davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1949-02-27
Malcolm Bingoy
Sings His Praises
OF ME I SING
BY Malcolm w. Bingay. THE
Bobbs-Merrill Co.; $500
@SS ~ w ~ ~
CHARLES M. EGAN.

Since Mr.. Bingay is editorial
director of the Detroit Free Press.
it isn't surprising that he Is a
great deal more literate than Bobo
Newsom or Dizzy Dean. But he
also seems to have quite an edge
over baseball's most articulate
pair in the matter Of being unin-
hibited.
For Bing-as all Detroit has
known him during his nearly so
years Of newspaper work there
apparently doesn't have any in
hibitions, at least where use of the
first person singular Is involved.
Once he hit on his books clever
title, living up to 1t was easy for
him. That he didn't weaken any
where along the line is evident in
the very last paragraph, which is
slugged In boldface caps LAST
ADD BINGAY:
by now, no doubt, you are
aware of the fact that in nothing
herein contained have I given my
self the worst of It,"
Bing is right. He hasn't! But
he must have had his tongue in
his cheek more often than not.
Packed into his 800 pages are a
lot of mighty good stories, the
best Of which concern the tenn
pestuous early decades of this cen
tury when Mr. Bingay was sports
editor, city editor and later man
aging editor of the Detroit News.
Bing makes 1t all seem pretty
breath-taking. Things have been
less hectic since he Joined the Free
Press in 1881, If we except World
War II and the Detroit Tigers
part in four World Series.
Bing was a baseball writer when
T. Cobb Joined the Tigers back
in 1905, and he later did a lot OF
exporting under the pseudonym OF
1ffy the Dopester. So his first
hand account of the famous 1907
fight between Cobb and the late
Charles Schmidt. the teams burly
catcher, is one Of the high spots
of the book.
Evening star., 1949-02-27

life are no less than those of his
intellectual pleasures. The man
whom Anatole France called "a
guileless Petronius" was moved,
not by Stendhal, or the great
Russian explorers of the human
heart, but by Ruskin and Hardy
and he confessed that it took only
two pages of George Eliot's THE
Mill on the Floss" to reduce him
to tears.
There are few clues either to
Proust or to the characters in
Remembrance of Things Past
in these letters but there are
many odd bits of testimony. They
are interesting and even reveal
ing but hardly indispensable.
Evening star., 1949-02-27

revealed here, he favored poSterity
instead of his friends. by putting
his profound meditations into a
series of novels called "Remem-
brance of Things Past" and not
into his letters.
Mrs. CurtisS warns that none
of these letters "are literary in the
sense of fine writing, or even of
conscious artistry" They are
mainly routine acknowledgements
of correspondence which only oc-
casionally delve into philosophy. 1t
might be that Proust considered
letters as he did conversation.
Serious conversation is in
tended for people who have no
intellectual life. People who
have an intellectual life need
frivolity when they escape from
themselves and from hard in
ner labor. We should talk about
all the little things and leave
philosophy to solitude"
11SlS 1ltS w ICISOk1d1Atys
There are many insightS into the
strange personality of the man
who dedicated his life to recording
the eccentricitieS and decadence
of French society in its last aristo-
cratic twilight. He has been &C
cused of being a social snob. He
protested earnestly that he was
not, yet there are excessive, even
fawning, messages to princes, duch-
esses, counts and barons. Perhaps
Proust enjoyed their friendship,
but he reached out for their aftec-
ton with desperate expressions OF
his undying esteem.
Proust withdrew from society
when he was in his early 20s and
gave himself over completely to
his own ailments and his unhappi-
ness over his mothers death. He
closeted himself in an alright
room and never ventured out ex-
cept late at night. Indeed, he
complained that he had been try
ing to discuss certain matter
with a friend but had found it
impossible because he never got
up until IL o'clock at night and
she went to bed at 10.
He kept up with what was
going on in the world and even
commented upon public questions
but without much originality or
force. These letters reveal him. on
the other hand, as interested
mainly In his health. He wrote
almost constantly about his illness.
Also he is capable Of saying, "You
know 7 never discuss my health, :"
at the same time he had just
analyzed it to another correspond
ent.
About the Great Novels.
There is relatively little here
about the actual composition of
the great novels in the letters. But
there Is a great deal about the
arrangements for their publication
and reactions to the reviews. All
this is of interest to ardent Proust
admirers, but the fact that so lit
tie of his letters dealt with the art
of writing leave only a vague
impression of a man whose no
bility was his profundity in his
novels.
The paradoxes Of his private
Evening star., 1949-02-27
FAMILY TROUBLE
BY William McFee. (Rdndon
House; $3.)


