in

Washington, and some reform school work. She spent a year in eugenic study with a state hospital for the insane, which brought her back again into the educational field, this time as a member of the staff of the Division of Education of the Sage Foundation, in which capacity she co-operated in carrying on school and industry surveys and other educational research, in connection with which she published reports and articles. Her last "job" was directing a housing survey of selected blocks in New York city. Miss Bryner has always had a leaning toward fiction, having contributed to school and college magazines, and during the last year she has turned definitely to writing as a profession. She had a whimsical sketch, "A Feminist Baby," in the Dial for last February.

Charles M. Horton, whose story, "Miguel Arrieta," appeared in Scribner's for October, was working as an engineer in Pittsburgh when it occurred to him that he ought to try for a Rhodes scholarship, and thinking competition would n't be as strong in western and southwestern institutions as in, say, Massachusetts, he entered the University of New Mexico. He did not win the scholarship, however, and obtained work riding, as he says, "with one Gonzales to learn the route, the language, and the sewing-machine game." It was his work as sewing-machine salesman that gave him the basis for the story in Scribner's. Mr. Horton is the author of a novel, "Bred of the Desert," published in 1915 by Harper & Bros.; has edited two technical journals; and has sold short stories to the Ladies' Home Journal, the Delineator, Smith's, the Popular Magazine, and, recently, a 60,000-word serial to the American Boy. He has also sold five articles to Collier's, of which only two have been printed.

L. M. Hussey, who had a story, "The Family," in the September Century, and a novelette, "The Ashes of Illusion," in the September Smart Set, was born in Philadelphia, and was educated in medicine and chemistry. He devotes half of his day to writing, and the other half to scientific work. His first short story appeared in the Smart Set about four years ago, and since then Mr.

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Margery Land May, whose novelette, "Her Promise," appeared in Breezy Stories for September, began writing when she was eighteen, her first story, "The Good Woman,” being published in the Parisienne. This story attracted the attention of H. L. Mencken of the Smart Set and he asked to see some of the writer's work, accepting half a dozen or more of her sketches. One of them, entitled Confessions," and beginning, "I hate my husband," created a riot in Mrs. May's home town, and she wrote an article on these experiences, called "Being a Writer in a Small Town" which, she says, has made her forever famous or infamous in a large portion of Louisiana and West Texas. Since that time she has had contributions in Town Topics, the Smart Set, the Green Book, the New York Morning Telegraph, the People's Home Journal, Smith's, the Woman's Weekly, the Club-Fellow, Young's Magazine, Chat, Live Stories, Snappy Stories, the Parisienne, and the Chicago Ledger, and she has had photoplays, "By Right of Purchase," "The Beauty Market," and "Treasures on Earth," taken from published novelettes.

Sidney Waldo, whose story, 'Accessories After the Fact," was printed in Romance for September, began his first serious attempt to write short stories early this year. His first story, Footprints in Water," was printed in the Detective Story Magazine for March 30, and in April Romance accepted a story, called "Fancies," which owing to the suspension of Romance will probably not appear for some time. He has also had a story accepted by Munsey's Magazine. Mr. Waldo has always wanted to write, but has never been able to find the time until recently. He was graduated from Harvard University in 1906, and has since been engaged in busi

ness in Boston, so that his writing has been confined to evenings and odd moments.

James Paul Warburg's poem, "Fame," which came out in the September Century, is his first published poem, although he has sold others. Mr. Warburg was graduated from Harvard University in 1917, and is employed in the First National Bank, of Boston. His first literary work was a pamphlet issued to the service by the Navy Department in 1918, while he was in naval aviation, entitled "The Magnetic Compass in Naval Aircraft." This was followed in 1919 by a pamphlet on the organization of a large bank, "The Clerk's Eye View of the First National Bank of Boston," and in 1920 by a pamphlet, "Wool and Wool Manufacture," a brief analysis for the layman, published in June, and reprinted in July, being translated into Portuguese and published in Brazil.

Song Poems Wanted Millions have been made in songs by song poem writers. We will publish your song poem, providing a beautiful musical setting and put it on the market for sale. Write at once for particulars. J. C. D., Washington.

The sucker nibbles and is sent an alluring but mystifying contract which, if he reads correctly, will oblige him to pay forty dollars for having his work published. The company then keeps within the letter of the law by publishing the work in such cheap form that the entire cost can hardly exceed fifteen dollars. As for the sales that the author is planning to use as the basis of his fortune well, they simply never come. The writer has, as a sop to his vanity, a hundred or so badly printed copies of an impossible composition which stands as much chance of a sale as a picture of Hindenburg would in Verdun.

Our correspondence, coming from all parts of the country, has shown us that the victims are usually unfortunates who are confiding and unsophisticated in matters of this kind. Any one about to be victimized by this fraud should know :

I. The proportion of songs of the leading publishers of the country (who have staffs of experts to pick them out) that ever pass the first legitimate edition is really very low. Only once in a long, long time does a song appear which has any chance for permanent success. The idea that millions of dollars can be systematically earned by novices, with song poems, is a cruel bait employed solely by men whose customers are and must be "suckers."

