artistic value, edited by our poet-laureate, Miss Olive G. Owen. The
paper well lives up to its sub-title, "A Magazine of Aspirations Dreamed
into Reality". Mr. William H. Greenfield, the honored founder of the
United, claims the first page with a graceful Pindaric ode, "To My
Friend". "The Weaver of Dreams", by Edna G. Thorne, is a strikingly
well-written short story pervaded with a delicate pathos and expressing
a beautiful Christian philosophy. George W. Macauley, continuing to
concentrate his narrative powers on the Oriental tale, presents a
pleasing fable of old Moorish Spain, entitled "Ali Ahmed and the
Aqueduct". "The Ethics of Stimulation", by Maurice W. Moe, is an
eminently sound exposition of the relative evil of coffee and alcoholic
liquor as stimulants. "Partners", by H. A. Reading, exhibits great
ability on the part of its author, and is well calculated to arouse the
emotions of affectionate fathers and sons.
Miss Owen's work, scattered here and there throughout the magazine, is
naturally of the very first quality. It is hard to choose between the
two poems "Atthis, I Love Thee", and "To Elizabeth Knopf", but we
incline slightly toward the former. The sketches "The Visitor" and "Some
Things I Like in New York" are both delightful in their artistic
simplicity.
Critically analyzed, Prometheus may be classed as one of the most varied
and generally readable magazines of the season.
RED LETTER DAYS for October is the first of an informal individual paper
by George W. Macauley, representing the most purely personal phase of
amateur journalism. This issue is almost completely devoted to an
animated account of the "Red Letter Days" spent by Mr. Macauley last
summer with the amateurs who stopped to see him while on their way to
the various conventions. The author's style is familiar and pleasing,
though rather careless, and slightly marred by defects in spelling and
grammar. For instance, we are told of the caution which he and Mr.
Stoddard exercised in changing seats in a boat, since neither "could
swim, had the boat DID the usual thing." We are sorry that Mr. Macauley
has adopted "simplified" spelling, but it is an evil in which he is by
no means alone.
Red Letter Days, broadly considered, is a highly commendable paper; its
simplicity and lack of affectation are alone sufficient to win general
approval.
STRAY LEAVES for May-June is another paper which has arrived late and
indirectly. In this publication we note with disapproval some evidence
of pseudo-professionalism, such as a subscription rate and
advertisements, but we trust that Miss Draper will ere long acquire the
perfect amateur spirit. "Love Proved To Be the Master of Hate", a short
story by Frances Wood, is handicapped by its unwieldy title. "The
Triumph of Love", or some heading of equal brevity, would better suit
it. Indications of immaturity are here and there perceptible, and at the
very beginning there is an inexplicable mass of hyphenation. However,
the tale is undeniably of considerable merit, conveying a pleasing
picture of jealousy overcome.
The Editorial department might be improved by a judicious copying of the
best amateur models. The reference to anti-Suffrage and Suffrage as "two
vital questions" is hardly permissible; these are the two sides of only
one question.
"Thinkers", by G. D., is really excellent as an essay, despite the
awkwardness of style.
The Bermuda letter is highly interesting in its descriptions, but
painfully unscholarly in its phraseology. We here behold a case of real
talent obscured by want of literary polish, and hope that F. A. B.,
whoever he or she may be, will profit by his or her connection with the
United.
Stray Leaves has great possibilities, and will doubtless prove one of
the leading papers of amateur journalism in times to come.
THE UNITED OFFICIAL QUARTERLY for January hardly lives up to the
artistic standard set by the first number, though it contains much
valuable matter. Herbert B. Darrow pleads very ably for the personal
acknowledgement of amateur papers received, while Paul J. Campbell
writes convincingly on the true value of amateur journalism. Pres.
Hepner, in the concluding article, opposes with considerable vigor the
Hoffman policy of issuing co-operative magazines. We are not, however,
inclined entirely to agree with our executive's conclusions. The
co-operative journal is practically the only adequate medium of
expression for the amateur of limited means, and most of the later
journals of this class, of which the Official Quarterly is itself an
example, have been of excellent quality. It is perhaps too much to
expect the average President, encumbered with a host of other duties, to
conduct this work, but in any event some suitable official should be
delegated for that purpose. The association should not lightly abandon a
policy which made the preceding administration one of the most brilliant
and successful in years.
