the story of the assassination of President Lincoln, picturing the scene as clearly as Emerson did the scene at the Concord Bridge in his famous monument inscription.

The danger of generalization is illustrated by Mr. Mencken's remark that "The best short stories in the world teach nothing and preach nothing." How about "The Man Without a Country"?

Of course, when Mary Roberts Rinehart wrote in one of her stories: "And the Swedish milkmaid is milking a fractious cow and has her legs tied together," she knew what she meant. And no doubt the same is true of Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, who writes of "the wise calm of the one who has passed his six-score years and ten"; of Fannie Kilbourne, who in the American Magazine describes a situation thus: "And on and on she chatted, while I tried to listen politely with one ear, and think about my own dinner with the other"; of Michael Arlin, who says on page 186 of "The Green Hat": "All over the room, elderly women were dancing with young men of both sexes"; of John Galsworthy, who in his "White Monkey" has these two sentences on one page 142: "Nobody looked as if they had anything to do"; "The more regular a person's form and features, the more selfish they were!"; of J. C. Squire, who says on page 115 of "The Grub Street Nights' Entertainments": ". . . which nobody but he would have made," and "a young Polish novelist whom he thought ought to be translated"; of A. S. M. Hutchinson, who in "One Increasing Purpose" says: "His thought was all of that which she must suffer if she came out marred, marred as she would be as much more worse than common folk as more supremely lovely than every other she had been"; and of the learned United States District Court, expressing an opinion in the case of Holbrook vs. Moore, as officially reported: "The question is whether this tax was correctly or incorrectly assessed against him

under the law then in force. I have reached the conclusion that it was." F. Scott Fitzgerald says in one of his recent stories: "Her features danced up and down with delight," and the offer of a prize in an advertisement contest in Worcester says of the contest: "It trains one to express themselves in clear and concise English."

Anne Bosworth Greene used to be an artist, and now is an author. She writes this colorful description of a sunset:

"A terrible sky, all swords; streaks of
searing scarlet just over brilliant salmon;
below, a belt of blue-green that positively
hurt; a fretwork overhead that more than
flamed, and was savage purple where it
did n't. . . . A gold orchard, with crim-
son trunks: gold raspberry jungle on the
old wall; gold bushes screening the yard;
but the barns were funny. Not gold at all,
but red-purple; very clear, like a sweet pea
against the light. The fluid clarity of it!
Bright wine held to a window. (Odd, to
have wine in those homely farm shapes!)
The unspeakable west burning on old gray
clapboards, did that; the gray licked up
the gold, put it back on that morbid hue.
The farm looked really unpleasant; like
modern art not well done.
This

sunset had to die to be lovely. It was dying
all over the barns; though their lower
halves sat in dusk - a lovely world-
shadow that left just a few colored fence-
rims swimming. Dying over the fields, too;
dying on the woods, the black-purple or-
chard. Only the sky lived, and what was
that? By the corn-barn, low above the lit-
tle orchard? That burning It was Mars!
Ominous, winking, just rising; big enough
to eat us, orchard and all. The hottest thing
in the heavens. It looked fiery, actual,
earthy-except that celestial twinkle.
Gold fought with his amazing crimson; and
how cold he made the little beginnings of
stars seem a silver-emerald."

Some hold that in sentences like "He was rich, handsome, and popular" the second comma is superfluous. "The 'and' takes the place of the comma," they say. Does it? Con

sider the sentence, "Automobilists, trying to avoid obstacles in the road, are greatly troubled by hens, and cows, and children on bicycles." Are the commas needed?

It is always a mistake to date a manuscript. The first editor to whom the manuscript is submitted may not accept it, and if it has to be sent to thirty editors, one after another, it will look more attractive to the last editor without a date.

The pessimistic prediction of Cosmo Hamilton that within five years there will be little reading done, the public getting its novels over the radio instead, will not be verified so long as there are novel-readers who want to skip.

