THE MICHIGAN DAILY
#,,',
i
Jan Dail'
Y FEATURE SECTION
erery Sunday as a supplement to
news section of The Michigan
ns must be in the hands of the
ednesday previous to the date of
cation.
unications or contributions mustI
an indication of good faith.
....Joseph A. Bernsteint
Assistants
Dakin Thomas H. Adams
Ottaway Byron Darton
itr..........Stewart T. Beach
.Edwin R. Miess
I
)LITZ
VDERS
_ ByE. B. W. I
) BOYS
ave been living in a world
with all sorts of social pro-
"You can't do this. You
t do that. What will they
nd this generation of ours an-
Who cares?"
sequence, we break maiy of
al rules; we make new onesl
wn, new ones of a kind that
promote a greater bon homme,
kindlier, give and take. In
sition the oldsters all over,,
parents of Detroit high school
n these environs, see onlyl
'here are no rules and we are
going to the "demnition bow-
ad infinitum.
ight here that we object. It
ontention that we "children"
etrogress but progress. From
and fast conventions of the
ration-so they Are described
e emerge to a freer scheme,
hile it does not promise dog-
>tection to the weaklings, per-
pontaneous, self-reliant, social
'se that our parents never
Is that retrogression? Is it
ine with the modern march,
y or economically? Or mor-
e parable of the Pharisee and
The human reach does not invariably
fall short, producing the mean and
sour living described by Sinclair Lew-
is. Often enough, but not always.
This one blind spot ought to and does
relegate "Main Street" to its prop r
class-that of the best sellers.
And, on top of this, Mr. Lewis is
urged upon you as the consummate
portrayer of all our Main Streets, of
typical American life. Supreme nat-
uralism, and a distinctive contribution
to the literature of the land! This is
inaccurate, if not pure rot.
One Extreme to the Other
We think that until rather lately
American fiction writers-excluding
Stephen Crane, Mrs. Wharton, and
their ilk-have portrayed a sweet and
silly perfection to life in these United
States. And we think that Mr. Drei-
ser, Miss Gale, and Mr. Lewis have
gone to the other extreme. "Main
Street" is not typical; it favors a less
admirable side of our many-sided
society. In doing this it fails in the
purpose assigned to it by its Main
Street readers.
As we were saying, your taste and
perspective faculties may still be
promising, even though you think that
two dollars can find a better invest-
ment than "Main Street.".
THE "BACKSLIDERS-AND A
BIT ABOUT A POET OR
TWO
(ay G. D. Eaton)
During the past few months certain
followers of literature, old and young,
have been casting sheep's eyes at the
progress of the modernists, the real-
ists, the naturalists. Reading the hand-
writing on the wall they have attempt-
ed to temporize, treating the intruders
as prodigal brothers to the decadents.
But to save their faces in view of
past bitter edicts these dalliers say
that such writers as Theodore Drei-
ser, Sinclair Lewis, Floyd Dell, and
others, are a little too pessimistic. In
truth, such authors are no pollyannas,
and acceptance of them naturally
means putting the old order in the
archives.
They Look Wistfully
Yet the temporizers, for all their
fears, look wistfully on the modern
spirit. It reminds one of an old lady
about to take her first automobile ride,
half terrorized, half delighted.
Weighing the psychology of it the
thing is rather pathetic; something
like the sprouting of the first mus-
tache. I respect far more such hard
and fast Puritans as Stuart P. Sher-
man (despite his jackassery). Even a
Puritan can look somewhat heroic if
he thrust out his chin far enough and
double his fists.
It is the fellow who tries to straddle
who is most ludicrous; he is as snick-
erful as William Jennings Bryan
would be blowing a kiss to the wraith
of Darwin, or Thomas Edison admit-
ting that there might exist men as
wise as himself (picture Henry Ford
answering his, friend Edison's ques-
tionaire), or a Daily editorial con-
fessing that the average student is not
a perfect little lamb, and that he
doesn't want to be.
Recommends Verse
With this prejudiced prologue I re-
pectfully recommend Carl Sandburg's
book of verse, "Smoke and Steel"
(Harcourt, Brace, and Howe).
I regard Sandburg as the greatest
American poet since Wh.itman. Now
let the local classicists and romantic-{I
_ AFTER
I AFMJZ WUOtVEF PrAtLY AP4D A C£Of4PORT- -AND .A G00D
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By VAN EVER
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Att Hurt+r Y-Lfc7J2Y-
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ON 'r id-YOd IND -rMAT
VThe C&IAAX HAS
,SpAsH7VORf( OuT FCc~l
. Sa~ke 1008 WV$Nlr--D r-Ite
plcr oma oty1we dr#&,e
SIloe-
ists stamp and bawl and bleat a hatful
of tears. The fact is that if this coun-
try had produced a lyric poet half as
good as Swinburne I might not be so
sweeping in my statement.
A marked similiarity may be noted
between Whitman and Sandburg. I'll
not explain in detail; read Whitman's
ode to himself and Sandburg's "Smoke
and Steel," the title poem to the
volume. Then if you can't notice it,
call around with something to drink.'
The Poems
"Work Gangs," "Cahoots," "The
Hangman at Home," "Blue Maroons,"
"The Sins of Kalamazoo," "Death
Snips Proud Men," "Shirt," "Brass
Keys," "Four Preludes on Playthings
of the Wind," "Losers," "The Liars,"-
but here! I am naming half the poems
in the book.
