A LITERARY CORNER

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9716, 19 July 1917, Page 8

A LITERARY CORNER

(R.A.L.) "THE STORY OF THE ‘ANZACS.’ ” Compiled. (James Ingram and Son, "‘The Block/’ Elizabeth street, Melbourne.)

AVe have hero iu twenty chapters the story of Gallipoli, from the landing of tho first Anzac man to the embarkation of the last units of the evacuation. It deals impartially with both sides of tho "Anzac” combination, in a manner worthy of such a comradeship in unprecedented war. The first chapters deal with the Imperial relations, sketch the events of the outbreak of the war, and give particulars of the call to arms, which was answered so magnificntly throughout Australasia. The voyage, followed briefly with a spirited account of tho battle between the Sydney and the Bmden; and the preparatory work in Egypt is vividly described, in a manner which throws considerable light on the great feats of endurance performed during the memorable campaign that followed* The campaign itself is detailed from first to last with simple graphic power. There is no "high faintin’,” no exaggeration, no attempt at fine writing. It is a plain narrative of facts, given in an easy, simple style, conveying perfect pictures of tho battles, _ and the life iu the trenches and behind. It is the most complete account, we believe, yet produced, and it is of fascinating interest from first to last. The great landing is thrilling from beginning to end. As wo read the simple narratice, we realise what a double miracle it was, human and military—a miracle that any man should have reached tho shore; a miracle that anything like a military unit should have forced its way up those hills; a greater miracle that it should have held off the overwhelming numbers of tho enemy. Fighting on the knifeedge above, almost without shelter, against vastly superior force, with Death on the beach below in company with the failure of the entire expedition, these incomparable troops, getting their baptism of fire, held on with cheerful mastery, despite numbers, storms of shot and shell, cold, hunger, and fatigue beyond description. They blazed up into fierce bayonet charges; they laid down in shelterless endurance of bombardment; they rose up to sweep their fronts with that coolest, most devastating rifle fire which is the particular property of the British army; they endured till the end brought relief and artillery support, and went down and slept on the beach below from which they had ousted Death and Failure. A multitude of the incidental battles follows, from Pine Hill to Helles, for our Anzaes were constantly getting shifted, and gaining kudos wherever they went. Perhaps tho finest story in the book is the battle of Suvla, tho turning point in tho great struggle. The book, in fact, works up to that climax. We have the surprise of the landing in the morning and the co-operation of the Anzaes marching out, some of them by night,/to take part in the great enveloping assault, and others of them rushing Turkish positions in their front, keeping up the battle with tho rest of the forces along the whole front.

The excitement is intense, and the hopes of victory great. These fluctuate from hour to hour—a daring charge like the charge of some New Zealanders sending them up to fervent certainty, a disaster like that on the left of some of the Stopford men sending them down to zero.

Tlie whole of tho eventful, sharp, most wonderful battle passes before us, until we see tho Turkish masses and guns growing to overwhelming strength, and the efforts of the exhausted attack on the far left falling more into weakness. Hope deferred at night comes up smiling in the morning, sobers down by noon, and by night is gone. In its place acceptance of failure. It is the best account of that great turning point in the campaign of Gallipoli we have yet seen. What makes it specially good is the fair criticism devoted to the leadership. General Hamilton, wo note, is freed entirely from the criticism that he kept away too much from the crucial side'of the battle. It is r roved conclusively in this connection that he had to remain a.t the central point to direct the whole battle. At his post he stood, with three cables from three points. each about 50 miles away, and orders flying as reports came. Surely a fine picture of a general directing a great, modem battle. Tr. ia needless to add that the closing scenes of tho two evacuations maintain the interest of tho story well. The maps afad plans of the hook are very good, and there are some fine illustrations of the immortal “Anzac” beach. "PHYSICS, ETC.. FOR NURSES.” Amy E. Pope. (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New Y’ork and London.) The Americans, if they are hustlers, are nevertheless thorough. Otherwise how could hustling pay? There are hundreds of proverbs to give convincing answer. If any one doubt the American fact let him turn to this book. It is tho most complete scientific manual for nurses ever produced. The lady was launched as a nurse, as graduate of a New Y’ork school of nursing. She got a special education diploma from a teachers’ college of Columbia University. She became an instructor in a famous school of nursing at a famous hospital iu Now Y’ork. She became superintendent of a school of nursing at Porto Rico, and she passed to the position of instructor of the school of nursing at St. Luke’s Hospital, San Francisco. Out of tho multifarious experiences so gained, this industrious lady wroto several useful hooks, a "Medical Dictionary for Nurses,” a volume on “Practical Nursing,” a valuable book on the “Essentials of Dietetics,” and others, the most remarkable of which is a “Text Book of Anatomy and Physiology for Nurses.” This hook is the natural result of this experience and industry. It is, as wo have said, probably the most valuable manual for nurses extant. Every one. of its twenty-four' chapters is a treatise of special knowledge for the guidance of the practical nurse, both in her daily life and in the pursuit of the laudable ambitions open to her splendid calling. Without such knowledge, to put it iiractically. no nurse can rise above the rank and file of tho nurs.-ag profession. Tho hook opens with laboratory work, well and simply illustrated, as the foundation of the knowledge which guides all practice. Then it passes ’to the study of “Matter and its Elements,” of “Energy, Heat and Prcs-

