Evening star., 1938-05-29

| OF INC special pleaQeIS. IL 0A8, IN Sos
dition, q more human quality because
1t is built around o tender and moving
love story.
Ellen Martin, the heroine, was the
daughter Of the president Of the Clark
cotton mills, the city's leading citizen
and the moulder Of the fate OF thou
sands Of workers. She was a tradi-
tionally brought-up young woman, not
insensitive to the world around her,
but viewing it through the eyes of her
father. He practiced a pious form of
paternalism toward his workers, paid
them So or SO week and reaped enor-
nous dividends for himself and for his
stockholders. Ellen's reawakening be-
gan when she fell In love with Buford
Battle, o fiery young editor.
Even before their marriage clouds
appeared when they were unable to
agree when Buford espoused the cause
Of the mill workers and their right
to join labor unions. Ellen was .
warm-hearted, friendly person, but
she had streaks Of stubbornness and
one Of them was failure to see through
any eyes except her fathers. But
she and Buford were married and
differences which they thought were
minor grew in importance. Their
love was q fine, wholesome one. and
Mrs. Ethridge shows it clearly and
with brilliant touches Of intimacy,
but 1t came all too near a crash
because Ellen could not even question
the fierce loyalty she had built up
to system Of society that every
sign around her showed should be
questioned. 1t took great tragedy
in the life Of q close friend to open
her eyes.
OF course the industrial conflict
Is the real protagonist of Mingled
Yarn" but the picture is brought to
life by vivid, realistic sketches of
persons whose lives are affected. The
Poseys, farm-poor whites who have
drifted to the mill village, are pitted
against the Country Club set and
each is finely etched. And there is
a sprightly, amusing picture OF the
vapid mother of the heroine.
To these human elements must be
added the story Of the times as woven
into the background Of Mingled
Yarns" Union labor marches down
on the city and there is strife and
bloodshed in all the community, as
we'll as the bitterness in the Martin
household. The Ku Klux Klan rides;
a crack-pot order called the Black
Shirts arises; the mill people are
bewildered but docile as strikes null
tiply; the owners muddle through.
Mrs. Ethridge does not pretend to
find the one, complete solution to the
vast problems she describes. Her
heroine does find an answer-an
answer for herself. and the reader
will feel 1t is the reasonable and just
one.
Mingled Yarn" is q rich, full and
completely satisfying novel;. T.
WHAT ABOUT THE A1RSH1P? BY
Comdr. c. E. Rosendahl, U. S. N.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons
THROUGH the gloomy night in
which the world airship expo
nents are struggling, the faith in the
dirigible expressed by men like DR..
Hugo Eckener and Comdr. Rosendahl,
this country's greatest airship captain
and authority. shines like a beacon.
While the Federal Government
vacillates weakly in its dealings with
the airship problem, Comdr. Rosen-
dahl, out of his rich experience in the
handling Of airships, in this challeng-
ing book voices an answering, un.
shaken faith in the lighter -than-air
craft for commercial and military
purposes.
His defense of the airship against
any and all criticisms which have been
raised might be characterized as pas
sionate" but for the facts that his
logic is so clear, his arguments so well
reasoned and his data 50 astonish-
ingly complete 1t is magnificent de-
fense which Comdr. Rosendahl makes
and one which should be read by all
who have to do with determining the
fate OF the airship, not least among
them Secretary Of the Interior Ickes.
Although established naval policy
and the recommendations Of congress
sional and independent Federal COM
missions call for thorough trial of the
airship to establish Its value or lack
Of value for commercial and military
purposes, it Is obvious, as Comdr.
Rosendahl points out clearly. that
such fair trial has not been given.
Although the United States, by reason
of its virtual world monopoly Of the
supply of helium gas, has what
amounts to a mandate to carry de.
velopment of the airship to its logical
conclusion, Comdr. Rosendahl reasons,
it has not done so. It Is a challenge
which the American Government and
people must face.
In the face of its problem, the
United States Government has exhib-
tied what appears to be nothing better
than a frightened indecision, and Its
vacillation in dealing with DR.. Eckener
and the German airship situation is
painful.
More than a year ago United States
officials. apparently acting upon the
ASSu1lpGlOll LllhJ VIC dAOAAP SVAAA
have no military value, promised DR..
Eckener, or led him to believe that q
promise had been given, that he would
be given helium for his new CONNER
cial airship, now just completed. When
the Hindenburg was destroyed by
burning Of her hydrogen lifting gas the
Germans ruled out any but helium-in-
flated airships in the future. Relying
upon the American promise, given or
implied, the Germans designed and
built their new airship for helium.
Yet, when the airshjp was completed,
as the world has been informed
through news columns, the German
bid for helium was rejected, Secretary
1ckes accepting responsibility for de-
nying the grant, on the ground that
helium might be employed for military
purposes-an apparent direct reversal
Of oticial opinion within . year. The
great German airship lies in her con-
struction dock, doomed unless the