daily at McClurg's (the only bookstore that Chicago boasted when Field came to the city) and which Field made famous in his column. It is told how Field on one occasion there saved a book which he greatly coveted by inscribing the following quatrain on the flyleaf:

Sweet friend for Jesus's sake forbeare
To buy ye boke thou findest here,
For that when I do get ye pelf,

I mean to buy ye boke myselfe.
EUGENE FIELD

The illustrations include quotations and facsimiles that run the whole gamut of Fieldian frolic, fun, and dead earnest, from the manuscripts of verse, including "Little Boy Blue," to a wealth of humorous drawings for which Field was noted. There are also little known poems and prose which have never appeared in his collected work, including the mistakenly sequestered poem, "Little Willie."

MORROW'S WORD FINDEer. By Paul D. Hugon. 420 pages. Cloth. New York: William Morrow & Company.

The sub-title describes this new word book as "A Living Guide to Modern Usage, Spelling, Synonyms, Pronunciation, Grammar, Word Origins, and Authorship, All in One Alphabetical Order." In a foreword on "What It Is and How To Use It," the publishers explain that it is "the direct outcome of tabulations showing the mistakes most commonly made, and the questions most commonly asked, by more than ten thousand adult students from every walk of life who were taking correspondence courses in various. subjects. Of that number, some two thousand expressed in almost identical terms their greatest difficulty as 'finding the right word.'" Recognizing that cross-references are the bugbear of the person who has not specialized in research work, the editor has attempted to supply a book with "an absolute minimum of abbreviations or cross-references a book that will answer the average adult's everyday questions at the

place where he is most likely to look for the answer, i. e., at the thought place and not at the grammatical or alphabetical place, and without assuming his acceptance of a philosophical system of classification of knowledge (a system which would necessarily be arbitrary if not totally out of date at the outset).”

Paul D. Hugon, who edits the book, also contributes a brief but spirited preface on "English - The World Language," in which he makes this interesting statement:

"Between the Historicists, who would set up the Past as the only standard of linguistic usage, and the Realists, who wait pencil in hand to jot down as tremendously significant all the youthful slang and the half-baked exuberance of the Present, it is not necessary to make a choice, for both are equally onesided. Neither Historicism nor Realism, but Conscious Evolution, is the keynote of modern language study. With the coming of the radio, and with the adoption of English as the official language of the League of Nations (on a par with French, but fast being adopted all over Europe as well as over the rest of the world), it is no longer a case of choosing between British usage on the one hand and American usage on the other. Both should be noted when they differ; neither should be considered as more than a dialect variation of the great World English which is to be the language of the entire human race at no distant date. And when they do differ, leaving us in doubt as to the 'correct' form, we should apply to our language the rule which Luther Burbank applied to plants; we should refer to Fundamental Principles, thereby consciously aligning ourselves behind the great laws of Nature, compliance with which means Liberty."

From all this, we might expect a reference work that is unique, and it is stirringly so. Word origins are treated in a novel manner which leads to associated ideas and derivatives. In addition to the exact synonym of a word, there are related synonyms with their exact shades of meaning. Good usage of a word is treated with the word in question.

Altogether, this really readable book should fill an important place beside his Thesaurus on the desk of the modern writer.

chief factors in the concern's success; number of traveling salesmen employed and territory each covers; size of plant; brief description of it, and of any modern devices it may contain for facilitating handling and shipping of goods; notes on its service policies; and whether its salesmen are giving plumbing and heating contractors any real help in selling plumbing and heating goods to the public. The magazine also wants feature articles, containing of 500 to 1,000 words, on supply-house operation, as gained by interviews with supply-house presidents, vice-presidents, secretaries, general managers, sales managers, credit-men, purchasing agents, and other important individuals. Biographies of the heads of wholesale houses in the plumbing and heating business, with cabinet photographs or snapshots, as well as photographs of exterior views of buildings, interior views of salesrooms and general offices, and individual or group pictures of executives, are also wanted.

FIRST STORIES-1839 Jefferson avenue, Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a new magazine that will publish only the works of new, or amateur writers. The magazine is edited by Ronald Frederick Eyer, who solicits short stories, of from 600 to 3,000 words; one-act plays; poems; and feature articles with uncommon "twists." Good serials are always welcome, and an occasional novel may be used. No payment will be made for material at pres

ent.

THE SPIDER-1474 North High street, Columbus, Ohio, is a new magazine of general culture, the first number of which is that for October. David K. Webb, the editor, says that no payment will be made for manuscripts, but that he will be glad to receive manuscripts of all kinds.

