Evening star., 1933-02-18
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH G.. BOWERNAN.

The first novel of Walter D. Edmonds,
young man born in 1903, was
Rome Haul" a story Of the Erie
Canal In the 1850's, during the period
Of its commercial importance, before
it began to be called "the old Erie
Canal. Two weeks ago another novel of
Walter D. Edmonds about the Erie
Canal appeared, Erie Water" tan At
lantic Monthly Press publication. is
sued by Little. Brown & Co., Boston,
This is a romance of the digging and
building of the ''Canawl," the big ditch
which brought into existence many
towns in Central New York and created
a boom for the State which lasted
many years. The story opens in 1877,
when men "of all sorts" were moving
singly and in groups toward the Capitol
at Albany, for the Senate was going
back into session on the canal bill. "
And men on the streets were saying
that the canal was the only thing to
save New York., with population drop
ping and lands falling of in price.
At this critical juncture in the his
tory OF the State, the homespun hero.
Jerry Fowler, a young carpenter.
stepped from the Greenbush Ferry to
the dock at Albany, with all his be-
longings and $50 in cash wrapped
up in rough bundle He was headed for
the Holland purchase, in Western New
York, to take up some land, and he
had just enough money to make a
down payment on SO acres and to buy
his farming implements. All would
nave been well and before night he
would have begun his lcng tramp west
l,n
had not sloop been tied up to the
dock when the ferry boat arrived and
had not the sloop contained a load
OF redemptioners, to be indentured to
any who could meet the price of their
passage, Among the redemptioners was
q girl with coppery hair. So romance
interviewed and spoiled Jerry's thrifty
plans. But the canal brought him
opportunity and his fortunes followed
those of the canal.
Though Jerry Is the human hero OF
Erie Water" there is a bigger hero
the canal itself. Mr.. Edmonds has done
something similar to what Ernest Poole
Gid in his novel "The Harbor," In which
New York harbor is the hero. Through
loWlands and highlands, swamps and
nils, open fields and woods, the canaI
made its way, and along it's edges
shanties sprang up to house the work
men, OF all sorts, from beg Irish tc
Southern blacks. The canal had also
Its taverns, its industries, its religions
It's amuSementS. Into the story are in
troduced many characters representing
American types of the period: The
Shaker revivalist, Issacher Bennett;
Henry Fearon, moster of the sloop
carrying the redemptioners; fat
motherly Ma Halleck, managing ano
feeding her own family, but always
having management and food to spare
Tor friends and neighbors; gatekeepers
engineers. farmers, 1nnkeepers, women
of light character and women of soli6
qualities. Mr.. Edmonds lives in the
State he writes about, In the town
where he was born, Boonville, north OF
Utica, on the Black River Canal
Canals have enchanted him since his
childhood. His judgment and taste ir
choosing to write OF the events which
have as background his own familiar
surroundings, taken with his detailed
and accurate knowledge of those events
and, Of course, his ability as a writer
have enabled him to produce an ex-
cellent historical novel and a contribu-
ton to the social history of New York
State.
X X X X
George Saintsbury, one of three great
English writer's of the older generation
to die in 1888, was 81 years old anC
had enjoyed nearly go years of writing
Any one who scans the record of his
life and knows his works is sure that
he did enjoy his writing. Many a mid
dle-aged person looks upon Saintsbury
as friend of college days, one always
ready through his books to furnish
critical estimates of authors in the fields
Of English and European literatures ol
to discuss the principles of criticism OF
prosody. Saintsbury was professor o1
rhetoric and English literature at Edin-
burgh University, 1895-1915, and wa.
the author of many books. Some of the
most important are "A Short History
of English Literature" "Elizabethar
Literature" Nineteenth Century Lit.
erature," "a History of Criticism" "A
History of English Prosody," "A ShorI
History of French Literature" "A His.
tory of the French Novel" and "a His
tory of English Prose Rhythm" VerJ
recently the oxford Press published his
book, "A Consideration of Thackeray.'
For recreation Santsbury was a con-
noisseur of wines.
X X
Capt. Felix Rosenberg, at one time
commanding officer of the schoolShiI
Newport, nautical training vessel, ha:
sailed and steamed the seven seas anC
knows vast stories of fact and fictior
about everything connected with the
sea. His book, Log Of the Sea" New
York: Harcourt, Brace g. COP has q
comprehensive title which allows him
to tell everything he chooses Of his
sea experiences and sea lore. The
chapter Sea Lingo" may be frequently
consulted by those who know the sea
only from big ocean liners, but 1t must
be added that the book is free from
all but the necessary technical ex-
pressions. 1t is a good book to dip
into, at any place among the pages
and during any leisure time, preferably
perhaps while northeast storm is
bowling about one side of your house
and rattling your windows. Capt
Riesenberg's first nautical venture was
on the training ship st. Mary's, built
in 1874, and in the 90s used to DEM
onstrate to aspiring commanders how
to use the canvas and spars for which
they would probably have no occasion
in the age of steam. His first voyage
was around the Horn and the mists
cleared for his benefit, so that, as look
out, he sighted "a faint blue streak
near the horizon" across a sparkling
sea. Impressionistic biographies OF
companions on his voyages furnish the
characters for his many stories. There
are the Finnish sailor, Dreilick; the
American Line captains, Randall, Jami-
son and Passow, and Old Strom of the
st. Louis, which went to the rescue
Of the Dutch liner Veendam, when ii
went on the rocks off the Scilly Isles
in February, 1898. Capt. Randall was
in command of the st. Louis at the
time and had just sailed from South
ampton. He heard the rocket bombs
from the Veendam lit was before the
days of wireless) and reached her when
her stern was under water and her
bow high. Volunteers manned the life
boats of the St. Louis and every per-
son on board the Veendam was saved
Wrecks and rescues are the thrilling
material of the book. There are lighter
parts, describing anlu-.ng episodes OF
I'D