Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 138

12 SUNDAY TRIBUNE: APRIL 4, 1943.. A man who writes well writes not as others write, but as he himself, writes; it is often in speaking badly that he speaks well" MONTESQUIEU. Maximilian's Tinsel Empire Relives in Solid New Work Sleuth Halts Eerie Doings on Task Ship i l' i I PASSENGERS TO MEXICO," by Blair Niles. Farrar Rine-hart, (3.1 Reviewed by William Shinnick. Much has been written about that strange Interlude In Mexican his-tory, the sham empire of Maximilian of Austria and the royal consort Carlota.

That empire began as a dream In the tortuous brain of Napoleon III. For a time It existed simply because the United States was too busy with its own Civil war to enforce the Monroe doctrine; It ended when peace came and the little Napoleon heard the stern voice of Secretary of State Seward asking what French troops were doing on the wrong side of the Atlantic. Many authors have thrilled over the drama Maximilian strutting, vacillating, taking bad advice, posturing comically as the friend and bene factor of the people, and in the end 1 ttdSsitfBH Jacket design for "The Pleasures of Sailing," by Alfred Stanford, published by Simon and Schuster. AMONG THE AUTHORS "THE BRASS CHILLS," by Hugh Pentecost IDodd, Mead, 12. Reviewed by Drexel Drake.

When war broke on the Pacific the United States needed nothing more urgently than some obscure pinpoint of an island, off regular traffic lanes, on which to establish an inconspicuous base for repairing submarines. It would have to be a base without plane or ship protection, with possibly only a handful of marines and a loyal, courageous force of skilled workmen. With utmost secrecy volunteers were gathered from widely scattered shipyards. With a small complement of naval men the workers were assembled aboard a ship which was to set out for the strategic island. In the dark of night, without a light show-ing, it got under way.

But almost before the ship's engines began to throb sinister work showed Its hand. Half a dozen workmen became 111 after eating of the ship's food. The staff doctor was poisoned. Still later, after two of the victims had died, death struck even more vitally. Lt.

Bradley needed all the skill he had gained with the New York homicide squad to land the killer and put an endto vicious espionage. The author has made this a realistic and exciting mystery story. A pretty nurse is conveniently at hand to provide a romantic note, "COURT OF SHADOWS," by Giles Jackson. IDial Press, fl The enemy was taking a heavy toll of American shipping just outside New York harbor, and there was little reason to doubt that vital information was filtering out thru mysterious channels. But it was only after the FBI and Intelligence officers of the army and navy followed a maze of evasive clews, thru episodes of danger and peril, that the supposedly respectable.

Cross Court apartments in Bay Ridge were unmasked as a nest for more than 150 Nazi spies. Nile Boyd, apparently a carefree columnist, but actually engaged in counter-espionage, engineered the undoing of the spies in lnvestigat, ing a murder cleverly disguised as a suicide. The work of the government agents is presented with thrills and speedy action. "DEATH OF AN ANGEL," by shot to death alter trial oy ui Mexicans under Juarez; Carlota urging him to take the rash step and call himself emperor, deceiving herself with unrealities, weeping at the feet of Napoleon and going mad In the Vatican, where she went to plead the Pope's aid in the suppression of the Mexican republicans. The subject has not been over, worked and Mrs.

Niles has written Just the sort of book to make the patchwork empire and its fate understandable; a work sympathetic to the Mexican patriots and explaining without obvious effort why this "last Invasion of the Americas" was certain to fail. She has dealt only sketchlly with the intrigues of the French usurper and the pergonal characters of the so-called emperor and empress of Mexico. -Her approach to this closet full of North American history is thru the memories that were written down by the subordinate actors in the drama. It is an effective method; by ex-tensive research the author has dug up an impressive and colorful platoon of witnesses who were on the scene when anything Important happened; witnesses who were literate and informed. Their stories have been skilfully woven together In a work that has suspense and historical validity; if the history sugar coated by a talented writer it still is history, based on solid fact and sound conclusions.

