BOOKS AND BOOKMEN

Evening Star, Issue 19328, 14 August 1926, Page 14

BOOKS AND BOOKMEN

■* HUE MAORI GANCE •

mm A fiIAYER FOR LIGHT Give ;; ( to tlio country light, 0 Lord, Fi/)m country sides without :i slain, N s6'this grey London sky abhorred, So that my darkness bo made plain. Light softened through the pale green silk , Of leaves that weave my roof above. 0 my lost land of honey and milk, And I to see the light thereof! There was no haze on the sweet light, But clear as water, cool as dew, Fresh as the fields ot Paradise, With green to let the soft lightthrough. If I bo blind, 0 Lord, have ruth! Give mo green pastures flecked with shade, Sweet airs blown from the Land o’ ' Youth, Where I was little, where I Though I be blind, give me Thy light, Clear light in leaf-hung country ways, So shall 1 sing and so shall write, And make my Blindman’s Holidays. —Katherine Tynan, in the ‘ Observer.’ CIHEHTAL Oriental folklore Winds its way along All the golden centuries Of Oriental song. Shahrazada hears a Wind-blown melody— And Sindbad’s ship goes sailing out Upon the Yellow Sea. High upon the mast a Flowerj’ flag unfurls; Around the shining carvcn prow The yellow water curls. Down the years it flows, a Widening way and long, And Oriental legend lives In Oriental song. —Ethel Louise Knox, in ‘ Christian Science Monitor.’ HEW BOOKS ‘THE GREAT TO-DAY’ HENRY FORD'S NEW BOOK ‘ The Great To-day: The Greater Future ’ is the title of a new book by Henry Ford forwarded by Messrs Angus and Robertson. It is a sequel of that other arresting book from the same authorship, ‘My Life and Work.’ That book dealt largely with tho evolution of tho automobile and tho early history of the Ford Company. This one deals with the expansion of that company, and, though in later days the need for struggle is not apparent, this later hook is none the loss a record of continuous effort. For it is Ford’s motto that tho profits from a business should go back into that business so that it may employ more hands at higher wages in order to put out its commodity at a decreased cost and thus command an everwidening market. To mark time has no place in his make-up. Ford’s cheapening process has been the continuous introduction of machinery to replace baud labor; yet the result is that he finds other work for tho displaced men to do, and instead of diminishing tho number on his pay roll ho is steadily increasing it. “ From a mere handful of men employed in a shop,” he writes, “ we have grown into an industry directly employing more than 200.000 men, not one of whom receives less than six dollars a day. Our dealers and service stations employ another 200.000 men. But by no means do we manufacture all that we use. Roughly, we buy twice as much as wo manufacture, and it is safe to say that 200,000 men are employed on our work in outside factories. This gives a rough total of 600,000 employees, direct and indirect, which means that about 3.000, men, wome'n. and children get their livings out of a single idea put into effect only eighteen years ago.” When Mr Ford speaks about his firm buying twice as much as it manufactures, one is inclined to wonder what on earth it is that is bought. Henry Ford is now lumber mill owner, coal mine owner, iron ore mine owner, railroad owner, steamship owner, plateglass manufacturer, llax grower for artificial leather making, and many other things besides being a maker of motor cars and tractors in the ordinary sense of the term. With few exceptions. such as by-products from the distillation of- coal, ho sells none of the products of these multifarious concerns; they are all feeders of his great motor industry. Some of our readers may remember that a few weeks ago a procession of Ford vehicles traversed Dunedin’s streets announcing price reductions from that date. This hook explains how they wore made possible. In most cases it was tho difficulty of getting supplies outside in sufficient quantities to - provide for an output of 2.000. cars a year that induced Ford to turn to manufacturing them himself. He is perfectly frank in explaining methods and processes. For him there are no trade secrets. The technicalities of manufacture should be of extreme interest to artisans and employers, but not to them" alone. In his ventures into new lines of industry Ford did not absorb successful operating concerns. He bought abandoned coal and iron mines and timber areas, a derelict and bankrupt railway, disdaining in his purchases to exploit the powerlessness of the vendors, and at his magic touch they became alive. Foresight,, > the harnessing of cheap power, research and invention, the elimination of all waste, the payment ot high wages and the insistence on getting an equivalent in work appear to be some of the constituent elements of that magic touch. One might say it all reads like a fairy tale; yet it is all so convincing that one wonders why all other employers do not go and do likewise now that they are shown the way. The complaint of many employers is that they find labor obstructive. That has not been Henry Ford’s experience. Wherever he has started his branches—in Cork, or Copenhagen, or anywhere else—he appears to be immune from any of .the indigenous industrial disputes. The same at homo. When Ford took over the Detroit, Toledo, and Ironton Railroad and reorganised it, he writes: “ The railway unions have made no objection of any kind, for all the men are being paid well above the highest union scale. The management of -the road does not know whether a man is union or non-union; the unions do not seem to care either, for the road has been exempted from all wage negotiations and also from all strike orders.

