Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-06-26

True. he, the son Of Londol
} sole heir to the ancestral estate
Every one else had died while he
was away. But when he reached
the town of Fiction and saw F7et-
ton Hall for the first time. his
neurosis was aggravated. His cous-
ms, coming on lean years. had let
the place run down: weeds were
everywhere; the mansion wa
crumbling into ruin. There wa
no money. The weu-meantns
townspeople got on F1etton'a
nerves; 30 did everything. He was
headed for q crackup.
Mr.. Clewes has written . per-
suasive novel around this situa-
ton. Fiction was q sick man. He
cared nothing about his title-in
fact 1t angered him to hear 1t
used-or an estate Of dubious
value. He went to Fiction Hall
because he had nowhere else te-so
and was curious to see what 1t
was like. The house was not hao-
table. and he moved into . room
over the stable garage. He tried
solitary drinking. But that didn't
seem to help. Then he encoun-
tered Ted.
Cesrins the Rubbish.
Ted was II, did odd jobs and
uveA With his widowed mother IN
shack> on Fiction property.
When tfe constable found Ted
with 4 silver flask bearing F1et-
toms initials and hauled the boy
no before the new lord Of the
manor. Fiction ordered Ted's re-
leasee After that Ted was Flet-
tons devoted slave. DiTegardine
Fletton's indifference, the boy
came around every day. helped
clear away rubbish. gathered nre-
wood. and made the place more
livable.
In time Fiction found himself
interested in Ted snd In others
the poor and the troubled OF the
community. When Ted got into
difIiculty over . girl. Fiction set
out to help them both. Gradually
the sick soldier forgot himself. and
thus his regeneration began. THOSE
humble people were doing what
psychiatry perhaps couldn't have
done.
Journey Into Spring" probably
sounds In outline like . pretty
>lugubrious story. Under another
writer it easily could have been.
But Mr.. Clewes has brought out
not only the pathos Of F1etton's
embittered loneliness. but has ex-
posed a rich vein Of humor IN
describing the townspeople. pro-
vincial lot. gossipy. suspicious OF
strangers, cherishing their little
feuds. There are some hilarious
scenes.
At a time when writer's are baf-
fled at the shape Of things. when
so many novels begin and end on
a note of futility. Journey Into
Spring" strikes an Affirmative
chord. It is heartening to read
such a book.
A TREASURY OF BROOKLYN
Edited by Mary Ellen and Mark
Murphy, with Ralph Weed.
William Sloane Associates; 49,
It sometimes may seem q ques-
ton whether Brooklyn Is q place
or q state Of mind.
Things that happen IN Brook
Ign APPARENTLY take on an intensity
out Of proportion to similar events
in the other boroughs of New York
or in other urban communities OF
comparable size. Local patriotism
persists wide the DodgerO and
when Brooklyn pulls q carnival
or a crime. 1t somehow Is spectac-
ular, and Brooklyn's political lead
ers always have gone far. Even
the patois, which is unlike that OF
any other region. persists.
Brooklyn's individual fiavors and
distinctions are brought out alb
sorbingly In this collection OF his
torical and contemporary factual
episodes and literary excerpts.
We learn. for instance, that
Coney Island once. go to 70 years
ago, was q hangout for such gentry
as bank robbers. and that two OF
Charley Ross kidnapers got them
selves killed on the Brooklyn
waterfront. 1t was in Brooklyn
that New York's Mayor William
ODwyer, then district attorney.
cracked Murder. Inc. There are
sketches of such diverse and emil
nent onetime Brooklynites as
Ward Beecher and Walt Whitman.
There are literary fragments from
Theodore DRESSER. Thomas Wolfe.
Christopher Morley, Betty Smith
GA Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Carson McCullers. Edmund Wilson
and others. There Is an excellent
chapter on the Brooklyn Dodgers
by Frank Graham and . short
story on the same subject by Ring
Lardner.