Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1934-07-21

| the unknown. FIOpHtCy CdllIlOJ take
into account the entirely unexpected
factors which often influence history.
and as Mr.. Soule says, "the skill for
predicting the future of human his
| tory still lies. at its worst, in the arts
of magic, and, at its best, in the vision
of the prophet" Although claiming
to be neither magician nor seer, Mr.
Soule has done some clear thinking
the results of which he has put into
unambiguous exposition.
X X
SOMEBODY MUST. BY Alice Grant
BOSNIAN. New York: Minton,
Balch g. Co.
Miss BOSNIAN has created public
| which enjoys her freshness and
piquancy of style. her cheerful people,
| free from morbidity, and her anus
ing episodes. The fun she has at the
expense of her characters and her
! irony are never bitter Her novels are
always in demand by those who want
| pleasant reading Preceding Some
body Must" her best are Visitors to
Hugo" Benefits Received" and Pro
tecting Margot.' Romance is all i'm
portant element in them all, and if
romance is not too prevalent in every
day life it is sometimes all the more
welcome in fiction.
In Somebody Must" Kay Flete,
having just completed her college
course at oxford, thinks it would be
rather nice to go to the Sorbonne for
an additional course, but hesitates to
mention it to her father the moment
she has reached home. Her father is
always so forbidding and so agrees
Sively immersed in business affairs.
Her mother, on the other hand, is
pleasure loving, determinedly youth
ful and willing to let the members of
the family do as they please II they
will not bother her.
At the time of Kay's arrival home
family crisis has developed, due to
/ the obstinacy of James Flete, who has
refused to go to Scotland for August.
holiday which his wife is convinced
is necessary for her happiness. Kay
has arranged to pilot two school girls
home To Vienna, and when. on her
return. she walks into the Flete home
at Creditor. on the river, she IlndS
that her mother has gone To Scotland
alone, that her father Is worried and
Sulkily indignant, that her 7-year-
brother, Pell, is problem about which
her married sister Rosamond refuses
to do anything. that her brother John
does not wish his new tiancee, Evelyn
Fortescue, involved in his family'S
quarrelS, and that all the village is
gosSiping Somebody must" do
something, and Kay seems to be the
only one able TO act. She handles
things so we'll that Winifred's alb
Sence appears dangerously like bless
ing. for father and children develop
understanding and comradeship never
before attained. OF course, there is
bliSSful love affair, headed straight
for marriage, for Kay. She has time
for everything When the prodigal
Winifred returns she would have
known q pang of Disappointment had
she not been so fundamentally good
natured. AS it is, she and James
greet each other as If nothing un-
pleasant had happened. Kay won
derS if she and Derek will ever quar-
rel and feels sure they never will, and
the tempest in the teacup is over.
The family sits down to supper and
Pel introduces his new dog.
PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT. BY J.
c. Roberts. New York: McGraw-
Hill Book Co.
Is there going to be any place in
the future for personal achievement,
or is the State going to do it all
while the individual Enthusiastically fits
into the niche assigned him? 1t is
certain that, whatever economic and
social Shake-ups come, there will al
ways be differences among persons
with respect to natural intelligence
and initiative which, with the advan-
tage OF training. will lead to personal
achievement. IL is this training, by
many devices outside the usual path
of education, of which Mr.. Roberts
writes. He presents outlines and lists
and rules for memory training and
for selling ones self. His advice all
comes back To the fundamental axiom,
however. that If you have the men
tai ability and make the mental effort
you will succeed. An old maxim is TO
the effect that TO every haven OF
desire the yearning opes the portal"
Many people could testify to its
falsiIy. Mr. Roberts would qualify it
by adding Intelligent effort to yearn-
ing. His book is one Of concentrated
common sense, expressed without
novelty and with many platitudes. but
the average person often secures more
help from clearly stated platitudes
than from subtle suggestion.
The Spenders. -.
From the Shreveport Journal