Evening star., 1936-12-09
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
MARGARET GERMOND,

MARGARET GERMOND.
NIGHT oUTLAsTs THE wHIPPooR.
WILL. BY Sterling North. New York:
The Macmillan Co.
Out Of a small town in Wisconsin
| comes q story which makes those of us
who believed twenty years and less ago
that we were Of sound and reasoning mind
hang our heads in shame as we remem-
| ber the hatreds and passions which min
| gled with and warped our thoughts and
| too often misguided our actions. Most
| Of us have not needed to wait for q good
| novel to give us a true Interpretation of
our behavior during the most critical
period in the history of the world, for
long ago came the rather appalling reali-
zation that at time when it was most
needed we dumped overheard our ballast
cargo Of common sense and permitted
| ourselves to founder for four long years
in q treacherous sea of emotionalism.
Experience is q hard but thorough
| school. Collectively and individually
we were taught many grave lessons about
| the deadly four horsemen and how they
can be forced to ride. We learned also
that no matter where they ride, the ef-
feet of their devastating blight may be
felt in the most remote corners Of the
EARTH And no great piles of marble such
as those which mark the blood -drenched
battlefields of France and Belgium COM
memorate the sacrifices Of those of us
who fought on American soil, in the
mills and factories, on the farms and in
the small towns Rather are ours the
invisible, intangible scars Of memory, re-
minders of the mania which possessed
us, of our incapacity to separate pref
udice from reason, of our unwillingness
to believe that our money, our SYM
pathies and our vast expedittonary
forces were being poured into the bot
tomless pit of a lost cause.
Milestones along the road to knowledge
are these invisible monuments which
mark the slow progression Of normal
thought through the aftermath Of the
hysteria produced by the worlds most
colossal experiment in wanton slaughter.
One recalls our awakening to the fact
that the ultimate benefit of the weekly
day of sacrifice suffered gladly by those
to whom it meant genuine hardship, was
reaped by the profiteers. Another Is
reminder of the shocking realization that
craftsmanship faltered and died before
the onslaught of politicians. Still others
bring to memory the prejudice and
suspicion which we as individuals dl-
rected toward tried and trusted fellow
townsmen and the brutal persecution
which We practiced upon innocent, kindly
neighbors. Memory. in fact, Is crowded
with the objectionable cruelties commit
ted in our American communities as we
were caught in the wave of emotionalism
which swept through the land on stead
| lily mounting tide of patriotism.
We have learned many other things
| about ourselves since the tide subsided
and the solid earth is again under our
| feet, but are we far enough advanced in
our ability to appraise issues at their
true value and to apply these hard
earned lessons of experience if we should
again be faced by similar crisis?
Mr.. North's story may not rank as the
outstanding novel of the age upon this
particular subject, but it is just the type
| of romance that the majority of fiction
readers like and for the good of the race
there cannot be too many of them. For
| it gives us an even better understanding
| of ourselves and OF our limitations as it
| mirrors the bedrock of America in
| 19l7-l8 and is of that much needed sub
stantial character that helps to clarity
! and to mold serious thought.
Brailsford Junction, Wis, is symbolic
| of the thousands of small towns which
are the homes of the American people
| and the small theaters in which their
| Joys and their tragedies are enacted. 1t
| is a community predominantly German
| in population. It's young men Of all
| classes, creeds and races 60 of to war.
| leaving behind them typical group OF
women, the usual assortment Of men
| exempt for one reason or another from
| military service, and a scattering OF in
! determinate individuals who never were
| intended to fit into any community or to
serve constructively in any capacity.
Peter Brailsford is among those who
90 off to France, and it Is around the
figure of his young wife, Early Ann. that
| the story centers. The town characters
are familiar to all of us who are ac-
| uuainted with small communities There
| is Carlton Ellingsworth, the banker and
| hypocrite, and his fashionable wife; the
| kindly and gentle Reverand Schiffelbein,
| pastor of the Lutheran Church: Christie
| pher Ellingsworth, unhappy son of the
| banker and in love with the butchers
| daughter; william Kaiser, the honest,
patriotic butcher; Paul Revere Fox, edi-
tor of the weekly newspaper; Spicky
Springer, the communitys lone police
man; Marie Vandeewalker. lovely lady
with a reputation: Early AIMS young son
| and others of less notable mention who
| are caught in the maelstrom OF hysteria
and emotionalism and flung about by
circumstances which dump them all into
the front line trenches on the home town
| battlefield.
1t is familiar story to most of us. Yet
| the romance and sentiment packed into
this series of episodes in the lives OF good
people and bad, strong characters and
| foolish ones; generous souls and selfish
ones, gives us clear-cut picture OF our
selves and Of the unreasoning passions
which deprived us Of the power to think
clearly, to lend a sympathetic ear or
| to open an understanding heart to those
who disagreed with us or upon whom we
| felt inclined to cast suspicion, whether
they were guilty or innocent.
It is good for us to read stories OF this
nature and outstanding among those
which have come to hand Is this stirring
| and convincing novel by Sterling North.