davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1948-02-29
Public Library
By Groce Quimby

Readers Adviser in Economics, Central
Public Library, WASHINGTON Public Library.
"For ilk yeare knowne as lepe
yeare, ilk mayden ladye of bottle
highe and lowe estait shall hae lih-
erte to bespoke ye man she likes,
albeit he refuses to talk her to be his
lawful wyfe, he shall be mulcted in
We sum ane pundis. :" Thus saith
Scottish law of 1888 Cor so It's saido !.
Our own modern maybe instituted
Sadie Hawkins day to corral the
modest male. Calendar quirks
cause queer customs. There is the
international date-line where you
may have two or three Fridays in
one week-or none at all. February
20 itself causes havoc with BIRTH
days. Rossini at 70 celebrated his
18th. Most of mans ways are odd
when not your own. How odd
you will see if you dabble in A. H.
Verrill's Strange Customs, Manners
and Beliefs; Lillian Eichler's THE
Customs of Mankind" and Encyclo-
pedist Wilfred Funk's 80 You Think
It's New" which merrily exposes the
sources of modern" fashions.
Evening star., 1948-02-29

The Farley story Is an entertain
ing and significant contribution to
contemporary political history.
The author, who hardly needs
identification, was one of the top
men in the New Deal hierarchy in
the '30s, when, as chairman of the
Democratic National Committed, he
built the machine which started
Franklin D. Roosevelt toward the
precedent smashing third and
fourth term occupancy of the White
House, and also served in the cab
met as Postmaster General From
this dual vantage point, Mr.. Far
ley had an unusual opportunity to
watch the 31st President of the
United States in action until their
historic split over the third term.
His observations on later events
are equally as authoritative.
The Farley account of these years
is more of study of President
Roosevelt than of the changes in
government he wrought. AS pre-
viously published excerpts from the
book have shown, the recital adds
no luster to the memory of the
former President, who often is por-
trayed as a mercurial individual
whose word could not be accepted
at face value and whose loyalty
to old friends was questionable.
How far Mr.. Farley's frustrated
desire to be President or Vice Pres
ident Influenced this appraisal will
be judged by the individual reader
He says, Il have tried to tell the
story as honestly as I know how"
The temper of the chronicles is
hardly softened by the concession
that perhaps no President since
Jackson did more for the COM
mon people or showed greater ad-
ministrative courage" than did Mr..
Roosevelt in launching the reforms
of his. early administration.
"He won himself place in his
tory" by those bold strokes, the
author says, and perhaps his
greatest mistake was in remaining
too long in office"
Evening star., 1948-02-29
If the Government Has You Stumped,
Putmon's S Book May Set You Straight

ton of armed services and the full
employment act have so deeply af-
fected the structure of the Govern
ment.
The other day between the morn
ing session of the House and an
autographing party at a downtown
department store, he revealed that
he Is also the author of book
called "The Robinson-Patman Bill
('the Golden Rule in Business)
and has revised whenever neces-
sary the annual report on veterans
benefits. He is himself a vete,an
of World War I.
The answers to a thousand and
one questions about the working
of Government which the ranking
member of the House Committee
on Banking and Currency has pre-
pared cover the history and opera
ton of the democratic system in
it's three branches. Mr.. Patman has
been member of Congress for 20
years.
"Our American Government" was
launched with a flourish on pub
lication day, February 20, when
Representative Hill, Republican, of
Colorado, a fellow member of the
Small Business Committee, took to
the floor and read rave review.
Representative Patman confidently
expects warm welcome from Texas
book buyers, group so loyal that
some gratifled Texas authors have
suspected booksellers of giving away
a horse with every book. Already
copies have gone out to every school
library in his district. Representa-
tive Patman had to ride miles to
high school when he was a boy. A
great reader of nonfiction, the Con-
gresham is particularly fond of the
works of Benjamin Franklin, whom
he resembles somewhat.
M. Meg.
Evening star., 1948-02-29
In Early Baltimore
THE FOUNTAIN INN DIARY
,Ira,r,c