. , . No disputes on wages -ver take place in the Ford industries.” And again: “We have no crafts in our industries, and although we are not opposed to unions we have no dealings with them, because there is nothing they can furnish to aid us in’ our management. We pay higher wages than any union could demand for its members generally, wo have steady employment, and wo are not interfered with.” Emphatically; k &

A LITERARY CORNER

time, and it will well repay the closest study by everyone; connected with business, ami particularly with manufacture—by employers and workers alike. Brief as has been Ford’s experience as owner of ocean-going steamers, there is something in his comments on bow that industry is handled that may be recommended for perusal by some of the shipping managements operating ,in those waters.

There is also a captor on farm problems, which has close application here as well as in America. It might have been written with New Zealand’s particular difficulties in view, and shows that what is perplexing our primary producers is not their peculiar problem. (Ford adds the conduct of a farm to his many avocations, and was brought up on Vfarm.),' One of-the most interesting chapters in the book deals with the air. “We arc proceeding slowly, as is our wont,” is JtL nry Ford’s progress report. He is running two regular air lines from Dearborn to Cleveland and Chicago, “to gain the data on performance necessary to proper production.” On one occasion a plane was flown to Cleveland with a complete Ford car, body and all, as load. Mr Ford does not announce when production will begin, and only hints vaguely what form it will take. But in ending the air chapter ho states: “ The airplane will soon be a part of our life. What it will mean, no one knows; we have not yet found out what the automobile knows.” Wc do not deny that Henry Ford is a most expert advertiser. He is that in his book; but he Ls_ something very much more precious, a philosopher -and a great pioneer of mom. And ‘The Great To-day’ is moit convincing proof of it.—R.Pgß.

