Evening star., 1933-01-15

a Latvian who went to South America for ad-
venture and there fell in love with the wife OF
his best friend He took refuge from that un-
happy experience in the wilds of Brazil, became
a jungle hermit and skilled spearman and
learned new code of ethics-that OF the gun
which he never made his own, for he never
used firearms In Tiger Man. Duguid writes
the biography of Sacha Siemel. Joining his
friend at cattle ranch near the head waters
of the Rio Paraguay, he found him ready for
more adventure in common and for six weeks
they hunted together in the jungle, while
Tger-Man told the details of his life. The
accounts of tigers and jaguars and snakes
killed produce thrills, but equally interesting
are the associations of this man. whose ethical
ideals are high with wild men of many types
encountered in his wanderings To Tfger-Man
the life Of the jungle, with all its risks from
hostile nature, is safer than life in London,
with its risks from men and machine. The
book is written In q spirited narrative style.
THE TINDER BOX OF ASIA. BY George E.
Sokolsky. New York: Doubleday, Doran
& Co.
Ar. SOKOLSKYS experience during the
nj past is years has fitted him to speak with
knowledge, not just from impressions. about the
Far East. In 1917 he covered the Russian revo-
luton for a news service and In Petrograd
edited the Russian Daily News, the only news
paper there in English until it was confiscated
by the Soviet government and he found it con-
venient to leave for Harbin. Later in Peking
he was assistant editor of the North China Star
and became political correspondent for num-
Der of prominent foreign newspapers. His wife
is Chinese q silver medalist of the London
Royal Academy of Music.
In writing Of Manchuria, 'The Tinder Box"
nonic conditions and prospects. He does not
consider that within short time Mancnuria
will become music box instead of tinder
box. He believes that forces have been let
loose in the East of Asia which will persist
for years; that these forces are gathering
strength; that their full impact upon one an
other Is still to take place" The chapter,
Communism in China" shows that Commu-
nism is neither mere theory nor minor is
sue, but live and widely extended movement,
the enemy Of nationalism.
PEKNG PICNIC BY Ann Bridge Boston:
Little. Brown & Co.
A WEEK END picnic from Peking to Chieh
~ Tai Ssu turns out to be more than mere
frivolous occasion. The party grows larger
than was originally planned in fact, becomes
unwieldy, and at the very start anticipation Is
clouded by rumors Of fresh outbreaks of ever
prevalent civil war. The description of Chien
Tai Ssu, the Monastery Of the Platform Of
Vows, with its courts, paviions, shrines and
terraces is one Of the best pieces of writing in
the book. Nothing Is stranger to the new
conner to China than this custom of temple
authorities of throwing open their sacred pre-
cincts to European visitors. courtyard, or
two, or three, according to their needs, is let
off to each party, and there with their beds,
food, chairs and servants they establish them
selves for a day or two"
The philaAdering to be expected on a picnic,
IN some cases growing more serious is inter-
rupted by the capture of some of the party by
bandits On the return to Peking, the realiza-
ton that the picnic has been disastrous for at
least one, perhaps two, of the number, comes
to them all. Laura Leroy wife of the oriental
expert of the British legation, becomes rather
deeply involved IN love affair with a pro-
fessor of psychology, which threatens to make
her forget the claims of her husband and chill
dren. Little Annette" a tall American girl,
meets at the picnic the fulffllment of fortune
told for her at a Buddhist shrine: "Enlighten-
ment shall escape her, but death enlghtens
all men," Ann Bridge Is an English woman
who has lived In China during the past few
years. Her novel Of the sophisticated legation
life is a sharp contrast to Pearl Bucks novel,
1.-The Good Earth" of primitive Chinese peas
ant life. 'Peking Picnic" received the Atlantic
Monthly prize of $4,000 awarded to the most
interesting and distinctive novel submitted.
LIFE: STORY OF THE OLD AND NEW
SOUTH. By Hal Du Sante. Boston: The
Meador Publishing Co.