she, and went for a long walk, bowed down by the ugliness of that phrase "certain among them," and her carelessness in using it instead of a simple "others."

The more she thought, the more she wondered, and finally, at home again, she opened her files, and in the carbon of her manuscript, found she had not used that phrase.

That gave her back her self-respect, but all of the complimentary copies of the book containing her stories, which she had so wanted to hand to friends and relatives, are pushed behind some other books on the top shelf of her book-case. What is the use

Editor, the Forum:

Mr. Charles Hooper's letter on "Slang and Literature" comes pat to the occasion of a lecture on "Slang" delivered to the English Association by a well-known novelist, Mr. Compton Mackenzie.

Mr. Mackenzie approached Slang in all its aspects - jargon, colloquialism, and ordinary manners of speech. He surveyed the field down to the newest minted piece of slang, picked up from a railway porter "Dropsies" for bank-notes. The lecturer showed clearly how very much one-time slang has become common and respectable speech.

Slang is often useful and expressive. Why not use it? Of course, to drag it in without justification is to misuse it, in exactly the same way that any word can be misused. But to make all slang taboo, other than, as Mr. Hooper suggests, on extraordinary occasions, is not only to rule out a vast vocabulary which is admitted to be good English, but to damp down those inventive faculties which do so much to enrich the language. "High-brow" is slang - yet how excellent! Can there be a more stirring word

than "Attaboy"? In fact, it is well-known that such Americanisms are often to be found in Elizabethan and even in Chaucerian literature. Perish the thought that Americans are to be discouraged from producing priceless, breezy slang!

Where would novelists be without slang? Why should not they use the heritage of the past?

There is no need to go back the thousand years postulated by Mr. Hooper. Go back, for example, only as far as 1785 and we get "fop" and "macaroni" and "swell." Go back only a few years ago and we have "dandy," "bob" (compare French noblesse), "toff," "masher" (one of the first Americanisms to wing its way across the Atlantic), "chappie," "johnny," "nut." Do not go back at all, but think of "hearty" now in use at the Universities.

Well it is surely a far, far better thing to use slang appropriately than to ape a lingo which is literary in the sense that it is orthodox but is longwinded and wearisomely dull. Gerald Franklin. Fareham, Hants, England

Editor, the Forum:

When a writer of serious and authoritative material has completed an article or essay, not technical, he is often undecided as to which of the "Big Four" monthlies he should offer his manuscript. Up-todate, the only method was to try them all. The cost of the trying-out of each manuscript can not total more than fifty-six cents, but then there is the loss of time occasioned by the compulsory parking of the article of from a week to two months, and the possible rejection by all four editors.

But now I believe some really constructive work has been done by a non-commercial, co-operative magazine, the Survey-Graphic. In the November issue, in an article, entitled "The Revolution on

Quality Street," Leon Whipple begins his analysis of the “Quality Magazines," which include the "Big Four" (the Atlantic, the Century, Harper's, and Scribner's), the American Mercury and the Forum.

The first article concerned itself only with the more conservative Atlantic and Century. The second article, published in the January issue, is devoted to a vivisection of the more radical Scribner's, Harper's, the Forum, and the Mercury.

The studies are keen, intensive, and honest throughout. It is as if the writer had put the respective editors through a rigid cross-examination. The editors tell us through many interviews what they want. That is they say what they want, but Mr. Whipple, like the true psycho-analyist, tells us

what they really want, and accounts for their change of tastes, not only by the passing of Victorian thought, but by the high cost of illustrating scientific and art subjects, competition with newsstand distribution, and other important factors in the publishing business.

But, why go into further details? Mr. Whipple's articles speak for themselves. They are well-written, with touches of wit and humor; they give to the literary climber an introduction to the respective

editors who are so humanly portrayed by the able critic, Mr. Whipple.

It will pay the writer of serious articles to buy the November and January numbers of the SurveyGraphic; read the two above-mentioned articles carefully; then cut them out and place in his scrapbook, and finally make a note of the information in the space set aside for such data in the "FreeLance Writer's Handbook." Annette D. Bond.

Mt. Vernon, N. Y.

Editor, the Forum:

The calendar may suggest subjects for special articles, such as seasonal happenings and anniversaries of events. The world expects to be told in the late fall how to make its Christmas gifts and in the spring how to make its gardens. It looks for comparisons of Washington and Lincoln in February and discussions of the Pilgrims in November. A writer on the alert can find other subjects just as appropriate to the season and less hackneyed.