"Tho Maori Canoe,’ by Elsdon Best, Dominion Museum, Bulletin No. 7, published under tho direction of the Board of Maori Ethnological Research. In- these columns there has recently been reviewed a series of works which are appearing in' rapid succession, and which are laying broad and firm the foundations of Maori ethnology. They are from tho pen of Elsdon Best, incomparably greatest of students of the Maori, and perhaps greatest of all field, workers in tho anthropology of the Pacific. These works include ‘ The Maori,’ ‘The M/aori as He Was,’ ‘Maori Storehousesand Kindred Structures,’ ‘Maori Agriculture,’ ‘Maori Mythology and Religion,’ and the series of six short but authoritative monographs on various other aspects of Maori ethnology. In tho immediate future two extensive bulletins are promised, one on ‘Maori Fortifications,’ the other on ‘ Games and Pastimes.’ Little more than two years will separate the dates of publication of all of these, and when to them is added tho considerable bulk of materia] published by Mr Best in the preceding twenty-five years, it will be realised that his contribution to Maori ethnology surpasses all others in amount, as definitely as it does in quality. In the present bulletin 200 pages and more than 140 illustrations and diagrams are devoted to the Maori canoo, while the remaining 100 pages and thirty illustrations deal with canoes in other parts of tho Pacific, and finally with the peopling of Now Zealand. In the former part the whole of tho published material relating to Maori canoes has been reviewed, and almost all that is relevant is quoted in full. To this is added a much greater amount of quite new material collected by Mr Best from many Native informants, tho whole being discussed and rejected or adopted as the evidence warrants. In the face of so much industry and ability we advance only one criticism, a criticism which can, however, be fairly levelled at all the illustrated works in the list already given. It is not fair that Mr Best should beautify his books with illustrations of the treasures in Now Zealand museums and private collections and yet should acknowledgment of the source from which tho illustrations are drawn. It is gratifying to note that though this defect is apparent in the present bulletin it is present to a loss extent than is tho case with earlier ones.—H.D.S. BRIGHT AND BREEZY. Quite a breezy, chucklesomo, cleverlywritten book is ‘ Ships that Pass in the Night Clubs,’ by Gurney Slade. It is a satire on certain phases of modern life, notably the night-club habit and tho “Sheik” novel. These and other subjects are woven into a rollicking story of a sunburned, manly, but very-ranch-in-lovo Australian, who, having thoroughly “ done his bit ” in the “G. W. for C.,” returns homo to his sheep station to find it impossible to concentrate on merinos and shearers while there remained in his mind the picture of a beautiful girl whom he had soon while he was a patient in a London hospital. So, having a rich and “ sporting ” father, Wybert Ginning goes off to fossick ont tills girl in the London wilderness. He -has no clue beyond her name and the ineffaceable memory of her form and features, but a haphazard search is rewarded, Dame Fortune favoring the j bravo and tho young as she invariably docs, and ought to do. It is in the course of this haphazard search and the subsequent adventure which nets for Wybert the. £SOO which_ tho sporting father has stipulated his son should earn before he is encumbered with a wife and a further £20,000, that most of tho fun occurs. Tho manner in which the £SOO is “earned” might possibly arouse serious questions in a court of law or in a less “sporting”, father, but the reader of the story wouldn’t like to miss the bit about the stolon hear and its capers. The author evidently knows his Australia as well as his London and his Egypt, and there is a sureness about his work, as well as a sparkle, that makes it delightful reading. The characters are well drawn and not a bit exaggerated; not even the dragoman who poses as a Sheik of Royal blood and very nearly wins a fortune and Aunt Isabel. And the heroine, Pam, and-—but there are lots of bright spots in the book, a copy of which comes to us from the publishers, Messrs Cassell and Co., Ltd.

Falstaff is one of the immortals ra literature. His boastfulness, drunkenness,. and cowardice would make him altogether despicable were it not for the wit and gaiety which distinguish his character and place him in quite a little world of his own. Mr Thomas Donovan has done good service , by compiling a book entitled ‘ The Falstaff Plays of Shakespeare.’ Ho has pieced together the . portions of the plays in which Falstaff appears. As it is told in this book, the story of Falstaff begins in ‘The Kerry Wives of Windsor,’ is continued in the two parts of ‘Henry IV.,’ and ends in ‘Henry V.’ From the statements in his preface it is clear that Mr Donovan has not gone about his work in anv slipshod or haphazard manner. As the author of ‘ The True Text of Shakespeare,’ it can lie imagined that he has studied the subject deeply, and the form in which the plays are presented in this book is the result of painstaking effort and deductions from years of study of various toxis and, ;witheriti£sij

When bonks are issued as reprints vi’c can be sure that they have received, the hall-mark of popular approval. H one has a fair collection of these he can never bo short of somethin" to read, for there are certain novels that can be read a second time or more with interest. Messrs T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd., make a specialty of these reprints, and we have received from that firm two talcs of adventure that have been widely read and appreciated. They are ‘The Blue Lagoon ’ (by H. De Yore Stacpoolo) and ‘ The Island God Forgot ’ (by C. B. Stilson and C. Bcahan). The first-named is a vivid story of two children, survivors of a disaster at sea, who with an old sailor are stranded on a desert island. The seaman dies and the children are left to fend for themselves. In ‘The Island God Forgot we also have The tale of-survivors (five in number) of a sea tragedy left for many years on a little island far out of the beaten track. There is hidden treasure on this island, a lovely maiden, and a youth with the characteristics of a satyr. It is a highly dramatic story, m which an aeroplane and a young Hying man play an important part.