THE YOUNG CHURCHMAN - 1801 Fond du Lac avenue, Milwaukee, Wis., wants some good illustrated articles for boys and girls.

the Penn Publishing Company for original play manuscripts suitable for amateurs, contest closing December 31. Particulars in September WRITER.

Prize of $25, offered by Poetae, for the best poem not exceeding fifty lines received by December 1. Particulars in September WRITER.

Prizes of £250 and £150, offered by Methuen & Company, Ltd., for the best original detective stories sent to them before May 19, 1928. Particulars in Sepember WRITER.

Monthly prizes of $1,000, $500, $300, and $200, offered by the True Story Magazine, for true stories, each contest to close on the last day of the month, the final closing date to be August 31 1928. Particulars in September WRITER.

Prizes amounting to $10,000, offered by Postum's for letters on the use of Postum, contest closing December 31. Particulars from the Postum Company, Box 574, Battle Creek, Mich., or in October WRITER.

Prizes amounting to $65 offered by the Pioneer for the best twelve-line lyric, the best sonnet in Italian form, the best nature poem, the best humorous poem, and the best limericks, contest closing August 31, 1928. Particulars from the Pioneer, Statesville, N. C., or in October WRITER.

Manuscript Poetry Book prize of $500 for a group of poems, not exceeding 700 lines, or a book of verse, by a poet with no book to his credit, to be submitted before May 1. 1928. Manuscripts should be sent to Mrs. Grace Hoffman White, 122 East Seventy-sixth street, New York. Particulars in September WRITER.

Prizes of $25, $20, $15, $15, and $5, offered by the Dreyfuss Art Company, Inc., for the greeting-card verses which at the end of the year following publication prove to be the most popular, as evidenced by the quantity sold. Particulars in June WRITER.

Prize of five dollars offered by the Northern Light for the best sonnet appearing in the magazine from July through December. Particulars in September WRITER.

Prizes totalling $20,000 offered by the Columbia Phonograph Company for the completion of Schubert's "Unfinished Symphony," contest to close in July, 1928. Particulars in September WRITER.

Prizes of the Poetry Society of South Carolina: Southern prize of $100; Caroline Sinkler prize of $50; Society's prize of $25; Harmon prize of $25; Skylark prize of $10; and the Ellen M. Carroll prize of $15all offered annually. Particulars from the Poetry Society of South Carolina, 62 Broad street, Charleston, S. C., or in July WRITER.

Prize of $500 for the best male chorus composition, and prize of $100 for the poem best adapted to musical composition offered by the Associated Glee Clubs of America, contests to close December 1. Particulars in May WRITER.

Annual poetry prize of $100 offered by the Nation, poems to be submitted between Thanksgiving Day and New Year's Day of each year. Particulars in February, 1923, WRITER.

Monthly prizes offered by the Photo-Era Magazine (Wolfeboro, N. H.) for photographs, in an advanced competition and a beginners' competition.

Walker prizes for the best memoirs on National History, offered annually by the Boston Society of Natural History, closing March 1 of each calendar year. Particulars in June WRITER.

Doubleday, Page, & Co. and the George H. Doran Company have combined, and the new firm will be known as Doubleday, Doran, & Co. after January 1. With this merger is combined the publishing business of William Heinemann, Ltd., of London, which was acquired by Doubleday, Page, & Co. after Mr. Heinemann's death, in 1919.

Mrs. Minna Godwin Goddard, granddaughter of William Cullen Bryant, has bequeathed to the Massachusetts Historical Society the Bryant homestead at Cummington, Mass., together with $10,000, "for the purpose of holding and opening to the public beautiful historical places in Massachusetts."

Angelo Patri has been awarded the first annual medal given by Children, the Magazine for Parents, for the best book of the year for

parents by an American author. Mr. Patri's book is entitled "The Problems of Childhood."

Charles Malam, of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, a senior at Midbury College, has been awarded the Abdullah Fellowship of $200, presented by Captain Achmed Abdullah, in recognition of his interests in the possibilities of the Bread Loaf conferences on Creative Writing.

Glen O. Sevey, editor of the Springfield Homestead, has been elected president of the Phelps Publishing Company, to succeed Herbert Myrick, who died recently in Germany while traveling for his health.

Frederick Skiff Field, son of Eugene Field, died recently as a result of burns resulting from an explosion of his automobile.