davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-11
Versatile Artist

Lila Oliver Asher is having a
solo exhibition of paintings, sculp-
ture and graphic arts at the Bar
nett Alden Gallery through March.
Nearly 40 works give a good &C
count of this artists versatility
and industry, the more surprising
in view of her youth (she is not
yet 800. She earned her command
of various media as she studied
long and diligently under compe-
tent instructors, beginning with
classes at the Philadelphia Mu-
scum when she was a child.
There are life-size portraits ir
oil and charcoal Can excellent
likeness of Cyrus Ching in the
latter medium figure paintings
and still life. all sound conserva-
tive work, attractive in subject
and presentation. Quite different
in character are her linoleum
block prints, mostly figures of tell
ing simplicity in expressive out
line white on black. Small
ceramic sculptures give still an
other facet of Mrs. Ashers talent.
She made an impressive record
during the war, when she COM
pleted approximately $500 por-
trait sketches of hospitalized
servicemen for the USO.
A catalogue available at the
gallery has warm and compre-
hensive appreciation of the artist
by the late Franz Rapp of Howard
University's art faculty. who died
suddenly last week.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-11
Howe Retrospective

An exhibition of oil paintings,
water colorS, drawings and a few
prints by Bruce Howe was opened
last week end at George WASH
ington University's library, to re-
main through March 80. 1t rep
resents about two decades of Mr.
Howe's work, and records his
travels in many parts of the world.
At present he is on an archaeo-
logical field trip to Iraq under aus
pices Of the Oriental Institute
of the University of Chicago and
of the American Schools of ORR
entail Research.
A native of Washington. D. c.
(born 1922. Mr.. Howe received
his B. A. from Yale in 1885 and his
M. A. in anthropology from Har-
ward four years later. During
World War II he served as ma
jor in the Army, then returned te
Harvard to obtain a degree oil
doctor Of philosophy with specia
emphasis on prehistoric archae-
ology of the Old World.
Mr.. Howe's work is conservative
and representational, and it seems
to me that drawing is his forte
He has a precise, clean-cut pencil
technique and an eye for pictorial
charm which shows up more con-
sistently in the drawings than in
the paintings. There is an ele-
ment of monotony in a long series
of water colors of New Hampshire
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-11

'20s?" Here's a passage from
a story. If it doesn't sound like
the Fitzgerald you know, you
don't know Fitzgerald.
THE Whartons' own children
had long grown up, but their yard
was still one of those predestined
places where young people gather
in the afternoon. 1t had many
advantages. 1t was large, open
to other yards on both sides, and
it could be entered upon skates
or bicycles from the street. It
contained an old seesaw, a swing
and a pair of flying rings; but it
had been rendezvous before
these were put up, for it had a
child's quality-the thing that
makes young people huddle in
extricably on uncomfortable steps
and desert the houses of their
friends to herd on the obscure
premises of people nobody
knows The Whartons' yard had
long been a happy compromise;
there were deep shadows there
all day long and ever something
vague in bloom, and patient dogs
around, and brown spots worn
bare by countless circling wheels
and dragging feet"
That's Fitzgerald scene. Into
it Fitzgerald puts boy and girl
he knew and you and I know, too,
for each Of us at one time was
either that boy or that girl. That's
the real Fitzgerald genius.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-11
Are the American People of Today
Well Enough Armed to Wage the Peace?
THE NICE AMERICAN

he N4SG AMCL1SAN
BY Gerald Sykes. (Creatiue Age
The question Mr.. Sykes raises
in this thoughtful novel is how
well armed we are to wage the
peace" 1t is not enough today for
us to resume our traditional Gin
nocents abroad" demeanor and
hope for the best. He feels that
"the American people are not yet
sufficiently alerted to their for
eign dangers to demand better
foreign representatives and not
yet able. culturally, to ice
them"
A solemn question you will
agree. Yet Mr.. Sykes is never
ponderous in seeking the answers.
He examines the problem as it is
reflected in the dilemma of Col.
Harlan Childress, who, in Algiers
in 1945, is attempting ito live a life
of love and reason" But he has
a choice to make between his
chromium plated American ex-
wife and his gentle, sensitive
French mistress.
1t is, of course, not just simple
choice between two beautiful
women. If he chooses Jeanne and
North Africa, he can devote him
self to the photography he truly
loves, in a country that is deca-
dent and cruel but still tolerant
of man of ideas. A return to
Mollie means going home to his
Edison company job, to "rawness
and blank ncomprehension" to
conformity and worship of the
success-goddess. Childress' prob
lem is further complicated by the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-11
Current Exhibitions

