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roomless, so he decided to go to the Far East. We quote:

One week before the publication of his new novel "Ethan Quest", Harry Hervey, novelist and traveler, has departed for the Far East on an expedition into Indo-China. This young man, who is an authority on many Far Eastern subjects, and has brought the authentic atmosphere of the Orient as well as its glamor to his books, believes that hidden somewhere in the fastness of the Indo-Chinese jungle are broken piles of sun bleached stones that may add another chapter to the story of the Khmers, the lost builders of the mysterious and magnificent city of Angkor in Cambodia.

Mr. Hervey sailed recently from the west coast. On the way he will stop a while in Japan and China, then go on down the coast of Indo-China to Saigon, turning inland, up the Mekong River to Angkor, the dead city of the Khmers. After a sojourn in Angkor, his caravan will press into the jungle, cross upper Siam, and move north toward Luang-prabang, searching for the secrets of the builders of Angkor.

Across the dulness of a weary evening flashed the large and cheerful yellow of "The Complete Limerick Book" by Langford Reed. I intend to keep this gay, delightful book as hostage against other occasional evenings of the same sort. Mr. Reed has prefaced his book with an entertaining history of the limerick, and has divided his collection of four hundred examples into sixteen chapters. One chapter is devoted to Lear, who, while not the originator of this verse form, was the one who made it popular in his "Book of Nonsense", that gorgeous piece of foolery which he composed for the grandchildren of his patron, the Earl of Derby. Other chapters concern limericks topical, tongue twisting, clerical, and literary. On the whole the book is a joy, in spite of the fact that about one third of the examples which Mr. Reed selects are pointless or structurally bad, and that he omits many of my old favorites. It is too bad to handicap a book of many merits with a too inclusive title. But one of the nice things

about the format of this book is that it has very wide margins, on which one may jot down such omissions. BookMAN readers ought to be especially interested in the "limicritical reviews". They suggest a jazzed review medium, doing for books what "Processional" tried to do for the theatre. How's this for an epitome of the Dell (Ethel)

manner:

From "The Complete Limerick Book"

A strong silent man on a ranch
Thrashed a beautiful girl with a branch.
Cried she, "You are hellish!
But deliciously Dellish,

So take my affection, carte-blanche."

The book is happily illustrated by H. M. Bateman.

Charles Norris was about to start for his ranch in California when I last saw him. His new book "Pig Iron" safely finished, he was indulging in a few days of speculation and enjoyment. His wife, Kathleen, was hard at work on a short story. Her "The Heart of Juanita" is appearing in the "Cosmopolitan"; and about the same time as her husband's novel is published, another one of hers, which has not been used in a magazine, will see the light of publicity. Mrs. Norris says that winter in New York City has proved to her that it is possible to work here if you

really wish to do so. As a matter of fact, Kathleen Norris is one of the few women writers I know who really like to write. She enjoys telling stories, and putting them on paper, too. If you haven't read her autobiographical sketch, "Noon", I strongly advise your doing so. There could be no better textbook for the ambitious girl, or boy either for that matter. The same day, not far down the avenue, in her apartment which afforded a grand view of spring trees and drives black and shiny with rain, I found Edna Ferber, packing to go down into the North Carolina mountains. Was this a pleasure trip? Not at all. It seemed that she was going into the hills, miles from a railroad, to collect material for the novel on which she is at work. Having heard that she was writing a story of Chicago in the last century, I was curious; but since no information was volunteered, like the perfect interviewer which we all aim to be, I remained discreet. Why is it that, suddenly, everyone is writing stories of the south? Roy Helton, tall, dark, with a soft Kentucky drawl, arrived not long since and informed me that he was writing a story of old Kentucky days. Even as he told me this, I could hear Irvin Cobb's voice dictating a letter in the next office. Presently in drifted DuBose Heyward and his wife Dorothy, fresh from lectures and South Carolina, with manuscripts of plays, poems, and novels aplenty. The Heywards have found themselves a cottage on the Sea Islands, and after a summer at the Peterboro Colony they will retire to the simplicities of plantation life, to turn out more products of southern literature. From Baltimore comes an energetic young gentleman named Polan Banks. He can't be more than twenty and he looks eighteen. He tells me that his costume romance has just

