Evening star., 1934-04-07
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH C.. BOWERMAN.
POLAND: PAST AND PRESENT Bv

POLAND: PAST AND PRESENT. BY
Stefan Karski. New York: @. p.
Putnam's Sons.
For various reasons the history OF
Poland has been tragic. The chief
reason ~. perhaps. her geographical
location, which makes her a natural
bridge between the Baltic and the
Black Sea. She has always been an
! object Of envy to other nations, and
I the end is not yet. Now the Polish
| Corridor constitutes an unpleasant
ness In the eyes Of Germans and
especially Of the older generation, who
have been used to thinking OF Poland
as Of q subject race" Stefan Karski
tells the sad story OF Poland from
its beginning in a patriarchal agri-
/ cultural system TO its precariouSly bal
| anced present. Its first historical
ruler was MieszkO /. who managed
TO save his country from early Ger
manic conquest. Following his rule,
F., Poland had alterations Of heroic
growth and humiliating eclipse. Un-
| til the end OF the seventeenth century
/ she managed to remain an inde-
pendent state; then there was rapid
decline owing to the aggressions Of
larger powers.
BY the generally considered infa-
nous partitions Of l772, 1893 and
| 1875, Poland was divided among Prus-
sia, Russia and Austria. During the
World War Poland was 0yerrun by
German and Austrian troops and suf-
fered from depredations. but at the
treaty OF Versailles her independence
was recognized and later her boun-
daries were fixed, not to the salts
faction of Germany and Russia.
Stefan Karski naturally writes OF Po-
land with entire sympathy for her
hardshipS and entire hope that her
independence and her territories will
be maintained, through world sup
| port, in the future; but his book Is
not a work Of propaganda. 1t Is full
of interesting material not only on
| the history but also on the govern
ment, politics. religion, education. lit
| erature, arts, sciences, agriculture.
| transportation, mining. manufactures,
| trade, finances, social legislation. ma
| tional and racial minorities Of Poland.
1t is a we'll written handbook on the
country, with its statements sup
ported throughout by abundant
| figures.
KEGS AND KLEINTJE BY Marian
King Illustrated by Elizabeth
Enright Chicago: Albert Whit
man g. Co.
Holland Is just emerging from Its
hard Winter and the meadows are
showing bare, though there is still
skating ON patches of ice left In the
canals, when Miss Kings story Of the
Dutch boy Kees and his pet duck
Kleintje starts OF with all the color
and action which delight children
Both are we'll sustained to . spirited
ending, when Kees and Kleintje
proudly win q cup at the annual May
flower show. As Kees has won the
silver skates at the icebOat carnival
the year before. he would be very
much pufied up except that he has
been we'll trained by old-fashioned
/ Dutch parents and, moreover, would
be ashamed TO boast before his friend
! Old Bret, the miller. owner Of the
iceboat Kleintje In addition to
the ice carnival and the flower show
there are other wonderful events in
the life Of Kees and Kleintje-for
Kleirtje is his inseparable companion
and another such intelligent duck
never existed.
They visit the famous Alkmaal
cheese market. where Old Bret sell.
cheeses. and make q trip to the shoe
makers. in order to buy a new pair OF
klompen for KEGS; Kleintje doesn't
| really need shoes, the shoemaker de-
cides. Into the story also come the
| father and mother of Kees and his
friend Hilda and her mother, Vrouv
Peters. The parents take the best OF
care Of their children and feed them
we'll. but what they both and
/ Kleintje-like best Of all is supper ir
/ Old Bret's kitchen. where they have
freshly baked bread. hot chocolate
little lower-shaped cookies and hopjes
| Dutch candies. The bright and
clever illustrations by Elizabeth En-
right, in black. red, blue. yellow and
green. give staccato movement to the
story. and the makeup Of the book is
most attractive, with its red and blue
margins and its p-decorated end
papers. 'Kees and Kleintje" is q
sequel to KEGS" published in 1880.
, Both books are Junior Literary Guild
selections. Miss King is Washing
/ tonian.
TRAINS. BY Robert Selph Henry.
indianapolis: The BObbs- Merrill
Co.
Just as father often plays all Of
| Christmas day with the train bronght
to his small son by Santa Claus, so
he is likely to read this book. perhaps
| even without the excuse of reading 1t
aloud to the boy. Some years ago a
Georgia school principal asked Mr..
Henry to talk to his boys about trains.
| From his talk to the boys has de-
veloped this book. Mr.. Henry knows
something about the subject. as he Is
railroad Official. He is also the
author of The Story of the Con-
| federacy" His account Of railroads
in the United States is very little
political or financial but great deal
/ mechanical and commercial. How
! were engines and cars made at the
beginning and how are they made
now? What have railroads done for
the country? Where did they start
and how did they make their way
across the plains and the Rockies to
the Pacific? Who we're the men who
designed the first engines and all the
engines, cars, safety devices, and
track routes since? What are the
duties of an engineer? These and
many other questions are answered.
An inviting picture map illustrating
century Of railroads covers the end
papers, where we see trains with
funny antique engines steaming past
Indian wigwams, over the first Mis-
issippi River bridge, across the
Rockies, through the great American
desert. There are. also pictures of
the pony express, covered wagon
caravan, and a stage coach. The
illustrations, which are numerous. in
clude all types of trains in our his
! tory, scenes along many railroad
systems, the interiors of train coaches
and Pullmans, the 'insides" OF an
lu,I .iac