Spenlove, the retired chief en-
gineer, who has been narrator of
other McFee novels, here is found
living in rural England with his
young wife Perdita. When young
Mrs. Jack Bannister, a neighbor,
calls, Spenlove remembers that he
and husband were shipmates and
this must be the third Mrs. Ban
mister. The romances and adven-
lures of Bannister, once the
youngest chief engineer in the
merchant service, thus are set in
motion.
Spenlove's stories are amusing
and interesting. Perhaps the
reader who has followed Mr.. Nc
Fee from his earliest novels may
sigh for another like the classic
"Casuals of the Sea" or the STIR
ring Captain Macedoine's Daugh-
ter" and Command" But, after
all, a sea writer some day must go
ashore and look back wistfully at
ships and voyages. &C. B. j.
Evening star., 1949-02-27
BLAIR MARRIMAN
BY Percy Marks doubleday

BY Percy Marks (Douoleday'
$3J
In his new novel, Mr.. Marks
presents a woman so detestable
that she is fascinating-up to q
point.
Blair Marriman grew up In a
small town, daughter Of the high
school principal. She hated her
stepmother, although Clara Mar
riman worked her fingers of to
give the child pretty clothes and.
finally. out of the money Clara
earned teaching, sent the girl
away to a fine college. Blair
thought she loved her father, but
actually she simply wanted to
dominate him. The only person
she may have loved was the high
school boy who was killed in the
First World War. Certainly she
never loved the husband she met
at college, the artist who inherited
wealth. When he conveniently
died, and Blair got his millions,
she, as her stepmother later told
her, was condemned to pleasure. I"
Mr.. Marks. practiced hand at
shaping character, is author of
THE Plastic Age" and other Sue
cesses. In Blair he has drawn a
woman who is enticing, clever, as
lovely as marble and as cold.
When she encounters the one man
who could arouse her emotions,
an ironical surprise awaits her.
Blair is complete, from her earliest
childhood f1xation to her latest
coiffure But her life Is so selfish,
so senseless and futile. despite her
riches, that you may wonder
whether she is worth 800 pages.
Evening star., 1949-02-27

The Modern Message Of the
Psalms, by the Rev. Russell A.
Peterson (Meador Publishing Co.;
$3.50, Is an interesting rendering
of the Psalms into straightfor-
ward, modern English.
Saint Paul, by Robert Sencourt
(Sheed g. Ward; $3.50. This Is a
biography of st. Paul which in
cludes careful studies Of his writ
ings and of his times. 1t also dis
cusses other lives of the saint and
some Of the controversies aroused
by them.
Evening star., 1949-02-27
Mr.. Duronty Shows
How Joseph Stain
Is Absolute Boss
STAIN g. co.
BY Walter Duranty. (Willianl
Sloane Associates, $3.)
Reviewed by
CRESTON B. MULLINS.

