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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 1920)
''i . 1 -J 8 III V&-,.- ' ia ' W , BY H. H. HOFFMAN. WHO makes the ideal 1 American man? No. ducts his wooing, aj HO makes the ideal lover? The He con- , as he con ducts his business; direct, without the beautiful poetic version of love ex pressed by the lover of the east. Reasoning thus in the outdoor fcaauty of her California home. Miss Juantta Storch. for more than seven years, compared the American youth and his love making to the poetic letters filled with soul admiration from her dark-eyed admirer of the far-off shores of Haifa, the sacred city of Palestine. The Persian lover, Mlrza Ahmad f-ohrab, thus laid slego to her heart in a volley of notes and letters, de scribing: his love for the blue-eyed young American girl ho had met only for a few moments on two occasions in Oakland, Cal. The romance began seven years ago when the I'ersian lover traveled to California with Abdu! Baha, leader of the Bahai movement, who was making a lecture tour of the country at that time. Mirza Sohrab was secretary of the Tersin legation at Washington when he was called upon to act as Inter preter for Abdul Baha in his lecture work . here. Sohrab speaks English perfectly and. in addition to his edu cation received at Beirut university, he has studied at American institu tions of learning. But in spite of an Intimate familiarity with American mannerisms he has never lost the poetic, oriental habit of thinking in terms of classic sentiment when the heart has been stirred by the object cf his love. Sohrab's meeting with Miss Storch was fleeting, like the ships that pass THE LITERARY xccrxxxyoprcs..oXii BY ETHEL, R. SAWYER. Director of Training Class. Library Association of Portland. WITH the death of William Dean How ells has passed out of our national literary life a most in teresting and charming figure. For I don't rembember just how many years now, Mr. Howells has occupied a piace so conspicuously his own Uiat Vie received the title of dean of Ameri can letters, and assuredly a kindlier or more gracious dean there never was. He has been compared to Henry Adams In his unremitting leal In try ing to understand with sympathy the stream of life In which he found him self placed "a fine nature consplcu- i ously agitated by the boiling of the melting pot." And Howells certainly far surpasses Adams in the whole heartedness of his yielding to his ex periences. Fully to savor the charm of this many-sided novelist, essayist, critic, traveler and general lover of literature, one should read somewhat In his several fields. If you know him only as a writer of what in these out spoken days may seem like pretty tame "realistic" novels, you should go with him into some of those richly human and truly romantic volumes of literary reminiscence and leisurely travel or read some of the criticism of this would-be stern realist who nevertheless can never be other than romantically blind to the defects in those fortunate young writers whose work Is reviewed by him. Mr. How ells conveyed always an atmosphere of what Matthew Arnold called "sweetness and light" that can 111 be spared today. The most conspicuous and interest ing figures in Italian literature today are two old schoolteachers of Rome Alfredo Panzini, humorist, and Lutgi Pirandello, satirist. Panzini writes stories, novels and dictionaries. He i a corrective to the D'Annunsio school of writers a sane, human, gentle, kindly man; and the place that he holds in Italian letters seems to be a register of tha protest against the decadent school. His position has been compared to that of Conrad In English letters. Pirandello is a dram mist, successor to the fame of Gia- cosa. His field is subtle analysis of the shams and hypocrisies and "com niexes" inherent in social and domes tic problems. They are neither of them young mon. being respectively 7 and 53 years of age.. One of Arnold Bennett's chief char ccUrisUca is said to be a remarkable In the night, only that these two ships that signalled to each other se seven I Oak-I in by I years ago at a Bahai meeting in land, found a code of their ow which continuous with soirl admira tion, from her dark-eyed admirer on the far-off shores of Haifa, the sacred city of Palestine. Letters to "Denutifnl Mermaid." Sohrab journeyed back to Palestine with Abdul Baha and only a short while later the world war broke, holding the young Interpreter practi cally a prisoner so far as traveling was concerned, in the Pilgrims' home, the