davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1955-02-27
Approising the Roosevelt Influence
Reviewed by Belmont Fories

etmOnt ToTteS
Robinson, thel effects of his
leadership were manifested in
"a weakened constitutional
system, in imperiled national
security, in diminished ma
tional morale. in deteriorated
political morality. and in an
overburdened economy"
Trosedy Of His People
AS a leader of the war
against totalitarianism Prof.
Robinson finds his failure even
more tragic. "A man of good
intention cast In the role of
hero, he was overwhelmed by
the inexorable forces of his
time. This was his tragedy,
the tragedy of his people. and
the tragedy of the world"
This is a scholarly work in
volving an enormous amount
of research. Prof. Robinson
has tried hard to be impartial.
But even the scholar must have
some standard on which to
base political judgments. Some
readers may find it a little
unfair that the standard by
which Franklin Roosevelt is
found wanting seems to be,
explicitly or implicitly. the
political philosophy of his most
articulate conservative an
tagonist, Herbert Hoover.
Evening star., 1955-02-27

does not use fiashbacks.. but
f1ashforwards. We begin with
Willis, at IS, starting in high
school. already eager to learn
the proper attitude toward Mr..
Harcourt and how to approach
his gardener, to cross to the
right side of the tracks. Then,
every few pages. the narrative
jumps ahead to something
that happened when Willis
was a big industrialist. Then
back we go to his struggling
youth. 1t is hard to under
stand why this technique is
used. It virtually eliminates
all surprise.
Much to Enjoy
But there is much to enjoy
in the book. Willis got there
because he memorized all the
answers. Sylvia (his wife)
always did find it hard to un-
derstand that you were rated
in a business way by the car
you drove and by your golf
score. People you met in a
business way always had to
measure you by something"
The last hundred pages are
particularly rewarding. The
rest of the novel could have
been cut in half without dam
age,
Evening star., 1955-02-27
Science, Adventure and Excitement
CATALAN AND sHERA. :

CATALAN AND SHEBA. BY
Wendell Phillips. (Harcourt,
Brace & Co.; So
A public whose appetite for
archaeology has been whetted
by such best sellers as Gods,
Graves and Scholars" and
whose appetite for cowboy
and Indian thrillers has always
been strong should gobble up
DR.. Phillips book.
> For Catalan and Sheba" is
an exciting combination of
science and adventure. For
science DR.. Phillips offers us
the first expedition to dig into
the site of the Queen of Sheba's
capital and other ancient
buried cities of Arabia. For
Evening star., 1955-02-27

which morality is confined to
the more unimaginative peas
ants and to city people who
can afford only one liaison at
a time, this book is extreme in
scorning moral standards and
conventional conduct. A IT.
year-old girl tells the story.
She accompanies her father,
a middle-aged widower, and
his current mistress to the
Riviera. They encounter an
attractive woman who was the
girls mothers best friend and
who wants to marry the father.
The girls intervention in the
conflict of the two women for
the mans affections and the
girls first love affair, with a
boy she meets at the beach,
provide the story. 1t is true
that Miss Sagan shows promise
in maneuvering q narrative
and that she writes with COM
mendable simplicity. But the
complacent carnality of her
theme cheapens this novel.
brings it perilously close to
what is called trash. The trans
lation is by Irene Ash.
Evening star., 1955-02-27
Group Bonking

Merely insuring bank de-
posits is no solution to our
banking problems, Palmer T.
Hogenson, a Washington
economist, warns in "The Eco
nomics Of Group Banking"
public Affairs Press; So Mr..
HogenSon points out the ad-
vantages and difficulties of
group banking. For sound
banking, he holds, There
must first of.all be competent
management, full maintenance
of capital assets and con-
slant and thorough supervi-
sion." He also contends that
the depositing public should
have the opportunity of know
ing exactly who the actual
owners and operators of each
unit are and where control
is conferred" There is an in
PRODUCTION by Roger w. Babson.
Evening star., 1955-02-27

adventure there is a magnifi-
cent chase in which the good
guys are the scientists, riding
trucks across the sand, and the
bad guys are a horde of angry
Yemenite Arabs mounted on
camels.
Fortunately for the reading
public. DR.. Phillips made it
across the border by an eye
lash. But all his precious dis
coveries from Sheba's capital
were left behind.
DR.. Phillips is a young man,
however, and an indefatigable
organizer Of expeditions. Sure
ly there will be more trips
and, one hopes, more books.
RICHARD FRYKLUND.
Evening star., 1955-02-27