The name of Walter Duranty. SO
popular at one period of our rela-
tions with Soviet Russia, has not
figured prominently recently in
the debate over the East West
split and the cold war that has
resulted from it. Yet, few Ameri-
can journalists are as we'll quail
fled as Mr.. Duranty-with back
ground stretching into World War
Ito write about Russia.
He is best fitted to interpret
present-day developments in terms
of Soviet history. and that is what
he has done in his latest work,
which is devoted to the develop
ment of the Politburo and the po-
sitions of its members in the pres
ent-day picture of Russia.
Mr.. Duranty epitomizes his
whole effort in this book with a
fiat denial of President Truman's S
mysterious statement that Prime
Minister Stain is not the evil
genius of Russia's aggression, but
is merely the prisoner of the Polit-
buro.
Through chapter after chapter
Of lucid and clearly presented de-
tail of pre-revolutionary and post
revolutionary conspiracy, Mr.. Du-
ranty shows how the Politburo was
first established as sort of steer
ing committee for the rapidly
growing Central Committee of the
Communist Party in Russia, how
Stain in becoming secretary of
the Communist Party made him
self Lenin's successor and thereupon
converted the Politburo into his
own personal instrument of power
by eliminating his enemies and
filling their places with his own
men.
Evening star., 1949-02-27

Sl1CSQ WTlCeF whose IlTSC PERFORM
ance as a novelist was little less
than spectacular.
The bizarre publicity and rave
reviews which attended his debut
have served to create an extraordi-
nary interest in his second book.
But "A Tree of Night" consisting
of eight short stories, several of
which have already appeared in
other collections, does not reveal
much that is new about the scope
and limitations of this literary
phenomenon of 1948. since they
were all written before his novel.
The amazing talent for show
ing the fascination of evil for
the innocent, the inextricable
mingling of beauty and decay
which were so brilliantly con-
veyed in "Other Voices. Other
Rooms" is again displayed. But
many .repetitions have robbed it
somewhat of its force and effec-
tiveness.
That is not to say that Mr..
Capote is any less of a master of
mood or atmosphere or an artist
of the abnormal. His understand
ing Of the cracked. the weird and
the macabre, his uncanny insight
into the darkest corners of the
spirit, are just as impressive. His
bright humor, his quite magical
prose are the same. But the
unchanging strangeness of his
themes gives the stories a certain
sameness and predictabiIity. even
mild absurdity.
A Little Something Wrong.
His characters are haunted and
obsessed. In many cases their un-
expressed feelings of guilt of fear
are personlfied by some repulsive
sexually ambiguous creatures who
drain them or their power or de-
sire to resist. Perhaps the most
striking example of this kind of
demoniac seizure is Miriam,
monstrous little girl who moves
into the apartment Of a widow
who Is helpless to stop her. A
college girl on a train is drawn to
a deaf mute wearing a Mickey
Mouse watch and offering her a
love charm. A young man about
Manhattan brings a silent girl
artist home to stay with him, and
she spends money he gives her
for clothes on a leather wind
breaker, a set of military brushes,
a raincoat and cigarette lighter.
But the young man, like most
Capote characters, is spellbound.
He is perhaps speaking for the
author when he says about those
whom he'd loved there was always
a little something wrong. broken"
Even the children. who figure in
two stories, are slightly on the
bias.
But readers, who will certainly
be less distracted by Mr.. Capote's
new picture, which shows him
leaning moodily against a wall
with roses in the foreground, will
probably not feel that his second
book is true test of his powers.
Artistically, he is just marking
time here.
Evening star., 1949-02-27
Heroine of Young American Women

her gifted daughter, Louisa May,
who had inherited her tempera-
ment, she secured her own i'm
mortality and she lived to see
Louisa lioniized and her own do
mestic problems solved. She rep
resented the finest type of New
England womanhood Of her time
and deserves this full-length
study, which. unfortunately, is
marred in spots by sentimentality
and some rather ordinary writing.
M, Meg.
Evening star., 1949-02-27
Marcel Proust's Letters Reuffirm
The Purudoxes of His Life
TTERS OF MARCEL PROUST