residence of the Baha at Haifa. Sohrab wrote as only an oriental whose feelings are deeply moved can write. His letters traveled slowly half round the world, and gradually Miss Storch looked forward "with in terest to receiving them. At first she laughed at this peculiar friendship. She was only 18 and filled with the love of the American out door girl for athletics and all the amusements that healthy young women indulge In. She had admirers galore. One of them became peeved because she beat him in a swimming race. No, he would never marry a girl who laughed at his inferiority. So that youthful friendship ended. Then there was another who object ed to her leadership in out-of-door sports. It was all right when she re clined like a beautiful doll on the canoe cushions, while her partner paddled, but this did not satisfy this athletic young woman, for she found more pleasure in doing some of the paddling herself and she told him so. And all this time the letters of Sohrab kept arriving, and when it suited her mood, which was not often in those days. Miss Storch answered them. She wrote one to his 21. But he persisted, ami they kept coming at intervals - until this country de PERISCOPE- loyalty to his friends. Those who have read his play, "Sacred and Pro fane Love" (which, by the way, I un derstand we are to have an opportu nity of seeing this coming season), may remember in it a lampoon on a lady novelist of somewhat excessive self-satisfaction. The subject of this lampoon Is believed to be Mrs. Hum phry V'ard, and its origin lies In her somewhat patronizing remarks in her "Reminiscences" concerning Mr. Wells and Mr. Bennett. Bennett was praised at his friend's expense, and. unfortu nately for Mrs. Ward, did not appre ciate the honor. They seem to have some advanced Ideas over in England as to the value of literature in practical life. We read of S. P. B. Mais, a master of Ton bridge, being appointed professor of hnglish literature to the royal air force and lecturer to the employes of W. H. Smith & Son on the subject of literature. The lda Is evidently in spirational, as Mr. Mais is spoken of as a man of unbounded and really rather confusingly perpetual enthusi asms who is forever exclaiming like the young man in Othello, "Why, this Is a more excellent song than the other!" However, the idea is on the right track if the locomotive is a bit unballasted. Stacy Aumonier Is one of the younger English novelists with a distinct gift as well for short-stnrv writincr. He is quite a versatile man. He began as an "entertainer and . still gives little character sketches in public. These sketches he usually writes himself. If you thought you had made up your mind in the great controversy, "Is Bacon Shakespeare?" hold your decision in abeyance until you have read J. T. Looneys "Shakespeare Iden tified. That ever-blooming perennial has developed a new bud and the Shakespeare-Bacon controversy Is now further complicated by the ad dition of a third claimant for the honor of having produced the Immor tal plays Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. Oliver Herford says in his "Giddy Globe": "This globe, you know, is not all it's cracked up to be. It ought to be abolished. Come on. little Polly anna, smile for the gentleman and make him happy! The Melrose 250 first-novel prise in London has just been won by Cather ine Carswell with her "Open the , Door." It is a book, which, will doubt I i ; ' 7 - -A V ' ti - v i ' - '-" v writs swa-. dared war on Germany. Then to his despair one day the ycung Persian received several of the letters he had written to the California girl. They less cause considerable discussion and criticism, being a story of a young girl's swing from repression to uncon ventional freedom. It is certainly a big and frightfully important subject, but it has been "done" both over and under. Let us hope Miss Carswell has something to say as important as her subject. a Here is the deep-sea shelf the ten most popular books of the sea. This selection Is the result of a wide bal lot throughout the country of read ers who were invited to record their choice at the recent exhibit in New York of the National Marine league. In order of choice: 1. Stevenson, "Treasure Island." 2. Dana, "Two Years Before the Mast." 3. London, "Sea Wolf." 4. Kipling, "Captains Courageous." 6. Verne. "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea." 6. Bullen. "Cruise of the Cachelot." 