Evening star., 1939-01-08
History of American Labor Weighs Influences Behind Pese
First Union Born at Turn
OF Eighteenth Century
Logan Pearsall Smiths New Volume
Is Book.Of.the. Month Alternate

to Oxford, then to Paris in pursuit
Of perfection in culture. During that
half century of absence from the
land of his birth he has written
sparingly, ever seeking the perfect
word, the perfect paragraph, the
perfect book. Now he has put the
whole story Of his search In one
slight volume, THE Unforgotten
Years." the alternate choice Of the
Book-of -the-Month Club for jan
uary.
The book ends with an apologize
for expatriatism and faint darnna-
ton on American boorishness, vul-
garity, noise and literary shortcom-
ings. IF lovers of perfection can
not be found" he says after grant,
ing that such lovers certainly are
not to be had in his patria, "I prefer
those (but they, too, are a rapidly
decreasing number) who have the
power Of sitting down morning after
morning to piece of scholarly work,
done for the love of 1t and with no
thought of immediate remunera-
ton"
If Mr.. Smiths ardent distaste for
all America displeases us, we can en-
joy his brief introductions to us of
host,of the literary great whom he
has known during his more than 10
years of life. Smith came of Quaker
stock and grew up in Philadelphia,
where, impelled by an evangelistic
mother and father, who at the same
time was a great success In the bot
tie manufacturing business, he for
a while was an infant evangelist
who would distribute religious tracts
in Philadelphia horse cars" A
Philadelphian whom the Smiths be-
friended was Walt Whitman, who
regarded Smiths sister as his
bright, particular star" This same
sister, according to her own story,
once boosted the great English
critic, Edmund Gosse, through the
window of Whitman's house when
they could not unlock the door nor
arouse the busy poet to let them in.
Smith tells us of William James
brutishness on the streetcar, and of
Henry James admonition that he
who writes must be prepared for
loneliness. How disappointed was
Smith when he found his hero,
Matthew Arnold, the scotcher of
Philistinism, boasting to some la
dies in Germany of his reception at
the Saxon court. Smith sat for
Whistler in Paris, doubling as the
Comte de Montesquieu, who could
not bear to sit so often as Whistler
demanded of his subjects. Robert
Bridges and George Santayana, the
shy Edith Wharton-there is
notable parade through these ex-
quisitely written memoirs by the
man who sought relief at Oxford
from the materiaism of the United
States, only to be schooled at Balliol,
where the chief ideal was that of
getting on in the world. BIB.
HISTORY OF RADIO TO 1926.
BY Gleason L. Archer. New York:
The American Historical Society,
Inc.
With five years of radio lecturing
on the history of broadcasting be-
hind him, Mr. Archer decided to
form written treatise on his sub
ject and on the history of radio
in general. The hitherto unpub-
hshed facts which he unearthed
during the course of his investiga-
tons for the lectures constitute
an important part of his book.
What Mr.. Archer has done, as
matter of fact, is to align the con-
siderably scattered historical de-
velopments of the influential force
that is radio and present them in
a step-by-ste chain of progressive
events.
Normally dry. or at least in
comprehensive, hence uninviting,
subject to the average man who
enjoys its pleasures and benefits
every day, radio here undergoes
treatment that puts it in its most
palatable state. Narrative style
history of anything seems naturally
to awaken more interest in the
reader who is other than the re-
searcher. Mr.. Archer has COM
piled his data into cohesive whole;
presented it without too much in
cumbering detail and complicated
explanations.
The great pioneers whose names
now rest in Dame History's favorite
inches alternately stumble, blunder
and discover their small contribu-
tions toward the consummation of
radio transmission in this book.
They include Franklin with his
Kite in storm cloud, Morse suffer-
ing the ridicule of an unimaginative,
scof1lng Congress, Marconi, Fessen-
den, Alexanderson. Leading men
and firms of the present age are
especially prominent with their
share in the constant and rapid
improvement of broadcasting and
its allied arts. Sarnof, Owen
Young, Westinghouse, r. C. A. and
the mushroom growth of radio
stations since 1920 are of major
concern in this treatise.
d. Mr.. Archer's book is an indis-
pensable addition to the chronicles
OF progress of America and the
world. is
THE YOUNG IN HEART. I. A. R.
Wyhe. New York: Triangle
Books.
A very improbable plot, a very
unlikely family, real story book
ending complete with sugar-coated
moral, make one of I. A. r. Wiley's
very readable and charming young
novels. Why look for characteriza-
ton that typifies humanity? Why
look for plots that present or solve
civilizations problems? The news
WASHINGTON'S BEST SELL