II. The words of the song are by no means the determining factor in its success. There are countless instances of the same poem being set by different composers (some as many as thirty times), with one outstanding setting that succeeds. It is the music that counts, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, and not the poem.

A

An Unpublished Kipling Story. very early unpublished manuscript of Rudyard Kipling which has recently come into the hands of Henry Sotheran of London is entitled "At the Pit's Mouth: Personal Recollections of C. S. translated from his Diary by R. K." The manuscript is of seven pages small quarto and five pages octavo, written in 1884. This curious Kipling manuscript is written for the most part in two parallel columns, that on the right hand containing the story, headed "Personal Narrative." That on the left, under the heading "Digressions," contains instructions and suggestions to the person to whom the manu

script was sent for its improvement and elaboration before publication. In these notes Mr. Kipling explains the characters of the two people in the story. One paragraph is headed "Note by the Editor," and the editor is supposed to "translate" the journal. One of the digressions" consists of a note by "Agnes Festin," who is the lady of the story, and relates to the man in the story. The note is purposely written in a disguised female hand. Another note reads, "Work this up to any extent, in the style of Mrs. Oliphant's 'Beleaguered City,'" and another reads, "Embroider this as much as you will, also the scene later on, where they dance at the Bensmore ball and flirt in the balconies, R. K." The note at the end of the story is headed "Summary by the Translator." Parts of the manuscript and some blots are in red ink, which we are told was intended to represent blood, but which the writer says are some fluid, possibly wine."

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The history of this manuscript, which is gathered from papers which accompany it, is as curious as the manuscript itself. Kipling, at the time this was written, was working on an East Indian paper, and after writing this story gave it to a lady to "embroider" and expand, and then have published. Evidently the lady neither revised Kipling's early work nor had it published. It appears to have remained in her hands for many years, for accompanying the manuscript are three typewritten letters from Rudyard Kipling, dating from November 24, 1911, to December 18, 1914, addressed to the same lady in answer to her application for permission to publish the story. Kipling had in the meantime become world-famous as an author, and in one of the letters he writes her :

ago.

I cannot recall the MS., but I do not see my way clear to give permission for the publication of work written by me more than a generation If . . it would be convenient for you to dispose of the MS., at this moment 1 will send you a cheque in exchange. The other letters show that the lady made an attempt to see Kipling personally, but that he dodged her, a further letter from his secretary, saying that Mr. Kipling is away from home. Another letter to her is from a friend

whom she had apparently consulted regarding her rights to publish the manuscript, in which he tells her that "R. K. gave you the MS. with intent that you should use it for publication. He meant immediate publication, and not after many years," making it clear that an unauthorized publication by her might lead to serious results.

This is probably the most important and valuable Kipling early manuscript in existence, as the date is earlier than that of any of his published works. It is, so far as is known, the only instance in which Kipling invoked the aid of a second person to improve and elaborate one of his stories and get it published. The tenor of the story is that a man falls in love with a married woman. On the day before they proposed to elope, the man dreams that they meet with a fatal accident by going over a bank on the Simla road. In the dream they are able to watch the removal of their own dead bodies, which Kipling describes with fulness of detail, and they hear the comments of their friends upon the accident and the characters of the elopers, with interesting frankness.

On seven pages of the manuscript small, round holes have been burned, purposely, we are informed, with the end of a lighted cigarette, and on one of the pages Kipling has drawn small diagrams to illustrate the bank on Simla Mall where the accident occurred. The owner of the manuscript, being balked in her purpose of publication, evidently disposed of it to a dealer instead of exchanging it for Mr. Kipling's check, as he proposed. If Kipling wishes it back, he can now purchase it for the modest sum of eight hundred guineas.-Boston Transcript.

and is in the market for stories and articles of any subjects that are of interest to live, active boys. Stories may be serious, humorous, practical, or full of adventure, and must be clean and of high moral tone, but not goody-goody. An occasional serial of from four to six chapters is used, and good photographs with accompanying descriptions are wanted. Short, snappy, up-to-date articles and brief paragraphs of a serious nature are also used.

The Double Dealer is a new, independent, monthly magazine to be published in New Orleans, beginning January 1. The editor is looking for short stories, verse, and serious essays on current topics. The general tone of the work must be in a free, light-hearted vein. Nothing of an obviously sentimental nature, nor with the old copy-book moral is wanted. Payment is made upon acceptance. Address communications to the Double Dealer, 204 Baronne street, New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Rockett Film Corporation is in the market for original screen stories. Complete book manuscripts, short stories with feature possibilities, and extended synopses will be given sympathetic reading, and complete scenarios will be considered if accompanied by extended synopses. While all manuscripts will be considered, it is desired that only experienced writers submit scripts. Mr. Rockett, president of the Corporation, says that any writer familiar with motion pictures will know whether he has a worthwhile idea and whether he has the cleverness to set it forth in a story of a working script, and if he is not sure on both these points, it is useless to offer a script. Mr. Rockett adds that there are not enough well known authors in the world to supply the demand for stories, even if all stories were screenable which they are not. The writer who writes with one eye on the magazine and the other on the movies, he says, is in a fair way to fall between two stools, and this sort of writing, if persisted in, will result in a sort of hybrid literature, neither readable nor screenable. The Rockett Company desires to encourage original writers for the general good of the motion-picture industry, and is

prepared to pay for acceptable stories as high prices as those paid for published books and stories. The only subjects barred are religious, social, and political propaganda. Scripts will be read without delay, and should be addressed: Editor, Rockett Film Corporation, 229 Markham Building, Hollywood, Calif.