7. Riesenberg. "Under Sail." 8. Marryat, "Mr. Midshipman Easy." 9. Conrad. "Lord Jim." 10. Conrad, "Nigger of the Nar cissus." Now. really, this doesn't seem possi ble! From Boston, too! Whitman's publishers are teling the story that they recently received from a Boston schoolteacher the following letter ad dressed to "Mr. Walt Whitman, cars of Double- day, Page & Co., Garden City, Long island, N. Y:- Will yon favor me .by Bending me your autograph? I wish my sons and DUDila to be interested In men who do things, and so have secured the signatures of many fa mous men and women Pershing, Car negie. Bell. Bernhardt, Balfour. Taft, etc., etc. Thanking you in advance for the courtesy, I am, very gratefully. E. V. Lucas, who has Just been trav eling across country from San Fran Cisco to New York, has been trying all the way to buy copies of the books of Mrs. Wharton. He seems to have found considerable difficulty, as a number of her titles were repeatedly "out of stock." The explanation of fered was the shortage of paper. This excuse did not wholly pacify Mr. Lu cas, however. "She is about the best there is." ha said, "in England or America." Seems too bad, doesn't it. that when the shortage comes it is "the best" that have to stand aside while "demand" keeps the lesser lights burning furiously. One of the outstanding women writers of France today is an Ameri can! "For some 20 years." writes George S. Hellman, recently returned from a year in France, "this Ameri can has maintained one of the few TIIE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, JUNE 20, 1920 bad been returned to him from Con stantinople. The curtain was rung down tem porarily on that romance. Word was passed that the Turks would searcni the homes of ail the people in Pales tine. So on a dark night Sohrab gathered together tils precious papers. among them the letters or Miss Storch, and buried them in an old trunk at the foot of Mount Carmel. And then after this long silence the sun shone again In Sohrab's life with the arrival of General Allenby and his troops in tho Holy City. "1 shall never forget it." said Sohrab. "This meant my freedom to travel to my beloved Juanita." After some parley with the British officials, permission was obtained for Sobrab to travel to the United States. He wired her when he reached New York that he would travel west tr see her. His letters had paved the way for a. happy reunion. "He Is the only man I would marry; the only man I could be happy with, for his letters breathe love, not dicta tion and a superior sense of owner ship which spirited women dislike so much In a certain type of man," said she. They became engaged before Sohrab left Oakland. Every day following until their marriage in New York, April 28, Sohrab wrote to his bride-to-be. All his letters, numbering up ward of 500, have been treasured by the young woman, who calls them her rosary. And any young woman would want real salons where French statesmen, authors, artists, scientists. actors, journalists meet to enjoy her hos pitality. But she has not lost her sense of kinship with her native land. During the period of the armistice her enthusiastic co-operation in all matters relating to the art education of the American soldiers won endur ing gratitude." In 1910 Miss Natalie Barney pub lished her first two volumes, "Actes et Entr'actes," a volume largely of dramatic verse, and "Eparpillements," a little volume of epigrams. Her newest book, "Poems et Poemes, au tres alliances." was recently brought out in New York also, and consists of poems In English and French. NEW BOOKS RECEIVED. Married Life, by May dslneton, an Enslish novel of domesticity that hai humor and entertaining value; and Kid bcanian, by H. c. Wltwer. an uproarious novel of fun. told in amusing slauc Uiniall- amynira. Boston). The Best Psychic Stories, edited and compiled by J. Lcvli French. 17 selected stones or tnrllllns Interest, relatinc to the supernatural, the psychic stories by authors whose names amount to a good deal (BODl Uverisht. X. Y.). Holy Fire and other stories, by Ida A. R. Wylie, nine dramatic short stories of Ku-sian lire (John Lane Co., N. Y.). I Dick Arnold, of Puritan College, by Earl Reed Silvers, a first-class small-college story of athletloa for youths; The Ring- Necked Grimily, by Warren H. Miller, a dashing, lively story of adventure, among the Rocky mountains; The Lost Dirigible, by Ralph Henry Barbour, a sterling story of American courage amid danger, deplet ing air adventures in Mexico (D. App;etoa & Co.. N. Y.). The Unlatched Door, by Lee Thayer, an xhllarating, diverting novel of love and mystery lu .New kork city (Century Co.. N. i.). Real Democracy in Operation, by Felix Bonjour, former president of the Swiss national council, a book of Important po litical and historical interest, teaching how Switzerland Is governed (Stokes Co.. N. Y.). The Hope of the World, by President Wilson, 208 pages, being meessges and ad dresses delivered by the president between July ft. 1019, and December 8. 