Even the title is ironical. for
there was never a moment,
from the time'he started climb
ing. that Willis Wayde was
sincere. except in his purpose
to get ahead at any cost.
The satirical intent is
stronger in this novel than in
most Of Mr.. Marquand's books,
though all the pictures in his
gallery Of ambitious New Eng
landers are touched with acid.
You'll have to 60 back to SIN
clair Lewis in his prime to
find q more bitter satire on
Evening star., 1955-02-27
Self Portraits

Since artists are their own
most convenient models, re-
quiring no fees and debating
no flattery, it, Is natural that
for centuries artists have
painted self-portraits. We
know the appearance Of some
old masters only from q face
in q crowd. Others, notably
Rembrandt. have left many
pictorial records of themselves
from youth to old age.
But since photography took
over the making Of close like
nesses artists have become
increasingly unreliable as to
their own appearance. Current
witness, to Ehis is the exhibition
of self-portraits by Washing
ton artists recently opened at
the Dupont Theater, to remain
to the end Of March.
An artists idea Of his ap-
pearapce has always had q
special fascination for this re-
viewer; and acquaintance with
all the artists in the present
show promised to simplify the
decision as to whether their
portraits reSembled them or
not. Resemblance still means
to some Of us the primary
purpose of a portrait.) In view
OF the modernists' introduction
some decades ago Of remote
likenesses" deliberately. not
unintentionally remote. one
can no longer expect a por-
trait to be a real introduction.
Well Known Here
The IA local artists repre-
sented at the Dupont are all
well known here and their
work commands respect. But
had the labels and signatures
on these paintings been COW
cred, I would have recognized
exactly four: Marcella Comes,
Josef Pielage Tin one of his
four portraits, Helen Rennie
and Leonard Maurer. These
are speaking hkenesses, to coin
q cliche.
There are near-likenesses
by Sarah Baker, Lois Jones
and James Porter. Also, para
doxically, Jack Perlmutter's
very modern self-portrait is a
recognizable likeness even
though it is over lifesize,
with a mustard complexion
and emerald sunglasses. An
Evening star., 1955-02-27
TWO MINUTES TILL ME

TWO MINUTES TILL MID
NIGHT. BY Elmer Davis.
tBobbs-Merrill $2.75.)
This, Mr.. Davis first book
since last years best-selling
"But We Were Born Free"
takes its title from the face Of
the clock on the cover of the
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists"
1t is a thoughtful and fright
ening Notwithstanding pre-
cisely because it is SO thought
fulA It discusses the rather
dismal future of a world living
constantly under the shadow
of a thermonuclear cloud, and
gives scant aid and comfort to
those who think-or profess to
think-that pious thoughts and
glib political catch-phrases
assay out to either an ounce
of prevention or a pound Of
cure.
The politically myopic who.
cued by the wild animals in
Evening star., 1955-02-27

pages IN print, a goo0ly num-
ber. Even so, some 500 pages
of typescript containing much
more diversionary matter and
accounts of many episodes
that seemed to me to be worth
recording" were cut out of his
original draft by University of
Chicago Press editors.
Nobody by the name of
Brownlow has ever been
tongue-tied, Mr.. Brownlow
reports ruefully. And he tells
one on himself about the con-
sequences. On his wedding
day, an elderly cousin, seek
ing to calm him before the
ceremony, began an anecdote.
The wedding march meanwhile
began, but where, was the
bridegroom?
"It was,"t t1e relates, Brown
low-like, utterly impossible for
the Bridegroom, a Brownlow. to
leave a story-teller, a Brown
low, until he had finished the
anecdote. Thus it was that
I was a full minute late at
my own wedding!"
His Newspaper Dogs
Mr.. Brownlow, who served
on the District Commission
from 1915 to 1920, had an in
teresting time in the news
paper business before and a
long career in city manage
ment afterward.
His newspaper lore, acquired
during Is years on several
Evening star., 1955-02-27
For All the Wisteriu It's Worth