stitution avenue and Sixth street
Paintings. sculptures by masters.
Gulbenkian collection of Egyptian
sculpture and European paintings,
Vollard, connoisseur. print exhibit
ton.
NATIONAL MUSEUM. National Col
lection OF Fine Arts. Constitution
avenue and Tenth street-Amer-
Paintings BY Alice Pike Barney.
SMITHSONIAN BUILDING. Division
Of Graphic Arts, Independence
avenue and Tenth street-Exhibi-
ton by Max Kahn.
FREER GALLERY OF ART, Twelfth
street and Jefferson drive-Ori-
entail and Far Eastern arts. Paint
ing and etchings by Whistler and
other American artists; changing
exhibits.
CORCORAN GALLERY OF ART, Sew
enteenth street between New York
avenue and E street-American
paintings and sculpture.
PHILIPS MEMORIAL GALLERY.
1900 Twenty-first street = Paint
ings and prints. Exhibition "Ad-
vancing French Art"
ARTS CLUB. 2O17 / street-Exhibi-
ton by Vida Mackenzie and lisa
bella Walker.
DUMBARToN OAKS Collection, 1903
Thirty second street N.W.-Early
Christian and Byzantine Art, Tues
days through Sundays, 2-5.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, East Cap
itol and First streets Pennell
show.
TEXTILE MUSEUM. 1920 street
NV. Ru,f. tapestries and other
textiles Of the Near East, Far East
and Peru. Open Monday. Wednes-
day and Friday, 90 pm. Admis-
fee OF George Hewitt Myers. 73O
Fifteenth street NV.
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIvER-
s sI i! LIBRARY LIBRARY. 2o23 g street
through March.
WHITE GALLERY, 1918 Connecti-
cut avenue N.W.-Group exhibit
ton.
WATKINS GALLERY. Massachusetts,
and Nebraska avenues N.W.-Con-
temporary color woodcuts.
GINN's ART CENTER, 1914 Georgia
avenue. Silver Spring-Oil paint
ings by Yvonne Pache.
INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY
ARTS, 1922 New York avenue NV.
tors.
UNITED NATIONS CLUB, Nineteenth
and r streets N.W.-Exhibition by
Dorothy Fratt.
LEE ATKYNS STUDIO GALLERY,
4712 Wisconsin avenue N.W.-Con-
temporary paintings, Sundays, 2-5.
GEORGETOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY,
Wisconsin avenue and r street NV.
Exhibition by Joel Marhoe and
Christine Sadler.
TRUxTON- DECATUR NAVAL MU-
SCUM. 1910 H street N.W-"Sea
tCry a sshb aaT,H A of maris Hs.
prints from the Eberstadt Collec-
ton, through mid-May.
PAN AMERICAN UNION, Seventeenth
street and Constitution avenue NV.
Exhibition by Modern Salvado-
rian Artists.
THE NEW GEORGETOWN GALLERY.
1924 Prospect avenue-Oil paint
1ngs by Winant Johnston.
PUBLIC LIBRARY, Eighth and X
streets N.W.-Paintings by Chill
dren of Rangoon. Burma. through
March.
ETHEL BUTLER STUDIO, 2130 Flor
ida avenue N.W.-Paintings BY
Oil Sthvonen, Saturdays and Sun
days through March Is.
INTERIOR MUSEUM, q. o. Depart
ment Of the Interior, G street be-
tween 18th and 10th NV. Ex-
htbition by T. n. Drummond. OPEN
ing tomorrow. ~
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-11

Corpse Dipl0matique, by Delano
Ames. (Rhinehart & Co., Inc. {;
$250D
Jane Browns minor adventure
in a Nice hotel lobby develops
with an assist from James hus-
band Dagobert-into some zestful
clue chasing. The diplomat of the
adventure narrowly misses getting
shot-or perhaps the bullet was
meant to land where 1t did. So
now the Browns have a murder to
solve, complete with such side
issues as diplomatic hi-jinks,
blackmail, shady romance and
true love. The Browns are at their
breezy best in this one. with
plenty of suspects to cope with
and plenty of room for their own
brand of sophisticated humor.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-11
Modern Woodcuts