In ‘ Alison Vail ’ Elizabeth Newport Hepburn has created an excellent character. Alison is the child .of a New England father and a Virginian mother, ami in her is a combination of her southern mother’s delight in bcanty and ncr father’s passion for grim and naked truth. Both these characteristics play a largo part in her career when she goes to. Now York and lives the hard, eager life of an art student. ‘ Alison Fail ’ is the title of the story, and although Alison is naturally the principal character there are others equally well portrayed.. Hector Trench, the iarae sculptor, is a good study, as is Randal Maxwell, both of whom are closely connected with Alison’s development. The story is engrossing and the style excellent. The author has put her best into it, and the result is a novel which leaves a satisfied reader when the end is reached. Messrs Methuen and Co., London, are the publishers.

‘ Found on the Road,’ by Grot Lane (Herbert Jenkins, Ltd.), relates incidents in the lives of certain people in the town of Silver Streak, Oregon. The tale is told with much humor and shrewdness, and the principal characters stand out in a most entertaining way. [n common with so many American novels, sentiment obtrudes itself rather conspicuously, but if this is a defect it is more than compensated for in other ways. Mrs Batti, a woman of humble origin, marries a handsome Italian who comes to the town. Ho meets with an accident that cripples him for the few years that ho lives afterwards, and Mrs Batti becomes the breadwinner, and a competent one, too. _ The story is written round Mrs Batti, who is a woman of much sense, _ humor, and kindness; her two beautiful daughters and their love affairs; and her friends. Mrs Rosen and Mrs Mooney, and their families. ‘ Found on the Road ’ is much above’ the average of this type of novel, mainly because of the refreshing philosophy of Mrs Batti and her picturesque vocabulary.

Mr Holt Marvell, a new novelist, is a polished writer, and there is nothing amateurish about ‘Husks in May,’ nis first book. He bas an excellent style, and the story flows easily along well-developed lines. His characters are good, and ho introduces a vein of humor which is an added attraction. ‘ Husks in May ’ is the story of a beautiful woman who repays herself for the cruel boredom and disappointments of her early .marriage. She has courage and a zest for life beyond 'the bounds decreed by her sex, and is willing to pay the penalty. Had she the right in view of her daughter’s future? That is the problem which the author leaves to the reader. The point is an interesting one and should promote discussion. ' Messrs Duckworth and Co., London, are the publishers, and our copy is from that house.

‘ The Grand lYoung Man ’ (Duckworth and Co.) is by Dr Wingfield Stratford. It is a novel right up to date, for it brings us to a big strike in a cathedral city in England, which no doubt could easily be identified. It is a vivid picture in which the author sketches in very cleverly many figures of a type familiar to those who have studied England’s industrial history, hirst and foremost there is John Traskcr, the employer of the Victorian school, honest and religious, but hard and uncompromising. Then wo have his beautiful daughter, infected to some extent with the virus of modern Socialism; Sir Hergest Boomgardcn, international financier and octopus, and his satellites and toadies; and the Grand Young Man, son of a titled and exclusive family, who sees the way to political power through the unrest of the working man. There axe many subsidiary characters from various strata of society, from the Montacutes and Verings down to unhappy slum dwellers. Not the least interesting among the people in the book arc the men who are leading the strike. Nat Medwin, young and fiery, a Communist, is in conflict during the upheaval with the more experienced leaders of moderate views, but Med win’s wiki oratory sways the mob. This is no mere story written to achieve popularity by its topical interest, but is the work of one versed in the economic and social conditions prevailing in Britain to-day. The love of the Grand Young Man (Lord Vcring’s son) for Plain John Traskcr’s daughter illustrates the bridging of the gap between the Old Order and the New Rich-

‘Dark Places,’ by Percival Gibbon, is a collection of excellent short stories, chiefly dealing with Soviet Russia. Although the Russian stories concern Cheka atrocities and other dark subjects, they are not gruesome. Hero the author shows his ability as a shortstory writer. Ho does not over-do it, but leaves a lot to the reader’s imagination, and docs not endeavor to drive his point home. Mr Gibbon has evidently studied his subject, as his stories ring true. ‘ The Man of Science’ is a departure from the Russian theme, and tells of a German scientist who discovers a poison for all the world, and how he experiments with it on the inmates of a pauper asylum. ‘ The Dark Ride,’ the final story in the book, is a clever fantasy, hnt is unlike the preceding ones, as the tragedy strain is not so strong. Our copy is from the publishers, Messrs Methuen and Co. (London).