The Princess Salm-Salm alone is worth a whole book to herself. Born American her name was Agnes Joy, she was married during the Civil war to her prince, a fine figure of a man with a monocle, a sprig of the old Prussian nobility. Pestering senators, governors and generals, Agnes was able to obtain a colonelcy for Salm-Salm. He. made good as a lighting man, but Agnes kept a sharp eye on him.

With a dog named Jimmy she pursued whatever army he happened to be In, riding the military trains when these were available and proceeding on foot or horseback when she had to. When the Union forces were disbanded the SalnvSalms went to Mexico, where the prince became a staff officer under Maximilian; usual Agnes campaigned with him soldadera by nature, the Mexican fighting man's custom of taking the womenfolk along pleased her much. She saw the French marshal Ba-zaine lead his armies out of Mexico City and head back to France, thereby sealing the doom of Max and his At Queretaro, after the emperor and her husband had been captured, she begged Juarez and his lieutenants to spare both. Juarez was adamant on Maximilian. But his wife's, pleading saved Salm-Salm after he had been sentenced to death.

It was a short reprieve; he died fighting in the Franco-Prussian war. Among the other witnesses evoked by Mrs. Niles are Sara Yorke, a young girl In Mexico during the royal Interlude; sister to a gallant young man who was slain by Mexican bandits and sister-in-law of a French officer; a noncom in the Zouaves; a secretary to Maximilian, and a handful of Confederate generals and colonels who felt that they could not take it at home under northern domination and tried to set up an agricultural colony on the rich Mexican plateau a tragic failure under the patronage of the emperor. One of the best features of the work is its description of the dip lomatic entente of the United States and the Juarez republicans. Generals with veteran armies, among Sheridan and Grant, wished to invade Mexico and annihilate the French.

Seward attained the main object elimination of the foreign elements without bloodshed and without risking the delicate problems American invasion would have created. Mexico stayed free thru the happy solution, and is still our good neighbor. "Passengers to Mexico" is a good book, a solid book, an 'entertaining book. Read it and understand that Mexico, like the United States, is free and will remain free of sham Ideologies as well as sham royalties exported from Europe. Sordid Recital of Misdeeds on Dark Continent "SOUTH OF THE CONGO," by Sclwyn James.

Random House, 11 Reviewed by Mason Warner. A book difficult to appraise. A disquieting recital of the warfare between British and Boers, of the political rivalry of Smuts and Hertzog, and how Smuts finally triumphed and swung the Union of South Africa against the axis powers, on the side of the allied nations. Most of the material is familiar to readers of Ths Tribune Something new Is added in the chapter on Madagascar, telling of German and Japanese machinations to gain control of the island. A candid story of the sordid exploitation of the natives by British, Boer, and Belgian runs thru 340 pages, hut the reader may wonder why the book was written until he reaches the last page, when he may conclude that the author is a propagandist working for the At By Frederic Babcock.

AN old friend, Percy Lorlng, came to Chicago last week. He is a veteran of the publishing business and he knows as much about it, perhaps, as does any one else in that business. Once he had his own book store in Boston. Later he represented various publishing houses and today he is an executive of the J. P.

Lipplncott company. now Mr. Lorlng is enthusiastic about a novel that Lipplncott will publish April 14. The book is called "South from Yesterday" and strangely enough it was written by a movie actor. Willard Robertson left the plains of Texas years ago to become successively an attorney for the United States government, a playwright, a film actor and an author.

He has appeared in supporting roles in about 150 motion pictures. Some time ago he wrote a novel, "Moon Tide," and it was acclaimed by both the critics and the public. Then It was made into a movie with the French actor, Jean Cabin, In the featured role, and the story that had reached perhaps fifteen or twenty thousand readers was given an audience of millions. Thus the film actor Robertson achieved fame partly thru his writing, but primarily thru the work of another performer. It will be interesting to see if the actor-author's new book catches on as well as did "Moon Tide." Percy Lorlng insists it will.

