' mere pedantry. The saving quality in 1A:LDO FRANK AND D. H. LAW-
k hA t his case is a touch of anarchy-just RtENCE
books i idnd AuthoT'rS enough to breathe the breath of life
into otherwise dry facts. ( fevie by It. D. S.)
How does the American language There has been during the past few
"THE AAMERICAN LANGUAGE" things. Brander Matthews has always Mencken is talking about look in ears a strengthening tendency on
By H. L. Mencken taken it seriously but I understand print? (We all know how it sounds.) the part of a few talented writers to-
(A Review by Era Anderson) his latest book, "Essays on English," Assuredly we shall not look for its ward the evolving of a new type of
resolves itself into a brief against exempsliictin in the writings of prose fiction. This fiction is written
The first edition of Mencken's "The "those unwise youngsters who declare Paul Elmer -More. However, it would in an impressionistic manner with un-
American Language" appeared three that the English language is degener- have suited admirably for the roaring usual, and in some cases, very effective,
years ago. The enormous task of pre- ating." Mencken doubtless comes in epic of Rabelais. Sandburg has made phrasal arrangement and word combi-
paring a book on so vast a subject for his share. some experiments with it in poetry nations. Moreover, the authors, in ad-
heretofore practically uninvestigated But in spite of this,the book cannot and a poem by J. V. A. Weaver is in- dition to presenting the significant ac-
seems to have made even Mencken fail to impress an unprejudiced read- cluded in the appendix to show what tions and thoughts of their characters,
almost humble. At least, he offered er. It shows a sound understanding may' be done with it tomorow. For assume a totally omniscient attitude
his production as a preliminary study of the principles of psychology under- examples in prose the author has se- and give all the actions and thoughts,
only, in a limited edition, chiefly for lying expression. Coupled with this cured a contribution from Ring Lard- r'evant and irrelevant. Marcel
scholars, with the intention of prepar- is information from every available ned and he himself has translated .Proust, the French writer of many-
ing later in the light of their criti- source. The meticulous care with the D9claration of Independence into vomie novels, devotes seventy pages
cism a revised edition for general cir- which every point is traced down be- American. to the description of a dinner. James
culation. speaks real devotion on the author's "The Amercan Language" as a Joyce, in his widely discussed "Ulys-
In the earlier chapters of the book part to the task in hand. It never ap- whole is a. valuable book. The bibli- se'," relates every move and thought
is a superb statement of the Amer- proaches the primer and yet it is in-. ography of 855 titles at the end is the that takes up his hero's day. Joyce
ican case. The author holds that the telligible to any reader of intellectual most complete on the subject in exist- also experiments with word arrange-
American language is different from interests whether or not he knows ence. The book is a volume to read, ments such as the following, quoted by
standard English "not merely in 'anything about language. to refer to, to skip about in, to take A. R. Orage: "Eglintoneyes looked up
vocabultary, to be disposed of in an The style is usually calmly scien- down from its shelf again and again. skybrightly."
alphabetical list, but in syntax, in tific, but it is imposible not to see the It is unique. It has been designated The methods of Proust and Joyce
shade, and habits of idiom, and even, refreshing personality of H. L. Menck- -and correctly, without a douut- are, as yet, frankly no more than ex-
coming to the common speech, in en behind it. I have seldom found "the most comprehensive treatise on periments. Something more definitely
grammar, in pronunciation and inton- him more delightful. He can't howl the American dialect of English ever successful has been achieved by Waldo
ation." He examined the grammar of here, so he sparkles. But usually he attempted." Frank in his new novel, "Rahab" (Boni
colloquial America, American pro- sneaks into a footnote to do it. He Liveright). In borrowing from these
nunciation, American spelling, the has shown how a man can be vora- "The Revolt against Civilization, methods and yet in avoiding the ex-
influence of immigrant languages upon cous, systematic, indefatigable in his (Scribners) is a book by Lothrop tremes both of detail and verbal ecen-
English in America, the mutations of accumulation and organization of data Stoddard, author of "The Rising Tide tricity, Frank has accomplished an ar-
American proper names, American without degenerating"to the level of of Color." tistic and interesting novel.
proverbs, and American slang. To- -
do justice to the book would be to__
carry illustration and discussion to
an impracticable length., To dwell
upon a few selected aspects of the,
work would be to contract its scope
and co'mprehensiveness. So a few
general remarks and I have finished.
Throughout the book Mencken i
pleas for study of our language di-
vested of unintelligent prejudice. He 4
forsakes the safe ground of men like
Krapp and Brander Matthews-ground
that can be explored in a study with-
out being caught in the strong winds A sale of the utmost importance to every girl who
of nmodern trend, In the second prewudhv arrb o n
face he maintains that "the grammar would have a complete wardrobe for Spring and
ian must go among men and women Summer. This sale will continue all of next week
and listen attentively to what they
say." He goes on to lament: "But and every woman should take advantage of this
the academic prudery that I spoke ofak
in my first edition still flourishes. It a opportunity to buy dainty. silk lingerie at bargain
would be regarded as Infra dig., I am
told, for an American professor of prices.
English to concern himself too ac-
,tively with the English spoken by a
nearly a hundred millions of his
countrymen. He may, if he will, de-
"vote a lifetime t the English dialect S Bg ' J a. U
t~rf1keie~rsh Egis da etSILK VESTS SILK BLOOML RS.
of Norfolk or Dorset, but he may notLa 'f
waste his time and dignity upon the
dialect of his janitor, his barber, and Glove silk vests come in pink in 32 inch For wear with light summer attire there
his trousers-presser. That .dialect, it length in bodice top style with straps of
appears, does not belong to philoso- is nothing moe desirable than glove silk
phy, but merely to humor. If it is the same material. This model is priced
to be Investigated, Pen the work must bloomers.' They are made with an elastic
be done by such wags as Ring W. .85 at the waist and at the knee and come in
Lardner and such dilletanti as I."
In this investigation Menketi has Another model pink glove silk vest comes good full sizes. Priced $2.95 a pair.
no fear of the grossest barbarism;
and no American worthy of the name in extra length and is hemstitched at the
can misunderstand a single one in the top. This model is also made in bodice top Anh f
book whether he has ever heard it or Anoter stye o silk bloomers comes in
not. Yet at the same time, the "boob- . style and is priced $2.35 ribbed silk in pink only and are made with
ery" and "gaping proletariat" are
held in cheerful contempt. To sum- t r an elastic band at knee and waist. They
marize the course taken by the author For those who like the ribbed silk vests
m u tcome in good full sizes and are priced
it may be said that he steers firmly there are garments in pink of the ribbed $3.50ap
between the populace, on the one .. aair.
hand, and the more prudish of the silk and they are priced $2.35
scholastic rhetoricians on the other.
What has been the reaction of philo- (Main Floor)
gists toward the work? Back in 1919
rhetoric professors treated the book
as a joke, the product of an outsider,
and turned it over to a few.inquisitive .
students with many a snobbish and
complacent smile. Almost to a man
they bewail Meneken's lack of what
they term systematic philological
training. Because of this lack they
syy he has a distorted view of many