Evening star., 1923-02-11
Heard and Seen

$50 the tong cares for its brothers"
said old Louie Hip, examining the
body Of Mark Tom Tu, the traitor,
into the empty -four barrel--
"Gila" Bills gun flashed fire, and
Sheriff Jameson fell forward with
bullet through his heart. They are
after me for one, 1t might as we'll be
two. I guess" exclaimed Bill, as
he
There. on the rug, face downward,
lay old Ezra Simpleton. the wealthiest
man in the county. A knife handle
between his shoulders showed how he
had met his fate. Every door was
Amid such stirring scenes as the
above one can almost forget he has
the inf1uenza-almost, but not quite.
One can forgive, in some sense, the
ubiquitous germs. if with them they
"Chilcoot" Charlie, old Louie Hip,
wealthy old misers mysterIously shot
dead, brave men of the "great open
spaces" villains. heroes, clever de-
tectives. picturesque crooks.
Ny advice to every one who gets the
''hu" or any form of it is to stock
up on fiction magazines that litter
the newsstand. Lay off the latest
logical adventures of some up-to-date
youth are a bit hard to follow when
you feel like a general wreck.
But these weekly and twice monthly
fiction magazines: There you nave
something that will carry you along.
something that will stir up every cor
puscle in your veins, will help chase
the germs away.
You will be surprised to meet
some old friends face to face again.
Many years ago. perhaps. you sneaked
away behind the barn to read about
Nick Carter, or old King Brady, or
come other character of the supposed
lily iniquitous nickel novels.
You always have held a secret con-
viction that those were good stories.
The only reason mother burned them
up. YOU were convinced at the time.
was because she wouldn't take the
trouble to read them.
Well, they were good stories. You
know IL now. They moved along. Just
like a motion picture. no dull places,
nothing boresome. And they were
clean. too. OF course. there was
plenty of shooting-but gosh!
Whaddya going to do when villain
pulls his gun on ye.
X
Those old nickel novels are Oh the
newsstands now in all the dignity OF
thick magazine form. The covers are
toned down a good deal. and the
stories are better and longer. but
that good old spirit is still there.
Some Of these magazines come out
once a week. others twice month,
some three times a month, and others
monthly. They are crammed from
cover to cover with the good stuff.
Plunge into one of the stories. and
YOU will finish it, influenza or no in
fluenza. Most of them are very well
done. And they do move! They gal
And every meaning has its movement.
X *
These stories carry forward the
finest tradition Of the American short
story.
They are clean.
They deal with the outdoors, with
clean winds and fresh salt spray. The
men in them fight square, and he who
fights square always wins. The man
who fights crooked goes down to de-
, feat.
They have character. these stories.
You can find stories cleverer, more
sophisticated and all that sort OF
thing. But you will have to read lot
! to find any more real enjoyment.
When you tire of Plato and Dickens,
get "fed up on Emerson and Tar
kington, as wonderful as they all are,
| go to the newsstand and get an arm
full of these fiction magazines. Don't
be scared away by the covers. II you
have influenza, send some one to get
them for you Then enjoy yourself.
CHARLES e. TRACEWELL.