| An exhibition OF Il large COiOT
woodcuts by seven artists opened
at Watkins Gallery, American
University, the end of February. to
remain through March %. The
gallery staff considers that "the
exhibition offers an excellent OPP
portunity to anyone who would
like to buy an original work OF art
at a modest price. Many of the
woodcuts are large enough and
colorful enough to be the feature
Of a home living ROOM"
Prices range from $25 to $50,
which may be modest compared
to the soaring prices of food and
certain necessities. But have
seen far more attractive original
prints by artists of as good repu-
tations as these, for considerably
smaller prices. Furthermore, in
view Of the doleful character of
some Of these prints. and the
rugged rough-hewn look Of others,
it is hard to believe that the
average homeowner would want
to build any rooms decor around
them. Louise Kruger's Sunday
Gathering" for instance, is
markedly successful in conjuring
up the flavor of CHASTITY hours
most of us at sometime or other,
have spent in stuffy interiors,
bored to state of coma, in the
company of people we would like
to forget. Having it in the CEN
ter of the living room wall would
be rubbing salt in ones wounds.
Misch Kohn's three wood en-
cravings are remarkable technical
achievements, with unusual and
interesting textures. But from
the pictorial standpoint, the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-11

humber people, and these plot
tiers against Allah's appointed OPP
pressors faced the usual treat
ment. Then word got around that
the governor, a fat, cruel, Chal-
dean, was ill, had to undergo an
operation. People publicly called
on Allah to preserve him, but
Varga, the ships surgeon engaged
to perform the operation, soon
learned that they hoped the gov
ernor would not recover:
Mr.. Tabori has described the
fictitious but typical Near East
port so sharply you can see it,
smell it and sense its formalized
outward ways and the inner rebel
lion that SINNERS toward the
point of explosion. The story
builds up quietly, tensely. layer on
layer of fascinating detail.
Young DR.. Varga is fully
realized character. He is far from
admirable in some ways. but you
never fail to understand him
He'd had to leave Vienna because
he stepped outside the medical
code. but he was a first-rate sur
geon. There were several persons
close to the governor who had
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-11

charter service Tom started on
the Gulf of Persia.
Mr.. Shute is deservedly a popu-
lar story teller. Unfortunately he
has unfolded here a theme of no
little originality with such matter
of-fact, tiresome detail that I
found it hard to finish the long
book. Toms memories of Shak
Lin and himself are SO cluttered
with prosaic irrelevancies that
most of the romance is squeezed
out of what should have been a
glowing narrative. There is little
of the sustaining interest of Mr.
Shute's last two novels, "The
Legacy" and mo Highway
Round the Bend" is an alternate
selection of the Book-of-the-
Month Club.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-11
Press. 49,

fact that he is a Southern gentle
man and constitutionally unable
to hurt a woman, even his wife, a
shrew who Shrieks for tanning.
Watching this Hamlet-like con-
test are a variety of foreigners.
Capt. Wharncliffe, a bluff
Briton resentful of this Roman
with a Greek sensibility," snidely
dismisses Childress' torment as
"the needless completely that
puritan Americans found way
of weaving into lives that might
as easily have been simple and
SenSuous.' The resolution Of the
novel is by no means inevitable.
Its strong point is it's talk, and
Mr.. Sykes frequent asides to the
reader. The drama is not in the
action-which, like Childress, is
merely vacillating-but in the
ideas. It's not a success as fic-
ton; but it raises some valid
points of discussion.
MARY McGRORY.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-11

Sloane Associates; $780,
death in 1945 Dresser joined the
Communist Party. Mr.. Matthies-
son calls this symbolic act" He
is unable to explain-perhaps
Dresser himself couldn't have
why Dresser was naive enough to
think communism good for
America when he must have
known, since he was a we'll
informed man with a hard core of
realism, with what tyranny it
rules Russia. Mr.. Matthiessen
merely comments: "One might
simply say that he was an old
man, untroubled by inconsistent
cies that subsequent events would
have made obvious"
Mr.. MatthiesSen emphasizes the
Importance and far-reaching in
f1uence of Dreiser's early novels,
Sister Carrie" and Jennie Ger
hardt."
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-11
Tom Stokes Returns
Tolls Old Terrain
THE SAVANNAH
BY Thomas L. Stokes.
(Rinehdrt & Co.: 81
Reviewed by Froncis P. Douglas

