Evening star., 1938-06-05

been strong enough to beat him.
Further. says Mr.. Roberts, Sir Henri
is now engaged in seeing that Amer
ica's oil reserves are drained, while
those In foreign countries are con-
served; whereby. he adds, Sir Henri
has the approval OF Great Britain's 8
ruling clique. These are only q few
Of the sensational claims Of the book,
which Is, incidentally, quite good
reading.
ROOM TO SWING A CAT. BY 1t.
Frederick j. Bell, u. 8. N. New
York: Longmans, Green g. Co.
REING some tales OF the old Navy,
Room to Swing a Cat" is worthy
Of two commentator It is informa-
tive, though far from ponderously so.
Events and personalities, some familiar
and few not, are related in the man
ner Of an apt story teller. The assort-
ment Of forecastle yarns and pinnacle
gossip is choicely typical, and 1t. Bells
book is not without the salty humor
that most people enjoy.
Some Of the most important sea
Of our infant though ef-
fectively ferocious war fleets, of the
fight for independence, suppression OF
Barbary pirates and the 1912 edition
Of British outrages are reconstructed
with emotional touches Among the
greats" herein denoted are stern,
eficient Commodore Preble. daring
Stephen Decatur, tenacious Capt
Samuel Chester Reid, outsmartins
and outshooting the enemy at vir-
tually every turn. John Paul Jones
on the Bonhomme Richard reduces
the Scraps to hame and matchwood; /;
the Constitution amashes the Guer-
riere and Capt. Isaac Hull wins q
bet; the Philadelphia Is heroically
burned in Tripoh Harbor. These are
only q handful. To circumstances sur
the origin Of various immor-
tai words of our country. as I'VE have
not yet begun to fight," Don't give
up the ship" the author lends a
rosy tint, and between lines We per-
ceive eyes moist and throat lurnpy
with fervor.
Not all Is devoted to fighting, either.
1t. Bell outlines with clarity the con-
structive layout Of the period frig-
ates, how they were operated, the
lives the sailors led at ease and at
seige, their superstitions and blue
water ballads. There are chapters Of
fiogging In the feet and other forms
of punishment and on the mania for
duelhng among naval men ut the
time. In short, Room to Swing =
Cat" Is . thorough sea-goins book
for lovers OF salt spray and bell
bottom trousers. j. 8.
PAsTEUR, KNIGHT OF THE LAB
ORATORY. Francis Z. Benz.
EvERY now and then college boys,
school children. and the like vote
on ''the greatest man who ever lived" )"
Almost invariably q majority Of the
votes 60 to = 10th century French
chemist, Louis Pasteur.
He won no wars. He overthrew no
empires. He started no new religion.
His hands never were stained with the
blood of a fellow creature. Neverthe-
less we have the strange phenomenon
that q gentleman who never com
mitted q single murder should rank
higher in the estimation Of the younger
generation than the most competent
mass rnurderers the world has known.
It is almost mexplicable.
All Louis Pasteur did was to dem
onstrate that diseases which killed
folks were often due to microscopic
organisms, known Of long before his
day. He also pointed out ways in
which they might be overcome, once
their ways Of life were understood. As
\ result Of this work millions Of peo-
pie have lived longer. with more salts
faction from life, less pain and heart
break. He saved more years Of living,
the only true wealth Of the human
race, than Napoleon, Caesar, Hannibal.
Alexander the Great, Field Marshal
Ludendorh and John Dillinger COM
bined have managed to destroy.
Somehow or other good many chill
dren, with their naive, childish view
points, seem to think this constitutes
! great man.
There are still far fewer biogra phies
Of Pasteur than of Napoleon. Mr..
Benz has produced q dramatic, fast
very readable narrative Of 4
life that was worth billion lives
T. n. H.
ON THE MARCH. BY Ed
ward Levinson. New York: Har-
per G Bros.
IF it were possible for any one to
: have read and heard nothing about
The labor movement In the United
States since March 1. 1888, this book
llone would bring him up to date.
It Is a popularly written, readable
story of lAbor,s progress to its pres
mt position, the strongest In It's his
;ory. It begins with I historical sur
eey, short sketches Of the many lead
RS and launches into 4 fuIl.bodied
account Of the late N. r. A. and the
'eyerish organizing and bargaining
which began under that experiment.
Then follows the story of the drA-
matte split between the organized
'orces Of the country--the formation
II the Committee for Industrial Or
and its rise in two years
% position of dominance ia the
ield. The stories OF countless strikes
ire told; strikes in steel, rubber, MARI
lime activities. electricity. automobiles
md many others. That double -Adged
WORD, the "sit-down," comes in for
! large amount Of space.
The author Is labor editor Of the
Sew York Post and although this
,ook Is essentially q reporting Job it
. perfectly clear that his sympAthies
" sntirsly with the g. !. o. which