BOOKS AND BOOKMEN

Evening Star, Issue 22596, 13 March 1937, Page 24

BOOKS AND BOOKMEN

A LITERARY CORNER

VERSES 5 ' THE WAGTAIL •“Hey! Willie Wagtail Trippin’ o’er the green, Buskit like a bridegroom Trim and trig and clean. Dancin’ like a gay lass That swings her skirts ajee— Just a thing of beauty To please a poet’s e’e. •“ Joukin’ in ablow the brig, Loupin’ o’er, the linn; Through-the whins and back again Soople as jhe win’. Heppin’ o’er the chuckie stanes, Einnin’ roun’ and roun’, 'And aye that bonny grey tail Bobbin’ up and down. ‘‘ Weel I lo’e the loverodk’s song, Weel the lintie’s note; 'And .fine I ken that ne’er a lilt • Slakes your bonnie throat. .Yet blessings be upon you. And plenteous be your kail; Bigger birds and men we’d spare But no’ oor Waggletail.” _From ‘ The De’il and John Knox,’ by Robert Murray. EARTH AND HEAVEN What harmonies of earth are heard in heaven? .... If heaven there be, it is not strange nor far ; Much nearer is it than the morning star, ~ , And human as our hearts which die forgiven. 0, if there be that other world, that grace . ... Of .souls redeemed, we breathe it line the air; And angels are about us everywhere In love’s good deeds, in life’s transfigured face. i—Siegfried Sassoon, in the ‘ Spectator.’ REMEMBERED IN FRANCE 'A year has passed since Rudyard Kipling, the-j great- ■“ singer of. 'Empire... passed away, and if he is certainly not forgotten,in his own land, or ever likely to be, his memory is none the less cherished in France. Of all foreign authors, Kipling is the most quoted in France. ‘ If,’ in the fine translation of Andre Maurois, is known ,to every high-school boy in France. Kipling appeals to French . youth because his philosophy is a philosophy of action, endeavour, accomplishment. Kipling suffers in translation; or one might more accurately say that he cannot be translated. Verb coupled with preposition, which renders English so supple, in almost every case can only be translated into French by a verb, and thus the jugglery of a Kipling \ sentence, where one little word towards the end lights up the. whole as with a torch, is lost when translated. ; Mr Henry Noble Hall, .head of. the British Travel Association in Paris, has lectured in French on England and things English in everypart of France, and his lecture on Kipling, far -and away the most applauded, never fails to fill a hall. ‘ Souvenirs ,of France ’ has sold by the thousand in its French translation. “I returned to England and to school,” Kipling says, “with the knowledge that there existed a land across the water where everything was different, and delightful; where one walked among marvels, and all food tasted extremely well. ” He also wrote: “It was through the eye's, of France that I began to see,” and -what compliment could be greater? His poem, ‘France,’ written in 1913, has .been described as one of the finest epics of all time. ‘ The Jungle Book ’ is among the best selling annuals, and can be bought in its French edition in scores of different forms. It is given as a Christmas present, beautifully illustrated... and bound. ‘ Kim ’ is well known to French boys, and ‘ Captains Courageous ’ is a great favourite with them. Few English. writers succeeded in catching the atmosphere of France as Kipling did. Kipling knew France well, and had visited every corner of it, from Grenoble, “ with a mountain at the end of every street,” to Flanders, in the north, and Le Canigou, in the southwest. Le Canigou attracted the poet a great deal towards the end of his life. Set high up among the mountains of the Pyrenees, at the lesser-known end of the chain,. towards the Mediterranean, it was there that he went for a holiday every year. From it he could look across the valleys* at the towering peaks of the Pyrenees, covered with eternal snow, and his love for the spot perhaps came from the Indian aspect of the country, bringing back souvenirs of his youth. “There is a' certain little meadow by the sea. under Mount Canigou, which spring fills with narcissi when she first sets foot in Europe.” Kipling lost his only son in France. He left a sum of . money to defray the expense of a ceremony performed every night at the cemetery of Loos. There, when the sun goes down, - a British exsoldier sounds the ‘ Last Post ’ in memory of Lieutenant John Kipling and his comrades.