WALK IN BEAUTY. BY Grace
: Jamison Breckling. (Charles
I Scribner's Sons; $500
Southern bellies are getting
more of a rush in the literary
world these days than they
ever got in the bathrooms back
home. The latest of the mag
nolia -and-mush heroines to
come out up north is Denise
Tallentyre. \
The setting for Grace Breck-
ling's novel about Denise-is
an allegedly accredited wom-
ems college in Pennsylvania
during the '20s. The story of
how this young beauty comes
to "St. James" drawls her
way into the hearts Of faculty
as well as students and finally
comes to tragic end is told
by one Of her teachers.
Evening star., 1955-02-27
Deep Into the African Bush

although nothing Is supposed
to be any longer when world
revolution is afoot. Even so,
Mr.. van der Post will hold his
readers when he goes into the
jungle and beholds its won-
ders. And, more notably, he
communicates his respect for
the people Of Africa, the digni-
fed. ritualistic tribesmen who
serve q vision. They loom
above the sensational mechan-
les Of the plot. M. MEG.
Evening star., 1955-02-27
Dated Paintings

Gene Davis, native Washing
tonian and newspaperman- by
profession (at one time q
White House correspondent is
having his largest and most
comprehensive exhibition yet
held. 1t occupies two rooms
at Watkins Gallery. American
University campus, through
next Sunday.
Mr.. Davis, who completed his
general education at Maryland
University, is self taught in art,
except for six months study
with Jacob Kainen. He has
exhibited extensively in local
shows in the past few years,
received awards in the Cor
coran area annual and Society
Of Washington Artists in 1858.
His earlier one-man shows
were at the Dupont Theater
and Catholic University.
Abstract Expressionist
Mr.. Davis is an abstract ex-
pressionist whose paintings
and drawings are identified
only by dates. All IS on view
were done last year. One may
reasonably assume that these
works could serve the artist
as a sort Of diary, one which
excels padlocks and hiding
places in keeping his emotions
and impressions a secret. But
with the aid Of color organ
ization and dates the sensi-
tive observer may be able to
ferret out the meanings of
some of these works.
For example, the yellows
and green's and general ex-
uberance of April %, 1854"
may indicate burgeoning
spring. Another. date Of late
July, is dominated by very
dark hot browns. Could this
have been done during an OPP
pressive heat wave?
Despite the solemn grandeur
Evening star., 1955-02-27

drea Zerega's self-portrait is a
likeness, but Of personality,
not appearance.
Just what connection Rich
ard Dempsey sees between his
appearance and the abstrac-
tion in dark gray cement is
too tenuous for me to guess.
Jacob Kainen has taken two
straightforward shots at him.
self, both misses. Samuel
Bookatz' heroic sized head is
a beautiful technical job, but
not a likeness. Prentiss Tay-
lor's fussy still life with him
self as a bust of Mercury is
a whimsy. And John Chap
man Lewis portrait Is one of
his personal style Of painting,
not himself.
Evening star., 1955-02-27