been accepted by a major publisher. I was much impressed by his light grey hat and his peg topped trousers. Young novelists flourish! Eighteen year old Michalena Keating, who has been acting some years with David Belasco, writes a story in her dressing room while she understudies a famous star. It is called "Fame", and is a rattling good story, now naive, now sophisticated, but readable throughout. Miss Keating is rather too goodlooking to be a writer. She tells me that she expects to appear in the stage version of Dorothy Speare's "Dancers in the Dark", and that she is hard at work on another novel dealing with the trials and tribulations of three geniuses. None of them, she assured me angrily, was herself. She is not a genius, and prefers to be known as a simple girl who enjoys sitting on the floor listening to a radio or, perchance, dancing the Charleston. What is the Charleston, anyway? And why is it named for that charming and dignified city?

Devotees of A. A. Milne's "When We Were Very Young" (which means practically everyone) will be delighted with the collection of "Fourteen Songs" from it set to music by H. Fraser-Simson, decorated with gay thumbnail sketches, and containing waggish directions to children for the manner in which the songs are to be sung. The tunes are simple and, as in "Hoppity" for instance, admirably fit the words. I suspect that grown ups as well as children will have great fun singing them. Another group of delectable songs is to be found in "The Book of Diversion". Here Deems Taylor has compiled folksongs, cowboy songs, spirituals, and other odd bits not included in the usual family or college songbook. If you are not of the liederkranz fraternity, skip this part of the

book and regale yourself with the section of verse compiled by F. P. A. It starts out gaily with the famous "Tobacco is a dirty weed" and the equally famous "Study Hour", beloved of all column fans, and hops about from Shakespeare to Keats to King Solomon to Deems Taylor and what not. But I haven't yet done with the book. Helen Rowland edits "The World in Epigram"; Jack Bechdolt contributes suggestions for "Play" ranging from campfire directions to party games; and Mabel Claire instructs in the art of indoor and outdoor cooking. Surely a serious study of the volume, added to the vaunted fifteen minutes' reading a day, ought to turn out supermen in any social circle.

George Payne of Cincinnati tells us that what is thought to be one of the most important collections of ancient bibles in the world recently came into the possession of the Cincinnati Public Library. In the collection are three of the most valuable bibles in the world: "Biblia Maxima Volumines" or "The Bishop's Bible" printed by Richard Carmardenmat, Rouen, in 1586; the Miles Coverdale Bible, the first printed in English, in 1522, and "Biblia Paperum", printed in 1508 in Venice, and remarkable for its wood. cuts and xylography. It is larger than the copy in the British Museum and has one leaf more than that copy. The collection also includes many others. Somewhat different from bibles, but nevertheless with a significance, is Number One of a new poetry magazine, "The Gypsy", hailing also from Cincinnati, which seems to be attempting to rival Cleveland as a centre of the arts. The editors are H. A. Conley Joslin, George Elliston, and Halley Groesbeck. Among other contributors is James Stephens.

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horse, sitting about all day while my elders discussed the town happenings. Then there was a grand orangeman celebration, when our horse, frightened by the sound of drums and trumpets, ran away and threw us gaily into a ditch. Evenings on dark roads, when tramps were about, and days spent with the horses in the barns all this, and the charm of the country, the scent of raspberries and of hay, seep through the pages of "Chez Nous" and have, withal, the touch of the French Canadian peasantry.

The New York "World" has entered the lists with its selection of best short stories, and the method of so doing seems to me a little worse than those previously hit upon. If you select a group of editors, and each one picks a

story, it stands to reason that you will get a curious assortment of stories, and no very definite viewpoint. I really prefer the opinion of one man, even though he be an Edward J. O'Brien, than a hodgepodge made by a committee. At least, you finally get to know the man's particular slant on life. Here is the first result of their efforts:

1. MICHAEL ARLEN "The Dancer of Paris." Nominated by Sewell Haggard, Everybody's.

2. F. R. BUCKLEY "The Primitive Method." Nominated by Arthur Sullivant Hoffman, Adventure.

3. A. M. CHISHOLM "Tim of Bush Valley." Selected by Charles Angew MacLean, Popular.

4. IRVIN S. COBB- "Standing Room Only." Selected by Ray Long, Cosmopolitan.

5. RICHARD CONNELL

gerous Game."

