Evening star., 1933-01-03
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
M T.
M. G..

NJ. G..
THE QUEST OF THE RoMANoFF
TREASURE. BY Armand Hammer.
Foreword by Walter Duranty. New
York: william Farquhar Payson.
Strange indeed are the twists and
turns In the path of life-sometimes q
chosen path, sometimes only hit-and-
miss trail-which the average individ-
ual encounters after embarking upon
the business Of earning livelihood, or
perhaps Of carving a career in one OF
the professions. Thousands OF young
hopefuls in past generations. and as
many thousands in these present times,
have annually descended from the ros-
trums of graduation halls proudly
grasping the square of sheepskin which
gives entrance into the world of hard
work, romance and adventure. Some
are successful in their chosen fields,
some turn out to be just plain job
seekers. The world looks very big and
| glamorous in that moment Of gradua-
tion-and It Is. For even In the low
liest Of occupations romance can be
| found II the soul be expansive enough
to absorb the little glories of daily life.
Small though they RAY seem in them
selves, taken collectively they are a
| treasure store Of beauty and wisdom.
No matter how straight and narrow
and uninteresting the path may be at
the start, hard work fashions 1t into
grapevine pattern, and at the frst
turn romance offers itself as reward
to those who possess the sturdinesS and
the faith to persevere.
But adventure? That is a different
story. Countless numbers of men and
women of all ages have sought glory
and fame in that intangible realm Of
| the unknown which attracts like a
magnet. Many others have stumbled
| into the path of adventure, and there
are still others who literally have ad-
venture thrust upon them. Into this
latter category falls the name OF DR..
Hammer.
Having graduated from q medical
school in the Spring of 1921, Armand
Hammer volunteered for service in fam
| ine-stricken Russia, and in July of
| that year found himself waiting on the
deck of an ocean liner for the lowering
Of the gangplank on the quay at South
ampton, filled with the excitement of
| his first trip to England, to Europe,
and, greatest of all, to the Job which
was to be done in Russia.
It all sounds reasonable enough. but
the twists and turns began the moment
| the gangplank was lowered. From then
on the straight and apparently smooth
path which should have led this young
man to his goal became worse than a
grapevine trail 1t literally developed
| into a maze Of most intricate design,
and his own story of the events of over
period Of 10 years, beginning with
| that momentous landing at Southamp-
ton on July day in 1921, reads like a
fairy tale,
Twenty-three years old and bubbling
with the enthusiasm and eagerness OF
| youth to get into action under the
license and prestige Of his newly ac-
quired physicians diploma as a volun-
teer field hospital relief worker In the
great Valley Of the Volga, into which
| famine refugees were streaming in
alarming numbers from the parched
and barren fields laid waste by two
months Of drought. "Dr. Hammer, ]
believer" strange voice in strange
land addressing him ae he set foot on
English soil. II am a representative
of Scotland Yard, and ! am instructed
to inform you that you cannot land
at least until you have satisfied US with
regard to certain matters" In the
twinkling of an eye this young hopeful
had been transformed from an inno-
cent and, SO far as he knew, harmless
medical volunteer bent upon q mission
of humanftarianism into an interna-
tional political suspect.
| Thus was DR.. Hammer precipitated
into a career Of adventures surpris-
ing as it was unsought. Several weeks
of suspicion, red tape, complication and
delay, and finally arrival at Riga, once
the great western center OF Russian
commerce, but now the impoverished
capital of the tiny state of Latvia.
Not yet Russia, to be sure, but at least
on the last lap Of the journey which,
with luck, would eventually end at
Moscow, focal point of that unhappy
land upon which the eyes Of the entire
world were turned In wonderment in
the year 1921.
The title Of DR.. Hammers book is
somewhat misleading, for the story
which he unfolds deals almost entirely
with the emergence OF Russia from the
aftermath and chaos following the
revolution and its reorganization under
the powerful Lenin into the Soviet
State.
The actual quest Of the Romanof
treasure should be fascinating story
IN itself. From the beginning Of his
| travels about Russia the author and his
brother became interested In the col
lection of various treasures and works
of art, and as the years rolled by they
had acquired very substantial and
| imposing array Of objects of all kinds.
Beautiful photographs of the crown
jewels and other priceless treasures
| illustrate the volume, but the ways and
means Of their acquisition are only
sketchily related. The book is attrac-
lively bound and well set up, and 1t
seems a pity, therefore, that publi-
cation bearing so intriguing and promis-
ing a title should be devoted mainly to
an historical resume of experiences and
observations on political, social and
economic Russia, with the collection Of
the imperial treasure as an incidental
accompaniment, instead Of the other
way around.
Just the same DR.. Hammers own
story Of his career" as q physician in
famine-stricken Russia is q splendid
example of what the hairpin curves in
chosen path Of life may lead to. and
it makes mighty interesting reading as
story Of hard work, romance, adven-
ture-and achievement.
n y r
SHUDDERS AND THRILLS; The Sec
ond Oppenheim Omnibus. BY E.
Phillips Oppenheim. Boston: Little,
Brown & Co.
During the past few years while the
psychologists, sociologists and other
varieties of researchers have been delv-
ing into the possible causes and prob
able cures for the unprecedented crime
wave which has swept this and other
countries. with rather relentless fury, it
has been Interesting to observe the great
increase In the demand for mystery and
detective stories. Some Of the most pro-
life and accomplished writers of this
type of fiction have been hard put to
keep up with the cry for more. Whether
the crime which We have with us Is the
natural aftermath of war, whether it is
an outgrowth of too much freedom, or
whether it is, as some astrologers would