Evening star., 1935-12-18
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
CRADLE OF THE STORMS. BY Ber-
nard r. Hubbard, s. j. New York:
Dodd, Mead & Co.
Margaret CermOnd.


a distinct longing in his breast for a
little quiet rest. A trip by airplane into
the crater of an erupting volcano was not
exactly an experience calculated to soothe
the nerves of a weary man and, besides,
he did not altogether relish being called
such an undignified name as Pop" by a
daredevil aviator But such things as
dignity and WEAKNESS are too trifling to
occupy the mind of the true adventurer
when the opportunity for new explora-
tions offers undreamed-of rewards, SO he
gathered his equipment and of they
hoped for flight into the very lid Of
hell" and to many other conquests in a
journey that covered six hundred miles
of the volcanic arm spreading from the
tip of the Alaskan peninsula into the
Aleutian Islands
The story of this expedition of dis
covery in Alaska is now told by Father
Hubbard, who has long been known as
the Glacier Priest" in fascinating mar
rative OF adventure into that great
Northern cradle which cuddles the winds
and the elements until they gain Sufh-
cient strength to hurl themselves in fury
from their icy bed. Starting by ship from
Seattle, the party sailed to the tip OF
the Alaskan peninsula and from there
the journey continued by airplane, by
dog team, on foot and in small boats
through region that embraces the most
strange and mysterious handiworkS Of
nature in the whole of creation.
1t is said of the scientist priest that he
considers the writing of book the most
trying and the post exaSperating of
tasks; that cnly little less grueling is
the routine of daily and double lecturing
throughout the Winter, and that the
easiest and most enjoyable of occupations
is pioneering in unknown Alaska. Yet
to read his book is to join his courageous
company Of men and dogs and muSh
through vast wastes of snow and ice, fly
with him into the twenty -five-mile crater
Of boiling, smoking Aniakchak scale the
precipitous Aghileen Pinnacles, wander
among the skeleton trees in the weird
Ghost Forest, join in the thrill of con-
quest of Mount Katmai, range the Valley
of Ten Thousand Smokes battle the
storms that sweep down from the ice
bound top of the world. and gather in
Vulnerable other thrilling and awe-in-
spring experiences in Alaska'S treasure
land of geologic miracles and paradoxes.
Perhaps the most dramatic experience
and one never before recorded in the
history Of scientific exploration-related
by Father Hubbard is that of witnessing
the actual birth of icebergs.
During the eight years of his scientific
researches and explorations in unknown
Alaska this intrepid deliver into the
secrets of nature has faced danger and
death many times, yet neither he nor
his courageous associates have ever suf-
fered serious accident, nor have they
ever surrendered to encouragement when
defeated in an immediate undertaking
Hazardous undertakings are a part Of
the days work, but Father Hubbard does
not court danger for the dare or the thrill
of it. He is a scientist seeking facts for
the enlargement Of human knowledge,
and there is no vanity in the colorful
adventurer's recording of his discoveries.
1t is interesting to note that he is again
attempting the conquest of Taku Ice
Cap. with it's seven n-hundred-and-fif
mile expanse of peaks and crevaSSes, an
undertaking which requires the negotiat-
ing OF the rapids of river which no
man has yet conquered.
Illustrations in Cradle Of the Storms"
include scores of photographs and inside
cover maps showing the territory from
which the material that has gone into
this book was collected. 1t is the sort
Of book that people who want to know
things like to possess.
4 x 4
THE VIRGIN OF SKALHOLT. BY
Gudmundur Kamban. Boston: Lit
tie, Brown & Co.
Iceland in the seventeenth century is
the background of this unusual story of
feud between Bishop Brynjolfur and
his daughter over the age-old question
of family honor and the love of q maid
for the man of her own and not her
fathers choice. Religion in Scandinavia
in 1860 was stepped no less than were
all other profesSedly Christian countries
in the practice of crueltieS against Offend
erS who defied the incredibly wicked
codes and laws of the church that had
been written through the centuries when
barbariSm reigned and fouriShed in the
name Of holiness and righteousness. In
Skalholt the church was the law, and
the Bishop was the church. and this
typical bishop of his day and age had
no mercy even for his own if they dis
obeyed his will or became the subjects
Of public criticism.
Ragnheithur Brynjolfur, daughter of
the self-righteous Bishop, fell in love with
Dathi HalldorSson, handsome and IA
vored young man in her fathers service.
but not considered by that worthy church,
man as husband for his beautiful, in
telligent and obedient daughter. Before
he knew that Ragnheithur loved him
Dathi had become involved with a vii
lage maid and had paid the penalty and
been forgiven by the Bishop. Soon after
ward the goSSipS of Skalholt were busy
linking the names Of the wayWard young
man and the Bishops daughter and in
accordance with the custom of the day,
reports OF the tongue-mongering were
made to the head of the church. 1t being
also the custom of those dark days in
the history of Christianity to hale the
victims of such gossip before the altar
and force them to swear to their guilt or
innocence, Ragnheithur was compelled
by her father to take the oath in the
presence of the assembled community.
The accumulated evidence of the ages
would make vast library of knowledge
concerning the inherent right of intel
ligent human beings to resent implied
or acknowledged diStruSt of honor, yet
most of the world has yet to learn that
offended innocence is as deadly weapon
as Self-righteouSneSS in a duel between
the offended and the offender. Having
lived and loved in honor and been
doubted and Inundated by her father,
Ragnheithur determines to seek her own
happiness in defiance of opposition, and
through her belief in the right to love