Evening star., 1935-07-17
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
AN EASTERN ODYSSEY. BY Georges
To Eaura BOSTON. title RrouJY1
Margaret GermOnd.

| The unparalleled achievement of a
modern Marco Polo who Travelled seven
| thousand miles across Asia at the head
| of caravan of motor vehicles is now
recorded in a volume dedicated to the
memory of Georges Haardt, who
| died only few days after his goal had
been reached. In two previous expedi-
tionS undertaken by Haardt and Louis
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT the possibilities of
motor vehicles as a means of eXplora-
ton were amply demonstrated. Out of
the success of these journeys was born
the inspiration for the third and, unfor-
tunately, the last under the leadership
of M. Haardt.
1t will be remembered that the first
expedition in 1922, consisting of five
track cars and ten explorers, journeyed
from Touggourt to Timbuctoo, blazing
the trail between the African colonies
and opening the way for improved COM
munication between Algeria and West
Africa. The second expedition, which
has become known as the BLACK Jour-
ney," crossed Central Africa and resulted
in the Inauguration of all varieties of
rapid communication across the Dark
Continent. Much scientific material was
gathered and pictorial records made, but
ucllIlSI VI GIlcSc dQVcIlLuItS OH WHEELS
into unexplored regions had been
| planned on SO comprehensive a scale as
experience dictated for the third
! The possibility of crossing Asia with
track cars offered a tremendous oppor-
tunity to reGscover traces of the trail
followed in the seventh century by
Hiuan-TSang and in the thirteenth CEN
tury by Marco Polo, to enlarge the world
| OF science, art, economics, and perhaps
also to aid in bringing more closely
together the masses of humanity Sepa-
rated through the ages by the deserts
and other hitherto unsurmountable OBJ
StacleS of nature.
More than three years of preparation
| went into the task of making ready for
the journey across Asia The building
| of specially constructed tractor cars and
trailerS, negotiations with foreign gov
ernments for permission to pass through
countries in which strange visitors are
not warmly welcomed, stocking with sup
plies and equipment, selecting leaders for
the various scientific and other types of
! researches to be made, changing routes
and plans as some countries granted the
request for passage and then withdrew
their approval, and the~tremendous task
OF organizing the whole required months
| OF patient labor.
When the expedition finally set out
in the Spring of 1881 every contingency
had been provided for and every position
competently filled, including cooks me-
chanics physicians and the historian,
whose work is now presented in book
form.
Day by day the chronicler recorded the
adventures and the progress of the jour-
ney. simultaneously the two sections of
the expedition began the hazardous trek,
one from Beirut and the other from
Peking, both headed for Central Asia
Radio made possible fairly satisfactory
means of communication.
Lectures and motion pictures have al
ready given to a limited public a part
of the dramatic story of the ten months
! journey through Syria, Persia, Turkestan,
Afghanistan and over the Pamir Range
into China, and from Urumchi, where
| the two groups met on to Peking to-
gether. But only in this written history
of the journey over the roof of the world
| can the full import of that superb ad-
| venture be truly appreciated.
1t is tale OF thrilling triumphS, bitter
| hardShips and courageous determination
to conquer the unknown wilderness of
the oldest continent in the world. Some
| of the hoped-for results are even now
in the making
The chronicle has been translated and
adapted by Maj Gen. Sir E. D. Swim
ton, K. B. E., c. B., D. S. o., and it
contains also a preface by Andre Cit
roen, who made possible all three of the
Haardt- -Audouin -Dubreuil expeditions,
and an introduction by Louis Audouin-
! Dubreuil partner and friend of the hero
! of the epic adventures. 1t contains many
illustrations from photographs, and its
inside covers are decorated with maps
defining the routes of the two divisions.
ALBERT AND THE BE1GIANS. BY
Charles dYdewalle. New York: VIII
liam Morrow e. Co.
A newspaper man writes his memories
Of the King who held the love of all
the civilized peoples of the earth. The
book does not pretend to be a history
or biography of Albert, King of the
Belgians, but merely presents the man
as journalist and an intimate friend of
the family knew him. His first acquaint-
ance with the King was when the royal
family visited his uncle, the Baron van
Caloen, shortly before the close of the
Great War. AT that time he was but
youth and played with Alberts children,
later becoming a frequent visitor at the
palace and ON one occasion accompany
ing the King on an expedition to Africa.
These "reminiscences are therefore the
genuine impressions of friend and ad-
mirer of the King in his many activities
unrelated to the business of being a
ruler as well as in some of the graver
responsibilities which fell so heavily
upon his shoulders. As scientist, natu-
raliSt, aviator, sportsman and as King,
Albert is presented in word sketches that
bring back to memory the well-known
and highly esteemed ability, gallantry
and human understanding that won the
sympathy and love of mankind.
Research into the feverish ectivitieS
of war days has yielded some material
that is here published for the first time,
including a most interesting chapter on
the events leading up to the Kings visit
to Germany in 1918 and the secret meet
! ing with Kaiser Wilhelm that proved to
| be the motive camoufiaged behind
| courteous invitation to review the regi-
| ment of Luneberg Dragons, Of which
Baron Beyens, Minister from Belgium,
was the honorary colonel.
The book necessarily deals largely with
the activities of postwar days, when the
valiant little nation that suffered most
in the nightmare of 1914-1918 was strug
Cling through the painful period of re-
L