THE WOODBEE for January exhibits amateur journalism at its best. Mrs.
Anne Tillery Renshaw opens the magazine with a pleasing poem, dedicated
to the Woodbees, which combines simplicity of diction with regularity of
metre. Those decasyllabic quatrains are a decided departure from Mrs.
Renshaw's usual style, which explains the slight lack of fluency. The
last line of the third stanza contains a redundant syllable, a defect
which might be corrected by the removal of the article before the word
"louder", or by the poetical contraction of "sympathy" into "symp'thy".
The third line of the fourth stanza possesses only four feet. This may
be an intentional shortening to give rhetorical effect, yet it mars none
the less the symmetry of the verse.
"The Spiritual Significance of the Stars", by Leo Fritter, is the
leading feature of the issue. The inspiring influence of astronomical
study on the cultivated intellect is here shown to best advantage. Mr.
Fritter traces the slow unfolding of celestial knowledge to the world,
and points out the divinity of that mental power which enables man to
discern the vastness of the universe, and to comprehend the complex
principles by which it is governed. In the laws of the heavens he finds
the prototype of all human laws, and the one perfect model for human
institutions. Mr. Fritter's essay is eminently worthy of a place among
the classics of amateur journalism.
"A Morn in June", by Harriet E. Daily, is a short and dainty poem of
excellent quality, though marred by a reprehensible attempt to rhyme
"grass" with "task". As we mentioned in connection with another amateur
poem, a final consonant on one of two otherwise rhyming syllables
utterly destroys the rhyme. "We Are Builders All", by Elizabeth M.
Ballou, is a graceful allegory based on the temple of Solomon. Edna
Mitchell Haughton's character sketch, "The Family Doctor", is just and
well drawn.
"A Dog for Comfort", by Edna von der Heide, is a meritorious poem of
gloomy impressiveness. We cannot quite account for the defective second
line of the fourth stanza, since Miss von der Heide is so able a
poetess. Perhaps it is intentional, but we wish the line were of normal
decasyllabic length. "My Grandmother's Garden", by Ida Cochran Haughton,
is a truly delightful bit of reminiscent description which deserves more
than one reading. "A Little Girl's Three Wishes", by Mrs. R. M. Moody,
is entertaining in quality and correct in metre. It is a relief to
behold amidst the formless cacophony of modern poetry such a regular,
old-fashioned specimen of the octosyllabic couplet. "Two Little
Waterwheels", by Dora M. Hepner, is an exquisite idyllic sketch. In the
second paragraph we read of a channel "damned" up by a projecting root
of a tree; which somewhat surprises us, since we did not know that
tree-roots are accustomed to use profane language. Perhaps the author
intended to write "dammed".
The editorials are brief. In one of them it is stated that the paper is
submitted without fear to the critics AND Eddie Cole. In view of Mr.
Cole's scholarly and conscientious critical work, we hope that no
reflection upon him is there intended.
H. P. LOVECRAFT,
Chairman, Department of Public Criticism.
MARCH
Let other bards with nobler talents sing
The beauties of the mild, maturer spring.
My rustic Muse on bleaker times must dwell,
When Earth, but new-escap'd from winter's spell,
Uncloth'd, unshelter'd, unadorn'd, is seen;
Stript of white robes, nor yet array'd in green.
Hard blows the breeze, but with a warmer force.
The melting ground, the brimming watercourse,
The wak'ning air, the birds' returning flight,
The longer sunshine, and the shorter night,
Arcturus' beams, and Corvus' glitt'ring rays,
Diffuse a promise of the genial days.
Yon muddy remnant of the winter snow
Shrinks humbly in the equinoctial glow,
Whilst in the fields precocious grass-blades peep
Above the earth so lately wrapt in sleep.
What sweet, elusive odor fills the soil,
To rouse the farmer to his yearly toil!
Though thick the clouds, and bare the maple bough,
With what gay song he guides the cumbrous plough!
In him there stirs, like sap within the tree,
The joyous call to new activity:
The outward scene, however dull and drear,
Takes on a splendor from the inward cheer.
