T HE MICHIGAN IDAILV
SUNDAY, DEC. 5, 1937
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MMM
WORLD
OF
BOOKS
ALASKA
Jefferson Davis, Real & Unreal
JEFFERSON DAVIS: THE REAL man of resourcc and better than av-
AND THE UNREAL, by Robert erage intelligence. He is not a be-
A Professor And
Two
of what Dr. McElroy calls "patient
abolitionists." He insisted that it
would be better to permit the institu-
tion to spread, and to educate the
slaves, since freedom could not safely
be granted them, ii his opinion, until
they were ready for it.
Nor was Jefferson Davis' position
on the right of secession either
strained or dangerous.
Students Give Log
Of A Trip
ON AND OFF ALASKAN TRAILS.
by Dow V. Baxter, Benjamin La-
baree and Willard Hildebrand. The
Ann Arbor Press. $2.50.
By ROY SIZEMORE
Alaska, which was bought from
Russia in 1867 at a bargain basement
price, has only recently come into the
importance which it so richly deserves.
Even more recently has it been recog-
nized for what it has to offer vaca-
tionists. This increasing prominence
as a tourist attraction has resulted in
a growing curiosity in the minds of
many Americans as to what it offers
to a person looking for a different
place to spend his money and his time.
On And Off Alaskan Trails will go
a long way in satisfying the curiosity
of those people who intend to make
their vacation an outdoor excursion.
It is a simple account of what did
happen to three men who were scien-
tifically interested in the country, yet
led the life of ordinary tourists.
Visits to the traditional attractions
of Alaska-the salmon canneries, the
forests, gold mining operations and
Mt. McKinley-are described in a
realistic fashion. Particularly strik-
ing is their picture of the wasteful-'
ness of the hydraulic system.
It affords considerable satisfaction
to learn from this book that scien-
tists are not the early risers that they
are always given credit for being.
Many times on their trip, which is
chronicled in the form of a log, the
three authors failed to get up until
very late in the morning. It is just as
comforting to discover that they were
so discouraged by the continuous rain
in many parts of Alaska that they
failed to go about their scientific du-
ties with the ardor that usually ac-
companies such work.
People in Alaska, the majority of
whom are former residents of the
United States, differ little from the
average person found in this country.
Dancing is just as popular in Moose'
Pass, Alaska as it is here in spite of
the fact that it is sometimes carried
on in hip boots.
The photographs of the country
that appear in the book have won
wide recognition, several having been
accepted by a New York photographic
society exhibit. The illustrations were
done by Carleton Angell, University
artist.
One objection that may be mad( o
the book is one of the first things
noticed. In the opening pages, the
authors have presented in typically
technical-report fashion a tabulation
of the supplies used on their trip.
Perhaps one of the most interesting
parts of the book is a description of
the method used in photographing a
herd of caribou, a feat rarely ac-
complished. Mentioned in the account
is the fact that the three authors
separated with Hildebrand two miles
away from the others in a vast ex-
panse of snow. That seems rather
heroic when the ordinary city dwell-
er is easily lost in a very small patch I
of forest.
The chief author of the book, Dow
V. Baxter is professor of forest path-
ology in the School of Forestry and
Conservation while Larabee and
Hildebrand are recent graduates in
forestry, the latter having been a
wellknown football player of some
years back.
And So - Profits
"And So-Victoria," Vaughan Wil-
kins' non-fiction best seller, has gone
into a ninth printing already, making
a total of 160,000 copies.
It is already being filmed by Metro-
Goldwyn-Mayer and is scheduled for
publication in Denmark, Sweden and
Norway in the near future.
Mr. Wilkins himself has settled
down on his" royalties in an old house
dating in part from the 13th century
in a remote part of Suffolk, originally
a priory.
Somtheing Rotten -
The Danish publisher of "Gone
With the Wind" has announced that
the winner of a lucky coupon included
in the copies sold during the first week
of publication will be given a trip to
America, all expenses paid, including
a five-day visit to Atlanta.
McElroy. Harper and Brothers,
New York. Two volumes. $8.00.
By JOHN SELBY
Robert McElroy's new two-volume
biography of Jefferson Davis may do
service to the memory of that gentle-
man in one of two unexpected ways,
chiefly this one-there was and is
today a large group of Southerners
who resent Davis and belittle him
quite as readily as the most rabid
Northern sympathizer. These will
find a much more intelligent view of
the man in Professor McElroy's book,
and may it help them!
Perhaps Professor McElroy's long
range view is partly due to a physical
circumstance. The author is, by
birth, a Kentuckian (a lot of Davis's
worst enemies hailed from that state,
incidentally). But his studies have
taken him to Princeton, Leipzig, Ber-
lin and Oxford, and his doctorate was
taken at St. John's University, Shang-
hai-of all places.
He has taught all over the Orient
ar well, and now he is professor of
American history at Oxford. This
considerable experience of other lands
and peoples may have helped him see
the woods as well as the trees in this
excellent, tempered biography.
Dr. McElroy's Jefferson DaN is is a
a
liever in slavery as a permanent in-
stitution; rather, he is in the group
BOOKS-
The greatest compliment you can pay
is to give a good book-It is a trib-
ute to mind and culture, a personal
gift which can be inscribed and cher-
ished forever.
SUGGESTIONS
Second Woollcott Reader
- Alexander Woolldott $3.00
The Arts - Van Loon $3.95
The Citadel - Croonin $2.50
Northwest Passage - Roberts $2.75
And So Victoria -Wilkins $2.50
CHRISTMAS CARDS and WRAPPINGS
FO L LETT'S
MICHIGAN BOOK STORE
322 South State Street at North University Phone 6363
ORATORICAL ASSOCIATION LECTURE COURSE
presents
Dr. VitorG.Heiser
speaking on
"More of an American Doctor's Odyssey"
TUESDAY, DEC. 7
8:15 P.M.
Hill Auditorium
Admission 75c and 50c
Tickets at Wahr's
Yeh ... We Clean Headgear's... .
Firemen's and Policemen's Hats...
HAVE YOUGOT AHAT?
We can make it like New
CLEANERS
Phone 4213
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On Your Way
to FERRY FIELD
Bring your shoes
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