New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-11-26

vENTIoNAL CHRISTMAS STORY HAS CONE
oUT-cHRIsTMAs Color WORK
Very few people who are still young eno,.
to care much about such things can well rener
Der the time when the Christmas number. d,
periodicals were not A regular feature 0, -.
annual Christmas festivities. The thing hoo.
in the days OF Charles Dickens, who wa, a.
father Of the nineteenth century popular ;.
vIval Of the Christmas feeling. Before his I'm,
Washington Irving had commended the Chrr
mas jollity OF Bracegirdle Hall to general.
OF American readers who were still undo. u.
traditional influence Of Puritan preIuele,
against feasts Of ecclesiastical origin Il va
"All the Year Round" that first made the Csrlr
mas story Of the Chimes genre popular 4.
vorte. and for hall century hat genre IA,
more or less kept its hold on the public OH,
within the last ten years the story in which 4.
lost boy or girl is brought home through =,
bowling snowstorm, after years u separate,
to his sorrowing parents, or the rich and forg.
ten uncle suddenly turns up TO buy turkey a..
plum buildings for his relations who lack T..
price, has begun 10 decline in general favor
BY this time-the end Of the Charles Dcz.,
century-it is interesting TO contemplate to
latest Christmas developments q the mont
magazines in this country. whore the mont
magazine-at least the illustrated kind-hls q.
talned a higher importance and success nl
elsewhere. In England II Is the illus,rsi!
weekly that blooms out at the festive seaSln
gorgeous colOrs. and surfeits It's readers W
"seasonable" letterpress THE illustrated II.
don News" and The Graphic invariably tg-
out sumptuOusly beautiful Christmas numbG
but, so far as can be learned in the Offices Of e.
great New-York illustrated monthlies, the cor.
petition Of these English periodicals Is not eye
noticed by them; in fact. the English weekla
are not commercially in the same class, 50 ,hgl
a purchaser Of one would not in any wise thrt
himself thereby excused from purchasing ri
other. Besides, the Christmas monthHes
"Harper's" "Scribner's" The Century" az
so on-are on the market here some time beton
the Christmas numbers Of the great Engl&
weeklles.
As the result of questions put to the editor
of six or seven OF these magazines Ii appear
that what might have been expected has come q
pass In the literary development OF the mags
zine-the distinctly Christmas story has go1'
ont Of fashion. This Is true not only OF th'
Rracegirdle- Chimes and -snowstorm order OF dc
ton. but of all stories which depend for he'
interest chiefly upon their sentimental ana ch''
biological connection with Christmas
out OF large quantity OF fiction which n
buy in the course OF year. said one N
Associate Editors OF The Century some 4
sure to be Of a Christmas flavor and that 8
naturally reserved for the Christmas numN
The same is substantially the view taken y
all the New York magazines a story Is q
barred out because it is Of Christmas char
ter but nobody Is asked or encouraged to al
at writing anything Of this kind. There II
interesting reelection of child nature in the AL
that this partial abandonment Of the SEASONAL
story at Christmas has not entered into wI
policy OF the Juvenile magazines. But amoAl
the monthlies not expressly Intended FOR 'AI
young, only "Scribners" and "Ainslee's' sssl
to promise anything like old fashioned CHRIS
mas stories-the former by Bliss Perry, the 80
ter by Katherine lyman.
This is not to say, however, that the leuil
press Of the monthlies will ignore the feast g.
together If the Christmas story has gone o-
Of fashion, the Christmas poem has come Z
Susan Emery for instance, contributes ~
donna poem to "Harper's," Harrison Morris 1
Christmas ballad TO "Scribner's" The uala
ton from the somewhat earthly and Sehs-A
view which Dickens made use Of as sts'
lead posterty back to a better appreciates
the great festival is plainly seen in THIS -