Evening star., 1938-12-25
By Mary.Carfer Roberts.

By Mary.Carfer Roberts
WE SAW 1T HAPPEN. BY Thir
teen Correspondents of the Ney
York Times. New York: Simol
e. Schuster.
In this book, 13 of the New Yorl
Times correspondents. whose com
bined beats cover the world, pur
port to tell their readers of "th'
news behind the news that's fit t,
print Their revelations cover tn,
following subjects-Washington b,
Arthur Krock, Central Europe b.
G, E. R. Gedye, American bacl
country by F. Raymond Daniel
Hollywood by Frank Nugent ane
Douglas Churchill, Wall Street by
Elliott V. Bell, England by Ferdinand
Kuhn, the Arctics and the Tropics by
Russell Owen, sports by John Kieran
New York City by William R. Conk.
lin, Japan and the Far East by
Hugh Byas, the stage by Brook:
Atkinson and the Sacco Vanzett
case by Louis Stark. Readers to be
sure should not expect really sensa-
honal disclosures: these are, after
ALL New York Times men! But they
are also practiced Wriiers and in.
capable of writing badly or too auIiy
What they have to tell is interest
ing, if not as profoundly basic as
their subtitle might lead us to eX.
pect.
Washingtonians will naturally fee
the most interest in Mr.. Krock' s
summing up of a correspondents
job in the capital That job, he
says, lies in dealing with persona.
factors, and from this he draws
the conclusion that the course Of
Government itself is largely determ-
ined by personal emotions. The con-
cept of the machinery of power as
a thing which works coldly by Law
or blindly by justice is not his; it is
mems nerves. tempers, states OF
well-being and personal tastes which
determine the course of the country
he says. And he follows up his as
sertion by number of episodes de-
signed to show its truth.
F. Raymond Daniels chapter is
likewise an interesting one. In il
Mr.. Daniel tells of his experiences
among various populations of our
country during the recent era OF
industrial strife and economic un-
easiness. He writes of such an as
sortment of Messiahs as DR.. Town
send, Huey Long, Gerald Smith, Up
ton Sinclair and Father Coughlin
1t is a fantastic narrative.
Russell Owens story is also good
one, as is the Central European
piece and that dealing with Japan
1t is impossible to summarize SO
many widely different articles, but
it can be said of the book as whole
that it comprises accounts of many
of the outstanding events of the last
two decades-trials, sports events
plays, wars, rumors of wars, inter-
national crises and domestic prog
ress. Distinctly it is thing worth
having.
YOUNG LONGFELLOW BY Law
renee Thompson, New York:
The Macmillan Co.
Those of us who have been prone
to think of "Hiawatha's' author as
the great hero of all literary success
stories, had better improve our
knowledge of Longfellow's career by
reading this history of his early life
He did not, as we sometimes ina
CINE, under the thrall of our half
remembered text books, just walk
4nto poetic eminence without q
struggle. He had hard row to hoe
instead; was very unhappy and un-
self-confident in his youth, and
spent much time wondering If he
had done right in selecting a lit
erary career while he earned his liv-
ing at a work which he hated
teaching.
All this is brought out in Mr.
Thompson's biography, which ends
with Longfellow' marriage to Fran
ces Appleton. when he was still not
much more than on the brink of his
success. 1t is told in the main in
excerpts from the poets letters and
from his journal. 1t is not a popu-
larly written life history, but moves
along somewhat duly and has ar
unfortunate effect at times of SEEM
Ing to be forced, when Mr.. Thomp-
son himself takes the stage and de-
scribes his hero's sorrows. However
the information is Interesting and
valuable, and the work does cast
some new light on the career of q
man whom text books have glori-
fed somewhat to his injury. II
makes Longfellow a person, or goes
some distance toward doing so. II
Is too bad that it has so stodgy q
style, for it deserves a wider public
than it seems likely to obtain.
INTIMATE GLIMPsEs OF OLD ST
MARYS. BY George Morgan
Knight. With an introduction
by Harry W. Nice, Governor Of
Maryland. Baltimore: Meyer &
Thalheimer.
This is small volume, but within
its little space is parked an aston.
ishing wealth of lore. The author
apparently has made a house-by.
house canvass of his territory-St
Marys County, Md.-and has
brought out a most interesting col
lection of legends, tales, ghost stor.
les, historical happenings, archi-
tectural notes, accounts of natura
features and still other matter The
reviewer is indeed puzzled to pu;
q definition on the material; it is sc
varigated that it eludes classification
That such an assortment should be
contained within a volume de.
scribed as small may seem surprising
to the reader. The answer is that
Mr.. Knight has limited himself tt
brief chapters and has used an eX.
tremely simple style. The result i:
a book packed full of information
all Of which is interesting, with q
minimum of literary chaff. A visi.
Washington's Best Sellers,
Week Ending December 22, 1898
REBECCA. Du Maurier. Dou-