THE FOUNTAIN INN DIARY
BY Matthew Page Andrews.
(Richdrd r. Smith,: $500
Baltimore's Southern Hotel dates
back to 1773, when George Wash
ington knew 1t as the Fountain Inn.
It served the wants of the dignitaries
of the Revolutionary period, includ-
ing those in transit between the
South and the new capital, Phila-
delphia. A Gentry later it was re-
named the Carrollton Hotel, and
stood until wiped out by the great
fire" of Baltimore. The present
Southern Hotel has stood on the
same site since 1915. C. G. B.
Evening star., 1948-02-29
Crime n and Mystery
By Miriam Gutenberg

60 to find out what new apartment
houses were under construction IN
Washington at certain period
She's done a neat job of plotting
too, with a well-scrambled set OF
motives.
Sudden Fear, by Edna Sherry
Dodd, Mead & Co.; $2.50)
What would you do if the play
back of dictaphone record revealed
a plot to murder you? Take the
evidence to the nearest police sta
ton? Maybe you would, but not
Playwright Myra Hudson. How
could she ever face her friends ano
enemies again if it became public
knowledge that her too-young hus-
band and the beautiful girl she had
befriended wanted her dead?
With the imagined II told you
SOS" of her friends ringing in her
brain, Myra develops the most i'm
portant plot of her career-a plot
to save her own life while taking
the personal revenge demanded by
her arrogant pride.
Don't let the casually amusing in
PRODUCTION mislead you. This due
with death is grim fare-and a way
above average thriller.
An Author Bites the Dust, by Ar
thur w. Upheld. Doubleday & Co.
So
Napoleon Bonaparte (no relation)
gets assigned to investigate the sud-
den death of an esoteric author
named Blake two months after thai
bibuIous worthy has met his Maker
Part of his assignment Is simply TX
find out if murder has been done
A missing bottle of whisky, the pc
culiar filling of ping-pong bal
and an unexplained puddle OF ralr
in the presumably closed deatf
room all incline the Australian de-
tectiye to suspect that Blake didn',
die of old age or overindulgence
But Bonaparte is convinced tina,
the answer to his problem lies II
the conflict between two schools OF
Australian writer's. The literary
life down under Is given a Thorough
going over in this leisurely pursuit
of crime.
Evening star., 1948-02-29
Exciting Novel
'OfLne in Early.
American Days
STRONGHOLD
By Donald Barr Chidsey. fDou-
bleddy;; So

STRONGHOLD
By Donald Barr Chidsey. fDou-
bleday; So
Reviewed by
NINA PEMBERTON.
stronghold" is novel set in the
early 18th century, about the
days of the Jefferson Embargo Act;
the days when the British fleet
lurked everywhere, impressing un-
fortunates from all countries and
races into service; the days when
Stonington, Conn, and the folk who
lived at the Point were even more
Yankee than they are today.
John and Habakkuk are apprentice
boys who have been given a home
by the kindly Judge Watts. Each
of these two is in turn lured out
to sea, and each has different
story to tell. John comes back from
Martinique bringing the dazzling
Metisse Susanne as his bride. Ston-
ington is shaken, but condones the
situation when this inf1del Catholic,
who wears cross around her neck,
goes to church and sits primly
through the long and lugubrious
sermons of Mr.. Smith. Mr.. Smith
has the. grace not to mention
painted women!
Hab gets both the best and the
worst out of life. He is impressed
into the British Navy and serves on
H. M. S. Pactolus. Mr.. Chidsey
has given a graphic and lurid de-
scription of conditions below decks
in his majesty's ships. Tough is
the word Sadism and hatred seem
to be pitted in a battle against rigid
discipline and empire building. Es-
cape and marriage to Judge Watts
daughter are the rewards awaiting
Habakkuk Jones, and so ends the
personal angle.
Stronghold is an exciting and
earthly novel by the author of
Panama Passage"
Evening star., 1948-02-29
The Russian Scene
RUSSIA AND THE RUSSIANS
BY Edward Crankshaw. Viking
Press; $3.)
reviewed Dy
CRESTON B. MULLINS.