■■ From London comes an interesting item of news that Mr A. E. Mander’s ' Clearer Thinking, Logic for Everyman,’ published recently by Watts and Co., of London, is now to be issued in Braille type. This arrangement has been made as the result of a request to the publishers from the council of the National Institute of the Blind. The same New Zealand author’s previous book in the same “ Thinker’s ” series, ‘ Psychology for Everyman,’ has already been incorporated in the library for the blind, an edition in embossed type having been issued last year.

NEW BOOKS • PEOPLE IN PRISON’ In our leading columns reference has been made to * People in Prison,’ by “T. 1.5.” The book is a study of criminal characters—in other words, infirm characters —whom prison has failed to reform—hardly made any effort either to understand or reform—but of whom some, at least, have been converted into reputable citizens by outside attentions and sympathy. They are not very engaging individuals for • intellectual and fastidious persons to study and make friends of, but, as Herbert Jenkins has said, “ even in a rotten apple the pips is _ good,” and society is benefited when it makes the best of them. “ Fools? ” asks the author. “Of course these are fools. But is not that community still more fond and foolish, and incalculably more criminal, which, giving no help to their pitiful helplessness, permits them first to drift into crime, and thep, by forcing them to consort with criminals, degrades and ruins them A still more ? The identity of the author is not revealed, but the knowledge shown _in the hook has been gained in an official, as well as unofficial, association with prisoners, for which true charity must have been required. The main argument of the concluding chapter, ‘ Conclusions and Suggestions,’ _is that prisons should he moral hospitals, and that those of “ Dominia ” (naturally identifiable with New Zealand, in, which the book is published) are no more than places of detention, clean and garnished. With real hospitals for the body in mind the author asks, with regard to these other institutions, “"Where are the skilled physicians and surgeons, the trained nurses, the careful charts, the individual treatment, the quiet insistence on cure? ” They do not exist. The author would abolish gaols, as far as possible, in favour 1 . of probation and other agencies, converting the indispensable small remainder of them into hospitals for character. That may sound utopian at the present stage, even with the precaution which is urged of leaving ‘‘ no stone unturned to catch the offender every time, and to catch him quickly,” which would mean an improved police. But the humanity, the knowledge, gpd the understanding of the book must impress almost every reader. At least there is much room for the improvement of gaols, and especially for the work of the unofficial visitor, who has tact, as well as willingness, for being his ‘ brother’s' keeper. There is room for reflection in the argument that the new system which is proposed would prove, “ even with its specialists, far less expensive than the old, for it would eliminate the waste, human and material, as well as the contamination, involved in our too numerous moral lazaretto.”—Published by Mr F. A. de la Mare, Unicorn Press,' Auckland.

AUSTRALIA AT WAR NEW WAR HISTORY VOLUME. The Government .of Australia determined at the conclusion of the Great War that the deeds of its country’s sons, as far as written records, at any rate, could perpetuate them, should not be forgotten by the people of Australia and by succeeding generations. : The Government! arranged for the publication of an official nistory of Australia in the war, and the thorough manner in which it provided for the work may be judged by the fact that when the writings are completed they will occupy 12 bulky volumes. So far. 10 of these have been published, the latest to be issued being ‘ Australia During the War,’ by Professor Ernest Scott. It is the desire of the Government that the people of Australia shall be told the whole truth, and, except in the case of the volume dealing with the activities of the Australian Navy, the writers have been left unhampered by any form of censorship. Consequently it is safe to assume that the. Australian war history is one of the most complete in the world, and therefore one of the most valuable, for Australians were ■concerned in most happenings of any magnitude during the course of the war: ' The writers have- collected, sifted;, and analysed an ; immense amount of material, and in this latest volume, as in those dealing with the actual fighting, the interest never flags. So close were New Zealanders :to the Australians in most of the .fighting, and so similar were most of the problems on the “ home front ” of the Dominion that the Australian history is of very deep interest here. Professor Scott has done his work brilliantly, and, like the other volumes, it is a fine literary effort. The story is cast into four parts, _or “books.” The first review's the scenes at the outbreak of war. and the enthusiasm with which the Commonwealth responded; the political field, with a general election campaign in progress; the travails of the censorship; the' problems of residents of enemj nationality and trading contacts with enemy subjects overseas; the institution of iron-bound control through regulations under the War Precautions Act; and the demonstration of the importance of the office of Governor-General, and particularly the value of Sir Ronald Muhro-Ferguson (Lord Novar) in that office. In the second part the author reviews the stress'of the war at home, the formation of the armies and their equipment; the rise of stormy questions of policy thereunder, the conscription campaign, the break-up of the Labour Government, and its consequences. Economic aspects of the war are dealt with in the third section—finance, taxation, loan issues, the rise of the Commonwealth Bank and the note system, the enormous difficulties of selling exports and the shipping crises, pricefixing, the industrial ferment that arose, and_ the patriotic funds. The fourth section describes the coming of peace, the Peace Conference, and the work of repatriation, especially the settling of ex-soldiers in civilian life.