LETTERS OF MARCEL PROUST
Translated edited with by Nina Curtiss Introduction
by Harry Levin (Random House, $5J
Reviewed by TREBLE
From letters Marcel Proust available in
xvoume French edition. Mrs Curss has selected 241
translated into English this
agmentary. Prous, withdrawn from
the world inacon and whatever
Evening star., 1949-02-27
A Brilliant New
Life of the Bee'

~ Vt LIE oEEO
BY Frank S. Stuart. (Whittleseu
House; $3.J
Reviewed by
JAMES BIRCHFIELD.
At last book has been written
that ranks well with Maurice
Maeterlincks Life of the Bee"
Frank S. Stuart, an English bee
keeper, has combined the SEN
sitiveness of the poet with
scientific fact to tell the story
Of a city of bees, housed in an
ancient English oak.
Mr.. Stuart's work is not
beekeeper's manual, but rather a
delightful account of a year in
the life of hive. The quest for
honey. disease and battle, and
above all, that almost fearful in
stinct that orders the life of the
bee city, is told in a prose that
has the swing of an epic poem.
Listen to Mr.. Stuart as he de-
scribes the joys of drone:
He was amusing himself by tasting
various honeys from the cells, with the
critical severity of an amateur. He
for anything of which there was a guam
tity; no matter how perfect its quality
too much Of it offended his refinement
fNr hi
vintage year. B He neM eurled l0Hh his u tonsus nIs
elequantly about trace of pale hazel
Tf tang sGfet " the Ts EGnsh Sind
in it9 Thin; definitely thin; and one
must consider texture as well as favor
dark poppys heart sleepy S WHY With velSet eiS
dreams . delicious. but glowing at this
hour in the mornins-though admittedly
WOOD voets gave M this BrRRt and GOLDEN
clear; yet, the experienced palate detects
lack Of boldness. shadowy, loss of
but hardly full bodied enough for true
perfection. And this from the patches
Of forget-me-nots down by the. rivers
quet-but where is the aroma? fave
you ever known an exquisite woman With
a common mind?"
And then, there are the fearful
accounts of attack of the badger
and of the battle to expel from
the hive the swarms of robber
bees. And of the fate of the
mouse that crept into the hive
to find a winter nesting place.
1t is, above all, a beautiful book.
One which can hardly fail to re-
fresh even the most casual reader
Evening star., 1949-02-27
THE LION TAMER
BY Bryan MacMahon.
DnttOn & Co $2.75.)

If Mr.. Capote's people inhabit a
submerged, twilight world, Bryan
MacMahon's move about in bright
sunlight, everyday folk who seek
and find drama in the everyday
happenings of their lives. His pic
ture of village life in Ireland is
bathed in love and humor, told in
a muscular prose that is full of
aggressive verbs and violent meta
phors. He talks of "a woman as
tall as the sky" and "a great beast
of a MOON"
His stories tell of a single and
simple episode which illuminates
some aspect of character or a Sit
uation. He wrings every bit Of
Evening star., 1949-02-27
Truman Copote, 7948 Literary Find,
Reveals Mastery of Mood in These Tales
TREE OF NIGHT
BY Truman Capote. (Randon1 House; $2.75J

When Truman Capotes first novel, Oher Voices Other Rooms
last there those who could not the author
his picture hoty discussed widely carcaued
photograph which showed the precocious Souhen with
bangs and atersa wacoat reclining Victorian
obscure the minds that
Evening star., 1949-02-27
Reviewing The New Books
Ronald Knkbride
Writes His Second
Volume of TriIoqy

SPRING is NOT GENTLE
BY Ronald Kirkbride. double
day; So
Evening star., 1949-02-27
Reviewed. by
CARTER BROOKE JONES.