In the flood of books about Russia
few make any pretense of objectivity
devoting themselves primarily either
to highly inflammatory warnings
about what Russia has in store fol-
the world, or to more or less overt
apology for and defense of Russia
her way of life and her conduct.
This book is neither, and strives
toward that objectivity which one
could have only if he sat on the
moon and looked at the world
through a high-power telescope.
The author - English journalist,
historian and novelist-has sought
to explain Russia and the Russians
in terms of their geography and re-
sultant political history, coupling
this with the admonition either to
learn to live with Russia or run the
risk of our own destruction in trying
to destroy her.
Evening star., 1948-02-29

The pride of Texas, never spindly,
got another boost this week with
publication of "Our American Gov
ernment," by Representative Pat
man of the 1st congressional district
of the Lone Star State. The book
lust went to prove that besides be-
ing bigger, and better than inhabi-
tants of other less fortunate regions,
Texans are also more curious.
"Our American Government" all
came about because Representa-
tive Patman's inquisitive constitu-
ents are forever writing him letters
asking him how about this or that
piece of legislation and how does
he stand on this or that bill. Never
one to brush off a fellow Texan
Representative Patman not only
posts a personal letter in reply but
for the past Is years has also sent a
weekly newsletter to all the papers
in his district answering typical
questions of the week and explain
ing what goes on in Washington
Those questions and answers form
the basis of his book.
Knows His Government.
Authorship is an old story to Rep
resentative Patman. In 1910, he
prepared 1873 questions and answers
about the Government which were
printed in the Congressional Rec
ord, later published by the Govern
ment Printing Office as a document
under the title "Our American Gov
ernment." Since then he has re-
vised the QUESTIONABLE six times
The various editions have sold over
million copies. He's just changed
publishers this year. ziff-Davis is
bringing out the present issue OF
"Our American Government" which
Representative Patman thinks is
particularly relevent because the
legislative reorganization, unifica-
Evening star., 1948-02-29
New Chapters
From the Life
OF Mark Twain
MARK TWAIN AND HAWAII
BY Walter Francis Frear. LAKE.
side Press $10J
RcVlGHeQ ny
FLETCHER F. ISBELL.

Reviewed by
FLETCHER F. ISBELL.
Mark Twain was on his Hawaii
trip, counting voyage time, for a
little over five months in 1866. In
time it was a small part of his life
but in Importance large, for 1t was
the turning point of his career. Be-
hind him lay the 80 years rough
school Of his early experiences;
ahead lay the phenomenal Is years
as writer, lecturer and personality.
Former Gov. Frear of Hawaii,
who lived only a few weeks after
publication of what is plainly labor
of love, provides for the first time
complete history of Twain's visit
to the islands. AS well written as
| it is, the general reader will find
his best fare in the texts of Is letters
that Twain sent the Sacramento
Union, heretofore never collated into
book form. They are genuine Twain;
not his best, of course, but showing
well that transition period when the
hot elemental humor of the frontier
was being tempered into the warm
humanness of his American classics.
For the scholar the book is an in
dispensable adjunct to the Albert
Bigelow Paine biography. 1t is an
almost day-to-day account, objec-
tive, exhaustive, completely docu-
mented. There is a tremendous
photography of source material.
But accumulated data should prove
or indicate something to be of great
est value; and it is difficult here to
discern the conclusion to be drawn,
unless it be the undeniable one that
Mark sometimes bent the truth a
little out of plumb. But that has
been pretty well established pre-
viously; indeed, there is an expert
witness. Huckleberry Finn must
have been closer to the author of
Tom Sawyer" than Gov. Frear.
Huck, you recall, said in his auto
biography: THAT book was made
by Mr.. Mark Twain, and he told
the truth, mainly. There was things
which he stretched, but mainly he
told the truth. That is nothing. I
never seen anybody but lied, one
time or another"
Evening star., 1948-02-29