Particularly striking are Sandburg's
roughshod expressions which he uses
to force home the rough-shod truth.
But this does not mean that his verse
lacks music. He is, at bottom, a real
poet, alive to the basic beauties of life.
If he picks for a subject a lamb hang-
ing in the, packing house rather than,
a lamb frisking around a lawn, that is
his business, and he does it well. It
is high time some poet succeeded Whit-j
man in pointing out that life is not a
pretty tangle of silks and flowers.
"Unaccustomed As I Am"
While writing about verse, let me
mention, Morris Ryskind's "Unaccus-
tomed as I am" (Knopf). It is quite
the worst poetry I have ever read. I
judge that Morrie is very "unaccus-
tomed." In all friendliness I suggest
that he stick to his work of writing
movie captions. There are plenty who
will appreciate his "art" in that line,
but then, there will probably be many
who will admire the book of poems.
We must bear in ,mind that the popu-
lace at large has taken Walt Mason to
its bosom as a rival of Shakespeare.
From what I have real of it, J. V. A.
Weaver's book of verse, "In Ameri-
can,". (Knopf), is far better stuff.
HE COULD LIFT 18 MEN, BUT
A SHOWER BATH KILLED HIM
Havana, Cuba. --Sudden death
claimed Theodore Luttof, the "Cossack
Hercules," after performing feats of
strength in the National theatre here'
during a wrestling carnival the other
day.
He had twisted iron bars and sup-
ported upon his shoulders a steel rail
to which 18 persons, were hanging b5t
their hands, without apparent ill ef-
fects; but after the performance ha
dropped dead while emerging from a
shower bath.
ALASKA
AT,
MAY BE REP
BIG MINING
Juneau, Alaska.-RecommE r
that Alaska send an exhibit t
torial mineral, agricultural ar
products to the National Min
position to be held in Chicago
American Mining Congress,
17-22, was made to the legislati
recently by Governor Thoma
Jr.
MASSACHUSETTS MAN SET
NEW VOGUE FOR WALL
Middleboro, Mass.-A. room
with cancelled United States
stamps stands as a monumen
industry of William O. Sawyer,
town. More than 20,000 stazi
184 varieties have been used
denomination they represent
from one to 30 cents.
,AI,4'"T ir
j.
iA
TODAY-TOMORROW-AND TUESDAY
C
0
N
S
T
A
N
C
E
TFo
A
L
M
A
D
G
here and every ten minutes
asked, "Have you read 'Main
A negative or, even unap-
answer ruins your stand-
e popular neo-culture. Such
ower of publicity-and, of
Lie impotence of the group-
y person can stand this ostra-
i a fair show of equanimity.
ard to have this book thrown
a piece of real'artistry and
a picture of the common or
ariety of American life. For
dedly neither.
rtistry is not just exact re-
m the ordinary life of very,
people. Insofar as a work
revitalize and ennoble the
ent vulgarity of every-day,
n such a cross section is pho-
d-it lacks a definite land-!
worth. It is transient.
Picture Inaccurate
r than this, admitting the vir-'
ological realism, the picture
rate. For your ordinary hu-,
not wholly drab and incon-
There is always, some timei
human life, at least a glim-
f an aspiration accomplished.'
* Now, ye bashful ones, there's no
need to fear the consequences of
this exposure. Sure
she kissed everyone
In a New Gusher of
Giggles. A Piquant
Play of Misses' and
Kisses, and truly
shown by our' orig-
inal, dainty and lov-
4 able Connie.
but the chap who
was crazy about her.
He wanted to give
up a million just to
marry her, but all
she let him do was
to look on while she
kissed some one else.
You see she was giv-
ing him Lessons in
Love. But, or boy,
how it feels to look
on while the other
chap gets the loving.
T a k e Lessons in
Love 'and laugh '
while ybu learn.
':
A festive fable for
flirty folks.
This
story for all
A written guarantee against breach
of promise for bashful beaux goes
with Connie Talmadge's Lessons in
ARRICK
Mats. Tuesday, Thursday,
& Saturday 25c-50o
Nights 50-75-.1.00
lovers between eight
and eighty.
LAUGH WHILE YOU LEARN
It's Bashful Week at the Arcade with Pop-the-Question Performances
for Bashful Beaux every evening.
12th Annual Season
4th. Week
Girls who've had a Bashful Steady
since 1916 admitted free Tuesday
night-Bashful Beaux Night.
..
Unbashful Beaux who've been di-
vorced since 1920 admitted free
Monday evening.
The Bonstelle Co.
JOSEPH M. SCHENCK PRESENTS
presents
"LESSONS IN
LOVE"
"6My Lady
Adapted from Douglas Murray's comedy, "The Man From Toronto."
Directed by Chet Withey.
SPECIAL NOTICE-SUMMER SCHEDULE OF PRICES EFFECTIVE TODAY AND
UNTIL SEPTEMBER FIRST
MAIN FLOOR, 30 CENTS BALCONY, 20 CENTS
CHILDREN, 10 CENTS, INCLUDING WAR TAX
ADDED - MACK SENNETT - SWEETHEART DAYS
rid"