T HE MICHIGAN IDAILV SUNDAY, DEC. 5, 1937 ........ . ... . . ..... . ... 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 !"' r' I I 1 I 1 I h.________ "d On Your Way to FERRY FIELD Bring your shoes I I I I