All the pictures in his gall
lery of ambitious New Eng
landers are touched with
acid.
businessmen. George F. Bab-
bitt, who merely accepted and
repeated the cliches of his day,
was much more likeable than
Willis Wayde. Willis hasn't a
single engaging trait that I
could discover. Some people
liked him because he could ap-
pear appealing and modest
he carefully cultivated the
manner. just as he trained
himself always to appear well.
to say the proper things. never
to drink too much and to re-
train from offending any one
important.
Sympathetic Choroeters
Not that the novel lacks
sympathetic characters. There
is Henry Harcourt, president
Of the betting mill at Clyde,
Mass, where Willis father,
moving from the West, went to
work as chief engineer when
Willis was is, in 1922. Mr..
Aarcourt has the faded gen.
tility of an older New England,
courtesy, generosity and a
sense of honor which never in
hibited Willis. The old man
took a liking to the boy,
pushed him along, put him
through the Harvard business
school and gave him his big
chance as assistant to the
president. But Willis. having
paid Mr.. Harcourt back for
$4,000 advanced toward his ed
ucation, could not see that he
owed Mr.. Harcourt anything
else. Willis father, an out
spoken character from the
West. who liked his drinks and
was afraid the boy would turn
out just as he did, is a finely
shaded portrait. So is Bess,
Mr.. Harcourt's granddaughter,
who, in adolescence, was a lit
tie in love with Willis, but saw
through him from the first
and, at the peak of his success,
told him of. There are others
GS well portrayed.
= willis wife was puzzling to
me. She was a highly intelli-
gent woman. She always saw
Through his poses and deplored
them. and yet accepted him as
he was and coddled him. Per-
haps she loved him, though
Willis was a hard person to
love.
More Is Implied
Nobody writes closer to life,
Of q sort. than Mr.. Marquand.
But this capacity to visualize
scenes and settings seems to
eutice him to describe them at
Unnecessary length. with rare
". a crisp sequence. AS in
most Marquand novels, not
much happens here-we have
a minimum Of drama-and
more is implied than is told.
Mr.. Marquand has an an
noying habit of deliberately
removing all suspense from
his stories, which is strange
for a writer who. earlier in
his career, wrote successful
mystery novels remember
Mr.. Moto? In, for instance,
'Point Of No Return" the sole
suspense hinged on whether
the hero would get a vacant
vice presidency in his bank.
Most of the story was one
@ng flaShback. In Sincerely,
Willis Wayde" Mr.. Marquard
Evening star., 1955-02-27
American Heritage

Better-late- -than-never note:
The February issue Of the ex-
cellent new magazine type
book, American Heritage"
contains an article by Boyd
B. Stutler on "The Hanging
of John Brown" incorporat-
ing on the scene account
which Harper's Weekly re-
fused to print.
The story sees the light Of
day for the first time, 95 years
after Its rejection.
Evening star., 1955-02-27

papers with
such tabled
editors a S
IN a r S e
H e n r y"
Waite r S on
of the Louis
vile Cour--
ier-Journal,
ana as 1Or-
eign corre-
spondent for
the HaskinS
Syndic a t e,
should en-
trance dew
OteeS of that
Evening star., 1955-02-27
News Of Artists and Exhibitions
Work Of Chilean
Artist Is Shown
By Florence S. Berrymon