There are numerous stories from behind the scenes in this. intensely interesting volume, and the indexing has been carried' out on a very thorough

scale, adding to the value of the book as a work of reference. The chapter dealing with the conscription of wealth is of especial, interest, and seems to make it clear to the student of the pages that in a future, and perhaps nearer, emergency conscription of the whole nation’s resources of property, as well as of man power, would be inevitable. Amom* the valuable appendices is one showing the enlistments in the A.I.F. in every State for every month of the war. The total enlistments were , 416,809, of whom 331,781 embarked for the theatres of war. The casualties in the A.I.F. were higher in proportion to their number than those of any other , portion of the British forces. They totalled 215,585, being 64.98 of the troops who left Australia’s shores. Professor Scott’s epilogue is a fine one: “From every social strata came the men of the A.1.F., and every rank in the army contained officers from the same wide variety of classes as formed their companies. A more thoroughly democratic army never fought. On three occasions they voted while German cannon were thundering at the lines, with the same facility as they would have voted had they been in their own towns in Australia; and if they had not been able to vote they would have considered that they had a grievance. For it was essentially a citizen army, hardened by training into a fighting machine which gained from the critical Marshal Foch the praise that it consisted of shock troops of the first order. A true citizen army it proved itself to be in' its deepest instincts when the war was over and the time came for the , men to slip back into the avocations of peace.’’ The publishers are Messrs Angus and Robertson Limited, and Melbourne. The book is admirably produced in clear type, and is well illustrated with photographs, graphs, and tables. POPULAR PSYCHOLOGY In his book, * Streamline Your Mind,’ Dr James L. Mursell, of Teachers’ College, Columbia University, has contrived a racy treatise on practical psychology, which should make an appeal to such as husy business men with little time at their command for studying weightier compilations containing a mass of purely theoretical detail. In his efforts to make his reader-pupils more efficient by helping them to get full value from their personal attributes the author should meet with no small measure of success. At the oiitset he stresses the importance of learning how to learn, and points out the latent clanger in having too rigid a faith in the old adage, “Practice makes perfect.” According to * his manner of it is necessary to eliminate excess mental trappings and get down to the business of extracting from ourselves the benefits accruing from our strong points. In a chapter on “ useful hints ” the writer gives the advice not to stop experimenting and take to hammering, drawing the analogy that when a machine does not work according to one’s wish it is not advisable to become irritated and hit it a “ crack ” or two. The' consolidation of gains and the acquiring of physical skill form the nucleus of other themes touched upon, while there is also an interesting chapter on the everyday matters of eating, drinking, smoking, and sleeping. .According to the theories propounded on smoking, for instance, it is not wise for the person who wishes to cut the habit down to a minimum to tackle his problem in the manner of a head-on collision. The flank attack is to be preferred. “ Treat the tobacco habit as what it really is,” he says, “ a sort of game you play with yourself, a kind of solitaire—and you will give yourself the best chance of controlling it. Finally, readers are led along the road to scientific thinking in every walk of life and are shown how to overcome bogies, obstacles, and limitations. Our copy of this most readable book comes from the publishers, Messrs Angus and Robertson Ltd., of Sydney. 1 BUSH RAMBLES 1 In these days when the hook world is overrun with commonplace novels, it is refreshing to be able to turn to something really substantial as well as instructive. ‘ Bush Rambles ’ offers such a diversion.'’ Its author is A. G. Hamilton, one of the most famous of Australian naturalists, who, in an interesting form, presents the results of some of Ms long observations. Judging by what he has written, the naturalist had a wonderful pleasure in his studies before the loss of his sight compelled him to retire from the active list of experimenters, and even now his enthusiasm for the fauna and flora of Australia is still apparent by the fact that after his affliction he enlisted the help of a relative to prepare the manuscript from shorter articles which appeared from time to time in a magazine publication. As many of his little pictures depict his rambles in New South Wales before the appearance of advanced settlement, they afford the opportunity of a comparison between natural hisfory of the ’eighties and today. A copy of * Bush Rambles ’ has been received from Angus and Robertson Ltd.

