The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-10-27

in anticipation of the holiday our general
Contributions are much more numerous
than at other times We get Christmas
matter that has evidently been prepared a
whole year in advance. September and
OCTOBER show large ecceSsions TO the number
OF our contributors.
Il think ST. Nicholas affords as inviting
a held for the development of new literary
TALENT as any of the m agannes, aud much
better than somen
Editor John Brisbane Walker, of the
cosmopolitan Magazine, is another victim
VINO Is laboring under load of literary
riches at this season, much of which is, of
course, unavailable. Since taking charge
OF the Cosmopolitan, Mr.. Walker has
70 send along their contributions accepted
with a promptness and enthusiasm that
We're positively staggering. Manuscripts
have fallen on his desk from the remote
hooks of the earth. the seas, and from
quarters undiscoverable in modern geog-
raphy. The approach OF Cnristmas-al-
ways the dreaded season Of the magazine
has multiplied them tenfold.
The variety of articles submitted no
less than their number is astonishing" said
one OF the editors yesterday. Like the
other leading monthlies, we have to keep in
touch with the spirit of the moment, for
the modern magazine is nc longer a vehi-
Gle for mere essays and fiction, no matter
how cleverly done. 1t has to be full of life,
and it finds its strongest competitor in the
newspaper
Much Of the matter we receive at all
times, and more especially about Christ
mas, is unavailable for various reasons.
Some writers have wonderful pertinacity
and won't give up the ship where an article
is concerned, and / have seen, quite lately,
too, one article sent here which was pre-
pared for the Christmas issue year ago
and not used. | cannot say just what
rules guide us in the selection and rejection
OF contributions, There are many reasons
why one article should be preferred over
another. But the main point for modern
magazine to keep well in view is, I think
first, the timeliness and general attractive
ness OF the subject; then, secondly, the
method Of treatment. These being all right
it is pretty safe to use the article, unless
indeed you have something more timely
and still more attractive. The most attract
i've literature of to-day is the signed article.
Sometimes, it may as well be admitted, the
signed article does not possess title of the
literary merit that would warrant its use
under other circumstances, but granted
that it is timely and that the contributor is
well known and is, by reason of his position
or his special information on the subject,
qualified to write authoritatively, it is a
thousand times more acceptable to the aver
age reader than an elaborate and ably
written contribution from a scholarly
writer whom he does not know and for
whose opinion in the premises he cares
nothing.
H. M. Alden, the editor of Harper's Mdga-
zine, has already had a busy season OF it
III preparing for holiday issues. The flood
of manuscripts that sets in toward the big
iron hfIil6ipu Paorl err &C pfa-
proaches is something stupendous. and it is
all the more surprising in view of the fact
that the magazine can utilize very little
outside the contributions of its regular taff,
which is the largest Of any American pub
LEGATION. Yet the ambitious young littera-
teurs of both sexes keep sending their
productions right along in shower, which,
as the Christmas tide approaches, attains
the dimensions Of deluge. Every manu-
script is examined, and, if the subject be
promising one, is carefully read and reported
upon. A glance by an experienced
editor generally seals the fate
of the article, and settles the cues
ton whether it is sufficiently good to be
submitted to reading. Even if read. it
may not be approved, as the mails convey
hundreds of articles that are not up to the
standard. aud the quality of which can not
be determined save by careful reading,
a W. Va AO AAANoO OAAA 90 pCA SOhI. WOQIu 10
a good average in forming an estimate Of the
number of contributions that pass through
the double sitting ordeal, and after receiv-
ing the approval of the editor, are scheduled
for publication. Even then it may be
months or years before they see the light.
I'VE get an lormous quantity of manu-
scripts every year, and probably more at
this season than at Others" said Mr.. Nc
Elvaine, Editor Alden's assistant. "Of
fhaSa
Our own arrangements are so extensive and
our staff of writers so large and well known
that we can not find room for others, except
to very limited extent. Our Christmas
features are all arranged for long in ad-
vance. The principal contribution will be
the first installment of Abbey's Illustra-
lions of Shakespeare's Comedies, wnicn we
will run as series.
Although it is not the usual thing among
the weekLes to make any special prepare
ton for the Christmas season,
the New York Ledger at least.
Robert Bonner's Sons announce a new de-
parture that will undoubtedly excite good
deal of talk among publishers. Besides en-
larging to sixteen pages every week, it will
issue, at intervals, illustrated souvenir
supplements, among the earliest of which
will be one containing a poem by John
Greenleat w hitler, written expressly for
the Ledger by the good gray poet in his
eighty-second year, and illustrated by
Howard Pyle.
With an array Of established regulations
there are small chances for the outside
contributor. After reading the list one
is not SO much disposed to wonder at the
piled up shelves one sees in the ante-room
of magazine editors, whereon the efforts of
unframed but ambitious young writers
find rest in dusty oblivion. Occasion
ally. it may be, the dirt and cobwebs are
brus ed off and stray manuscript is resur-
rected and gilded with the brief glory OF
the types; but this is a rare occurrence.
Unless it possesses interest with intrinsic
literary merit it generally perishes still
born. Experienced writers rarely help %
swell this funeral pile. They know tn g
peculiarities of the magazine field and act
accordingly. G. II. SANDIsoN.
NOW, let good digestion wait on appe-
tite, and health on both,n is favorite toas
after taking Angostura Bitters. DR.. J. G.
B. Siegert & Sons, Mfrs.
A Poets Soliloquy.