The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-11-29
THE CHRISTMAS MAGAZINES.

The fiction of the Christmas Century
includes "How Sandy Claws Treated Pop
Baker," posthumous story by Elizabeth
Cherry Waltz, whose untimely death came
in September. Maud Wilder Goodwin's
-Four Roads to Paradise" grows in in
terest. 1.-The Poet of a Day. is by Roy
Rolfe Gibson; 1.-The Valet of the Pastor"
by Maurice Francis Egan; 1.-THE Conva-
lescence of Mr.. M'Lerie.'' by ]. j. Bell,
of Wee Macgreegor' fame. Albert Bige-
low Paine's "A Christmas Rescue" has
tiny hero and tiny heroine, pictured
by Fanny Y. Cory; and Edwin L. Sabin,
with Frederic Dorr Steeles pictures car
rieS his readers back to You at Home"
There is also story by Maarten Maar-
tens, THE Promise
Mark Twain uses smaller words in writ
ing than any author alive today. He
uses more words in the same space than
even the Bible. In the Christmas num-
Der of Harper's Magazine he has a story
about a dog which shows strange con-
trast in the use of language with other
distinguished authors.
Mr.. Alden writing In the Editors
Study comments on this:
1.-THE more vital the writer, the SIM
pier and more direct his appeal. No care
full student of literature can have failed
to note that under great stress of feeling
strong writer becomes almost mono
syllable In Mark Twain's story in this
number of the magazine the number of
words averages 1886 to the page. The usual
average is less than $50. The shorter the
words, the more of Anglo-Saxon vigor.
This point is of especial interest in the
case of an author who of all the story
writer's Of our time has the widest ap
peal"
The Booklovers' Magazine for Deem
Der rounds outs its first year with the
Christmas number. and appears with o.
hoo
general feature Of the former cover
scheme-that of leather bound books
retained, but the design is entirely differ
ent. and the color is a warm, rich GRIM
Van Dycks celebrated painting of Baby
Stuart" reproduced in colors, appears as
medallion in the center of the cover
surrounded with wreath of holly. 1t is
indicative of the season sacred to child
hood and also of one Of the most beaud-
full art sections of the issue descriptive
of The Child in Art" The art features
comprise twenty-one color reproductions
of celebrated pictures and portraits, and
twenty-five in tint and in half-tone.
These, exclusive of the various illustra-
lions in 1.-The World of Print section,
place the Christmas number of the Book
lovers Magazine in the forefront of the
illustrated monthlies both in quantity and
quality. The principal literary features
are varied and interesting. They include
Dan Black" Paul Piper's clever story;
a poem by Edmund Vance Cooke; De
tense of Slang" by Herman Spencer; and
an appreciation of Scott by Prof. Parrot,
of Princeton. The magazine has thus
added fiction and poetry to it's table of
contents-only one story and only one
poem, but each strong and moving In It's
appeal. The standard set is a high one,
and the quality is individual and char
acteriStic
In Everybody's one never finds dis
tinguished name tackled to a dull tale
a hloSt
writers of the day, but it is in connection
with their best work, not their pot-boilers.
The reading public. which has become IA
lniliar with O. Henry Juliet Wilbor
Tompkins and F. Walworth, for instance,
will find in the holiday issue the most
successful story each has written this
year.
1t is the comic side of newspaper expe-
riences that is taken up in the Little
Stories of Journalism in the Reader Mag
azine for December. julius Chambers
stories of the dynamite brick and the
obviated Spanish duel are fresh and di-
verting. They, of course, are true. The
other stories in the number are fiction
one is by Edgar Fawcett, a love story,
but not a trite one; the other is the in
stallment of Miriam Michelson's serial,
THE Bishops Carriage'-we call the in
stallment story. because this novel is so
constructed that each chapter is COM
plete tale. satisfactory in itself. Another
of the articles this month is 'confes-
sion,' this time of a theatrical press
agent. who calls the man in his line 1.-THE
Showiest Trickster,' and gives instances
of the amazing games he resorts to to
get his plays talked about in the news
papers. Bert Lesion Taylor, in his dishful
of Reading Sauce-'What is sauce for
the goose Is sauce for the gander"-good-
naturedly pokes fun at various promi-
nent writer's; and another well known hu-
morist, Miss Carolyn Wells, in "Over the
Book Counter glances at several of the
latest books in her usual sprightly way.
In Miss Fitzmaurice, Debutante," the
novelette, with which the. December
Smart Set opens, Frank Lee Benedict has
given us the best product of his pen. Here
are rapid action and exquisite sentiment
real men and women, and "a most in