Evening star., 1938-03-13

Delta. One boat capsized. De Long
and his group reached the delta only
to starve to death. The third group
was saved by friendly natives.
Through the leader of this third
group. George Wallace Melville, Comdr
Edward Ellsberg, using the same tech
nique that he found SO effective in
"On the Bottom" tells of this almost
forgotten voyage. Dug by three years
extensive research from dusty records,
the story is an authentic, in fact the
only authentic, account of the expe-
dition. Our only disappointment is
that Comdr. Ellsberg did not write
on and tell something about the after
maths of which he hints so darkly
in the preface.-R. H. S.
MEN ARE NOT STARS. BY C. A.
Millspaugh New York: Double
day Doran.
HERE is poignant character study
OF man who took 25 years to
realize that he was not the genius
he felt himself to be. Daniel O'Rior-
dan possessed all the attributes Of
genius. the unbounded belief in his
own capabilities and his own destir3!,
the utter devotion to his own course,
the unlimited faith in his own vision,
complete singleness of purpose, every
thing but the talent without which
the others are impedimenta. For
many years, indeed until his children
reached the age Of question, his genius
went undoubted in his family Their
growing up was the ultimate cause Of
a personal tragedy and a great awak-
ening.
The story is told sensitively and
with charm. The Bohemia of Chi
cago is sketched in and made to live
without seeming too arty or Green
wich Villagey. The mode of life of
the O'Riordan family is portrayed as
a great adventure as seen through
the eyes of one of the children. It
Is only when the child realizes the
social and financial CULTS which stretch
between his family and that of his
schoolmates and some of the more
successful artists that awakening
begins.
This book is above the average in
story interest and clarity of expression
and character delineation. R. r.. r.
APES, MEN AND MORoNs. BY
Earnest A. Hooton. New York:
G. P. Putnam's Sons.
THE sharp and learned tongue Of
the Harvard sage of anthropology
clacks loudly and tells man as a large
group where he will probably get of
If he doesn't watch his evolutionary
P's and Q's. Prof. Hooton, with all
the dispassionate cool of an ancient
bone deducer, lays out the bald cause
and effect Of mans present state since
the time the first little tarsier skipped
out of his primeval arbor and started
literally to look ahead.
As is perhaps necessary. even though
not precisely practical in the strict
sense of practical" there are large
passages given over to bone-flinging
in the book, in which the significance
of this bone furrow or that flattened
cuspid crown is propounded with con-
else detail. This history must be ac-
cepted for backgrounds sake il one
cannot become enthralled over the his
tory itself. Naturally. 1t has direct
bearing (however scientifically in
definite) with the homo sapiens in
sipiens now walking about on suffer-
ing tarsals. The present physical and
mental condition of humanity, which,
according to Prof. Hooton, is in foul
shape, not to mince words, and trend
ing definitely substrata, undergoes
devastating defamation.
And with his applied logic no one
can gainsay much of his verbal dis
section. Merely regard your ill-ar-
ranged or ill-conditioned dental layout.
your ill-used or neglected frame for
the reverse application of the sur
vival OF the fittest" adage as effected
by medical science and destructive
politicians. You will probably find
yourself being thankful that YOU
won't be here in, say, 1888 AID.
Anyway, the author is hopeful that
man will put the skids on his eyolu-
tionary retrograde and find the right"
track, wherever that may lie.
The issue is up to man and as an
initial searching step Apes, Men and
Morons." from this corner, is firm
ground with easily traversible ter
rain. Is
BEST SELLERS IN WASHING