22 SEPTEMBER 1923, Page 20

Sailor Town Days. By C. Fox Smith. (Methuen. Gs.)

A pleasant little book about all kinds of ships, docks, junk stores, and the topography of Dockland, by the lady whose sea songs are well known to readers of the Spectator and Punch. Whether she is talking about Poplar or Limehouse, Liverpool or Falmouth, liners or Thames barges, old sailors' taverns or waterside churches, she is always full of interesting information and never dull for a single moment. She has not the literary art of Mr. H. M. Tomlinson, who can convey something of the glamour and mystery of his subject, but she shows herself capable of writing a very companionable volume. Her letterpress is illustrated by a number of unpretentious but quite charming pencil drawings by Mr. P. W. Smith.