sembIy, and the revolution was
launched, Mirabeau became presi-
dent of the assembly shortly before
he died at AZ, at the zenith OF his
power, in 1891. He did not live to
see the republic established. He
was spared the excess of the ter
ror. At the time OF his fatal illness
the King and Queen were besieged
by riotous Parisians, and Mirabeau
foresaw the probability OF a repub-
lie.
Mirabeau was nonetheless an in
teIectual spearhead of the revolu-
tion-a man who harnessed the
distractions of Voltaire, Rousseau
and others-because he was a mid
dle-of-the-road revolutionist, a
moderate. He had spent some time
in England and he felt that con-
stitutional monarchy was what
France needed. He feared, prophet
ically, something like the modern
police state, pointing to the danger
of a formidable dictatorship" ex-
ercised in the name of the people.
If Mirabeau had lived he might
well have gone to the guillotine
along with his more radical col
leagues, RobeSpierre and Danton.
AS it was, when search at Yer
sailles disclosed the Kings hidden
papers and it was learned that Mira
beau had tried to help Louis and
Marie Antoinette remain In linn
tied power, Mirabeau's body was
exhumed from a place of honor in
the Pantheon and dumped in desc
Grafton in a corner OF a cemetery.
Mirabeau allowed Marie An
toinette to pay his debts. But Nine.
Vallentin feels, as most historians
do, that he would not have under
taken to protect the royal couple If
he had not felt it was best for
France at the moment. Yet Mira
beau, as the book makes clear, was a
strange mixture of courage and
compromise, of principle and ex-
pediency. The author feels that his
autocratic father, the Marquis de
Mirabeau, who detested his son
from the first and caused him to be
imprisoned and exiled more than
once, warped Gabriel's whole nature.
No Broadway columnist could have
found more family skeletons than
Nine. Vallentin has uncloseted.
Mirabeau's numerous amours are
set forth in the detail left to pos
terity by q man who wrote letters
recklessly. But all this helps to
explain a man who has a place in
history. The author has avoided
footnotes, which often makes read
ing biography a maddening task,
but she has stuck closely to docu-
mentary sources, sublimating them
into q story as romantic and alb
sorbing as fiction. The translation
by E. w. Dickes could hardly be i'm
i
Evening star., 1948-02-29
THE PREVALENCE OF
WITCHES

BY Aubrey Menen. (Scribner's,'
$2.75J
Here is a feast of fancy that
should please the most particular
literary connoisseur.
Limbo is a mythical-well, not
too mythical-territory in India,
shut off from the rest of the land,
inhabited by primitive tribe.
There are no railroads, telegraphs,
telephones or electric lights. But
there are British civil service Off
cials who come at least once year,
receive the headmen from the VII
lagos, dispense the empires largess
and unfurl the union jack as a
matter of form. The narrator is
the new education officer, who has
come to teach the children to read
and write-an accomplishment
which they and their parents do
not in the least want or need.
This is the sly, sardonic tale OF
the LimbodianS, who, with their
witches and demons, their complete
isolation, seem to do quite as well as
their highly cultivated brothers
around the world. BY being civil
lied, remarks the governor OF Limbo,
called Cattalus because of his re-
semblance to the Roman poet, we
mean that there is certain list
of things about which We permit
q man to have an opinion different
from ours. Usually they are things
which we have ceased to care about:
for instances, the worship Of God.
But in the important things, we
say that no sane and respect
able man can ever think differently
from ourselves, and if he does we
Jail him, or fog him, or hang him. y
When Catallus and the education
officer are confronted with mur-
der, they feel sorry for the accused
headman. He has simply killed a
man in line of duty, Kidding his
village of a demon. But they have
10 bring in a Judge. When the two
officials conspire to save the pris-
oner, bringing in a fake swami to
help them, things really begin to
happen.
This is a wholly delightful fam
tasy. There are not many entirely
successful satirical novels. This is
one.
FOUR STEPS TO THE WALL
BY Jon Edgar Webb. dial
y Press; So
A new writer has turned out a
remarkably perceptive, realistic
novel about a prison. The charac-
ters are persuasive. There is not
only the brutality of sadistic guards,
but the decency of others. The chi
canery of prison life-the whole at
mosphere of petty bribery and in
trigue that surrounds men behind
walls as they jockey for little favors
lis given a new emphasis.
The description of a parole board
IN action must be considered at
least partly satirical. No such board
could be quite as casual, irrelevant
and Intellectual as this group.
Evening star., 1948-02-29