All editors know that perfect copy submitted by contributors is the exception, when it ought to be the rule. Comparatively few writers seem to think it necessary to bother about such matters as correct spelling, proper punctuation, exactness of expression, care in stating facts. It is not too much to say that most copy is carelessly prepared, when it should be prepared with extreme care, so that when it is given to the printers it can be followed exactly as it is written. To make copy right for the composing-room, it must in most cases be gone over by the editor, to insert necessary punctuation marks, and to correct errors in punctuation and spelling and rhetorical blunders, as well as to make the copy conform to the style of the office, which is all that the editor really ought to do. "Style" varies in different offices, but there are fundamental rules with which every writer ought to be familiar, and the writer who disregards these rules runs the risk of having his manuscript rejected because the editor would rather send it back than take the trouble necessary to make it right to print.

All typewritten copy for the printer should be written with double space and ample margins, to make room for necessary editorial changes. Care should be taken that words are spelled correctly, and especially that the spelling of proper names is the same throughout the manuscript. Accuracy in the statement of facts is essential; the editor should not be expected to verify statements to avoid mistakes. If a word or phrase in copy is changed, it should be cancelled — either by striking letters at random over it on the typewriter or by zig-zag pen-marks up and down and the word or phrase substituted should be plainly typewritten in the space above. Corrections made with the pen should be absolutely legible. Typewritten copy should always be read over by the writer

with the greatest care before he sends it to the editor, so that any errors may be corrected. It is difficult for one to read proof on his own matter, because he knows what should be there and may think it is there when it is n't, but this means only that the writer should read his copy over with close attention, to discover and correct mistakes. An editor will always be pleased to get perfect copy, and the more carefully a manuscript is prepared the more likely it is to be accepted for publication. What editors call "good stuff" is often carelessly written, but an editor of long and varied experience said recently that he has never seen a manuscript carefully prepared that was not worthy of consideration.

W. H. H.

to go back to the oral-school on pronunciation. Well! I was once "called" by the Free Press for "bud" and "blood." I bleed yet! Ivan Swift.

DETROIT, MICH.

cause Mr. Stern is attorney for the Authors' League this agreement has the League's approval, or, at least, the approval of Mr. Stern as attorney for the League, is misleading. The Authors' League does not approve of the contract, nor to our knowledge does Mr. Stern acting as counsel for the League, and it was not drawn in any way in the interests of the League. Luise M. Sillcox,

Secretary, The Authors' League of America.

I notice in the September WRITER this editorial paragraph:

Newspaper directory records show that out of every hundred new periodicals started in this country fewer than three continue more than two years.

This does not accord with the experiences of the "American Newspaper Annual." We send each year for about three thousand new publications, but receive only about threefifths of that number. Of the remaining twofifths, some are reported dead, many fail to respond to our request for copies, some replies reach us too late. Many others are really old papers, which have changed their names, or removed to other towns. Not all which reach us are entered in the book. Some are ineligible. Of those which fail to be listed, a number are not of general interest, being

house organs, organs of single churches, asylums, jails, or other institutions, of no interest outside of the institution by which they are issued. These are left out. Others do not carry advertising. Of those published without advertising, we insert only scientific, technical, and class publications. We enter in the "Annual" from 1,400 to 1,500 new papers each year and eliminate about the same number. As there are about 22,000 publications in the book, this indicates that about seven per cent. of all, old or new, drop out each year. We have no exact record of the length of life of the new ones started, but while there is without doubt a considerable mortality, we do not think it amounts to anything like ninety-seven per cent. in two years. John T. DeBell,

Editor "American Newspaper Annual."

Will you tell me why people are using the word "gesture" to convey the idea of a suggestion? I do not "get it" - why this use of

the word; or who started it. I should greatly appreciate information.

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. Leila Weekes Wilson.

81⁄2 inches, which is half the size of the usual letter-sheet. If the author has partly filled one of these half-sheets with writing before the lookout that sits up aloft and too often nods sleepily-orders him to overhaul the matter and set down some more brilliant thought in place of that written, he will need