Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-08-18
WORLD FLIGHT WITH Indy
Anne Lndberehs Delightful New Book Takes the Reade,
OverFar-Fune Skyways With tn. Colonel-Herrmann
Deutsch Visits Mexico-Other New Novels.

energies from her book a stuffed and
mechanical buffoon, shrewd, to be
sure, but within the narrowest limits.
One cannot but wor. der why those
women were content merely with an
endlessly repeated routine of display.
For their brilliant society, unlike other
brilliant societies which have come
and gone, seemed to have neither
taste for wit, nor concern for the arts,
nor care for education, nor sense of
class responsibility. Its purpose seems
to have been spending. Its manners
emerge as rudeness, its standards as
an ignorant aping of Europe.
Yet the men Of that generation
were among the most forceful that
America has produced. They were
the great buccaneers of our financial
history. They had vision to see vast
possibilities and the INSCRIPTIONS
energy to seize what they wanted.
What accounts for the gap between
the spirit which accumulated the for
tunes and that which spent 1t?
One hates to summon up once more
the battered scapegoat of Victorian
standards, but one feels that the an
swer is in it. just the same. The
gilded age was one of the dedication
Of the good" woman. All that was
required Of any woman then was OBJ
servance Of the conventions. Beyond
that she might be stupid, unedu-
Gated, dishonest, selfish and cruel, but
she was not called to account for 1t.
All that was asked of her was that
she be conventional and female.
Automatically. that made her sacred.
That was enough.
1t makes an unpleasant picture
the conjuring up, through the pages Of
this book. of the spectacle of men
whose names are synonyms for force
and vision, amassing such private
wealth as the world has not often
seen. while their wives created a So
ciety which crowned King Lehr."
1t has passed now. Perhaps the
page had better be turned down. As
has been said, Mrs. Lehr's history
holds an interest for sociologists One
cannot but think that, had the
standards of the gilded age included
place for sense OF class RESPONSE
olllty, the state of the country today
might be very different. 1t makes an
interesting speculation, anyway.
UPHEAVAL IN MEXICO.
THE WEDGE. BY Hermann B.
Deutsch. New York: Frederick A.
Stokes Co.
THIS novel purports to be an ac-
count Of the gradual growth of
the revolutionary spirit in Mexico. For,
according to its author. that spirit
was not a sudden flaming out, but a
fire of the slow. creeping sort. de.
pendent not upon any leader or lead
erS, but upon the awakening of the
peoples minds to what revolution
promised them and an acceptance of
the responsibilities of independence.
1t is discursively told, through the
lie story OF a boy-a child at the
time of Madero, II when he first
rode as banner boy with a detach-
ment OF Villas followers. in his teens
when he carried revolutionary dis
patches and was taken into the studio
OF Arroyo, the great mural painter"
TO develop his artistic talent, and still
a youth when he is executed as a
spy by the government of Carranza.
The authors purpose plainly is to
give broad picture of Mexican So
ciety throughout the period, and the
readers interest will be in this aspect
OF the book rather than in any one
character. Notwithstanding, the bow
as well as the other figures of the
story. are all excellentIy human and
one reads without any sense of a
mechanical symbolism. The dialogues
OF the soldiers, the discussions of the
rural gentlemen, the fairy tales of the
OLD shepherd are wholly realistic;
1t Is, on the whole, a superior niece
OF novel writing One may feel that
perhaps the authors account of the
revolution is a trif1e roseat; one NAV
consider that the execution of the
nero at the end is theatrically out of
key with the rest of the book. and
not necessarily indicated. But one
must enjoy the story anyway. A sort
OF leisurely, noisy, sunny spirit in
forms the pages, even when they are
occupied with recounting horrors, so
that, one feels, if Mr.. Deutsch wanted
frst OF all to catch the spirit of his
land and people. he has Accomplished
MS purpose. For the rest, he has
written a highly readable hook