QOnalQ q o Z 5
m o r e t h a n
merely recount
Henry Wallace's
ups and downs
since he first en-
tered the ma
tional spotlight
as one of the
e ar1y disciples
of the New Deal.
He asks a series
of gu e S tt o n S
about his sub
ject and then
quotes literally
from the utter
annor Of Mr.
Evening star., 1948-02-29
Mussey Tent to Meet

The Ellen Spencer Mussey Tent
No. /, Daughters of Union Veterans
of the Civil War, will meet at 8
pm. tomorrow in the groups head
quarters. 2015 Massachusetts, ave-
nue. NV. Miss Alice Lippold will
preside.
Evening star., 1948-02-29
TwofoId Justice
THE SHORT TERM
By Arthur Baker. (DueU, Sloa7
& Pearce,; $2.75J
Reviewed by
S. C.. RAINEY.

There are two types of justice, one
for innocent and one for guilty men
Art Green believed in the f1rst
kind, in his instructive way, ano
Just as instinctively refused to hire
a lawyer to defend him.
Now, both World Blaise, whose
ponderous 300-pound body contained
a brilliant mind, and Judge Goode.
knew that Art Green hadn't killed
his wife. But it was for the Winoka
County Court, in summer short
term, to say so,
The second type of justice, Blaise
would have said, was deserved by
the egomaniacal prosecutor, Terry
Olson.
"The Short Term" furnishes a
brilliant picture of variety of men.
It's insight is incisive, its viewpoint
is rude but highly realistic, and It's
narrative is highly readable.
Evening star., 1948-02-29
HANDBOOK OF OUTBOARD
INCORPORATING
BY Porter Henry and Bill Allard
(McGraw-Hill;; $780,

(MctITuU-HzLI, $3.oU.I
Outboard runabouts, those little
"fiivvers" of yachting, are enjoying
a new and large popularity, due ir
a great part to growing desire o1
people to get af1oat even in the face
of high prices. The authors have
rounded up and presented in highly
readable style just about everything
an "outboarder" needs to know te
enjoy his boat. M. L. Jr.
Evening star., 1948-02-29
Books in Brief
HE WALL OF DUST

by Hallam Tennyson. (The
Viking Press; $500
A collection of six short stories by
a great-grandson of the poet illus
trate the authors unusual ability tt
understand, not only the plight, but
the feelings of other nationalities
and races. He tells of one mans
desert feud with the Arabs, of an
Italo-American soldiers return tc
his birthplace in Italy, and of a
case of appendicitis in the slums OF
Cairo. Perhaps most remarkable
among them is his study of Pales-
tine, written in the first person as
if he were European Jew, describ-
ing, as he wanders, his growing fear
of Zionism. In addition to his feats
of projection, Tennyson is an excel
lent craftsman. H. K.
HYPNOTISM COMES OF AGE
BY Bernard Wolfe and Raymond
|Rosenthal. (BobbS Merrill Co.,
So
Discarded as impractical for psy-
chiatric work by Sigmund Freud at
the precise time it's centuries-old
cloud of mysticism was being dis
PEELED by medical science, hypo-
tism once again has emerged as an
effective therapeutic technique. The
authors trace the history OF hyp-
MOTTO phenomena from frances
Induced by primitive witch-doctors
to the present-day successful mar
riage of hypo- and psycho-analysis
| F de L.
Evening star., 1948-02-29
Two Austro|ion Authors Write Novels
OF Contrasting Wealth and SquoIor
TIJCINDA CRAWFORD
BY Martin Boyd. (E. P. Dutton; s3)
Reviewed by MARY McGRORY.