NOTORIOUS MURDERS * The Stroke of Murder,’ by Miss Winifred Duke, is not a crime novel. It is a collection of some half-dozen of the more notorious murders of comparatively modern times. Among the cases which Miss Duke has chosen arc the famous Crumbles crime of 1920 and the “ sack murder ” at Liverpool in 1913, The various cases are given in full, a short introduction being followed by the inquest, the lower court hearing, and finally the Supreme Court trial of the accused. As the evidence given in both courts is generally much the same, its repetition tends to become rather tiresome. Nevertheless, the book is of exceptional merit and will appeal to all who are interested in crime and its many aspects. Our copy is from the publishers, Messrs Robert Hale and Co. (London),

BREEZY WESTERN YARN No end appears to be in sight to the variations it is possible to introduce into the Western theme. Naturally there must always be a similarity in the characteristics of those whose adventures form the backbrone of any out-of-doors thriller, but it is still possible for novelists with any ingenuity to find something new by way of plotweaving. In his book, ‘ Stick ’em Up, Cowboy,’ Charles M. Martin has managed to pen a breezy story ,of “ Tiefast ” Condon from Texas, who rode into California at a time when a feud was being waged between the cattle and lumber industries. Naturally Condon is not long in his new place of abode before he runs into trouble. But romance is also his portion. Gradually he fights his way in the cause of justice towards the goal of any worthwhile Western hero—the happy ending. The book is published by Messrs Ivor Nicholson and Watson. ,

HIGHLY IMAGINATIVE A new novel which is nothing if not imaginative is ‘ The Future of Mr Purdew,’ by Marjorie Livingstone. Accompanied by. his two daughters, Mr Purdew leaves London for Paris by private plane. The plane crashes and the occupants are killed. However, the story does not end here. Very skilfully the author carries the action into what may perhaps be interpreted as her conception of life after death. At first only the elder of the Purdew girls realises that she and her father and sister are dead, and in the spirit world she leads them away from the machine, in which she has caught a glimpse of , their bodies. Although the theme is a weird one, the tale flows on in a style uncommonly natural in the circumstances, and readers to whom its kind appeals will he greatly intrigued to know what is coming next. _ Messrs Wright and Brown are the publishers. * FLAME IN THE WIND* One of the most popular women novelists of the day, Margaret Pedlar, considerably enhances her reputation in ‘ Flame in the Wind,’ her latest effort. It is a delightful and absorbing romance with characters of the extremely interesting and human type that_ invariably appear in her pages. In this latest story Cara Glyn, the attractive heroine, steals the heart olj the reader from the moment the book is opened. The author has one wondering how Cara is going to get’her next meal, let alone pay the rent of her one room, but the young heroine wasn’t meant to be defeated, and, as told in a series of entertaining chapters, rises above all her trials and difficulties. Few people could resist her. as David Blakeney discovers when he comes into the scheme of things to stage a charming romance. The publishers are Messrs Hodder and Stougbton Limited, London.

