Evening star., 1934-02-04


been using a telescope they thought.
THE NATIVES RETURN BY Louis Adamic.
New York: Harper & Bros Book-ot-
theMonth Club selection.
TWO decades in America are enough TO make
good American, if there is any possibility
whatever. Louis Adamic, born in Carniola, at
that time a small Slovene province OF Austria,
even smaller section of the postwar
state of Iugoslavla came to the United States
when he Was IA. He recently went back TO
Carniola, Oh a Guggenheim fellowship. at The
age of 33. and found the return one Of the
greatest emotional and intellectual eXperi-
ences of by no means dull life. His plan had
been to spend an afternoon, with his Arneri-
can wife, at his old home, from curiosity and
because it seemed the proper thing to do."
Then he would find quiet place in the noun
tains of Italy or Austria and write his book
America. He rather dreaded even this brief
visit. He haG exchanged letters but seldom
with his peasant family and felt embarrassed
at the thought of renewing acquaintance
As he sailed up the Adriatic along the Dali
matian coast with its hills. islands and bright
little towns his mood changed to one OF eX-
element, increased by the stop at Dubrovnlk,
and more when he landed at Trieste and
went by train to Lublyana, few miles from
his native town Of Blato. Memories of his boy
hood assailed him SO sharply that he could
not sleep Then he found that he was celeb
rity in YugoSlavia. an author OF renoWn
though his books had had small sales in Amer
ica. His coming had been heralded through
the dispatches Of an American correspondent
for several Yugoslavan journals and he was
accorded an official welcome at Lublyana. His
stay of 10 months in the country was a trl-
umph. He met all the leading authors. many
of the men prominent in public life and the
King Dictator Alexander himself. But the peo-
pie he most enjoyed meeting were the peasants
in all the districts he visited.
His first impressions were of an almost
idyEc simple farming life and by his de-
scriptions he conveys those impressions to U.S.
The peasant houses and villages, hundreds of
years old, seemed to belong to the landscape
of wooded hills, snow-capped peaks. green
meadows, sparkling lakes and rushing streams.
Everything was as he had left it 20 years before
and there were no evidences OF World War
devastation. Here surely stability free
dom from economic unrest, contented poverty
without sordidness. But as he Travelled about
he saw more and more deeply beneath the pic
turesque surface. He became terribly sorry
for all of them-my brothers and sisters my
friends-most of the people in Carniola, in
Yugoslavia. Their rich, beautiful country was
a trap. Entire Europe was trap for the plain
people of most countries" His native country
men, subjects of "a terroristic ruler" were des-
tined to be killed in another war against the
subjects of another dictator. So he left Yugo-
slava saddened glad to return to America,
where in spite of all that is wrong with it, he
feels that he belongs. He is glad also that he
was born in Yugoslavia "a rare rare country
and tina. with other Yugoslavian immigrants,
such as Tesla and PIpin he may have chance
to contribute to Americas greatness. The
Natives Return is both thoughtful and an
emotional personal story.
THE EPIC OF CAPTAIN SCOTT BY Martin
Lindsay. New York: G. P. Putnams Sons.
THIS most recent volume In the Great Oc-
] casion Series tells Of the tragedy of the
South Polar expedition of Capt. Robert Falcon
Scott which occurred little over 20 years
ago, when the whole party perished from star
walton and exhaustion in the cold. The record
of the last days found in Capt. Scott's
diary They had reached the Pole to find that
Amundsen had preceded them by about
month disappointment great, but they
built cairn and hung out the Union Jack
and their sledging flags, then turned homeward
over the awful waste of snow and ice, with a
temperature of minus % degrees F. At the
Pole Scott wrote: Nov for the run home and
a desperate struggle" The struggle was not
to avail. The first to die was Petty Officer