the Victorian tradition Lucinda Brayod
social history Its heroine Is beautiful
anspanted England and social commentary provided
beautyloving astocat and prophet OF
describes the English nobility as eaves on fallen
Together they the burden of this long substantial gently
of family
Evening star., 1948-02-29
Henry Wallace
Is Taken Apart
HENRY WALLACE, THE MAN
AND THE MYTH
BY Dwight Macdonald. (The
Vanguard Press, Inc; $2.50J
Reviewed by
TGGVI6WCU Uy
NINA PEMBERTON.
Reviewed by
J. A. O'LEARY.

The author has not pulled his
punches in this concise but thor
ough analysis of the third-party
candidate for President. Mr.. Mac
Evening star., 1948-02-29

II am convinced that a large
share of the worlds ills today, and
in this have the support of many
leading statesmen, may be traced to
the fact that he was a very i'll
man in the final year of the war, y
is his summatioH D..
Evening star., 1948-02-29
Absorbing Biography Of Mirobeou
UncIosets a Few Family Skeletons
MIRABEAU: A MAN OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
BY Antonia Vallentn. Viking; $5J
Reviewed by CARTER BROOKE JONES

by CARTER BROOKE JONES.
safe predict that this book will rank as an outstanding
biography easily could be the best the Will bring
valentn only presents the results OF colossal research
summarized them In fascinating
despite cpy written never waVes
into verbosity dulness
being understatement
authors approach always judicial often
critical the French Revolution
under when Gabriel de Mrabeau was far more than one OF
personfed its spirit There that June
ordered the Third Estate representing the
General dperse until they
bodies mobiles Most
clergy coageou joined Third Estate but the nobe
with two deectons held their ranks.
The powerful voice Mirabau rose from the hall to say TO ne
that have down in history Go and tell
those you the will of the people and that
except by force of bayones"
explains, authority
speak Assembly, what said incarnated the will OF
Evening star., 1948-02-29

Wallace himself, and from various
publications, in search of answers
AS the publishers suggest on the
cover, the answers will not please
Henry Wallace's admirers. $50.
Evening star., 1948-02-29
THgger-ToIes
From Out West
JOHNNY CHRISTMAS
By Forester Blake. William
Morro1D & Co., $3.)
Reviewed by
STANLEY BAITZ.

STANLEY BAITZ.
Johnny Christmas was a hard
ridin', gun-totin' youngster who
matured in hard school-the
trigger-happy West of the middle
10Th century. A strange young man
seething with conflicting inner COM
pulsions, compassionate and ruth
less at the same time, he deserted
a desperate band in Texas and
roved north and west to the Great
Plains, to the remote Rockies and
even as far as Ell Pueblo del los
Angeles. He killed men without
qualm and succored others.
This is an exciting book and it
is smoothly written, even though
the author has a tendency to over
lyricize skies and scenery, And
there is gore a-plenty:s Approx.
matelyya gun-hattle or, a. sscalpina
per, chapter. ... lin 7..e.-..-,
Evening star., 1948-02-29
Roosevelfs Illness Created Problems
OF World Today, Jim Farley Says

JIM FARLEY'S STORY-THE ROOSEVELT YEARS
BY James A. Farley (McGra1D-HiH Book Co., Inc $3.50.
Reviewed by JOSEPH A. FOX