day; $3D
Reviewed. by
CARTER BROOKE JONES.
A certain proficiency in writing
is taken for granted these days.
Not so long ago it was different;
merely to be adept at expression
was something of an achievement,
and writer's who could put words
together artfully were apt to get
hearing even if they had little
to say.
Today, when every one writes
more or less, there is demand for
novelty in form or theme
writer's and publishers think there
is. And a great deal of careless.
colorless writing iss hurled at an
idea which is considered suffi-
ciently unusual or sensational to
get across. Sometimes it seems
that the old art of weaving words
into a pattern has gone.
Ronald Kirkbride is hearten-
ing young novelist who still re-
spects words and uses them with
loving care. This is not to imply
that he has a self-conscious style
which draws attention to itself
rather than to what it is describ-
ing. He writes quietly. unob-
trusively, but with a feeling for
mood and atmosphere that en-
ables him to suggest alike coun-
tryside or crisis in a life with a
few phrases. He has written
poetry, and there is a lyric quail
ity in his prose that often stirs the
Imagination more with a sentence
that some writer's could with sew
eral pages.
A Cooperative Community.
Spring Is Not Gentle" is the
second book in a projected trilogy
of David Jordan. In this novel
David tells the story Of his mar
riage against the background of a
desperate struggle for economic
survival when the depression
blights the farm lands of South
Carolina. David and his family
are Quakers. His bride. Nina, has
been educated in the North, and
she returns to her childhood
sweetheart to find a land and a
people that seem strange to her.
Soon no one in their circle has
money or credit. A wandering old
man who drifts in, Friend. too.
has an idea. Out of 1t grows a
cooperative plan for all the neigh
bors to barter their varied serv-
ices in return for their needs. The
idea has fourished into a COOP
erative community when the
banker, the big storekeeper and
the large planters step in.
It would be strange If Nina, who
grew up in af1uence, went to a
fashionable college and moved in
what is called society, could have
adjusted herself to the gentle, SIM
pie ways of the Jordans and Of
those they tried to help. Nina
is not Quaker, but she loves
David and she tries for years to
share a life that seems quixotic
and futile to her.
There is tragedy in the intoler-
ance that strikes down the Coop
erative community. There Is heart
break in the realization of David
and Nina that they cannot see
life in the same way. The quiet
story is exalted to these elements
by the sincerity and beauty with
which Mr.. Kirkbride has told 1t.
| d y Il y
BLAIR MARRIMAN
BY Percy Marks Doubleday;
Evening star., 1949-02-27
Howard Spring
Makes Another
Best-SeHer Bid

THERE IS NO ARMOUR
BY Howard Spring. (Harper &
Bros; $780,
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1949-02-03
Child Study Group
To Meet Tonight

A meeting for people participating
in the child study program in the
schools of the county, is scheduled
for this evening in the Oakland High
school auditorium, beginning at 1880,
it was announced by Mrs. Caroline
Wilson, elementary supervisor.
Teachers and other interested per-
sons are invited.
DR.. Charles Caldwell, consultant in
child study, will discuss the general
view of the program and speak on
the growth and development Of the
child. The meeting is to be in the
form Of general discussion.
The child study program is directed
by DR.. Daniel Prescott, head of the
child study unit, University of Mary
land, and has been in progress in the
county for four years. About so per-
cent of the teachers are participating,
Mrs. Wilson said. The meetings are to
help teachers understand children.
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1949-02-03
Sherman Beachy Herd
Highest for December

Sherman Beachy's herd of 10 cows
was the highest among the herds Of
the Dairy Herd Improvement Associ-
alton No. /, at Grantsville, for the
month of December, according to the
detailed report. His cows produced an
average of sos pounds Of milk with a
butterfat content of $40.
Other high herds were those of
Galen and Ada P. Maust, c. o. Mil
Ter, NJ. John Yoder and Raymond j.
Tice, ranging from 321 to 1858 pounds
of butterfat The Maust herd was
high the previous month with an
average of 1866 pounds.
The highest producing COW was one
owned by C. 0. Miller, producing l.
916 pounds of milk with an average
butterfat production of 65.1 pounds.
Other high cows produced from 53.2
to 44.3 pounds, and the twenty high
cows were those owned by c. o. Mil
Ter, NJ. John Yoder, Lawrence Belt
eel 2, Sherman Beachy ,, Dorsey
Guard 3, Elmer L. Maust, Jonas Tice
5, Eli Yoder ?, Galen and Ada P.
Maust, and Crist Yoder.
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1949-02-03
| SEE BY The DAILIES THAT

