Evening star., 1934-09-16

Vt not already established, as
4 i the interpreter of women in
the past and present of our
country. In her collaboration with
her husband in their developmental
American history, ''The Rise Of Ameri-
can Civilization" she covered the ac-
tivities of women, usually neglected
by the older historians, and only re-
Gently she has published a compilation
of articles written by women through
the centuries of our history, America
Through Women's Eyes" In this
present anthology of extracts from hui
morous writings, drawings and car
toons by American women, accom-
panied by biographical and historical
essays by the authors, Mrs. Bruere
and Mrs. Beard show conclusively that
the popular idea that women have no
sense of humor is a masculine inven-
ton. I'VE have tried to show" they
say, "how American women for CEN
tury have laughed their way through
life by the help of their needles and
their scissors, their brushes and their
chisels and their pens. Not by any
means have we covered the whole
ground. Some of the best wit and
humor is withheld from us by copy
right restrictions. All We could do Is
what the Government inspector does
when he grades wheat-take sam
pie here and there and let its quality
stand for that of carload" The
samples are very good indeed.
Frances Berry Whitcher was con-
scious humorist Of the 1840s, with her
popular widow Bedott Papers" Sara
willis Parton CFanny Fern) and Har-
riet Beecher Stowe, both born in 1911,
were not primarily humorists, but NOR
alists; their incidental humor was,
however, most effective in its time and
is capable of amusing now, though In
a very different way. Mary Mapes
Dodge, founder Of st. Nicholas;
Rose Terry Cooke and Eliza Leslie,
author of "The Behavior Book, a
Manual for Young Ladies'" were also
among the incidental humorists. The
foregoing are grouped by the authors
under the heading Ladies Laughter" !"
Local colorists of the South include
Ruth MeEnery Stuart, George Mad
den Martin and Cora Harris. Mari
eta Holley, the famous Samantha
Allen" was a leading feminist hu-
rnorist. Other classifcations are
"Belles Lettres," "Versiflers." Human
Interest Stories" Character Studies" :"
"The Columnist," "The Skit" and
''Highbrows," among whom are Jo-
sephine Daskam Bacon and Gertrude
Stein. One wonders why Emily Dick
inson and Phoebe Cary and Margaret
Sangster are given places in book
on humor, though they were perhaps
capable of 1t on rare occasions. The
inclusion of Carolyn Wells is obviously
appropriate. The arrangement Of the
book might have been improved and
the reference value thereby increased.
A chronological table of the women
mentioned, and certainly an index,
would be appreciated, If there is an
other edition.
DESERT WEE. BY Hilda Faunce.
With illustrations by w. Langdon
kim. Boston: Little, Brown g.
Co.
WHAT hell of country" said
Hilda Faunce's husband of the
civilized but wet Oregon coast. We'll
go back to my old stamping ground;
I've had enough of this" His old
stamping ground was the hot, dry
desert country of Arizona. So the
Faunces packed all their goods into
a wagon and took their seats behind
the team OF horses and drove of
southwark They stopped at an iso-
lated trading post in a Navajo reserva-
tion and there set up housekeeping
In a shack with tent wing. For
four years they lived there, through
blistering Summers and often bliz-
zardy Winters. Ken, the husband.
had been a trader before and knew
Navajo language and habits. His
wife began learning Immediately and
some of the things she learned were
not reassuring. She found that there
were good Indians and bad Indians
and that some of the school Indians
were among the most difficult to live
peaceably with. They saw John
Mitchell, one of the first to make
them trouble and one of the most
dishonest, meet what his own people
considered just punishment. To most
of the Navajos, the Famces were
good friends and neighbors, playing
the part of doctor, nurse, business
adviser and relief agency, as well as
purveyor of commodities.
Pawning jewelry was common
method of payment for supplies and
under ordinary conditions, an Indian
did not hesitate to kill a trader and
roo and burn down the store if the
trader could not produce on demand
articles the Navajo had pawned. Our
situation had an added element Of
risk because the man who had had
the store before US, a Mexican, was
not popular with the Indians" An
other unfavorable circumstance was
that they were unable Immediately
to find necklace of sulky Indian
because it had been packed, with
other stolen things, in the suit case
Of useless helper" who had just
been dismissed and was about to leave
on freight wagon. John Mitchell
and his ugly, garrulous mother came
on almost the first day, on extortion
bent. John would have a job as
helper, though no helper was wanted,
and would carry away a large order
of goods for which his future wages
would pay; his mother vocally pre-
sented woody, truculent bill for 500
for water rights at the spring. The
new life at Covered Water trading
post did not begin auspiciously and
it is not surprising that Hilda Faunce
thought regretfully of Oregon and did
not share her silent husbands love
of the desert. She had the pioneer
spirit, however and kept her discon-
tents and fears to herself. But after
four years, when they had made
enough money from cattle trading to
buy farm, she left Covered Water
with only few regrets. Mrs. Faunce
gives credit for much help in this
book to her cousin. Ruth Wattles, who
grew up in a ranch home, among the
Navajos, and made a study of the
Indians of the Southwest, both
through observation and at the Uni
versity of California. Desert Wife"
Is first an intensely interesting per-
sonal story, but it is also study OF
Navajo character and customs.