Evening star., 1935-01-13


others" He had before this heard
the Picuris Indians say that their
relatives, the Tao, lived In that gen.
eral location. So begins the written
history OF Taos. Blanche Grant fol-
lows its further records, involving
those Of the whole section. through
settlement, relations of Indians and
whites, the massacre Of 1760, famous
Taos fairs, trapping, trading and trail
making. the important part played by
Bent's Fort, the Texas-Santa Fe ex-
pedition. Whitman's ride, the revolu-
ton of 1847, the fifties and the Civil
War, mining, forest fires, the artists
and authors colony. and Taos today.
The Press of The Pioneers is doing q
public service in the presentation OF
popularity written and well document
ed works about our early history.
Though the authors of such works
niust describe hardships and suffer-
ings OF a kind different from those
common today, readers are likely to
enjoy the glamour which accompanied
pioneering and which grows brighter
In retrospect. Detailed histories of
early periods, places, special episodes
and exploits are valuable in the preser-
vation of our very interesting past,
from which has, so rapidly 1t seems,
developed our confused present.
\ y y
WEEK END. BY Phil Stong. New
York: Harcourt, Brace & Co.
TN THE HOUSE OF MIRTH," one
, Of the fiction favorites of a bygone
, age, Edith Wharton realized the
potentialities Of a. house party in
directing "affaires du coeu' and
hence in shaping lives. At Phil
Stong's May weekend party at
the old Bingham place in the
Connecticut hills, recently bought by
Flora Baitsell, are gathered an ill-as-
sorted group Of moderns. in compari-
son with whom Edith Wharton s
guests in THE House of Mirth" seem
rather old-fashioned. But they were
moderns in their day. Ginger Carroll,
dancer in a revue, falls in with Adam
Jones. quiet and very unsuspecting
representative Of a banking firm, on
!, the New London boat, and goes with
him. unlimited, to Flora's farm. The
revue season has not yet opened. her
| finances are low and she has nothing
else to do, so house party will kill
time and perhaps bring her some
profit from the only commodity she
has-herself. On their way from Wa
terbury to Flora'S, in their Cadillac
Karl HUM and his wife Janet quar-
rel and Karl is arrested for speeding
Willis Craig. who likes to think of
himself as a big-game hunter, and
! Jenkin Mallory. Southern gentleman
are two Of the supposedly eligible
| bachelors without whom a house party
would be failure. Bill Taylor. whose
hard surface correctly indicates his
nature. brings in his car Vera Ledder-
ing. who has made up her mind that
1t is time she found a husband
Bounding cheerfully from peak to
| peak of the Connecticut hills. Vera
! and Bill had almost covered the 100
miles to Flora's farm before they had
finished a quart Of brandy" Walter
and Miriam Abbey. serious and intel
| lectual, in love with each other, seem
hardly to belong with the rest Of the
group.
On the way to the farm all the
guests criticize the hostess and wonder
why she has invited them We wonder
too. The activities which 60 by the
name Of entertainment. the talk which
passes for conversation. can be easily
imagined. Also it will surprise no one
that bad automobile accident pro-
vides a climax. Leaving the scene OF
perfectly logical tragedy, Walter and
Miriam provide in their conversation
with each other the comment Of a
| Greek chorus. In Week End" as In
state Fair" and Village Tale" Phil
Stongs style is sharply clever. ironi-
cal. that Of a flippant recorder oi
phases of current life as he sees them
without either approval or criticism
! except perhaps by implication. ''Thi.
is what is done in many places; these
are some of the people who exist to-
day." he seems to say; these are the
facts. whether or not you find them
admirable" Neither great nor espe-
cially original, his book is certainly q
document Of social life Of the 1930s.