Evening star., 1933-11-25
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH C. BOWERMAN.

II 4
AMERICA IN SEARCH OF CULTURE.
BY william Aylott Orton. Boston
Little, Brown q Co.
Mr.. Orton, an Englishman, q Cam
bridge man. q professor Of economics at
Smith College. knows the United States
culture in this country at q low ebb and
gives good reasons for his findings. For
real culture there is need of security, Q
degree Of security beyond that Of mere
bread and Z butter substitute, or even
q chicken in -the-pot. In addition to
security, there must be freedom from
the domination of tndustrialism If we
are to have culture. Here Prof. Ort0n
touches ideas with the French Andre
Siegfried. He doubts If teaching the
mass of mankind to read has promoted
real culture, or will ever do so, unless
public enterprise or private agencies,
such as the American Association for
Adult Education. can carry the process
of mass education much further than
the mere reading stage. American rec
reation needs overhauling also. Amer
ican canned foods We take for granted.
Canned entertainment Oiterally canned)
startling" There are possibilities, he
believes, that American cinema tech
nique may lead to something really
significant in art, but at present its
financial motivation" effectively, pre-
vents cultural results The radio Is
equally the enemy Of culture. and for
the same reason. America once had q
culture Of its own, but 1t has been un-
dermined by the forces of acquisitive-
ness and vulgarity. Our literature to-
day is literature of disilIusion.
Americans need. therefore, above all
else today. the kind Of leadership which
will give them moral reinsurance"
TRAFALGAR. BY A. F. Fremantle.
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.
The great-great-grandson of Nelson 8
comrade, Capt. Sir Thomas Fremantle,
commander Of the Neptune at Trafal-
gar, tells the old but inspiring story Of
one OF the greatest battles in England S
history. He tells it, undoubtedly, with
greater gusto because Of his genealogical
contact with the event. There are prob
ably in his family may anecdotes extant
about Trafalgar. Only one chapter OF
the eight which compose the book is
about the battle itself. The others are
about the distinguished career Of Mel
son In connection with the blockade OF
the continental ports during the Ma
poleonic War and the strategy and
prowess of the British fleet The i'm
portance of this naval campaign was
that it destroyed the sea power of
France at time when Napoleon was
almost complete master of Europe, 1t
allayed the fears of England concern
ing a Napoleonic invasion. fears which
prevailed among the sophisticated Lon
doners as we'll as among the country
rustics, especially if their farms hap
pened to lie near the coast. Since that
time France has never been reckoned
leading sea power. Nelson's plan for
the battle OF Trafalgar was that twenty
French and Spanish ships were to be
captured; his slogan was England ex-
poets that every man will do his duty. .
Mr.. Freemantle makes the climax OF
his narrative an extract from the log
OF H. M S. Victory. Of the date OCTOBER
81. 1905: Partial firing continued
until 4:3O, when victory having been
reported to the Right Honorable LORD
Viscount Nelson. K. B.. and commander
In chief, he then died Of his wound.
ORIGINAL DESIGN. BY Eardley Bes-
wick. New Yo:k: Minton, Balch d
Co.
The English Midland industrial dis
trict. made famous in literature by Ar
mold Bennett in his Five Towns novels,
chief among them THE Old wives
Tale" has been bravely chosen by Eard-
lev Beswick for the background Of his
first novel. Original Design" If it sug-
gests Arnold Bennett, 1t does not initiate
his work. nor does it rival 1t. Ine
Works" of Jabez Perriman Sons d Co.,
Ltd, ironfounders, in the Midlands, pro-
vides plot. characters, setting-the un-
distributed whole. Henry Perrifoan.
managing director, is merely the human
projection Of The Works" He struggles
with financial troubles in postwar In
dustrial England, retrenches. discharges
employees. worries. as do others in in
dustry, because that great. seemingly
substantial entity, The Works" has
not been able to maintain traditional
prosperity. Then comes a large, uneX-
pected order for machinery for the
manufacture OF a new kind of glass
ware. Prosperity returns for THE
Works" and all whose livelihood depends
on Perriman's except the young inventor
who has designed the machine. The
main plot is constructed about the in
vention and the tricky methods by
which Pernett is defrauded of the credit
and remuneration due him for his brains
and skill. The duplicate of Pernetts
experience is only too common in the
lives of inventors. who are proverbially
so absorbed in their investigations and
such poor self-salesmen that they are
usually the victims of less brilliant. but
more unscrupulously Quick-witted men.
The story has. therefore. genuineness
and. what is even more important in q
good novel. is told with human insight.
The manner in which interest Is aroused
and maintained in the numerous minor
characters recalls another recent novel
about a business firm suffering the
stress of the economic depression, "Liv-
ingstones," by Derrick Leon. Both nov
els are excellent problem novels Of this
period.
FIFTY YEARS WORK WITH GIRLS.
1833-l933. A story of the Florence
Crittenton Homes BY Otto Wilson
in collaboration with Robert South
Barrett. Alexandria. Va: The Ma
tional Florence Crittenton Mission.
The first Florence Crittenton Mission
threw open its doors on the night of
April 10, 1883. at No. 90 Bleecker street,
New York City. in the heart OF the vice
district. Into the midst of this dark
underworld Charles Crittenton and his
associates projected their mission of
mercy" For 25 years Charles Critten-
ton went throughout the United States
and into foreign countries founding
missions as centers Of help and re-
habilitation for fallen or wayward girls.
Kate Waller Barrett became his CO.
worker in 1896 and devoted the rest of
her life to the work. The Florence
Crittenton Homes. known all over this
country. have come to be houses of
refuge for unmarried mothers and their
children. This record of the work of
oo years, by Mr.. Wilson. with the as
sistance Of the national president of
the National Florence Crittenton Mis-
sion, presents complete history. in
Guiding brief biographies of Charles
Cf1ttenton and Kate Waller Barrett
and accounts Of the work Of all the
different homes in the cities Of the
country.
Nax