# St. Nicholas/Volume 32/Number 1/Advertisements/Front/St. Nicholas 1905

St. Nicholas for 1905 Publishers’ Preliminary Announcement
“If it were possible to bring a new number of St. Nicholas Magazine, with its wealth of entertainment and instruction, into every home and school-room in the land, every month, it would be a desirable thing to do.”
“One incident of my first decade, I recall with mingled respect and envy:. . . ‘Choose,’ commanded my mother, ‘will you have a new dress this winter or St. Nicholas for next year?’ I was stung at the implication that for such as me there could have been a doubt of the choice. St. Nicholas, of course!”
Winifred Kirkland in “The Atlantic Monthly” for September, 1904.
“Queen Zixi of Ix”
By L. FRANK BAUM AUTHOR OF “THE WIZARD OF OZ.”
and also of “Father Goose—his Book,” “A New Wonderland,” “The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus,” “The High Ki of Twi,” “The Magical Monarch of Mo,” etc., etc. The hundreds of thousands of American girls and boys who have read Mr. Baum’s other stories and have seen the popular play of “The Wizard of Oz” arc looking forward eagerly to the next product of his magic pen; and they will welcome the announcement that their favorite magazine, St. Nicholas, is to give them Mr. Baum's new story, from month to month, throughout the entire magazine year from November, 1904, to October, 1905. Moreover, this admirable serial marks
A NEW DEPARTURE
for St. Nicholas, as each instalment of the story, “Queen Zixi of Ix,” will be accompanied by numerous
ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR!
The story has both a hero and a heroine, a boy and a girl—“King Bud” and “Princess Fluff”—and very wonderful things befall them. And besides the charming “Queen Zixi of Ix” there is a fine array of remarkable characters, including “Aunt Rivette,” the five “High Counselors”: “Tallydab,” “Tellydeb,” “Tillydib,” “Tollydob,” “Tullydub,” “Jikki, the king’s valet,” the fierce “Roly-Rogues,” and others. All the drawings for the serial are by the well-known artist, Mr. Fred Richardson, whose skilful touch has pictured to the author’s complete satisfaction the delightful and grotesque and amusing personages who figure in this charming story of “Queen Zixi of Ix." The very title is unique and alluring, and it foretells a great feast of fun and fancy, in which Mr. Baum’s whimsical imagination is at its best.
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But Mr. Baum’s fascinating story is perhaps fitly balanced by a very different serial contribution:
“THE PRACTICAL BOY”
By JOSEPH H. ADAMS
a series of twelve valuable and important papers, which will attract and satisfy the boys who like to “do things.” The author was for years chief designer of artistic wood- and metal-work for a great manufacturing firm in New York and, in this series, he has for the first time brought together the fruits of his native talents and long experience. The result is a series of papers which cannot fail to please and instruct all lovers of art craft and handicraft; and the excellent artistic illustrations of the things a boy can do and make are accompanied, in every instance, by diagrams and directions so clear and full that they render quite simple and easy tasks which at first sight might seem difficult. Boy readers will be surprised to see what admirable specimens of art and skill can be turned out by any boy, with little effort and at trifling expense; and parents will be sure to welcome this latest and best manual of handicraft for clever youngsters of a mechanical turn of mind. The following partial list includes only a number of the many subjects that will be fully treated in Mr. Adams’s series:
| “A Preliminary Article on “Simple Carpentry and Joining and the Use of Tools.” | “Ice-boars, Skating-sails, Skees, etc.” |
| “A Preliminary Article on “Simple Carpentry and Joining and the Use of Tools.” | “A Home-made Gymnasium.” |
| “Things a Boy can Make for His Mother and Sister and Girl-friends.” | “Boats, Motor-boats, and Canoes.” |
| “Things a Boy can Make for His Mother and Sister and Girl-friends.” | “Windmills and Power-wheels.” |
| “How a Boy can Decorate His Own Room.” | “Pet-shelters (Rabbit-hutches, Dove-cotes, etc.)” |
| “Camping Outfits” | “Pet-shelters (Rabbit-hutches, Dove-cotes, etc.)” |
The list of short stories and single contributions already secured for the coming year is far too long to be given in full. But a few titles, selected almost at random, will suffice as specimens and serve to show the rich and rare quality of the miscellaneous contents of the new volume:
| “YANKEE DOODLE AND MISS COLUMBIA” By Commander Robert E. Peary The distinguished Arctic explorer piques the curiosity of young readers in this story of two queer residents of the Arctic regions who bore these patriotic titles. “AN OFFICER OF THE SCHOOL” By Elliot Flower This is a sequel to the brilliant story, published in St. Nicholas last January, of a bright boy whose only training had been in the slums; and no reader of that story, “An Officer of the Court,” will ever forget the prowess, the human nature, and genuine (even if rather untrained) manliness of little “Jimmy Dandy.” Jimmy’s subsequent adventures and misadventures are recorded in “An Officer of the School.” | “CHILD-LIFE IN THE FAR EAST” By Bertha Runkle The clever young author of “The Helmet of Navarre” has recently returned from a visit to the Orient, and in this entertaining paper proves that she can depict scenes of every-day life as vividly as thrilling incidents of history or romance. The Russo-Japanese war has renewed the interest of the Western world in the wonderful Island-empire of the East, and American young folk will welcome Miss Runkle’s account of the young Japanese. “THE FIRST CALIFORNIA BURGLAR” By Joaquin Miller is one of the stories with “a delightful surprise at the end,” which, as told by this well-known writer of the Sierras, will be sure to please all readers, young or old. |
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A third serial of decided importance, is a series of articles entitled
“HOW TO STUDY PICTURES”
By CHARLES H. CAFFIN
Not only by his books and lectures, but also by frequent contributions on art-subjects to the daily press and art-periodicals, Mr. Caffin is well known as one of America’s leading art-critics. But nothing he has yet written can excel, in interest and value to the general reader, his series of admirable papers in which he adopts the plan of contrasting, in each article, the work of some great artist with that of another equally great master—showing a single picture painted by each, and pointing out the likenesses and the differences between the two pictures and the methods of the two painters. Young folk can learn more about art and artists through this careful and detailed way of looking “here upon this picture, and on this”—than by whole volumes of generalizing. A set of beautiful copies of the pictures selected by Mr. Caffin from the world’s masterpieces, has been prepared especially for St. Nicholas, and will appear with the articles in the magazine. Each month, the pictures contrasted will be printed on opposite pages. American girls and boys (and their parents as well) should not fail to read every one of these novel and important papers.