1019, In cluding selections from his country-wide speeches in behalf of the treaty and cove nant (Harper's. N. Y.). The Ki.Ur, by Stewart Edward Whtle. an exclUar. excellently written novel of Arizona life, with Mexican and Americans as types (Doubleaay, Page ft Co., N. x.) Short Wire Brings Results. Mechanically simple as an Umbrella is. it must generally be taken all apart- to repair a broken rib or stretcher, and the task is beyond most owners. A Brooklyn- inventor has improved on the usual construc tion by inserting the end of each rib and stretcher between a pair of metal ears on the notch and runner mem bers, using a short wire with bent ends lor the pivot. ' S3rr to treasure love letters in which ehe was addressed as "My Isle of the Golden Dreams" or "My Ever Wakeful Blue Sky" and "My Divine Mystery of Love." Even such expressive terms as "Dearest" and "Darling" and "Baby" and "Snookums" sound prosaic and colorless when compared with "Beau tiful Mermaid of the Ocean of Beauty." I walk "by the shoreless sea of time (so reads one of the love letters re ceived by Miss Sohrab last Christmas) and wait for argosies of magic rail, when lo in the far distant horizon a light appears and the angels of heaven aing out: "She comes, she comes, comes." I gather courage and enter the laby rinthio caves of the Eternal and from all parts I hear the echoes reverber ating through by mind "she cornea, she comes, comes." Thus many a road I walked, many a song I have sung, with many a com pany did I mingle, and many a garland of thought did I weave, but every one of them proclaimed, "she comes, she comes, comes." With the Lord of my heart I spoke, with the angels of heaven I conversed, with the saints of God I walked, with the messengers of the Most High t sat. and they all gave me the glad tidings "she comes, she comes, comes." In a letter signed "Thy faithful pil Manila to Send Russian War Brides to U. S. Soldiers I'nable to Support and House Mates With No Living Quarters In Camps. M ANILA, June 19. Three hundred or more Russian "war brides." who have come here from Siberia with their American soldier husbands, will be sent to the United States by the government as soon as transpor tation is available. These brides come from every sta tion in life from the peasant girl to the college graduate and a number had been accustomed to the luxuries of life before war and revolution I drove them from their homes. Their experiences in Manila, prob ably have been a disappointment to most of them, as their soldier hus bands, on their meager pay of $36 a month, have been unable to support families, house rent and food prices having almost doubled here within the last year. To prevent these Russian girls from actual suffering, tbe Red Cross and other charitable organizations have provided them with shelter and food. They are willing to work, but hav ing no knowledge of English or Span ish, they are unable to find employ ment in any of the stores of Manila, and native men and boys are pre ferred for house servants. After several weeks of investiga tion as to the best disposition to make of the war brides and their soldier husbands, the army authorities de cided that they, with few exceptions. should be sent to the United States and there distributed among the army camps and posts, where quarters are available for married enlisted men. These the department of the Philip pines is not able to provide. Only those enlisted men- with wives, who have an income in addition to their army pay will be permitted to remain in the Philippines. Some of the Russian girls who were disappointed in not obtaining soldier husbands at Vladivostok. .disguised as American soldiers stowed away on transports and came to Manila, so eager were they to escape from the turmoil and suffering which have prevailed In Siberia almost since the beginning of the war. These stow aways were turned over to the au thorities here to be deported to the country whence they came. Several of them were married at the pier while awaiting to be put on board a transport for the voyage back to Vladivostok, which made them Amer Who but a Countryman of Omar Khayyam Would Ever Address a California Girl as "My Ever