As you are aware, our contract for the year expires with the present
month. While regretting the necessity for so doing, we must say that we
do not care to renew same for the coming year. We were quite pleased
with your style of humor, which seems to have delighted quite a large
proportion of our readers. But for the past two months we have noticed
a decided falling off in its quality. Your earlier work showed a
spontaneous, easy, natural flow of fun and wit. Of late it is labored,
studied, and unconvincing, giving painful evidence of hard toil and
drudging mechanism.
Again regretting that we do not consider your contributions available
any longer, we are, yours sincerely,