For use in newspapers local anniversaries make good topics and many of these are suggested in the "Ten Years Ago," "Forty Years Ago," and "Do You Remember When ?" columns. It is profitable, as well as pleasant, especially in a community which has anything of historical interest, to cultivate the acquaintance of old people, the "old settlers" who know interesting stories of events and customs of long ago and are usually most happy to tell them.

Current events often repeat former ones, and are suggestive of reminiscences which furnish interest

ing reading. It is not necessary to adhere closely to the event itself, for one may find ideas growing out from it on all sides. For instance, such floods as have swept through many cities recently may recall in some city a former flood and lead to the writing of an article descriptive of that flood, its causes and effects, another article on the Weather Bureau, and one on "House-building," with special regard to stability and dryness in wet weather.

The writer must take note of the calendar in marketing a magazine article which has a bearing on any certain date. Magazines are planned and prepared four to six months in advance of publication, and material designed for any particular number must be submitted that long beforehand. The writer must give himself time, after choosing his subject, to write, criticise, and re-write his article and present it to the editor early enough, not only for acceptance, but for a chance to send it out again if it is returned the first time. Rita Piatt O'Brien Fort Wayne, Indiana

Editor, the Forum:

Hypocrisy through the ages has had a most unpleasant savor. It has been considered one of the prime vices, one of the blights cast upon humanity by some of its undeserving members, a flaw that prevents perfectness though aspiration endure through the centuries.

We cringe when some one calls us a hypocrite. We feel that we have been acclaimed guilty of something as derogatory to our integrity as burglary or other plot against the social system. Calling a man meaningless words has resulted in many an argument; calling a man a hypocrite often is a matter of swords or pistols. So unfavorably do we look upon the name that very few, even though feeling the need, will brave bestowing it.

But, judging fairly, why should we hesitate? Is not the unfavorable light thrown upon hypocrisy

the product of a murky brain rather than of an inherent bad in hypocrisy itself? In truth, if hypocrisy were ever done away with, the world would seek it again in self-defense.

We all "wear some disguise- make some professions use some artifice, to set ourselves off as being better than we are." It is necessary if we are to escape the river. The world itself is too harsh, we are too tender, and contact of the two is disastrous unless we may flee to some poetry which will delude both ourselves and others.

Every idealist is a hypocrite in substance. Often the idealist occupies the station he does because he is fearful of one more strictly under the tyranny of logic which is hypocrisy. And when he is one purely because he is earnestly wishing for better things he becomes a hypocrite as a matter of course. Nor is he to be condemned for it. It is a necessary

factor in the attainment of that which he desires. "Every day, in every way, I am growing better and better" is hypocrisy, but it is often efficacious. By imagining and playing a part other than our own true one we may soon assume that part.

More than one writer in the past has gone to the length of some thousand words to defend hypocrisy. I am inclined to go one astonishing, yet sane, step further and praise it! Paul P. Faris. Fayette, Missouri

Editor, the Forum:

I read Beatrice Brace's letter, and it appears to me that she has put a misconstruction upon much of the advice in Mr. Ben Ames Williams' article, entitled "The Functions of the Literary Agent."

I have re-read Mr. Williams' article very carefully, and I find nothing in it that savors of superciliousness, egotism, or the selfish satisfaction of the "arrived." On the other hand, it seems to me to be one of the most practical commonsense articles on the subject of writing that I have read. It is just such advice as Mr. Williams offers that is needed to balance the scales. Surely the novice has an overdose of optimism poured out for him by the horde that would make capital of his dreams and aspirations. I believe the novice would arrive at a surer pace if he would read more of such hard-headed advice as Mr. Williams gives and somewhat less of the insidious assurances of those whose business it is to earn their livelihood from the eager masses of the "unarrived."

Miss Brace takes issue with Mr. Williams on his statement that: "No one can be 'taught' anything of value; he must learn it for himself." "Why send children to school? They could go out into the world and learn things for themselves," asked Miss Brace.

There is a vast difference in the ability of an adult and that of a child to grasp ideas and facts. I am sure Mr. Williams' article pre-supposes adult students of the art, at least in the main, with minds stored with the things that were "taught" them while they were growing up. Also his remarks pre-suppose a subconscious mind that is a reservoir of impressions from infancy. A child has a few mental tools with which to construct a line of reasoning. It may have looked at the word "candy" on the paper on sugar sticks and on jars up to the age at which it started to school and it meant nothing to it. When it began to study the alphabet and phonics, certain letters taken from the alphabet and placed together properly would suggest hun

ger, taste, color, and perhaps other ideas to its mind. A child is taught that it may become able to teach itself.

