The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-03-02
Some Stories in the
March Magazines
By DOROTHY SCARBOROUGH.

hE stories IN the March magazines
u show fairly creditable range of
interest. There are no notable love stories
and there are not So M. ny war stories as
in previous months. There is less of the
supernatural element in stories than at
any time since the war was fairly under
way-only one ghost showing up, and that
one only remotely connected with the
trenches.
Hdrpcr's has some unusually good
stories. As One Lady to AnOfher, by
Beatrice Ravenel, is probably the best
story of the month, just as her The Cost
Of Conscience in the January number was
noteworthy. Beatrice Ravenel is doing
work that is extremely worth while, pos
sessing strong emotional values and de-
lightful Satire humor. Her stories, with
their philosophic discemment Of char
acter and cleverness of phrase, represent
an originality and an artistry that are dis
tinctive The freshness of her metaphors
is especially pleasing, as illustrated in her
reference to man who "could think in
several layers like cake" and to the girl
who "assailed the typewriter as humil-
lated terrier takes it out of a rat"
Pollen, by Susan Glaspell, also in Har-
pers, is an admirable character story,
symbolic in import, leisurely analytical
and undramatic in method, but with q
power to stick in the memory, Us is the
case with most of Susan Glaspelps work.
The stories in Sc,ibneps are less nota-
bic than usual Ever the WIDE World
Over, by Elizabeth Herrick, is a pleasing
romance of gypsy and an artist, enter
tanning with its mixture Of Romany patter
and Gorgio prejudice, but it is not con-
vincing.
Tho Forrest Ser, by Mary Hastings
Bradley, in the Metropolitan, is one of the
strongest stories Of the month. This tale
of reporter and two young girls shows
character study admirably worked out by
means Of contrast and possesses emotional
power Of a dramatic kind. The tragic
ending is well worked out.
There is q Manhattan crime wave in
fiction, however much Police Commissioner
Enright may deny the existence Of it in
fact, for murders are being so alarmingiy
numerous that something should be done
about it Chinatown particularly needs
looking into. Achmed Abdullah writes Of
Mongolians that kill quite casually, max
ing not merely fine art, but almost an
amusement of assassination. In The
Hdtchesman, in the Blue Book he creates
a Chinaman who is professional muir
derer, going about his days work with an
easy grace and only now and again in
dulging in hatcheting for personal reasons.
Achmed Abdullah has a racial advantage
when it comes to understanding Oriental
natures, so that his stories seem true,
though this is not one Of his best This
Is not the case with Dom Byrne, whose
Bargain Price, in the Cosmopolitan, also
describes Chinese characters and shows q
murder. This seems the work of an out
slider, not of one who really knows.
George Gilbert's stories, as The PIT Of
Death, in Sunset, also seem artificial,
which is what one would expect, however,
when cheerful American who SO far has
spent his happy life in Binghamtou,
New York, specializes in tales of the mys-
FERROUS East. The mental labyrinths Of
natives, elephants, river pythons ct al
mnst be difficult even for one who knows
them at first hand to trace, and still more
80 for a writer who has only encyclo-
pedic sources of information. Such ex-
preston as "manling," "dawn was a-near"
and the like do not aid, moreover, in lend
ing verisimiiude.
Pha"tonas, by Mildred Cram, in the
Gree" Book, though so loudly praised in
a head note, lacks probability. The char
acterization of the woman is good, but the
men are not real and the atmospheric ef-
fects of the tropics seem rather worked
up premeditatedly. The plot has GER
tain dramatic force despite its lack Of
plausibility.
The Sun- Seeker nv q Ran0er Worm