Evening star., 1938-10-16
SCIENTIST TELLS LIFE STORY
Man Who Joined Agriculture Department 1889 Recounts World
Wide Adventures -Hemngway's First FULL length Play
Misses Mark and Stories Vary in Quality

| She uses In this book a sort Of
stream OF consciousness method. She
seems at times q little precious and
generally there Is an amateur quality
about her work; the expression which
she gives to her own personality and
that Of Col. Lindbergh is, however,
highly valuable. The flying team which
they make has made aviation history
through q definite period. and, too,
has been infinitely more talked about
than talking. A personal record of
one Of their flights has therefore
unique importance.
Col. Lindbergh has written q sig
nificant foreword to the book, in which
he calls the readers attention to the
fact that such flying Is that described
by Mrs. Lindberghs record Is now q
thing Of the past. It belongs, he says,
to = period N aviation which Is now
gone. but which was probably more in
teresting than any the future will
bring. As time passes the perfection
Of machinery tends to insulate man
from contact with the elements in
which he lives. The 'stratosphere'
planes OF the future will cross the ocean
without any sense Of the water below.
Like a train tunneling through a
mountain. they will be aloof from both
the problems and the beauty of the
earth's surface. Only the vibration
from the engines will impress the
senses of the traveller with his move
ment through the air. Wind and heat
and moonlight take-offs will be of no
concern to the trans-A Atlantic pas
senger. His only contact with these
elements will lie in accounts such as
this book contains"
A melancholy prophecy-but who
would know, II Col. Lindbergh did not?
THE CAPTAINS CHAIR BY Robert
Flaherty. New York: Charles Scrib-
ner's Sons.
The author of this book is the man
who created the films "Nanook of the
North" "Moana.' White Shadows in
the South Seas" "Tabu." Men of
Aran" and "Toomi" He has written
here romance about A young ex-
plorer in Canadas sub-Arctic. 1t
centers about the young mans effort
to meet one Capt. Grant, who has
ship which bears supplies to the Es-
kimo trading posts around the north
Of Hudson Bay. This quest. however,
is only an authors makeshift; the
interest OF the story Is in the ex-
plorers adventures, his conversations
with old hunters and trappers, his
nights spent on the ice and his narrow
escapes from starvation and drowning.
Finally, to be sure, he does meet his
captain, only to find on the captains
boat a situation Of divided command
and much disturbance.
The book Is a disconnected thing,
its merit being in its separate episodes.
The effort at suspense at the end is
weak, and the finale is improbable
But there is good adventure reading
before one comes to that point. Mr..
Flaherty has spent long periods in the
region Of which he writes, and his
accounts are marked with romantic
sort Of authenticity. The book is q
queer thing, but entirely readable.
LOST APRIL. BY Sydney Thompson.
New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co.
This Is love story. simple and ro-
mantle, and such thing as one almost
never encounters in these realistic
Freudian days. 1t tells Of pair of
young actors who are touring the coun-
try with n-storming Shake
spearean company. playing-yes-
Romeo and Juliet" They love one
another greatly. but differ as to mar
riage: the girl believes that their
careers will be ruined unless each pur-
sues ambition unfettered. Then an ac-
cident occurs and she is blinded and
hopelessly crippled.
The boy goes on to become Americas
great Hamlet. Still he loves the little
sweetheart of his youth. There is
denouement in which he meets her
again, after IS years. Her advice saves
him at a critical point in his career
/! He pulls himself together and goes
on, retaining, we understand, q men,
ory ofsa lost April.
1t Is fair achievement, not sick
ishly sentimental, but delicate and
young. A minor sort of thing, that is,
but good for its intention.
FOX IN THE CLOAK. BY Harry Lee.
New York: The Macmillan Co.
A first novel openly labeled "the
portrait Of an artist As young man"
is suspect book. but this one turns
out to be rewarding in entirely unex-
pected ways.
1t Is different because the artist is
genuinely appealing and real per-
son whose dilemma might easily be
that of any thing young man
whether he wanted to paint canvases
or houses. Therein lies the strength
of this book-the hero knows that he
wants to paint. and he Is simple, hon.
ct and realistic about it, scorning the
shallow pretentiousness Of his contem-
poraries who are merely "arty." It Is
refreshing to come upon an artist who
is a normal human being. one who is
not stepped in mysticism and vague
prattle.
The heros background is no less
realistic. 1t Is present-day Atlanta,
but 1t might be anv American city
anywhere. Mr.. Lee Keeps his long
narrative focused directly upon his
protagonist, Neil Glass, but there
are other characters Of importance
Chief among them is Neil's mother,
Jenny. She is entirely sympathetic as
he struggles to become an artist in a
world made for go-getting business
men, and she is sacrincial, but the
author places no undue stress upon 1t.
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