Do You LIke Sea? And Character?

Joseph C. Lincoln's latest book* is a character study of the old coast guards --life-savers who seldom if ever mind a call. I have written of Mr. Lincoln before in these columns; but whenever I have a chance to talk with him, I am reminded again of a character so filled with humorful wisdom and real charity, that I have a wish to impart something of it to others. The other day I discovered two things about this exceedingly popular novelist that I had not realized before: first, that like Robert W. Chambers, Robert Cortes Holliday, W. B. Maxwell and many other writers, he started his artistic career drawing rather than writing and then discovered his aptitude lay in the telling of stories. Perhaps this explains why he has always preferred to dwell more on intimate character sketches of Cape Cod folk rather than to bother too greatly with plot. He sees his quaint people whole and puts them on paper so, sketches them lightly and then inks them in with dialogue and anecdote, the situation furnishing a light background to the picture. The other thing I discovered about Mr. Lincoln was that when he was a boy he had a toy theatre. Did you have a toy theatre? Did you paint the scenery and write the plays? Well, I did; and, like Mr. Lincoln, I kept it up until I was ashamed to have people know I played with such toys. However, Mr. Lincoln has little time for hobbies these days, with the possible exception of golf. He works sincerely and hard for six or eight months on a novel; and for Rugged Water he did considerable research, going back and talking to some of the old guards, gathering details and anecdotes from them. That is probably why he has succeeded in creating so admirably the tense atmosphere of the life and actions of the old time lifesaver. There is much in common between Joseph Lincoln and Zane Grey--personally, I mean--their books are little alike. Both are out-of-door men. Both have families in which they are interested and of which they are proud. Both have sons who are determined to follow in their father's footsteps; in fact, young Lincoln is about to become a reporter and later has his eye on the magazine field. If you haven't read Rugged Water and like stories of sea and character, do; and if you want to read one of the most striking animal stories for the past ten years, look in the current Ladies' Home Journal for Zane Grey's The Wolf Tracker.

*RUGGED WATER--Joseph C. Lincoln-- Appleton ($2.00).