Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-05-01
Book Fired
By Germany
A N. Y. Play
Nathan the Wise Asks
Religious Freedom
By BENJAMIN DE CAssEREs

WCit hitO thC AhS OfN ~ 49,
greatest pleas for religious toler-
ance ever made.
That was a poetic tale in play
form, Nathan the WISE" writ
ten and published in Germany
in 1779 by Gotthold Leasing.
Frederick the Great was the
ruler of Germany. Frederick,
an eccentric. was very broad
when il came to the uses Of the
pen and tongue except when it
touched on politics, in that he
was a brutal despot-the Hitler
of his day, in fact. the first of
Germany's modern Hitlers.
II is all the more astonishing
that Frederick let Nathan the
Wise, ride. seeing that the two
best" characters are Moslem,
the famous Sultan Saladin. the
enemy Of Christianity, and a
Jew. Nathan.
Nathan the Wise" was played
on Broadway recently by a COM
petent company. / strolled in
to see il in an indifferent frame
of mind, but il held me breath
less for two hours.
There is beautiful love-story
in the play, but what made il
noble, distinctive and different
from anything I've ever seen on
the Broadway stage was the
stupendous theological battle for
tolerance waged by Jew of
Jerusalem during the third cru
SADIE against a German Knight
Templar and the mighty Saladin.
Nathan at last triumphs over
both of them. In the end, Jew,
Christian and Moslem COM
pletely understand one another
under the concept of tolerance
and the one universal God.
Utopian I grant you. but up
lifting. And a breath of gram
deur on the Broadway stage.
which is now somewhere be-
tween clever hokum and filth.
THE greatest story of the sea
Il is not a war story at all, il
is the most mysterious, the most
imaginatively grueso m e and
goose-fleshy tale ever told.
1t is so incredible a story that
It inspired Conan Doyle to try
TO solve il in one of his most
extraordinary tales in The Cap
tain Of the Polestar."
II is the story Of the Mary
Celeste. now told again with all
the guesses laid on the table
about the solution Of the riddle
in Mystery Ship" by George S.
Bryan Lippincott).
The Mary Celeste, an Amer
lean brigantine Of Marion. Mass,
commanded by Benjamin Briggs.
was found in 1872 abandoned of
the coast Of Portugal. The New
York Journal of Commerce of
March Ia. 1873, tells us:
The ship, rs on the day when
she sailed. had canvas set, and
only needed a man at the wheel
to have sailed smoothly into
port. Mrs. Briggs sewing was
found "a she laid IL down, per
haps ut the moment OF leaving.
precisely rs II would appear In
any well-regulated home II the
mistress had stepped out for .
moment to the door and been
Unexpectedly shut out.
Nothing was missed from the
captains stores but q quadrant.
His personal effects otherwise
remaining intact. In the forecas-
tie the order was stiil more
remarkable.
The chests of the crew con-
tanned abundant provision Of
clothing, some OF II entirely new
and none OF II disturbed TO sig
nalize any preparation for exit.
a sword was found that seemed
to exhibit traces Of blood.
Tho cargo was alcohol In
barrels. and one barrel appeared
to have been tempered with"
OF the captain. his wife the
crew and passengers nothing
was ever heard Of again, al
though for years many impostors
turned up in all parts Of the
world claiming to be survivors
Of the Mary Celeste.
Was IL an octopus. pirates or
mass suicide7 None of these
theories holds water for a
moment.
The Mary Celeste sailed the
seas afterward. Nothing further
ever happened TO her. Here in
this book are all the evidence"
and all the yarns about this
amazing mystery, which has
about il the aura OF the super
natural, together with Conan
Doyle's ingenious explanation"
as astounding a story as the
mystery of the Mary Celeste
itself.
Mystery Ship" is the greatest
thrill story ever written. And
il was not written by a man
but by-whom or what?
WENDELL L. WILLKIE when
w asked by the reporter Of a
magazine IL he saw any signs OF
the New Deal trying to put
over a social and economic revo-
luton while national attention
is directed 10 the war" replied:
eyes, such an attempt Is still
going on TO q certain extent
He said, further, that this