BOOKS OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2994, 3 February 1917, Page 13

BOOKS OF THE DAY

Soma Naval Memories,

Ihree or tour years ago, Admiral C. ienrose lntzgerald wrote an excelJent book of reminiscences of his naval career, entitled "Memories of tho Sea." A second ; volume of: similar reminiscences, "From Sail tu Steam" (Edward lAniold) has now come from the same - WMi, the narrative dealing mainly with •the authors life from .1878 to his retirement in.1905. Alway's.an ardent sports-' man. Admiral Fitzgerald has many good stories to tell of his, shooting expedi- ; tions in various out-of-the-way corners .br tho world, in the Sea-of Marmora <iu company with his old friend Hobart -lasha), at Corfu, in Ohina,'and in Australia, whither he went in 1889 as flagcaptain on the Inconstant to Admiral Wd_Clanwilliam, who commanded th<v squadron which accompanied the.Rac- . chaute when the present King, tame out on his Jrst visit to these He <M not, however, confine "interest in / /shore matters" to sporty When cruising in the Levant and tie Black Sea, as •commander of tha Rapid, he took a .keen interest in archaeology, and paid .■visits to some of/the historic cities of Asia Minor.

At Antiocl v r, B ~v as onlightened as to the subtle worldly., philosophy of which a clever Hebrew, is• capable. He and Jus. friend \ TO ro ,put,'up' by tho British consular agent, a,rich Jew merchant, who on-mad one of tha best housos in the town. Ho entertained the party most, hospitably for three ' days, ■ and when they were about to leave Admiral ■Oltzgerald asked his dragoman, .Too M'hat there .was to pay. 1 -' Nothing, sir," said Joe, ."the old gentleman woukLba Tery much insulted if you were to offer him money. Admiral Fitzgerald then ■suggested-a handsome present, as Joe : had brought the party to; the house on his own responsibility, and as the owner must.be a guod deal out ,of. pocket through entertaining his . uninvited .guests,. "N'evcr fear, ;sir,",said Joe, _ you need not'ho alarmed about his being (To of pocket. Your visit to his s«m ■»;* nl , I '. , .P^H''- : be V °r tn "bout 4SUO to kin." Joe's explanation of this startling statement was to the following effect:—The Jew was not only a merchant with a large business, but he was also a .money-lender, and had a large amount,of outstanding debts owing to him throughout tho town.. He was entitled to fly tho British flag by. virtue of his office as Bril-islj consular; •agent, and he would/ represent to his ■debtors that the captain of tho British man-of-war had comq.to, atav-vith him for the pwppso of ending fam to collect his debts. .

After his return to England from his Australian cruise, tho author" held several important positions ashore and . afloat, at-\l, o R oya i Naval College, trreqnvifcn, as a conlma nder of a battle-, snip fn. the Mediterranean, as superinteXdent: of, Pemb'roko, Doclci .and as on the China Station. rHe'-came-.to loggerheads more than once with his official- superiors on the question of naval reform, opposing, in 1002, the Fisher-Selbornc scheme, of entry and, training.for officers of tho Navy,' and-.is vcry/.seyero in his remarks upon •Lord Haldano'-- and^'certain 1 -"' -pro-war -, utterances oft- that> : statesman. The Admiral's .book is an ' ■interesting".record of. good work faith-' ■] Hilly performed, and is written in a ■ chatty and essentially agreeable style. ■] The volume contains several excellent ' illustrations, portraits, and skotches of ' - various places of interest visited by ' the authon (N.Z. price,- 155.) "Told |n the Huts-"-The latest of the now numerous War Gift Books is to hand (from Messrs. Jarrold and Sons,, London)/ being-a handsomely produced quarto entitled "Told in. the Huts," the Y.M.C.A, Gift Book. The splendid work done wider the sign of tho' now famous Red Triangle deserves the most generous support. Wherever the British soldier as-fighting, on "thei-AVosteri-front;-''.-'in Macedonia, in far-away' Mesopotamia: and_in Egypt,, tho Y.M.C.A. huts, offer comwrt and wholesome recreation to the wearied warrior. ; The Y.M.C.A. Gift Book is published in aid of the which is doing such good work for our soldiers.--Quito apart from the specially, laudable object in assistance of which: the!, book, is published,, it is'well worth' buying and preserving, for- both its literary and artistic 1 features are eicellent., Prefaced.by an appreciation from General Birdwood, and containing autographed ' 'contributions from Princess Victoria and Lady Beatty. the volume includes a number of capital. • stories and sketches, many of the former being contributed by writers who are at tho front, professional authors of reputation also assisting to provide a rich literary feast. The illustrations, somo in'colour, are mainly by the late Cyrus Ouneo, whose draughtsmanship "was specially suited to war pictures. Thero aro ,also somo amusing pen and ink sketches by Sir Robert Baden Powell. Private Mac Michael, Bert. Wardlo, and a clever artist who signs his drawings "The Gasper." The marginal illustrations by Cyrus Cuneo aro specially vigorous drawings. The New Zealand price of the volume is 45. : 6d. I hope this excellent publication may have a largo sale. •.:-''■■' * "Nelson's History.of the War." Successive volume's cf that admirable publication, "Nelson's History of the War"' (Nelson and Sons, per Whitcombe and Tombs), continue to appear with commendable regularity. In Vol.' XIV, just to hand, the editor, Mr. John Buchan, describes the course of the 1 war from the Fall of Kut to the' Second Battle of Verdun. A specially interesting feature is Mr. Buchan's detailed and fascinating account of the Battle of Jutland!, followed by a soberly enthusiastic appreciation of the lato Lord Kitchener's splendid services to the nation, of which he .was so patriotic and unselfish a son.. After referring: to Kitchener's brilliant record as a military commander and to his genius for organisation, Mr. Buchan says:— He Had also a singular personality which dominated without effort thos'o , who came jnto touch with it. No man of our time enjoyed a completer public confidence, and he had won it wrftoufc any of the arts of the demagogue. A. kind of daimonic force radiated from him, and affected millions who had never seen him. Without beinp: a politician, he bad the groatest o of the politician's gifts—the power of creating a tradition which, so to sopak, multiplied hi? personality indefinitely, and made the humblest and remotest recognise in him their leader. In the dark days of .Anjrast, 1014, it is not too much to'.eay that ho was the one man to' whom 'the nation turned, and without the mnir.ic of his name Britain's stupendous effort could not have been made. The volume contains an exceptionally force number of maps and sketch plans which materially add to the In— forest of the text. I can only ?n\ what I have laid before, that no public or private library should lm without a copy of this admirable record of tho -great war. (N.Z. price, Is.'9d.) I