Evening star., 1934-08-26
VIEWS AND REVIEWS.

| CORNER. BY MAX Miller. new
York: E. P. Dutton g. Co.
IN "The Beginning of a Mortal
Max Miller told of his childhood
| In a lumber town of the North
4 west. in "I Cover the Water Front"
/ of his experiences as a reporter,
in He Went Away for While" of his
nostalgia and his abandonment of
work for a year in order to live the
life of hermit in a shack on the shore
of the Pacific. Now he has married
and become a householder. He built
a house with artistic irregular shingles
on a street in sight of the rocks and
the ocean; also near pile of scrapped
two-by-fourS on the beach, which he,
] like his neighbors, plundered at night
for his fireplace, until the night when
J two policemen chased him along the
beach and up the rocks nearly to his
own door, when he dropped on bench
| by the parking and looked like an in
nocent resident taking the evening air.
He decided that what may be con-
sidered clever for single buck. such
as the taking of wood, becomes bles-
phemous when the same is performed
by a man who is married and owns
! home
I These latest "reminiscences of Mr..
/ Miller. like his others, are in no orderly
biographical style. We doubt if he is
an orderly person. They are in the
form of whimsical little essays about
everyday happenings and the people
| who are his friends, neighbors, or
strangers crossing his path and leav-
| ing a fieeting impression. There is
| the old man of 80, for example, who
visits the house while it is building
and confides that he has built five
| houses and considered each one per
manent," and that permanent" meant
until a wife would die" There are
also the mailman, who very seldom. re-
ceives any mail himself, and Wheels" "
the lifeguard, who has the room op-
| posite Mr.. Miller's at the hospital,
with the sign "Do Not Disturb" on the
door one day and the door open and
! the mattress turned over on its end
the next day. Mr.. Miller's awareness
of life and of the importance Of its
details, his insight into personalities
and his ability to see himself humor-
ously give fine literary quality to his
slight material. His last episode is
visit from friend with whom he had
once contemplated cumming" around
the world. The friend has been bum
ming" while Mr.. Miller has settled
down, and Mr.. Miller feels somewhat
apologetic. But, see, it's not so bad.
Having a house and backyard and
all Well, John, remember this
once you get ready to become married
! and settle down, you'll not find it half
as bad as you thought. Lots of excit-
ing things happen right around your
own house every day"
WEBSTER'S NEW INTERNATIONAL
DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE Second edition. Un-
abridged. Edited by William Allen
Nelson, Phi. D., LII. D., L. H. D.,
Lift. D. Springfield. Mass: c. &
C. Merriam Co.
THE appearance of this really new
edition of Webster's International
Dictionary is an nRevent for publishers,
students and every one else who wants
an authoritative and up-to-date die
tionary in his home or office. Since
1909 new citations have been in
process of collection for this edition,
until they have reached the number
of 100000, and have formed the
basis for new and rewritten material
to the amount of go per cent Of the
| whole. The number of entries has
been increased more than 80 per cent,
to total of over 100000. and the
number of pages by 25 per cent, to a
total of $3.50. These increases will
Of themselves answer the question al
ways asked by purchaser of new
dictionary: Does it include the new
words in science, industry, the arts,
recreation and modern life generally?
There are also illustrations for more
than $4,000 terms. Twenty-four fine
color plates show arrays of birds,
| butterflies, moths, insects, wild flowers,
coins, flags and other important
classes of objects, to which color lends
elucidation. The spectrum was paint
ed by Charles Bittinger. These are
some of the physical facts about the
new dictionary.
The intellectual facts are impress
sive. The editor in chief is the presi-
dent of Smith College The 207 spe-
cial editors include prominent and
| competent scientists. scholars and
technical experts. Here are few
examples: Definitions in physics and
aeronauticS have been under the Su-
pervision of Joseph Sweetman Ames,
president of Johns Hopkins University
and chairman of the National Ad-
visory Committee for Aeronautics.
All definitions of law terms have been
rewritten or approved by Roscoe
Pound, dean of the Law School of
Harvard University. Terms in COM
merce, finance and business have been
defined by members of the faculty
of the Wharton School of Finance
and Commerce; those related to the
Catholic Church by the Rev. Patrick
]. Healy, professor of church history
in the Catholic University of Amer
lea; and the etymologies have been
written by Harold H. Bender chair
man of the department of Oriental
languages and literatures in Prince
ton University, with the assistance
of a number of specialists in differ
ent languages. The prOnunciations
authorized are those of good and cur
rent usage among educated speakers
in America and Great Britain. Alter
native pronunciations are always indi-
Gated. John S. Kenyon, consulting
editor for pronunciation, is the author
of the authoritative work American
Pronunciation" Altogether, care
full study of this new edition indi-
Gates that it has been motivated in
every way by educational principles.
1t meets all the legitimate demands
, that can be made on a dictionary
and, we should say, some of the de-
mands usually made on an encyclo-
pedia.
X \ X X
I THE CHANCE OF A LIFETIME:
Marching Orders for the Lost Cen
Grafton. BY Walter B. Pitkin.
New York: Simon g. Schuster.
THE "lost generation" of Mr.. Pitkin
= Che did not invent the phrase)
is divided into two classes: First,
fnt ITy