| Some of the humor of a father’s attempt to purchase wearing apparel for his little girl is told in “LUCY’S SHOPPING” By Frances Bent Dillingham Lucy and her father are at their wits’ end to do their shopping with the limited means at their command. Lucy has a startling experience which, however, results in a very satisfactory ending to the story. Another “school-story,” of a very different sort, but with a rich humor of its own, is “HOW PINKY GOT EVEN” By Capt. Harold Hammond, U.S.A. for a more amusing tale has not been written since “Tom Sawyer” was penned. Indeed, it is worthy of Mark Twain himself in its portraiture of the character and discomfiture of “Pinky” and his mischievous and very boy-like “revenge.” All who are interested in nature-study will rejoice ina remarkable story entitled “THE FOX WHO KNEW ALL ABOUT TRAPS” By Dane Coolidge a writer who evidently “knows all about foxes.” | “THE TRIUMPH OF DUTCHY” By J. Sherman Potter is a rattling good hockey story that is scheduled to appear before the winter is over. Boys who are fond of ice sports will enjoy this. “THE SQUARENESS OF NEIL MORRIS” By Henry Gardner Hunting will probably arouse a lively discussion in every family that reads it, but “both sides” will be sure to agree that the story is a very clever and a very wholesome one, and boy readers will ask themselves if they could or would have done what Neil did under the same peculiar circumstances. An important and valuable contribution is “HOW A LAW IS MADE” By Frank J. Stillman the well-known Washington correspondent. The author declares that he does not believe there are a thousand persons in the United States, besides legislators, who could describe the progress of a bill from its introduction until it becomes a law of the land. And after the publication of this article, the young readers of St. Nicholas, at least, will possess a full knowledge of how the laws of the country are made. |
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An important series of six brief papers will be contributed by Dr. E. E. Walker, under the title:
“UNTIL THE DOCTOR COMES”
These little “emergency talks” will briefly and clearly tell young folk what to do, in case of accident or sudden illness (such as burns, sunstroke, sprains, and fractures, apparent drowning, etc., etc.), in the interval between the sending for the doctor and his arrival—the few simple, safe, and helpful things that can be done, and the mistakes that can be avoided.
Other serials and notable contributions will be announced later, for many are now in hand or engaged, and in great variety—but all sure to interest and please the energetic, quick-minded boys and girls of to-day. While the editor and the publishers are proud of the educational influence of St. Nicholas, the first aim of the magazine is to interest and entertain its ardent young readers, and the instruction which it conveys is mainly in the way of rounding out their lives, and by methods not taught in schools. They have a right to enjoy their magazine first of all, but they will find that it makes their lessons more easy, nevertheless, by giving them a fund of information that is in touch with the thoughts and subjects that fill their minds from day to day, or that always attract their attention.
THE ST. NICHOLAS LEAGUE
All present readers of the magazine know what the St. Nicholas League is; but for the information of new readers we will explain that it is an organization to bind St. Nicholas readers in closer personal sympathy, and to encourage and develop literary and artistic talent by means of monthly competitions, with gold and silver prize badges and cash rewards.
With the November issue theSt. Nicholas League will have begun its sixth year. During the past five years there have been nearly three hundred competitions, which is to say, nearly three hundred practical lessons to young readers in art and literary composition, with the result that a considerable number of those who began in the early days of the League have graduated from its ranks into those of the adult art and literary workers. The League has never been so strong nor so useful as it is to-day.
The League membership is entirely free. A League badge and certificate, also full instructions, will be sent to any reader, whether a subscriber or not, or to any one desiring to become a reader of the St. Nicholas Magazine.
The success of the
“NATURE AND SCIENCE”
department, which, five years ago, was made a regular feature of St. Nicholas, has encouraged the editor not only to continue it, but to enlarge its scope. During the coming year it will treat not only of nature study, of plant and animal life, but also, to a greater extent than heretofore, of other discoveries and items of interest in the whole fascinating realm of science and invention.
Subscription price $3.00 a year.Send in Renewals Promptly.
The Century Co., Union Square, N. Y.