sure.” It descants on "some common physical processes and their results”; explains something of the essential of. “ether, heat and light” ; has something useful to say about electricity and magnetism: and dwells on the phenomena of ‘‘sound, hearing and speech.” There is a remarkable course of chemistry in the range of subjects, with particular reference to oxygen, to fuels and illuminants, and the properties of water. It passes to the •"chemistry and methods of cleaning,” goes on to treat of tho chemical constituents of the human body, and the food by which the same is nourished, and their value under varying' conditions. Naturally the chemistry of food is not forgotten, neither is the important subject of tho “spoiling, preservation and adulteration of food” : and of course there is a good doalfabout the "chemistry of digestion.” and a whole chapter is given to the waste matter in the body and tho channels through which it is eliminated.

Lastly, for those who would further whet the appetite for knowledge thus created there Is a comprehensive bibliography. and a useful glossary of terms. Completing the usefulness of the manual is a most convenient index for re. ference. Here is a. hook which should be in the hands of every nurse, and its perusal will not do any harm to any mother of a family or matron of any institution. "PENROD AND SAM.” “SEVENTEEN.” Booth Tarkington. (Hodder and • Stoughton, London.) Few, writers have the insight and sympathy which • aro •. the real makers of tho books this author devotes to voung people. Tho second of tnese books, "Seventeen,” errs oh the side of severity. Boys of seventeen do make themsolnes ridiculous, at the age when the first awakening of , the tender passion gives irresistible force G, the tendency towards , priggishness, which is sometimes created by the inindicious trainring of young people. But the idea of giving a whole book ho the esjiositioa iof this harmless vagary of the young, which always departs at the call of Time, is. much like pedantic severity run to the absurd. We may laugh gently at boys and their vagaries, but that sort of thing, though exceedingly humorous n-fT Booth Tarkington’s hooks always are is unendurable for its heartlessneas and lack of proportion. ■ The other book is a gam of the full Tarkington quality, undimmed. It deals with two healthy . white boys and a gang of brisk young and a brisk young negro, whose skin helps you to realise that boys are hoys always aud everj'where. Moreover, you see that when they are good they are superlative. Witness tho way these hnvs found an old horse astray on the farm, the scene of their exploits—made a hospital for it; tended the animal with care:- stealing groceries end greengroceries and every imaginable thing to which equines are supposed, in the limitless boyish imagination, to. bo partial; and,- finally, for each a medal from some Humane Society that flourishes somewhere in the States, watching tho brute creation with the vigilance, of the S.P.G.A., so remarkable in our country.

“THE AMAZING YEARS.”

W. Pett Ridge. (Hoddcr and Stoughton. London.) A prolific writer this, whom you admire for his prodigious fecundity, and love for his untiring skill, and keenly observant, gentle sympathy with ah mankind. Sometimes you think he is Dickens with a hood on, Bo true aud direct is he, without the buhblings-over at all points which are tho charm of the Great Master. But when you pursue the clue, it grows fainter, and presently, the pursuit is lost in the maze of the Ridge originality. ■ This is a story of the war, and its treatment of a groat number of people during the years of. it make those years ‘‘amazing,” as the title indicates. It is a war story, without bein(z a story of war. It is not prancing or rollicking, or joking, or fighting, or dying, after the of the world of trenches and parapets, of ■Tack Johnsons, and machine-guns, of bayonets and bombs. Far from it. The story, is of tho people who stay behind and think of their men, pray for them, write to them, dreaming of their return or lamenting their decease, as the case may bo; enduring the while the stings and arrows hurled by Fortune in time of war,, especially where people are in partnership with is made great hy its absolute truth, Tho story is worked out bv strong types, with . most, plausible dexterity and -a realistic knowledge of life, which is made great hy its. absolute truths, ‘and there flows throughout a gentle, subtle humour, like a delicate perfume in a living room. The style forbids skipping. It just holds you down from one cover to the other.