Evening star., 1937-09-08
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
BY MARGARET GERHOND.


and destruction; actuated by nothing
higher than a gluttonous appetite for
food
Yet I have seen wolves that were
dainty as deer in matters of diet. I
have learned of wolves whose master
trait was wisdom.
Il have known OF wolves whose ami
mating force was the spirit of adventure
| have been told of wolves whose strong
est motiva tion was revenge.
i have met many wolf whose over
i wheming motive was the love of its little
ones. have seen wolves whose master
passion was devotion 10 dearly loved
mate. ] have heard of wolves who made
a brotherhood pact, an affectionate al
lance with some wholly different animal
And | have knowledge of one wolf
st least whose chiefest binding urge in
life was loving devotion to his blind and
helpless old mother"
The foregoing obserya tons appes ring
( in head note TO the first story in the
collection of nineteen which are held
between the covers of Great Historic
! Animals" bear witness TO the individual
nature of the four-foot heroes of the
woods and caves whose careers have
been recorded by the author in q series
OF bio9I phical sketches sed upon
traditional tales that are centuries old
In some instances and upon authentic
facts in those incidents occurring in
more recent times. There are perhaps
dozens of famous wolves whose exploits
were as notable and whose lives were as
drama tic as those included in this book
Personality in the animal kingdom how
ever is as variant as it is in the human
race. and Mr.. Thompson Seton has
wisely selected his wolves on the basis
of individuality.
Most notable of these intelligent. cou-
rageouS beasts was Courraud the king
wolf OF France, who in the fifteenth
century was the leader of pack that
held Paris in a state of siege for three
hard Winters. that made King Cha rles
VII refugee behind the castle walls,
that put an army OF thousand men TO
flight and that slew cattle horses and
men in untold numbers.
Then there is the fearsome beast La
Bete of Gevaudan the terror of Southern
France in the eighteenth century. Three
wears Of bloody warfare against man and
cattle was the record of this handsome.
intelligent giant before he fell in defeat
before an army of fifty thoussnd
hunters
Another sketch tells the storv of Rory
Carragh. the famous wolf hunter who.
with the aid of small bov, slew the
Two great beasts of Tyrone who ranged
Northern Ireland from 1850 TO 1853 and
wrote bloody record
In extreme contrast TO the raiding
beasts of earlier history is the storv OF
Marie Trefrsnc. q Six-yea -old girl who
wandered into Hueleoet Forest in 1850
while trying 10 recapture runaw way
lamb. became lost and for two months
lived unharmed among wolves and other
wild creatures until found by prospec-
tors seeking site for charcoal Dit.
The story of the wolf whose binding
urge in life was loving devotion to MS
blind and helpless old mother" is that
OF Shishoka. cub of Wosca. that was cap
rured and held on the Cody ranch as
bait in trap for the mother. adopted bv
Cody and partially tanned, and eventually
freed by its own smartness 10 return TO
the forests and reioin and care for his
aging. blind and partially parslyzed
mother
Returning to absolute wofdom is The
story OF law and order in COLONY near
Jervls Inlet, in which a scholarly young
Kn9ck
OF winning the confidence of wild crea-
tnres unwittingly PLAYED scurvy trick
upon 8 noble wolf and thereby brings
about trial and conviction upon circum-
stanrial evidence and execution for a
crime of which the beast was innocent
The story of Carrots relates 10 the wis
dom Of a red haired dog while at play
with tough mountain kid whose chief
pPto inn
and his canine pal into VsIorous hunts
men, and whose intelligence saved the
life OF the man of the house split second
before ne fell victim to death dealing
jaws Of mighty wolf
An example of the strange alliances
sometimes formed between beasts of diff
ferent species is he story of Rincon, a
police dog on Bell-Cross Ranch in the
Bernardino foothills whose mighty
prowlS caused no particular concern until
he began 10 respond TO the soft. musical
love call of some wild crea ture from the
hills beyond. Springtime revealed the
full Importance of a love story that
still remains in part mystery to those
who yearn TO know more about Rincon's
woodland mate
One more wolf story relates an ex-
perlence OF the author in the Mohave
Desert, where while on the wav to market
a wolf took 10 the road ahead of a motor
car and refused to leave the highway
until when overcome by fatigue the
driver endeaVored 10 drive around him
only 10 afford the animal n evidently
hoped-for opportunity TO leap upon the
running board and 10 ride there in rest
ful contentment until ne reached his
own home grounds
So much for wolf stories The rest
OF the books is deynIed 10 tales OF
other animals, Some of them wild some
of them tame. but all of them as fas-
clnatlng and as enterta ming as those of
the greater beasts which carved note
worthy careers in the history OF mans
struggle for life and for leadership
against the Sayages OF the forests
One strange story is that, reputed 10
be true. of a French soldier on duty in
Africa who experienced the strange ad-
venture of having female leopard fall
IN love with him. Another deals with
the smart strategy of a red squirrel when
pursued by dog nd domestic Quarre
Whlch resulted therefrom. For unusual
variety there is the story of valiant rat
In a cage OF rattleSnakes and one rela ting
the experience of the author with a
Cunningham bull. An especially appeal
ing tale is that of "Yank and jeff"
traditional story of dog and huntsman
OF the Kentucky woods. A mother bear.
pair OF muSkratS and the kangaroo rat
OF The MohaVe Desert complete the
stories OF reality. In addition there is a