‘ Death-Bed Visions ’ (Methuen and Co.) is the work of the late Sir William Barrett, F.R.S. As a scientist Sir William was interested in this line of study. The cases have been stated without bias, but tbe 'author’s judgment as the result of his experiences inclined him to support the hypothesis of the survival of the soul after death. This little book is incomplete. It is really only the framework of a much more elaborate work, which the author had in mind, but was prevented from writing by his sudden death. His aim was to direct attention to phenomena which seemed to him to deserve more study than they have received. ‘ DeathBerl Visions’ will, to some extent, .jgaag the aailMHtla jaaoMsa*

EcOTES A correspondent writes: —“May I draw your attention io a curious mistake made in connection with the verso competition, the results ol which wore published in Saturday nights )Btar i Tim. line ‘ lie disapproves ol gin . was ascribed to G. K. Chesterton, E. U. Bentley is the author; 01. ’ LmRraphy for Beginners,* which is merely illustrated by ’Chesterton.”, That is. correct. , . In his eighty-sixth year, M. . Clcmcn,conu is engaged on a philosophical work in three volumes, ‘ The Relations of Man and the Universe.’ Not long ago ho wrote and published a novel, and more recently lie supplied the senario for a romantic film. There seems to be a revived interest in lieiifs. Last year wc had Miss Amy Lowell's gigantic ‘Life,’ then Mr Middleton Murry's ‘Keats and Shakespeare,’ anil only lately wc have had Mr Thorpe’s ‘-the Mind of Keats.’ Now the Oxford University Press announce another book on Keats by Professor H. W. Garrod, professor of poetry at Oxford.

Mr Jerome K. Jerome, the famous novelist, began his career as a clerk at the ago of fourteen.’ Later he became an actor, and toured the .provinces in the clays when the poor player had often to, tramp from one town tp •another. After that he took to journalism—and, later on, to success. Mr Jerome’s autobiography, ‘ My Life and Times,’ to be published by Messrs Fodder and Stoughton, will tell us of his unusual experiences in literature, and will give us a picture of the London of sixty years ago.

At the Turkish-Tartar Educational and Cultural World Congress in Baku recently, at which nearly a thousand delegates were present, it was unanimously decided that immense social and intellectual advantages.would be-.gained by the adoption of Latin letters instead of the Arabic and other characters with which Oriental languages are written. After this decision the question arose as to whether the English, French, German. or Slav system of pronunciation should be adopted, and.it was decided that, “ because of the similarity of the languages,” the Hungarian pronunciation was the most suitable fefi- the new writing of Turkish. Following the congress, the Japanese .Imperial Academy has also set a committee to investigate the suitability of supplanting the Japanese characters by Latin letters. Rumors of a Turanian renaissance comes from Angora. Nedsati, the Minister of Education, has created an important programme for reviving Turkish national art and arts. A few months ago ho founded the Stamboul Turkologue .Institute, and has now established a linguistic committee to eliminate the Arabic expressions &nd elements in the Turkish language.

There should be some interesting revelations in' the famous diary in which the late A. C. Benson is said to have recorded almost every incident in Ins life, and which he kept for many years (states a writer in ‘ John o’ London’s Weekly’). I understand that in a few months’ time it is to be given to the public. The publishers will probably be Messrs John Murray. As son of an Archbishop of Canterbury, as brother to two other famous men, as Master at Eton, and Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, the late A. C. Benson mot most of the celebrities of his time.

