"Through the entire book, there emerges the picture of a man of untarnished honor, of peculiar foresight, of strong will and of intense energy in bringing to pass things of which others only dreamed. In preserving the record of his father's active business life Mr. Baker has rendered a most useful public service.

Smith, Edward Lincoln

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BOOK REVIEWSForty Years a Pioneer. By W. W. BAKER. (Seattle: Lowman andHanford Company, 1934. Pp.257.)This book by Mr. W. W. Baker is a Biography of his father,Dr. D. S. Baker, of Walla Walla, and more definitely, it is a narra-tive of Dr. Baker's business career on the Pacific Coast from 1848until his death at the age of sixty-five in 1888. The book is carefullycompiled, partly from memory, and patiently checked by the diariesand records of a man who was always meticulous about such docu-ments. It is not a book for the trade, but is privately printed for Dr.Baker's descendants, to whom it is inscribed. It has been presentedto such public libraries and friends as would be interested. Becausethe events recorded in this book were of importance in the earlylife of the States of Oregon and Washington, congratulations aredue Mr. Baker for his· success in putting the record in permanentform before memory and documents have ceased to be.The format of the book is admirable, a credit to the painstakingcare of the author and the artistic execution of the Lowman andHanford Company of Seattle. The map which is printed on the in-side covers, front and back, will be appreciated by studious readersfor it has been prepared especially for this volume and will showthe correct location of events described.A further touch of beauty is given by the poetic tribute to thePioneers written by Mrs. Baker, wife of the author, and in the dis-cussion of the origin of the name "Klickitat" as applied by the In-dians to the river which flows from the glaciers of Mt. Adams downto the Columbia. The word Klickitat is thought to have been chosenby the Indians to represent the sound of the "bubbling or talkingwater."This book is written by a banker and shows a banker's longtraining in concise and accurate use of language. Humor is not lack-ing as for example in the description of how one little bed-bug, orpossibly a whole family of them, had an important bearing upon thebuilding of the first railroad in the State of Washington. The bookis well written and is a fine example of what a man whose chief at-tention has been given, through a long life, to business can do whenthat attention is turned to authorship. To his surprise, perhaps, hefinds that he can write a book-a good and useful book for whichfuture generations will be grateful.Dr. Baker's career was associated in the earlier stages with the(144)Forty Years a Pioneer 145discovery and production of gold. His arrival on this Coast was in1848 when the gold excitement was keen in California and at a laterdate he had much to do in outfitting the miners for the gold minesof northern Idaho. There is no record of his engaging in mininghimself except once in a small way, but supplying the needs of oth-ers intrigued him. There is an amusing tale of Dr. Baker's crossingthe Isthmus of Panama on his way to the East at an early day. Thetrip was a dangerous one with cases of murder and robbery oftenovertaking the traveller. Dr. Baker adopted a course of his own.Securing an Indian who was recommended as more or less depend-able, he started over a trail that once had been travelled by Pizarro.The Indian, loaded with forty pounds of gold dust, went in frontwhile Dr. Baker, commander of the expedition, followed, a few feetbehind, bearing provisions and keeping a sharp lookout on his guideand for any possible bandits who might attack them. At night theIndian was chained to a tree and the Doctor slept with the gold. Inthis way they came in safety to the Atlantic Coast after fifteen daysof travel.An interesting and detailed account is given of the assaying ofgold and of the method by which the value of the gold from differ-ent regions was determined. When Dr. Baker had started a store inWalla Walla, a very considerable feature of the business was thesafekeeping of the sacks of gold-dust brought in by miners. Thesesacks were tagged and each man's sack delivered upon request afterpayment of a modest fee. They were kept in the safe, but when thesafe was full, sacks were piled on the floor around it. None wasever stolen or lost. It was natural that a bank should develop out ofthese conditions and in 1869, the Baker-Boyer Bank, the first bankin the State of Washington, was born. After twenty years of use-ful existence, a charter was granted this institution as a nationalbank.The largest undertaking of Dr. Baker was the construction ofthe railroad from the Columbia river to Walla Walla between theyears 1871 and 1875. This, for those times, monumental enterpriseis thoroughly described and the interesting fact's are definitely es-tablished. Some picturesque legends of silk hats and rawhide arefinally shattered but the picture of the first real railroad in Wash-ington is accurately drawn to the great satisfaction of future his-torians.Through the entire book, there emerges the picture of a man of146 Book Reviewsuntarnished honor, of peculiar foresight, of strong will and of in-tense energy in bringing to pass things of which others only dreamed.In preserving the record of his father's active business life Mr. Ba-ker has rendered a most useful public service.EDWARD LINCOLN SMITHTests and Measurements in the Social Sciences. By TRUMANL. KELLEY and A. C. KREY. (Charles Scribner's Sons, NewYork,1934. $3.00.)This volume summarizes the results of a four-year study of ob-jective tests and measurements in the field of the social studies. Theproject was initiated by the Commission on the Social Studies in theSchools and carried out as a cooperative effort of social scientistsand statisticians. Its tone is set throughout by clash of the divergentviewpoints of these unlike groups. The result is a book with a dualpersonality.The plan of the committee was to prepare new-type tests thatwould be valid and reliable measures of the educational valuesachieved by the social sciences. The project was started with highhopes. The social scientists had confidence that the statisticianswould have no great difficulty in securing in the field of the socialsciences measures of the same exactness they were reputed to haveprepared in other areas of knowledge. The statisticians, on theirpart, appear to have assumed that no difficulties not already over-come in other fields would be encountered in the attempt to secureexact measurements of the changes brought about in school childrenby study of the social sciences.The disappointment that followed the dashing of these highhopes permeates the entire volume. In retrospect, as Prof. Kreypoints out, there was little justification for the great expectationswith which the project was begun. The technical experts could notbegin work until the social scientists had furnished them with astatement of the ends, aims, and purposes of instruction in terms ofobjective knowledge. Such a statement did not exist and could notbe formulated. As Professor Krey points out, ct • •• it became clearthat the most 'objective' fact about social science was that it was solargely 'subjective.' "Under the handicap of this difficulty the collaborators did thebest they could. The social scientists present a reasoned and care-ful analysis of the aims of social science instruction, albeit not in the

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Forty Years a Pioneer

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Forty Years a Pioneer

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