He believes "South from Yesterday" has all the elements needed for a best seller. It has suspense, adventure, romance and enough of a plot to keep it going for 300 pages. The story Is of a murderer who flees from a crime that he did not commit He marries a girl to save himself from capture and learns to love her some time after the marriage. He is not altogether an admirable character, but he is admirable enough to gain the sympathy of the average reader. i e- Your observer, after a hurried trip thru many galley proofs of the forthcoming book, is willing to grant that it has the making of a popular example of what is called escapist literature.

It has enough of the macabre and the unusual in it to satisfy any one seeking to escape from the realities of war. The Lipplncott people are so thoroly convinced they have a prize piece of goods that they are planning a heavy campaign In its behalf. We still have an open mind on the subject Meanwhile we salute Willard Robertson one movie actor with brains enough to write readable novels. YOUR LITERARY Q. By Howard Collins.

BUSINESS MEN IN FICTION. The world of fiction is populated not only by gallant knights and ladles fair, but also by men of business and commerce. Here are five such workaday citizens whose occupations have made them famous. How many of them do you knowT Answers on page 17. A booster, a Joiner, a hustler, full of push, punch, and pep, he sold houses to his fellow citizens of Zenith for more than they could afford to pay.

George Jay Curtis Charley Caleb Babbitt Gatsby Jadwin -Marsden Plummer 2. This middle aged Irish-American was the witty, and philosophical proprietor of a saloon in Archey road, Chicago. Mr. Bumble Mr. Dooley Mr.

Mulllner Mr. Pirn Mr. Snell 3. A shrewd tho unlettered philosopher, he combined the calling of banker In Homevllle, N. with the hobby of horse trading.

Scattergood David Axel Silas Sam Balnes Harum Heyst Lapham Slick 4. He is the proprietor of "Parnassus at Home," a second hand book store in Gissing street, John Kenneth Roger Abe Caleb Anthony Blxby Mifflin Potash Williams 8. Timekeeper in a lumber camp, he wore an eraser on the end of his nose, and he figured so fast that he had to have two dozen barrels of ink In order to keep his fountain pen flowing. Johnny Prester Sancho Jeff Peregrine Inkillngcr John Fanza Peters Pickle AT. P.

Rea. IDoubteday, Doran, $2. Mlmi Thackeray wore the costume of an angel to sing In the Christmas program in the toy department of Dunbarton, MacGreg-or's department store in Chicago. But even while the audience of mothers and children applauded some one murdered her in the dressing room. And her death brought to light some horribly tor did secrets that involved store per sonnel from top office to locker room.

Mlml's less glamorous sister, Noel, was a big help to Lt Pow ledge in solving the puzzling and confusing crime. LENA HATES HEN," by Margot Neville. Mystery House, tt.i Wealthy Clarice Dodd found life at 50 agreeably enthralling, asking nothing more than to keep her luxurious home well filled with youthful house guests. She enjoyed seeing her endless stores of liquor at work, whether wrecking romances or giving birth to new ones. The carnival era ended abruptly when Clarice was murdered.

Altho suspects among the young guests were numerous, motive was not apparent, and it la "doubtful that the crime would have been solved had not Lena, Clarice's dull, sour, man-hating old servant, dug for clews. The author has peopled this story with originality, and there Is nothing In lt reminiscent of current economic worries. Merriest Book of the. Yaart OUR vjcnn lantic charter and pointing the duty of this country to police the world after the war. Mr.

James advises: "The charter should be countersigned by lmpor tant noncoionlal powers like the United States which should share in the responsibility of rebuilding the lives of millions of Africans and of ensuring equal opportunity for all races in Africa." Whether Great Britain, France, Belgium, Portugal, and Spain will approve this advice remains to be seen. 3 1 Camilla OliiSltattRl ft. S- unit uiuiv Runorougn 916,437 COPIES! S2.50 1 DOOO. MIAS IV 'MMIIMIIIII.