"The Most DanNominated by

Loren Palmer, Collier's.

6. SAMUEL A. DERIEUX "Wild Bill McCorkle." Selected by Merle Crowell, American.

7. MEIGS O. FROST "Shackles of Service.' Nominated by Harry E. Maule, Short Stories.

8. ZONA GALE "The Biography of Blade." Selected by Carl Van Doren, Century.

9. ELLEN GLASGOW "Romance and Sally Byrd." Nominated by Gertrude B. Lane, Woman's Home Companion.

10. INEZ HAYNES IRWIN "The Spring Flight." Selected by Harry P. Burton, McCall's.

11. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM

"The Letter." Selected by Ray Long, Hearst's International.

12. SAMUEL MERWIN "More Stately Mansions." Nominated by Karl E. Harriman, Red Book.

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It seems to me there have been more so called literary parties of late. In Boston, the Amy Lowell dinner was one of the best. Most impressive was President Lowell, and a covey of Harvard professors. Then, too, I must say that there is something about the ladies of Boston that sets them off from the rest of the world. They have grace. They have poise. They have

a peculiar distinction. I have a feeling that the lady who sat at my left, behind one of the loveliest pink orchid sprays imaginable, would feel hurt if she should see her name in print, so it must simply go on record here that she was one of the kindliest of dinner companions. On my right, behind nodding white blossoms, was Ada Dwyer Russell, and proud she was, for her constant advice and helpfulness to Miss Lowell during the trying period of the composition of the Keats book has been of incalculable assistance. From Boston I sought Utica, and was fascinated by the young men and women of the Utica Country Day School. They showed me their newspaper and their magazine, the cover of which was a linoleum print made and printed entirely by themselves. Frank R. Page has a most interesting outfit there, and has carried out many educational experiments. One of the most fascinating to me was the library he is developing in each schoolroom. Every scholar buys one book and contributes it. The volumes stay in the classrooms all year, then are taken home by their owners at the session's close. In the evening a charming district attorney told me of various engaging criminals. I also made the discovery that Nalbro Bartley has been living in Utica. It was not the district attorney, however, who told me. Mrs. Bartley's young son, Jack, black headed and filled with the joy of life on a spring day, was

unearthed at luncheon time in the school. Later, his mother told me that she was hard at work on a new story to be called "The Orchid Door". Mrs. Bartley recently came on to New York City to sign a contract with her new publishers, then without a word to anyone went back to Utica, signed a marriage license, and was promptly married. She informs me that she will soon move to Niagara Falls, and that her son Jack is to go to a military academy, where she hopes he will learn to carry a musket and if necessary do penance in the guardhouse. "I don't know what I'll do without him", she confessed; "but I'm sure it's the best thing for a boy to be away from home." Sensible mother. As I start tonight for Detroit, there comes a memory of the lady there, earlier in the year, who asked, "Do you think I ought to let my son read 'The Plastic Age"?"

Tony Sarg, round and jovial and full of ideas, tells me that he is busy making store window displays, and that he has finished a new children's book all about animals. I saw him, with Mrs. Sarg, at the exceedingly gala opening of Gloria Swanson's "Madame Sans Gêne". To this came all the world arrayed in costly garments, beating its way through impressive crowds on the sidewalks and in the streets to see Gloria in a gold gown, back from Paris with a title and a new hair cut. Miss Swanson's coiffure proves as varied as Isabel Paterson's hats. Mrs. Paterson, busy in the daytime on "Books" at the "Herald-Tribune", writes in the evenings on a new novel. She complained bitterly that she had started out to write a nice love story of two young things in the Elizabethan period. Then Queen Elizabeth happened into the tale, and is running away with it! Was there ever such a woman?

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