Until recently, Francis H. Sawyer, of Clinton (Mass.), was the possessor of a small collection of books, newspaper clippings, -manuscripts, and letters, all relating to John Beulstone, author of the classic ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb.’ The collection, numbering _ about 200 nieces, has just been acquired by Mr Henry Ford, who purposes to rebuild the schoolhouso which Mary Sawyer (the original Mary) attended, and use it as a museum for the documents. The original schoolhonse stood in Stirling (Mass.), but it will bo rebuilt m Sudbury. Mr Ford bos been busy finding and acquiring parts of the famous schoolhonse, including the cornerstone, the doorstep, and a portion of the frame, which will all be used in the rebuilding. The ‘ Bormr /dsev Book,’ published quarterly in connection with that most interesting centre of culture, the Bermondsey Book Shop, contains in - its June issue a provocative paragraph (states ‘John o’ London’s _ Weekly ’). In the course of a lively discussion at the book shop one evening recently the.se arose the subject of the six host novels in the English language. The young people of Bermondsey were not slow in registering their views, and this is the list they worked out on the spot:—‘ Tess,’ ‘David Copperfield,’ ‘ Gnlliver’s Travels,’ ‘ Tom Jones,’_‘ The Cloister and the Hearth,’ ‘The History of Mr Polly.’ For ray own part I am inclined to think that the list will not stand close examination. ‘Mr Polly ’ is a great hook, but it is not one of the six greatest in the English language; and I have my doubts about ‘ The Cloister and the Hearth.’ The ambitious discussion, however, went on to consider the six best plays in the world, and the voting resulted thus: — ‘Hamlet,’ ‘Faust,’ ‘Peer Gynt,’ ‘Prometheus,’ ‘ CEdipus Rex,’ ‘ St, Joan.’ The inclusion of ‘ St. Joan,’ with _ all respect, seems to be absolute rubbish. My readers may have views on the subject. The ‘Strand Magazine’ for July maintains its reputation for good short stories, interesting articles, and excellent illustrations. Among the contributors to tliis number are such wellknown authors as P. G. Wodchousc, Arnold Bennett, H. De Vcro Stacpoolo, and Porcival Gibbon. There is another instalment of the late Sir Rider Haggard’s ‘Days of My Life,’ dealing this time with his visit to Egypt and the writing of ‘ Allan Quartermain ’ and ‘ Cleopatra.’ The short stories cover a wide range of subjects,'from comedy to tragedy, and cater for all tastes. Henry E. Dudency supplies bis usual page of perplexities, which will tax the ingenuity of the reader and supply occupation for many hours.

“ Take caro of the sound and the sense will take care of itself,” said Reivis Carroll. And Mr H. A. L. Fisher evidently is in agreement, for ho declares it is not necessary for his engagement that literature should have sense, provided it has music. Commenting upon this statement. Arthur Machcn, in the London ‘ Observer,’ says; “It is true that on the rarest and highest peaks of literature sense is almost dissolved not into nonsense, but into a mysterious super-sense. In Coleridge’s ‘ Kubla Khan ’ and in Kent’s magistral ‘ Ode to a Nightingale ’ yon have the quintessence of that which is,finest in literature; hut what are magic casements? Where are faery lands forlorn? Perhaps literature on the heights goes back in a way to the depths from which it rose, not to a plain tale of simple circumstances, hut to an incantation chanted in the darkness, a song that spoke not to the intellect, but to the spirit of man.”

The story of a literary discovery due to a strange coincidence is told jn the introduction to ‘ The Yarn of a Yankee Privateer.’ edited by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The book is the first-hand narrative of John Lord, a kinsman of Hawthorne’s, who served on an American privateer in the war of 1812, and was captured and lodged in Dartmoor Prison. Mr Clifford Smyth, who made Lie discovery, sums up its importance in these words: “ Aside from tbe engaging mystery, the unique literary interest; that thus attaches to this volume, vre have above all else in ‘ The Yarn ’ not only an exceptionally fine story of travel and adventure, but a remarkable first-hand document ns well, that goes far toward illuminating a groat histort>(:al period heretofore lacking in ;U>i material.”