A WOMAN SCORNED Francis Seeding has woven a firstclass murder mystery around the old saying about a woman scorned, and entitled it ‘No Fury.’ It is one of those stories in which from motives several people might be the' culprit, but in this case the author is clever enough to conceal the actual murderer till near the end. The characters are well portrayed, and there is a charming romance as a subsidiary plot. Our copy is from the publishers, Messrs Hodder and Stoughton Limited (London). •SCOTLAND EXPECTS’ Mr J. Storer Clouston made a hit with ‘ The Lunatic at Large,’ _ and followed it up with other entertaining books of the same kind. Most of them were pure farce. His latest effort, ‘ Scotland Expects,’ is a comedy. The scene is laid in the town of Kambie, not far from Edinburgh. One would imagine that Mr (Houston is a Scot himself, judging from the apt way in which he describes Scottish scenes and characters. _ The chief incidents in the book arise from the death as the result of an airliner crash of Peter Wotherspoon. He had left ,his native heath as a young man and had made a fortune in the Mecca of aspiring Scots—London. He had neither wife nor child, so that naturally his relatives in Scotland, of w,hom there were nine, were keenly interested in his will. To their consternation, they learned that' the whole of his estate was bequeathed to an elderly woman whom he met on the airship and who was kind to him after the accident. Mr Clouston has produced an excellent stor.v in which humour and sentiment are judiciously mixed. A tale to be recommended. The publishers are Herbert Jenkins Limited.

AN UNUSUAL ROMANCE Readers of Tristram Beresford’s ‘ Break of Day ' will have the unusual experience of following the development of a romance that exists only in the mind of one of the parties concerned. If for that reason only, the story is novel, hut, however, it has other features to commend it to those who show preference for anything out of the ordinary. It traces the life of one boy in particular from early childhood until maturity, accompanying him on all his travels and in all his thoughts from the time he catches a glimpse of a little girt at a party. Through the years his heart calls to the girl of the party, but it is not until he has reached an age of discretion that he again comes face to face ‘with the girl of his dreams. The story lives at all times, and a rather dreamy atmosphere of thought is conveyed. Our copy is from MacMillan and Co., Ltd.

A ROMANCE Tn this story, ‘ Daughter to Dianh,’ the authoress, Miss Allone Corliss, has increased her popularity as a’ fiction writer. She has handled the delicate situation arising in this romance with sincere care, culminating in a befitting climax which readers o? romance will enjoy. The daughter of a beautiful mother seldom finds life simple. Diana once said to her: “ You| re so terribly direct, Karen! Sometimes you frighten me. You go straight to the point.” “ I know it ” Karen grinned with swift affection at her mother. “And you never do, mother. You always go the whole way round! I. suppose it s a difference - in generations. Aline moves faster, you see ” Their conflict was hot only a conflict of generations, but in temperaments. Karen, whose mother was so young and gay that she was often taken for an older sister, had to fight for her happiness. Diana could be named a butterfly, and her easy-going style brought Karen to the brink of lifelong unharminess. Luckily, Karen knew what she wanted. Our copy is from Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs. The publishers are Messrs Hutchinson and Co. Ltd.

NOTES The mysterious personality of T. E. Lawrence lives on in the minds of his contemporaries. One of those whom he greatly influenced was Mr E. R. H. Altounyan, who wrote soqn after his death a long meditative elegy addressed to him. The poem, * Ornament 'of Honour,’ has. been published by the Cambridge University Press. Mr R. H. Sherard’s : new book on Wilde, ‘ Bernard . Shaw, Frank Harris, and Oscar Wilde,’ is described as a refutation of Harris’s biography. There is a preface by Lord < Alfred Douglas, and Mr Hugh Kingsmill contributes an interview with Shaw. Mr Sherard, who is a great-grandson of Wordsworth, was made a , Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. for his biography of de Maupassant. A biography of ‘ King GeorgeVl,’ by Mr" Taylor Darbyshire, was published in London; recently by Hutchinsons. Mr Darbyshire was, one of the journalists who accompanied His Majesty, when, as Duke of York, _ he visited New Zealand and Australia 10 years ago. One hundred years ago, in 1837, Charlies Dickens became an editor when Richard Bentley began ‘ Bentley’s Miscellany ’ with the author of ‘Pickwick ’ in the chair. And in the ‘ Miscellany’s ’ pages ‘ Oliver Twist ’ made his bow. Other literacy notabilities, too, appeared there. Mr John Masefield is engaged on a new and ambitious work of fiction. It is a tale of the English countryside, and of the fortunes of a family, and it will occupy three volumes. The first deals with~the 1870’s, when the head of the family becomes involved in a quarrel with the authorities because he champions a poacher whose gang has caused the death of a keeper.

