Evening star., 1933-07-02
ANTHONY ADVERSE. BY Hervey Allen.
New York: Farrar & Rinehart


dom" "Peregrine Pickle" 'Tristram Shandy,"
"The Three Musketeers." These are all un-
condensed rambling life stories yet to the lover
Of the type none too long. The same Is true
of Anthony Adverse" As Is ordained by
heredity Anthonys life did not begin with his
birth but with his parents or, for that matter,
with his more remote ancestors. His mother
was Maria, daughter of Scotch merchant, who
had embarrassed himself to provide a generous
dowry and marry her to the noble Spaniaro
Don Luis, with whom he had business relations
Don Luis was middle-aged and semi-invalid,
q connoiSseur in art treasures, women, food
and wines. But Don Luis was not the father
of Anthony. The father was Denis Moore,
young 1rishman in the army Of France. An
thony was born In small village in q high
pass Of the Alps during a December snow
storm. Don Luis carried him in travelling
bag down into Italy and deposited him inside
the wall of the Convent of Jesus the Child
He knew the nuns would baptize the child
Immediately; he could not have the death Of an
unbaptized child on his soul, in addition to all
the rest, and of course the child would not live
But Anthony,s Irish father had bequeathed
to him hardihood, and he lived for many
years and had experience of many parts Of
the world. He was named for the saint and
for the circumstances of his discovery by the
nuns. He was educated by Jesuit Father and
when he was old enough was apprenticed in
the establishment of Mr. Bonnyfeather, Scotch
and his old housekeeper looked upon the face
Of the boy q strange resemblance stirred In
them memories without any Of the normal
ties Anthony was not bound to place or ira
dition. Fate took him to the West Indies to
Africa and finally to America Always his life
was one of action but action tempered with
thought. with wonder over what he saw and
speculation over the people with whom he had
relations Into his later life came again the
sinister figure Of Don Luis. then military gov
ernor Of Northern Mexico. The end Of An
thongs adventures was in Texas and was
caused by no human enemies, but by q caprice Of
Nature-"the stone in the heart of the tree"
The little madonna which had accompanied his
mother In her tragic journey over the Alps
had been with him in all his wanderings and
was found In the ruins Of his chapel at La
Luz after his death, by o party of Missouri
pioneers. The tale of Anthony Adverse" un-
folds through the later eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries. Its inexhaustible plot, its
large assemblage Of characters, all delineated
with such swiftness and sureness, and its style
Of blended romance and realism are sufncient
answer to those pessimists who believe that great
fiction died with the end of the Victorian age
THE CONQUEST OF THE SOUTH POLE.
Antarctic Exploration 1906-1931 BY j.
Gordon Hayes. M A. New York: The Mac
milan Co.
\A/HEN every scrap Of lane and water has
w been discovered and mapped and there is
no further need for exploration, when every
point OF the world has been reached by air
and there are no further records to be broken
except perhaps for speed, We shall have lost
one of the chief sources Of the adventure and
romance which keep human beings really alive
But DR.. Hugh Robert Mill author of 1.-THE
Life of Sir Ernest Shackleton," who writes the
introduction to this book of Mr.. Hayes, tells
us that "for ages to come the sciences of mete-
orology and terrestrial magnetism will demand
continuous observations at fixed stations and
over long periods in the Polar regions, south
and north; so perhaps we shall continue for
some time to have books as delightful, as well as
informative, as this of Mr. Hayes, who is recog-
nized as an authority on the South Pole and
Is the author of "Antarctica," which Comdr
Byrd found indispensable, because of its varied
semitic data.
Mr. Hayes calls the period which he covers
"the heroic era of Antarctic exploration" Four
years before the period began Capt. Scott en-
barked in the Discovery. leading the British
National Expedition. This led to Shacketon's
three expeditions, which In turn gave rise to
Mawson's two expeditions and five other Ant
arctic expeditions. The World War stopped
scientific explorations, as it did many other
peaceful and beneficial human activities. In
1920 Lester and Bagshawe wintered in Graham
Land and in 1921 Shackleton went on his third
voyage, from which he never returned. In
1926, the Norwegians, who had carried on whal-
ing in Antarctic waters as early as 1892, began
explorations and they and Sir Douglas Nav
son, Sir Hubert Wilkins and Admiral Byrd have
been exploring the Southern Continent down
to the present time. The era began with ''hero-
ism" and ended with mechanism" The suf-
ferings endured by early explorers are no longer
necessary. Abundance of food, fuel and camp
ing equipment will enable healthy man In his
prime to withstand the most extreme cold. But
ADEQUATE tranSpoFtation is essential and air
tractor sledges and aeroplanes seem to offer best
promise for the future. Danger is Of course, not
eliminated. and tit we're, probably part Of the
zest would also u eliminated for the men who
undertake such expeditions. THE Conquest Of
the South Pole" lthe title does not mean that