I am sure Mr. Williams did not mean to leave the impression that an ambitious student could not be taught anything about technique. What Mr. Williams meant, and what he said, was that such a student could not be taught much of anything that he could not learn himself from the same amount of time and effort applied on his own account.

While it was not an effort to do so, I proved this theory of Mr. Williams', at least to my satisfaction. I took up a course in writing that was being taught in University Extension work in my city. I very soon gave it up. The Professor was monotonously going over things that my own avid curiosity had long since caused me to discover for myself.

If one has the itch to write, one will have the itch to find out how it is done, and I can see no better method than that suggested by Mr. Williams -"see, read, think, write."

The least of the difficulties of a would-be writer is grasping the rules. The essential qualities must proceed from within. Most good writing comes from a catholicity of heart and mind-the ability to see four square. I do not believe any writer who is emotionally sluggish reaches the spiritual nature of his readers. He might touch the intellectual side of their nature, but not otherwise.

So to Mr. Williams' excellent advice, "see, read, think, write," we might add — "and feel, if you can."

While it hurts those of us who belong to the "unarrived" to admit it, in the truest sense of the word, we can't be taught to write. We may know the rules by heart and yet not be able to recognize a story and tell it. But it won't help us any to get bitter about it. Acrimony usually springs from narrow vision, and narrowness of vision is fatal to the game. Ann Price Turner. Dallas, Texas

within our own time. Even so, he adds, the matter of variety enters again, and if a story of olden times has the plot, the action, the human interest, as well as the authenticity to hold the reader, he is glad to have it. He is also glad to have now and then an Indian story, preferably with the Indian as a subordinate character and a white man as a hero. Frontier Stories uses no serials, but it can use complete novels, of from 40,000 to 50,000 words, novelettes and short stories, of from 4,000 to 10,000 words, and fillers, not exceeding 500 words.

LOVE ROMANCES 461 Eighth avenue, New York, especially wants some "gripping" "gripping" stories, and the editor gives a formula for success, as follows: A breath-holding plot full of suspense, with a thrillingly strong climactic scene. (A touch of mystery or adventure is permissible if it does n't overshadow the love interest); a girl-appealing hero and, perferably though not necessarily, a poor-girl heroine. (The girl as a rule should hold the center of the stage); romance; emotion.

THE PEOPLE'S POPULAR MONTHLY - Des Moines, Iowa, is eager to see more short stories. Miss Stewart, the managing editor, says that plenty of stories come to the magazine, and that many of them are "pretty good," but that it is surprising how few out of the thousands of manuscripts submitted turn out to be really good. The People's Popular Monthly does n't want realism, but it does want possible stories, with enough action to keep the reader interested, as well as a pleasing literary style.

of Westerners to put the material into straight story form. Characterization, local color, and plot are the three essentials, Mr. Hersey says, and their importance is in the order given. Humor, even of the slapstick variety, is welcome, but trick endings, a la O. Henry, should be avoided. Mr. Hersey urges contributors not to be afraid to write well. He is paying as high as four cents a word to regular contributors, and from a cent and a half upward to new writers.

THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY-250 Fourth avenue, New York, is in especial need just now of short fiction that conveys something of the romance and drama of industrial, mechanical, or scientific progress. The railroads, steel mills, big automobile and other factories, and the structural industries offer typical settings. All stories should be presented from a man's viewpoint, and accuracy in scientific or mechanical details is essential, while love interest is of secondary importance. Stories should not exceed 6,500 words.

SEA BREEZES-764 State street, San Diego, Calif., is in the market for a limited amount of strictly humorous material, particularly short storiettes, not exceeding 3,000 words, which, in addition to being humorous have as their theme something pertaining to the sea. MCCALL'S MAGAZINE -236 West Thirtyseventh street, New York, is always interested in serials, novelettes, short stories, and special articles, as well as manuscripts for the departments of special interest to women. The editors stress the point that contributors can obtain a much better idea of the needs of the magazine by examining the issues of the past

year.

THE FUR AGE WEEKLY-47 West Thirtyfourth street, New York, is in the market for news about fur retailers and fur departments of department stores, and wants correspondents for any city except New York, Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Detroit, Los Angeles, and San