Beautiful Blue Sky" and "My Isle of the Golden Dreams" arid in Five Hundred Letters. -i.jjjjr .. . grim at the shrine of love" and dated a few weeks before the wedding day Ahmad wrote thus to his "beautiful mermaid": A Sons of Acceptance The sea of my love for thee has been waving tumultuously at' all times, casting on the shore of exist ence pearls and Jewels of priceless value. They have appeared from the great deep and are to be wrought cunningly into a crown for the head of my Queen. I went around search ing for the queen but nowhere could I find her. Oh! She was of the pure spirit and I waa looking for her in the dust. The house of my heart was such a small and humble abode that I could not believe she would leave her in finite mansion of heaven and become the intimate and associate of the lowly. But at last I went to her door, seeking her grace of love. Standing under the celestial canopy of her pure heart, I lifted my eager, tearful eyes to her majectlc, sweet face. There waa I a suppliant for the gift of eternUy. the freedom of im mensity, and she took pity on me. With a thousand conflicting hopes battling in my heart I looked up Into her face to read her answer, to fath ican citlxens and gave them the right to remain here. One of these stowaways, clad in male attire, when about to be placed on board a transport for deportation, with several thousand Russian rubles In her hands, appealed to tha crowd at the pier for some man to marry her and save her from what she said would, be certain death If she were returned to Siberia. The Russian money, which is now of little or no value, appeared to have no Influence toward bringing forth a husband for the woman, and she waa sent back to Siberia. Oil Brewery to Start. PAPEETE. Tahiti. American Inter ests are re-equipping- the old brewery building in Papeete with new ma chinery and expect to start making American beer soon. The old brewery company failed on account of lack of capital and tbe competition of Amer ican beer. Military "I raining Stopped. BERLIN High school pupils hers have been forbidden by the minister of education to join any kind of mili tary organization. Those who already have become members are directed to withdraw. CANT BEAT "TIZ" WHEN FEET HURT "Tiz" for sore, tired, puf fed-up, aching, calloused feet or corns. Tou can be happy-footed In a mo ment. Use "Tlx" and never suffer with tender, raw, burning, blistered, swol len, tired, smelly feet. "Tiz" and only "Tlx" takes the pain and soreness Out of corns, callouses and bunions. A soon as you put your feet in a "Tiz" bath you Ju-t feel the happi ness soaking In. How good your poor, old feet feel. They want to dance for Joy. "Tia" is grand. -"Tis" instantly draws out all the poisonous exuda tions which puff up your feet and cause sore, iaflaiued, aching, sweaty, smelly feet. Ciet a box of "Tis at any drug store or department store. Get instant foot relief. Laugh at foot sufferers who complain. Because your feet are never, never going to bother or make you limp any mors. Adv. 6" Vj":."" om the depth of the sea of her eyes, and if possible through those win dows enter the palace of her love. At last she granted her favors and her smiles on the worshipper of old. In the midnight of silence when the heavens and earths meet and when the fires and shadows mingle with the gold dust of time, she fed my waiting, trembling lips with ambro sial kisses of acceptance. Then in complete accord, hand in hand we crossed the threshold of the starlit temple of mystic union while the soft tunes of the twilight melodies reached our ears. And there's another long letter ad dressed to "My Ever Wakeful Blue Sky," and signed "Thy Warrior Love er," In which Ahmad pictures him self as an eastern traveler journeying along the pathway of love to the home of his beloved. One portion of the letter reada: la Quest of An Ideal. He had to overcome many dangers and weather many stormy nights on the Journey of love. . . . He would peer through the Ink-black night to see whether she was coming but he could see nothing before him. All was dark, the winds howling and the forces of nature in deadly con test. "Where is my beloved?" he would raise his voice In agony of Girls Grow Bigger; Future Race to Be Amazons. Men ot America Said to Be Shriv eling; Into Pifimles Mentally and Physically. EVANSTON. III.. June 19. Athletics, regular hours, outdoor exercise, no tight lacing or tight shoes, good food and plenty of it, are elements combining to produce in the United States a race of Amazons, at least as far as slse, strength