The World Outlook has been absorbed by the Christian Herald, Bible House, New York, and was merged in that publication with the issue for October 30.

Herbert Hungerford is no longer the editor of the Boys' Magazine (Smethport, Penn.), having resigned the position to devote all his time to the American News Trade Journal (New York).

The title of Hill's Golden Rule has been changed to the Golden Rule (Chicago).

New Numbers is the title of a new poetry magazine, published at St. Paul, Minn. Hall Alexander is the editor.

Strongfort's Monthly (Newark, N. J.) has been temporarily suspended, owing to the difficulty of securing a supply of paper stock.

The Theatre World has been merged with the Dramatic Mirror (New York).

Motorcraft (San Francisco) has temporarily suspended publication.

The title of the Rally, the girl scouts' magazine, has been changed to the American Girl (New York).

Tail Spins, an aviation magazine published in Chicago, has temporarily suspended publication.

THE WRITER has received a letter from Campbell Marvin & Company, 60 East Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, saying that Over Here has not been published in Chicago since March. It is now published at Minneapolis, under the name of the Over Here Digest, but no longer solicits material for publication. Campbell Marvin & Company are holding about 200 pieces of mail from contributors who failed to enclose return postage, and

would be glad to have the owners send for them.

The Woman's Press (Chicago) is no longer published.

The Constitution (Albany, N. Y.), which was started as a weekly last February, has suspended publication.

Field and Farm, which has been published in Denver for thirty-five years by Lucius M. Wilcox, has been bought by Senator Arthur Capper and will become one of the Capper Farm papers. Mr. Wilcox will continue with the paper in an editorial capacity, and the paper hereafter will be issued twice a month instead of weekly.

Advertising and Selling (New York), the weekly magazine of marketing, has been bought by J. M. Hopkins, until lately general manager of Printer's Ink, and for twelve years with that publication.

The following publications have discontinued publication: Oil & Mining Review, the Poultry Review, the Thinkers' World, and the Shoppers' Guide.

Novels competing for the £500 prize offer by John Long, Ltd., 12 Norris street, Haymarket, London, S. W., 1, England, must reach the publishers not later than December 31. They must be typewritten on one side of the paper, and must bear the full name and address of the author on the title-page, as well as the word " Competition." The title must be repeated on the opening page of the novel, but the author's name must not appear there. The word "Competition" must also be placed on the left-hand side of the wrapper at the top, but nothing else except the publishers' name and address must appear on the wrapper. A Form of Entry will be supplied upon request, and this must be mailed at the same time that the novel is sent, and must contain stamps or money order of sufficient value to pay return postage. Novels must be fully prepaid, and only first novels in English, which have not been published in any form whatsoever, may be submitted. No competitor may submit more than two novels, and novels written in collaboration are ineligible. Novels must not exceed 100,000 words, and the publishers prefer novels of from 70,000

to 90,000 words. The successful competitor must sign a contract, giving the publishers all rights in the prize-winning novel, including copyright, and must also agree to give the publishers, on terms to be mutually agreed upon, the first refusal of his or her first three novels, written immediately fo!lowing the prize-winning book. Novels not winning the prize may be negotiated for by the publishers, if found available for publication.

The Eastman Kodak Company will continue through December the monthly prize competitions of $500 for amateur photographs telling a story with a camera in language that the whole world understands. To be eligible in the competition ending January 1 pictures must have been taken by amateurs before October 15, 1920, with one of the Eastman cameras, on film, film pack, plates manufactured by the Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N. Y. Pictures for the contest ending December I must have been taken before September 15.

or

Edwin Franko Goldman, conductor of the Goldman Concert Band, again offers a prize of $250 for the best composition for a band by an American composer. The composition be in the form of an overture, grand may march, suite in three short movements, or a symphonic poem. Besides receiving the prize, the winning composition will be published by one of the foremost publishing houses in America. All manuscripts must be submitted in score form by April 15, 1921. Composers who desire to submit compositions in the prize contest are requested to communicate with Edwin Franko Goldman, 202 Riverside Drive, New York City, in order to secure definite information regarding rules and regulations of the contest.

Poetry (Chicago) has awarded the Helen Haire Levinson prize of $200 for a poem or group of poems by a citizen of the United States to Wallace Stevens, of Hartford, Conn., for his group of poems, "Pecksniffiana," published in the October, 1919, number of the magazine. The prize of $100 for a poem or group of poems without distinction of nationality is awarded to Edna St. Vincent Millay, of New York, for her poem, "The Beanstalk," published in the May number.