Roberto Malta Echaurren Of
Chile. whom James Thrall
Soby termed "tfe latest impor-
tant painter of the surrealist
movement" is having his first
one-man show In the Wash,
ington area. Opened ct the
Pan American Union with q
reception by the Ambassador
representative Of Chile on the
COAS and Sonora de Sepul-
veda, the exhibition viii re-
main through March Is. It
includes 10 oil paintings. sew
eral Of them enormous. all
done in the past two years,
and two pencil and crayon
drawings Of 1912.
This is q frightening show.
The artists command of his
media and his far-reaching
imagination enable him to pro-
duce phantasmagoria much
more ominous than the paint
ings of surrealists who use
precisely delineated realistic
objects In unnatural juxtapo-
sitions. Matta's figures and
objects are his own inventions,
suggesting a strange. nom
human, mechanical world
existing in a gray void. some
times luminous. again filled
with lights like swamp fires.
It seems to be a world as i'm
placable as Orwell's of 1894"
and in addition. Incompetent
sible.
Title Puzzling
The paintings and their
titles seem reasonable at first
glance. Here Is one that looks
lihe a machine shop-"Link
of Contradiction" But no
machinist would recognize it;
and what does the title mean?
Yet the painting is well COM
posed, the apparitions skill
fully delineated. the 'colors
effective though largely linn
tied to gray, Illuminated with
emerald green, rose-red, yel-
low and orange.
Born 1912 in Santiago, Chile,
Malta graduated as an archi-
tect at 10 from the National
University. He worked in
France as an assistant to the
internationally famous LIE
Corbusier, and in 1887 Joined
the Surrealists in Paris, achiev-
ing almost immediate prom
inence. He travelled extern
sively in Europe, came to the
United States for the first
time in 1899. Since his first
one-man show in New York
in 1910 and his most recent
one there last month he has
exhibited regularly every year
in New York and other cities
in the United States as well as
in Europe, where he divides
his time between Rome and
Paris. He is represented In
many important museum COL
lectionS.
Evening star., 1955-02-27
Davis Says d Soviet Victory
Would Mean End of America
Reviewed by WilIiom Hines

our political arena. look on
Mr., Davis and his ilk as "anti-
anti Communists would do
well to read this book with an
eye on its context as well as
its content. It is about as
effective an anti-C Communist
tract as has come OF an
American press in this re-
viewers memory. Mr.. Davis
sees no chance Of an appeal
to Communist good will and
reason, his explanation being
that good will and reason are
quite beyond the comprehen-
sion of the Kremlin's leaders.
He believes that their only
emotion to which we can
effectively appeal is fear
fear. perhaps, Of that instant
and massive retaliation Of
which Mr.. Dulles has prated
from time to time.
There Is No Choice
But Mr.. Davis is far from
sure that the United States is
now-or ever will be-clearly
justified in the eyes Of the
rest Of the world in unilater-
ally clobbering an enemy. We
are, he believes, damned If we
do. More assuredly and more
somberly, we are damned II
we don't. J
A devout man whose de-
voutneSs is not of Madison
avenue, Mr.. Davis believes we
must trust in God and keep
our powder dry. But he is
not willing to arrogate to him.
self a full understanding of
Gods will and purposes. And
he does not think highly Of
those in Washington who do
profess to know the Unknow-
able.
Better of Decd
Whatever happens, Mr..
Davis warns, will not be pleas
ant. 1.-THE people who are
on the various ground zeros
that day." he says. will prob
ably be the most fortunate"
But to give in If hydrogen
war comes, Mr.. Davis holds,
would be worse than to die
fighting. A Soviet victory, he
believes, would be the worst
thing that could happen. Not
only would it mean an end Of
American civilization; it would
mean the end of America. His
peroration to the American
people faced with the possibil-
ity-if not the prospect-of
thermonuclear war ends with
a crib from Lincoln:
"As for those who are not
KILLED at the start of the warl,
let them remember that their
behavior will in all truth nobly
save, or meanly lose, the last
best hope Of EARTH"
Mr., Hines, Sunday editor OF
The Star, UiH substitute for
Mr.. Davis on the latter's ABC
network tews commentary on
Sunday evenings at 1915
fWMAL Am and FM) during
March. iDhile Mr.. Dauis Is on
TacGtion.
Evening star., 1955-02-27

uOVCL, DUh~
jour iris
tesse" (Dut-
ton; $2.50)
won the Prix
deS Criti-
ques. An
Amer ic a n
reader, at
lcdSt OklC i
know fairly
well, may
wonder why.
E v e n q S
F r e n c n
novels go,
stories in
Evening star., 1955-02-27

