“It is an extraordinary story, in which most of the principal characters come to a bad end, for which the reader cannot honestly be very sorry. But there is one thing that he will have noticed by that time, which is that the descriptions of Alpine scenery and atmosphere, which can only be due to personal observation, stand out with a far brighter vividness then all the medieval fineries.”
− + The Times [London] Lit Sup p383 Je 17 ’20 850w
ROSS, VICTOR. Evolution of the oil industry. il *$1.50 (5c) Doubleday 665
20–19271
Beginning with the first mention of “oil out of the flinty rock” in Deuteronomy and the ancients’ acquaintance with it in the earliest historical records, the book shows that petroleum is a comparatively new agent for the service of mankind and the latest of earth’s riches man has learned to adapt to his needs. The development of the industry is described from the boring of the first well in 1859 to the present time. The book is illustrated and the contents are: Petroleum in history and legend; What is petroleum? Dawn of America’s petroleum industry; Founder of the petroleum industry; Petroleum as a world industry; Locating the oil well; Drilling the oil well; Collecting and transporting crude: the pipe line; Refining and manufacturing petroleum products; Petroleum and other industries; Petroleum on the seven seas; Petroleum in the great war; America’s investment in petroleum; Petroleum in the future.
ROTHERY, AGNES EDWARDS (MRS HARRY ROGERS PRATT) (AGNES EDWARDS, pseud.). Old coast road from Boston to Plymouth. il *$2.50 (6½c) Houghton 974.4
20–26574
Beginning with a description of old Boston, by the way of a foreword, the author invites the reader to accompany her on a trip along the earliest of the great roads in New England, the old coast road, connecting Boston with Plymouth. We are asked to travel comfortably “picking up what bits of quaint lore and half-forgotten history we most easily may.” The trip is charmingly reminiscent—a pleasure trip into history and old traditions, as the table of contents reveals: Dorchester Heights and the old coast road; Milton and the Blue hills; Shipbuilding at Quincy; The romance of Weymouth; Ecclesiastical Hingham; Cohasset ledges and marshes; The Scituate shore; Marshfield, the home of Daniel Webster; Duxbury homes; Kingston and its manuscripts; Plymouth. The illustrations and chapter vignettes are by Louis H. Ruyl.
+ Booklist 16:342 Jl ’20