Maj. Gen. Bryant f. Moore was
named superintendent of West Point
military academy, succeeding Maj.
Gen. NJ d. Taylor.
The Bibles story of creation got
support in new scientific study re-
ported to the American Physical So
ciety Cosmogony, scientific version
Of creation, had differed in events
and timing but it now shows three
changes close to Genesis.
A proposal for government fl
nancing of private industry was con-
tanned in a bill given to Congress this
week.
Connie Mack, leader of the Phila-
delphia Athletics, observed his seth
birthday anniversary.
A plane crash in China was fatal
to 35, including Quenton Roosevelt
%, grandson Of President Theodore
Roosevelt.
A large percentage of German
prisoners of World War II had re-
turned home. Russia presumably still
had many on forced labor.
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1949-02-03
IN NENORJAN

In memory Of our dear one, Simon
L. burst, whom God called away four
years ago today, February ,, 1918.
We may gather lily blossoms
To strew upon a grave,
And weave a spoticss garland,
Above a tomb to wave.
But these will fade and wither,
They must crumble into lust,
And the chalice fair that held them,
VIII lee furnished deep with rust.
So it is with all things mortal,
They will linger but Il day
And when their mission here is ended,
They viii droop and pass away
But there is a Sacred galdca,
Hidden deep in memories lane.
Where no mortal thing can enter
And no cruel hand proian".
There we plant eternal roses,
That will grow through all the years,
For we planted them in silence
And we water them with tears.
We will keep them ever blooming,
While in loneliness we wait,
Till we take them to our loved ones,
Just within the Pearly Gate.
His Wife and Daughter
ADV. it,
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1949-02-03
ACCIDENT

Mr.. and Mrs. Fred Gates, Jr., Of
Cumberland, Roger Ault, Western
Maryland college, Westminster. and
Mrs. w. A. Speicher were guests at
the r. H. Ault home on Sunday at a
chicken dinner, the occasion being
the birthday of Mrs. Ault. The other
guests were Allan Ault and the
honoree's husband, Earle Ault.
Mr.. and Mrs. Benjamin Rush and
son. of Washington, d. c., spent
several days last week with the lat
ter's parents, Mr.. and Mrs. Charles
Bowser. Mr.. Rush returned to the
city on Thursday while Mrs. Rush
will remain with her parents fol sew
eral weeks.
Rev and Mrs. o. P. Fike and chill
dren John Paul and Evangeline spent
last weekend visiting relatives in
Washington, d. c., and Hagerstown.
Mr.. and Mrs. Homer Baird and in
FAINT son, Pittsburgh, Pa. were week
end guests of Mrs. Baird's parents,
Mr.. and Mrs. Robert Alexander. Mrs.
A. J. Alexander joined the party as
an additional guest for Sunday din
ner.
Albert Bowser. Of Baltimore, spent
the weekend with his parents, Mr..
and Mrs. Charles Bowser.
Miss Kathryn Specher attended a
meeting of the Maryland Teacher Adj
visory Board in Baltimore on Satur-
day. She also visited her brother and
sister-in-law. Mr.. and Mrs. John p.
Speicher, at their home i'm University
Park.
Roger Ault has returned to West
ern Maryland college to resume his
studies after spending several days
between semesters at his home here.
Mr. and Mrs Ross Speicher and
daughter Iva Kathryn were guests Of
Mr.. and Mrs. Hobart Bishop at din
ner on Monday evening.
Recent guests Of Mr.. and Mrs. AL
bert Smith were Mrs. Grace Jordan
and daughters. Mrs. V. o. Bowman,
Rev and Mrs. c. +. Dauphin and
daughter, Carol.