kind of thing. Particular
ly should the sleek White
House correspondents of to-
day enjoy his account of
the more rugged era when
there was no pressroom at the
Executive Mansion. President
Theodore Roosevelt, seeing a
poor reporter in the snow,
hanging around waiting to
talk to departing visitors, in
vited him in and set up ac-
commodations from that day
forward.
Both volumes of his men,
oirs, Mr.. Brownlow. who still
lives in Washington, said, are
informed with his primary in
terest since earliest childhood
politics.
It's All Politics
Whether it was the politics
of a backwoods' Missouri town,
the politics of a State or local
government or of a presiden-
tial campaign. the politics Of
important administrative de-
cisions, or the politics of people
working together anywhere
and everywhere-it is all the
same"
And in 76 years of a full and
industrious life few men have
learned more about the sub
ject, from participation and
both from observation and
participation.
Evening star., 1955-02-27
Reading and Writing
A Former District Commissioner
Recalls q More Rugged Era
By Mary McGrory

In writing the first volume of his mentors which will be
published March H. former District Commissioner Louis Brown
low troubled by old family failing the he calls he
curse of total recall"
"a Passion Politics. the story Of his life until his
appointment District Commissioner in 1916 to 591
Evening star., 1955-02-27
Notes in Brief

Paintings by Bernard r.
Loiselle compose the Febru-
ary exhibition at Del's Gallery.
5000 Wisconsin avenue, Be-
thesda, Md.
Evening star., 1955-02-27
Precocious Writer

From France comes a touted
novel by an 18-year-old girl
who writes under the name of
FRANCHISE Sagan. This short
Evening star., 1955-02-27
Books in Review
J.P. .Morquond's New Novel Recalls
Sinclair Lewis in His Prime
By CoFter Brooke Jones

John p Marquands new novel, Sincerely, Willis Wayde,
Little Brown $3951 is devastating portrait Of heel
This particular heel highly successful progresses in
the of 500 pages in modest home small
Evening star., 1955-02-27
Victor Ama.o Photo.

which pervades comment on
the high priests of abstract ex.
pressionism. this form Of mod
ern art looks as If 1t would
be easier to practice than any
other contemporary idiom.
Evening star., 1955-02-27
Among the Reviewers

John Hutchens, in the New
York Herald Tribune book
The people's voice., 1955-12-30
Mckay Sanctions Another Major
Resource Civeuwuy

tation is clearly contrary to the in
tent of Congress expressed in Public
Law 585 and Public Law 703 of the
83rd Congress-th Mineral Leasing
and Atomic Energy laws.
Both these acts contained Sections
Sec. 10 in PL 585; Sec. 81 in PL
703) declaring leasing should be per-
mitted in park, monument and refuge
lands only upon issuance of an ex-
ecutive order of the President de-
claring such an act necessary to the
national defense and security.
The first lease, to subsidiary of
Seagram Distilleries, is dated l De-
cember, the day before Secretary Nc
Kay signed the order throwing open
practically all the wildlife refugees to
oil and gas operators. The difference
in dates suggests a give-away worse
than Dixon-Y Yates which should cer-
tainly be investigated by Congress.
The people's voice., 1955-12-30

Montana has glorious future
but it all hinges on lower utility
rates, lower freight rates and a
greater development of cheap pub
lie power" Attorney General Ar
mold III. Olsen emphasized in point
ing out to Montana people that
s'you have date with your govern
ment in 1856"
The occasion for Olsen's remarks
was a television broadcast over
KXLF-TV, Butte, Wednesday even
ing.
Elaborating on the Importance
of people taking an Increasing
amount of interest in political af-
fairs, he stated that ''the issues of
government affect your pocket
book" using as examples the 81
AT per cent hike in natural gas
rates granted Montana Power Com
pany by The Public Service Com
mission in August, 1858, and the
continuing controversy over con-
troll of the state school lands.
So II MILLION AT STAKE
"The users of natural gas in
Montana have three and one-half
million dollar stake in the present
gas rate litigation and we have
more millions at stake in other
utility and freight rate controver-
sies," he pointed out.
'fIf the Supreme Court upholds
my contention that the increased
price of natural gas is unlawful,
this money must be refunded to the
customer-an average of $165.00
to each family"