Examples of A. E. Houseman’s tart wit are still cropping up. Here is one culled from Mr A. Edward Newton’s ‘ Bibliography and Pseudo-Bibliogra-phy.’ An American bibliographer, seeing that a new edition of ‘ A Shropshire Lad ’ was announced, wrote to Houseman, as follows:- “ I highly value my copy of the first edition; is there anything new''important in your last?” To this Houseman replied: “ No, only a few new blunders replacing the old ones.”

M. George Duhamel, whose novel cycle ‘ Salavin, 1 , has just appeared in English translation, has been visiting London with his wife. Before her marriage Mme Duhamel had a disguished career as an actress at the Comedio Francaise. M. Duhamel is in the forties. He speaks English well. He began as a doctor, like Mr Maugham, Dr Cronin, and Mr Deeping. During the war he performed over 2,300 operations on soldiers. Later he gave up surgery and biology for literature. ‘ Salavin ’ has sold over half a million copies in France, and has been translated into 12 foreign languages. M. Duhamel is also editor of the literary paper ‘ Mercure de France.’

One of the most interesting figures of the late nineteenth century, and one of the least understood, is Paul Kruger. Almost the first, and by far the fullest, biography of the Boer leader is Miss Marjorie Juta’s * The Pace of the Ox,’ which was published recently by Constable. The author is herself a South African, and has obtained firsthand information from men and women who knew Kruger; moreover, she has had access to the important archives recently l returned from Leyden and Paris. This is the .first time that a comprehensive study of Kruger’s whole life, political and personal, has been made available.

On a return voyage from America in 1859, Samuel Lawrence, the portrait painter, happened to pick up ‘ Adam Bede,’ and thei hook so delignted him that he determined to make the author’s acquaintance. He was told that to do so he had only to get in touch with George Henry Lewes, whom he had met years before at Leigh Hunt’s. George Eliot agreed soon after their second meeting that he should make a study of her head. The story is recalled in the last number of the 1 British Museum Quarterly,’ which records that a full-face drawing, in black chalk, inscribed “ first study for the portrait of George Eliot, by Samuel Lawrence, 1860,” has just been added to the print room. The inscription suggests that Lawrence made more than one study for the drawing he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1882.

RUST IN CARNATIONS COMBATING THE DISEASE The carnation as a florist’s flower has been subjected more and more to conditions totally at variance with the simple needs in order to obtain the large blooms demanded not only for exhibition ' but for ordinary garden purposes. The_ necessary, though sometimes excessive fertilisation of the soil either by organic or chemical means, or both, is probably the chief source of disease and delicacy of constitution, leading to early decay and ultimate death of the plant. It is over 60 years since rust was first noticed, but, whatever the cause, its severity- has meant the destruction of thousands of plants. Fortunately, however, there now seems to be hope of not only curing the disease but preventing it—a very much more important issue. Lime, as every gardener knows, is essential to carnation culture, but. calcium oxide is not the only form of it. Neither has it the properties suitable for all soil conditions or the ability to mingle with it, and thus render it akin, to the original habitat of the dianthus family, which was in dry, and in most cases in'steep, perfectlydrained rocky areas. SALT AND SOOT. For carnations growing in the open ground, even in bad cases of rust, the liberal use of well weathered soot, dusted over the plants after _ they have been sprayed with a. solution of one tablespoonful of common salt to two gallons of water, will effect a cure. Two applications may be required, but it is not necessary to cut off any of the leaves, as the disease spores will dry up and disappear with this treatment. Under glass, however, it is not possible to use soot—except in extreme cases—to the extent that may be necessary as an overhead dust, although it is being used more and more as a top-dressing at planting time. In the latter case it is thinly covered with compost. Very finely-ground carbonate of lime has come to be recognised as a great deterrent to disease. Rusty plants can bo sprayed with the salt solution and then thickly dusted with the powdered limestone, which is left on to dry. This cures the disease and destroys the spores in a few weeks, as a rule. Soot is only resorted to in obstinate cases, when a second application is necessary, the plant again being sprayed .over as before.