Reviewed by rToneis T. Oou9ioS
In this book Mr.. Stokes turns
from following political and eco
nomic conflicts in Washington as
a newspaper columnist to follow
ing the sluggish Savannah River
through history. He returns, also
to the scene where he first started
newspaper work.
In writing this 43d volume In
the Rivers of America series, Mr.
Stokes accepted an assignment
quite different from his journal
istic speciality, where he is an
acknowledged expert. But despite
the bikes, levees and revetments
of civilization, river changes as
little fundamentally as human
nature.
There were people and events
of olden days along the Savannah
which Mr.. Stokes must have en-
joyed for their parallels in our
times. There were Oglethorpe
and his dream of Utopia, Queer"
Mary Musgrove of the Creeks and
her efforts to get her hands in
the public till, and the feud in
high places involving Button
Gwinnett and the Mcintosh clan.
Mr.. Stokes is following paths
he knows intimately from later
experience when he tells of the
agrarian revolution on the South
Carolina side of the Savannah, led
by Pitchfork Ben Tillman, and
the Populist uprising on the
Georgia side, where Tom Watson
was leader.
The author is a Pulitzer Prize
winner for reporting. An earlier
book by him is Chip Off My
Shoulder" personal-and ex-
tremely readable-account of con-
temporary political conflicts. This
time he is writing history.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-11

lished in book form, with bril-
liant introduction and notes by q
Fitzgerald friend, Malcolm Cowley
They're written truly, like all
great writing. Fitzgerald didn't
use words as much as his own deer
feelings. The Sing" Of a Fitzgerald
story's the thing. much more than
the fact he happened to write in
the Charleston era. Maybe the
reason Fitzgerald's so popular now
is because we need the "Sing" in
a world gone drab.
Mr.. Cowley presents the stories
in groups. They're designed tc
take you through the two decades
ending in 1910. Not like history
book, more an American express
tour of how people you know were
feeling in this year or that. Fitz-
gerald was a master of feelingful
detail. AS Mr.. Cowley points out
Fitzgerald was forever listing the
songs or phrases or actions that
seemed to typify a time or place
In his stories, he used these in
the most effective way. He gives
you 1.-The rumble of trucks ano
the clump of trunks" on the piel
before the liner sails. You fee
the rest of the picture.
There are stories in this collec-
ton you'll read more than once
"Bernice Bobs Her Hair" for ex'
ample. Of you're old enough
you can remember the enormit1
of to bob or not to bob.) Maybe
THE Ice Palace" with it's poig'
nant contrast of North and South
or Magnetism" which present!
the dilemma of a good man anc
faithful husband who couldn't
keep other women from falling
in love with him.
Do you think Fitzgerald's i'm
portance was because he was un'
official spokesman for those mac
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-11

more specific reasons than the
general populace for wanting to
see his illness terminate fatally.
What they failed to grasp was
that the doctor, whatever his pro-
fessional lapses, however accom-
modating his personal morals. yet
chung to certain ethical princi-
Piles. To him patient was a pa
tient. no matter who he was or
what he had done, and nobody
could bride him into betraying
his mission to cure if possible.
The first part of the novel,
which takes up about two-thirds
of the book. is a close knit, almost
f1awless piece of narrative, Con-
radesque in its color and nuanceS,
spare and dramatic. The briefer
second part, though it explains
and clarifies much, comes near
being an anti-climax.
Mr.. Tabori is the Hungarian
born author of three previous
novels. English is an adopted
language, but he has learned to
use it with a skill that a writer
native to it might envy. He has
lived in America since 1947.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-11
New Books
FICTION.

EDGE OF GREATNESS. BY Winthrop and
Frances Nelson. (Putnam.) A day OF
decision in the life of BENJAMIN Frank
lin. So
EDGFLL'S ISLAND. BY Robert Presnell
jr (The Dial Press,) The strange story
of son and his fabulous mother. So
ACHILLES ABSENT. BY Marie Monchen
Vantage PreSsD The story of a wom-
ans attempt to give her heart wholly 10
her son ard to her lover at the same
tine. 81 80
MISS DOCTOR. BY Elizabeth seifert
(Dodd Mead) novel based on the
career of children's surgeon. S3.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-11
4 RI
Seo-Power Exhibition
At Naval Museum
Has Historical Value
By Florence S. Berrymon

"Sea Power and Early American
History" Is the theme of a new
exhibition opened recently at the
Truxton-Decatur Naval Museum,
1910 H street NV, which will
remain to the middle of May. It
is open to the public Tuesdays
through Fridays, noon to $50;
Sundays, 1870 to $50; Saturdays,
1890 to 4:30.
The exhibition depicts the influ-
ence Of sea power upon early
American history chiefly through
IS selections from the Eberstadt
collection of maritime prints by
noted European engravers Of the
10th to 10th centuries. There
are also representations concern
ing operational features Of sea
powers worldwide drama paral-
leling several centuries. Of early
American history.
Historical aspects Of the show
are more important than esthetic.
Nevertheless, the prints are in
excellent condition and not a few
of them have considerable pictorial
appeal. The Eberstadt collection
comprises nearly $500 items. It
was made by two German Admi-
rails Won Fischel, and acquired by
Mrs. Ferdinand Eberstadt, who
gave it in 1886 to the Naval His
torical Foundation which operates
the Truxtun-Decatur Naval Mu-
scum.
The exhibition begins chrome
logically with print Of ships and
galleys, 1866. and the Battle Of
Lepanto. 1871, one of the "last
great contests between fleets of
oar-propelled galleys," as the cata-
logue describes it. The Spanish
armada. attacking the British
and other naval actions and wars
involving the British, French,
Dutch. Italian. Scandinavian and
Turkish fleets. carry the visitor
through the mid-18th century, to
our Revolutionary War. with a Sc
lection of prints illustrating many
Of its phases. There is a later
group on the French revolution
airy and Napoleonic wars.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-11