and endurance are concerned. Miss Gertrude Hawley, head of the girls' physical education department of Northwestern university, announces that In two years the average height of the co-eds has increased from 62. S Inches to 64 Inches: their weight from 118.2 pounds to 123.4 pounds; their lung capacity from 163.7 cubic inches to 169.5. and that their total strength, lifting, pulling and shoving, has In FREE TO ASTHMA SUFFERERS A New Home Method That Anyone Can Use Without Discomfort or Loss of Time. We have a new method that controls Asthma, and we want you to try it at our expense. No matter whether your case Is of long standing or recent development, whether it is present as occasional or chronic Asthma, you should send for a free trial of our method. No matter In what climate you live, no matter what your age or occupation, if you are troubled with asthma, our method should relieve you promptly. We especially want to send It to those apparently hopeless cases, where all forms of inhalers, douches, opium preparations, fumes, "patent smokes." etc. have failed. We want to show everyone at our ex pense, that this new method Is designed to end all difficult breathing, all wheeling, and all those terrible paroxysms at once. This free offer is too important to ne glect a single day. Write now and begin the method at once. Send no money. Simply mail coupon below. Do it Today. FREE TRIAL COUPON FRONTIER ASTHMA CO.. Room 3B2K. Niagara and Hudson Sta. Buffalo. N. Y. Send free trial ot your method to: "n'lmiYiiril pain. Toward what goal la she trav eling? Who Is her companion along the perilous Journey of life? By the edge of what dim and frowning for est is she directing her steps? How high is the summit of ' the mountain of her vision? What are the aims and ideals of her life? To all these ques tions there came no answer but the eternal whisperings of the still night or the shouts of the restless and tfols terous tempest roaming in the track less sky and raging on the endless shore of time. Through such experiences the lover of the far east passed but he always kept saying to himself: "Be strong! It matters not how deep entrenched the wrong; how hard the battle goes; the day how long. Faint not, fight on! Tomorrow comes the song." There are 600 or more love letters all written in the same high-spirited vein and all breathing the same ador ation for the one woman of Ahmad's heart. "Oh, thou spring of love," he wrote her last December. "Wilt thou not plant In this heart the seeds of the flowers of thy love so that in this divine springtime they may grow and grace the gardens of other hearts with the Jewels of beauty and attach ments. Wilt thou not, dearest?" That was the Persian lover's way of asking her to be his bride. Nothing more need be said beyond calling at tention to the photograph of the wed ding party reproduced on this page. creased from 499 pounds to 633 pounds. Their posture also has been Im proved by physical exercises. Miss Hawley declares. Some noted authorities have re cently declared that men are de teriorating and that women are rapidly assuming the lead in mental and physical lines. v Sloop "Ogre" Far From Home. PAPEETE. Tahiti. The sloop Ogre, of London, a typical North sea fishing smack fitted up for cruising, owned by Ralph Stock, the English author, out from England by way of the Panama canal, arrived at Papetts on February 29. Dark Rings Under Eyes Portland people will be astonished how quickly simple witch hazel, cam. phor. hydrastls, etc., as mixed in Lavoptik eye wash relieves bloodshot eyes and dark rings. One young man who had eye trouble and very un sightly dark rings was relieved by a few applications of Lavoptik. His sis ter also relieved a bad case of eye strain in three days. We guarantee a small bottle Lavoptik to help ANY ' CASE weak, strained or inflamed eyes. Even the FIRST WASH shows surprising results. Aluminum eye cup FREE. Skidmore Drug Co. and all leading druggists. Adv. A Scientific Hair Color Restorer Tm wy has ten f wred for eftfK,Try rertorfng rry hair to ita natartv! color. It is of? area to wotnen in Mary T. Goldman' n Scientific Hair Coior Ktarr. It end cry haur In from to Scientific Hair Color Restorer 1TT317T? StoaffTaitr1mlbf3tt!f Wt JT XVeCfaCs T. Goiaman'a and om of oar pccisJ omM, owit im mxmc cotor ox yoar amir. Trv it on a lock of voar hatr. Not tha Tuolti. Then ym will know wfiv thousands ol nomn ban alroaay ussd this trciaeuac bair color rsstorer. MARY T. OOT.DMAM 1467 Goldman Hid. FauU Minn. 4fwp W Imitmttnmt Fr 9aU a ltpifa JtWn-jsWt