,
aged 90. whom he interviewed on
ms fr'dt ranch in the San Joaquin
valley. The pony express, celebrated
by Mark Twain and others, existed only
about ID months and then gave way to
the telegraph. but those months were
part Of an eventful era" The chapter
titles are suggestive and tempting, as
Trader and Buffalo Hunter" Gold
Days and Ways" pixies Peak and
Leadville," Luck Of the Gold Hunter, f."
The End Of the Rainbow" Passing Of
the Prospector," "On the Northern
Ranges" Frontier Peace Omcers." !"
The illustrations by Sidney Z. Fletcher
are most attractive and Of course in
clude covered wagons. pioneer women
ana children. mountain passes, herds
OF buffalo, pack mules, streets in from
tier 1owns, Indians and trappers.
RUSSIA DAY BY DAY. A Travel
Diary. BY Corliss and Margaret
Lamont. New York: Coyici-Friede
The Soviet government has realized
the commercial value Of tourists, espe-
clally American tourists, because there
are likely to be 20 many Of them. and
through Its tourist agencies is offering
tnem each year more of the comforts
WITHOUT which they will become grum-
oiers and discourage other tourists. Mr..
ana MIS-. Lamont toured Russia-a
limited portion Of tin the Summer
OF 1882, and here reproduce almost ex-
actly the diary they kept. 1t should be
OF assistance to others contemplat ting
such journey and Is interesting in
tseH, because the authors do not try
70 te1 US what We should believe about
tne Soviets and Communism as 1t is
psactlced in Russia, but do tell their
OBSERVATIONS IN connection with what
sney saw OF everyday life there. Arriv-
Ing at Leningrad, they were Impressed
cy the large number Of new lincoln
eights, in which the travellers in charge
OF Intourist were whisked around town.
Ine explanation Of all these new au-
tomobiles is interesting. They attended
q service OF the Greek Church at MOS
COW. where most Of the worshipers
were old or middle-aged, but there was
q generous spHinkling of young people
Near the Children's Village of the MOS
COW Park, they saw q mimic war being
carried on by young children, under
the direction Of regular Red Army
SOLDIERS They comment on hotel ac-
commooatlons. transportation by rail
ana boat, food and its cooking. the
tneater, workers holidays, currency pc
cunarlaes (they received rs cents in
cnange IN American, French, Finnish
ao Sweosn colns), gossip about the
types OF private property which are en-
couraged. and very many other things
ana Ideas which they encountered.
4 4 X
THE AUSTRALIAN IMPERIAL, FORCE
IN FRANCE, 1917. By c. +. "
5een. Sydney, Australia: Angus
d Robertson, Ltd.
This Is the ofncial history of Aus.
tralia In the World War. Volume " of
Inc A. I. r. in France: 1917" Il
Deems with four Of the i've Australian
infantry divisions awaiting relief after
the depressing Winter of 1S16-I7 on the
somme. It shows how, before relief
sIriveo, the Germans carried out, un-
Ger the eyes OF two British armies. An
evacuation more extensive, II much less
DANGEROUS. than that executed by the
australian and other forces la 0ailinoii
The episode illustrates how difacuit II
Is. even with the utmost vieilance on
the part Of Q watchful opponent to
prevent the planned withdrawal of q
modern army. A pursuit of the enemy
followed In this case, and then several
weeks Of village fighting. After that
came two attempts. involving some of
the worst horrors of war, to force the
Hndenburg line at Bullecourt, in one
OF which was made the first experi-
ment with maSsed tanks. Each involved
q battle fought under the most adverse
circumstances. Then the Australian
50 and 4th Divisions were engaged In
the Battle Of Messines. The volume ends
with the two Anzac corps at the CEN
ter IN the second Of the three encoun-
ters Of the Battle Of Passchendaele.
The reason for success here is shown TO
have been, not entirely the fine weather.
nor even the effectiveness Of the two
highly expert An1ac corps, but other
strategic reasons. All these campaigns
are described with much detail and
with technical undertaking. This is
Q military history which should have q
place in any reference library of the
war and win be Of great interest to any
student OF strategy or Of military oper-
ations In general
=
TELLING THE WORLD. BY George
o. SQuier, Phi. D., d. &C., M. r. I,
New York: The Century Co.
This story Of mans DEVELOPMENT Of
mechanical means Of communication
over long distances Is . volume In the
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