His EYE 1S ON 1f1E SFAItOW
by Ethel Waters. Doubleday g.
Co.: So
Reviewed by Mary McGroy
The word "underprivileged"
takes on new meaning as yoE
read Ethel Waters memoirs. One
of the best blues singers who ever
lived. she Is good partly because
she has lived the blues she sings.
She knew what stormy weather"
was like from the time she was
born, out of wedlock, to a 12-year-
old mother.
"Too big to fit in anybody's
lap" she grew up in the slums Of
various Pennsylvania towns. amid
squalor. filth and vice. At 7, she
knew all the facts of life, having
learned them from the gutter.
Her drunken aunts kicked and
cursed her. Her grandmother,
from whom she got her fighting
heart, gave her the only love she
knew. Her mother still resented
her.
But with all this, Miss Waters
wasted little time moaning and
groaning, even when she married,
at IS, a heel who beat her up and
cheated on her. She had three
things to bear her up: Her husky
voice. her good right arm and
her faith in God. So armed, she
stepped into show business, billed
as Sweet Mama Stringbean." At
first it was Negro theaters in the
South; then vaudeville, carnivals,
cellar night clubs and eventually
Broadway.
It was long, tough climb to
"the white time" to top billing
in dramatic roles in NAM
ba's Daughters" and 1.-THE Mem
Der Of the Wedding" On the way
up Miss Waters had some brutal
brushes with the white mans
world. She says. with an air of
bravado, that she never in the
least minded being a Negro
although she has paid dearly for
it on occasion-no more than she
minded in the least being a
bastard" Miss Waters may not be
bitter; she is disenchanted. has
been, in fact, all along.
A Human Document.
Miss Waters "reminiscences are
crude. frank and disjointed. For
this reason, they have no literary
value. But as a human docu-
ment-not just as a success story
as cocky and defiant record
of what a girl with three strikes
on her can do against "Mr.
Trouble. wearing spiked Shoes" it
is powerful stuff. There is a re-
freshing lack of false modesty and
self-pity in this salty chronicle,
which is, incidentally. a dual Sc
lection of the Book of the Month
Club. Miss Waters has learned to
give a wide berth to the white
race-although she pays tribute to
some members who were kind to
her-but she has bowed to no
man. She has kept her humility
for God. Lord. keep your hand
on my shoulder" she prayed on
the opening night of Manila S
Daughters" Without such faith,
she never could have made it.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-11
Crime and Mystery
By Miriom Ottenbero
The Widow Had a Gun, by Gee

The Widow Had a Gun, by George
Harmon Coke. (Alfred A.
Knopf, Inc; $2.5o)
A publisher starts an anti
gambling crusade but gets MUIR
dered before it's well under way.
Naturally, police suspect the gam
blers but there are some angles
that worry Kent Murdoch, the
Courier's ace photographer.
Among other things. he knows
who owns the murder gun-and
it's some one he must protect.
Then, there are some films that
might reveal the identity of the
killer, but they disappear before
they can be used. The plot moves
at the same pace as Mr.. Coxe's 81
earlier productions and Murdoch
does his usual superhuman
sleuthing job.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-11
F. O. Motthessen Clarifies Controversy
Over Some of Theodore Dreiser's Views
THEODORE DRESSER

BY F. o. Matthiessen. william
After Prof. Matthiessen's death
In the spring of 1850. the manu-
script Of this book, which he had
contracted to do for the American
Men of Letters Series, was found
among his papers. 1t was suffi-
GENTLY complete, the editors felt,
to send to the printer.
The late professor of American
literature at Harvard, a noted
critic and biographer. has written
q sympathetic study of Dresser
1t is penetrating analysis of
Dreiser's work, but a less rounded
account of his life. The biogra-
pher realizes that the novelist was
confused and uncertain, philo-
sophically and politically, all his
life, but does not make much at
tempt to explain this cropping be-
wilderment. which was reflected
in his books. Not long before his