NEW BOOKS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 64, 15 November 1915, Page 5

NEW BOOKS.

"Interned?'—By Captain W. Manning. The.mepwho go down to the sea in ships are ifamiliar with queer happenings and inhere: is scarce one of. them who if he would, Jell, truthful tales, jnore strange tluin Salts wh,p have s,aijed on rivers, of, rum or have .scaled mouptains of ,Demerar,a sugar by way qf , exercise , when, on shore leave,, have, but seldom put down in writing tfye weird and wonderful experiences of their everyday lives. They are modest men all, and hide their gems too closely from us mere landsmen. But just now and again privileged ones are permitted, in the blue haze of the Captain's Cabin or perchance in the more rugged company of Jack Tar on the fo'castle head, to bear some yarnspinning. A sea captain with fortyodd years constant sea-going record, twenty-five of which have been passed as skipper of Red Funnel boats, undoubtedly ought to hold a big store of material for stories, and when such a skipper can be found willing to write a book, he is a sailorman after our own heart. Captain Walter Manning, Big Chief conductor of the WellingtonLyttelton Ferry Service, despite the constant call on his care and affections, as compelled by his present command, the turbine steamer Maori, has found time to write a book! It is quite a small book, but it is a wonderfully good book of short stories, in which humor and pathos and, above all, clean-cut pictures of real life stand out vividly. More than one of the stories told by Captain Manning is a gem, and one cannot but feel that there are many better ones still that he is keeping in the locker. These stories of Captain Manning's are, by-the-way, just incidentally of the sea, and when he really "sets his stun'sails," as his friends hope ho some day will, he may be expected to carry us to strange places on the wide waters. There are tales of Captain Manning's skill and courage and seamanship which would fill volumes: but, perhaps, after all, these may be for other men to write. Our copy of this sailor-wri-ter's work, "Interned," comes from Whitcombe and Tombs, Christchurch, and is published at the modest price of Is 3d.