Evening star., 1936-07-18
By Mary Carter Roberts.


L astronomer, explorer, mission
builder. ranchman, cattle king, cartog-
rapher, historian, defender OF the
frontier" and one of the earliest Jesuit
missionaries to the Pacific Coast of
North America. 1t is very lively
tale.
Father Kino took up his duties in
America in 1884 He had petitioned
his order to send him to China and
he longed greatly to go to that coun-
try, but when he and another f&her
were given choice-one to China and
one to Mexico-they drew lots to
settle the question and Kino got the
slip of paper that sent him to the
New World He was disappointed, but
obedient He accepted the gamble
and for Is years labored to convert
the heather and build up the Spanish
authority along the Sonora Arizona
California border. He was still at
his labors when death overlook him.
The present book is a monument
of research. Its author has comhed
all possible sources for documents re-
lating to Kino's life, observing that
the history of the JesuitS on the
Pacific Coast has been curiously neg
lected as compared to that OF the
French priests of the order who
worked along the Great Lakes and
down the Mississippi Valley and had
for their historian the brilliant Park
man. He has been successful in un-
earthing authentic materials which
throw light in an amazing manner
on the details of missionary existence
the menu served on the ship which
carried the fathers to America, the
equipment which a priest or soldier
needed on starting on an expedition
to save souls Or conquer SavageS, the
furnishings of the churches, the very
human rivalrieS of the various fathers,
the negotiations with the savages-
indeed, the book is almost day-by-
day diary of Kino's struggles. Yet
says the author. 80 each page of
mine calls for full-length volume" +"
So monumental a work might easily
be dull, but, the present book is the
reverse of that. 1t is simply and un-
pretentiously written. but the story
quality of the material has plainly
taken hold of the authors mind, and
he has kept moving narrative going
along briskly. Kino, he says, was "a
born individualist" and "happiest on
the border" Such men always make
good stories. In their occasional mar
ratives is justification for the stuff
ness of the worlds history shelves.
DR.. Bolton, however, has not dealt
only with the picturesque. His work
would seem to be valuable contribu-
ton to American history.
THE GLORY ROAD. BY Clement
Wood. New York: The Poets
Press.
THIS is the poets life, told for the
most part in poetry, ostensibly
covering the chief events which have
taken place between the days of his
earliest memories and the present,
but with its real emphasis on his con-
cept of poets place in any world
and the poets peculiar manner Of in
terpreting life'S phenomena. But
these are pale words and THE Glory
Road" is not pale book. 1t is, one
the chief fault one has to find with
it is that it flames sometimes, as it
were, professionally This makes 1t
occasionally irritating, but still it
contains some fine stuff and is GER
tainly we'll worth having.
There is room for such book, GER
tainly. A poets eye turned on the
~ YJ&f hi
findings in a manner that makes
them shouts. A poet in an imperious
mood. kneeling to no prince patron,
but yelling rather from the house
tops, yelling the old wisdom of beauty
against the equally old folly Of gold.
Yes, there is room for it. More than
the carefully authenticated docu-
ments of whole regiments Of sociolo-
gists, such work makes plain our
troubles and our trend.
Readers of Mr. Woods past work
will find familiar passages in the
present volume. for he has used old
verses in it. They are put into his
text without comment, In what he
calls the "prose-set stanZa," form
which he has used throughout this
work. 1t is simply poetry printed as
prose, reversal of the style to which
we have been overgenerously treated
in recent years-that is, prose printed
as poetry. His reason for using the
prose-set form has a familiar sound.
He says:
Poetry has fallen into disrepute,
has become deservedly sighted epi-
sode for parlor, intelligentsia and aca-
demic recluses, precisely because it
has been so long presented artificially
and Silly. The effect of the change
which I have introduced into this
book will 60 far toward restoring it
to it's rightful place-as mans most
concentrated emotional utterance,
which all men are entitled to share"
More important than his introduc-
ton of any new form, however, would
seem to be MIR. Woods contribution
to a prose-or worse than prose
civilization of his loud insistence on
the validity of the poetic nterpreta-
ton of nfe-not as mere artistic
mode, but as the constant attitude.
For the sake of this claim he can be
thCuSCu 1Oi LIS SOAICSAlIco 4N62 CbeoStS
1oudness and for his lapseS into jul
venility. His book hardly seems likely
to bring about the renaissance that
he foresees, for it is not an age which
can produce renaissance-certainly
not for another decade, perhaps not
for much longer-but it Is voice
sounding in a wilderness Of statistics,
and that is something. Youngsters
now in junior high school may in time
recognize it as the forerunner. At
present, however, it seems likely to be
Just another book-oh, yes?--just an
other book.
THE MASTER OF THE May
FLOWER, by Henry Justin Smith.
Chicago: Willett, Clark & Co.
fT%rJTc hiooro y,l,v hos haen vritten