Prophetic month! Would that I might rehearse
Thy hidden beauties in sublimer verse:
Thy glorious youth, thy vigor all unspent,
Thy stirring winds, of spring and winter blent.
Summer brings blessings of enervate kind;
Thy joys, O March, are ecstasies of mind.
In June we revel in the bees' soft hum,
But March exalts us with the bliss to come.
--H. P. LOVECRAFT.
THE UNITED AMATEUR
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE UNITED AMATEUR PRESS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
VOLUME XIV GEORGETOWN, ILL., MAY, 1915. NUMBER 5
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC CRITICISM
THE BLARNEY STONE for January-February is replete with good literature,
amidst which may particularly be mentioned Arthur Goodenough's
harmonious poem, "God Made Us All of Clay". The theme is not new, but
appears advantageously under Mr. Goodenough's delicate treatment.
M. W. Hart's short story, "The Redemption", is intended to portray a
righteous transformation from conventional false morality to true
Christian life, but in reality presents a very repulsive picture of
bestial atavism. The meaner character was not "reformed by mercy", but
merely withheld from wholesale vice by isolation. Mr. Hart is so plainly
in earnest when he relates this dismal tale as a sermon, that we must
not be too harsh in questioning his taste or condemning his free
standards of civilized morality; yet we doubt seriously if stories or
essays of this type should appear in the press, and especially in the
amateur press. Two or three technical points demand attention. The word
"diversified" on page 2 might better be "diverse", while "environment"
on page 4, could well be replaced by "condition" or "state". On page 5
occurs the sentence "All intelligence ... were ... instinct". Obviously
the verb should be in the singular number to correspond with its
subject. Mr. Hart is developing a prose style of commendable dignity,
unusually free from the jarring touch of modern frivolity.
H. B. Scott is proving himself a finished scholar and a thoughtful
editor in his conduct of The Blarney Stone; his able essay on
"Personality" is eminently worthy of more than one perusal.
THE BOYS' HERALD for May presents us with a highly interesting account
of Robert Louis Stevenson's career as an amateur journalist, together
with a facsimile reproduction of the cover of "The Sunbeam Magazine",
Stevenson's hand-written periodical. The column of reminiscences,
containing letters from various old-time amateurs, is extremely
inspiring to the younger members, showing how persistently the amateur
spirit adheres to all who have truly acquired it. "Nita at the Passing
Show" is a witty and entertaining parody by Mr. Smith, illustrating the
theatrical hobby of Miss Gerner; one of the latest United recruits. The
Boys' Herald discharges a peculiar and important function in the life of
the associations, connecting the present with the past, and furnishing
us with just standards for comparison.
DOWDELL'S BEARCAT for December opens with a Christmas poem of great
beauty and harmonious construction from the pen of Dora M. Hepner. The
thoughts and images are without exception lofty and well selected, and
the only possible defect is the attempt to rhyme "come" with "run" in
the last stanza. Edward H. Cole's review of a recent booklet in memory
of Miss Susan Brown Robbins, a former amateur, is more than a criticism.
It is a rare appreciation of the bonds of mutual esteem and respect
which grow up amongst the congenial members of the press associations.
Mr. Cole is peculiarly well fitted to deal with his subject, and no
praise is needed beyond the statement that the review is characteristic
of him.
DOWDELL'S BEARCAT for January marks the metamorphosis of that periodical
into a newspaper. With youthful ambition, Mr. Dowdell is resolved to
furnish the United with the latest items of interest concerning
amateurs. While the general style of the paper is fluent and pleasing,
we believe that "Bruno" might gain much force of expression through the
exercise of a little more care and dignity in his prose. For instance,
many colloquial contractions like "don't", "won't", or "can't" might be
eliminated, while such slang phrases as "neck of the woods", "make
good", "somewhat off", or "bunch of yellow-backs" were better omitted.
DOWDELL'S BEARCAT for March is notable for an increase in size. "A Visit
to Niagara Falls", by Andrew R. Koller, is an intelligent and animated
piece of description, which promises well for the development of its
author. What looseness of construction exists may be charged to youth.
"An Ambition and a Vision", by Nettie A. Hartman, is a neat and
grammatically written little sketch, probably autobiographical,
describing the evolution of an amateur. Greater cultivation of
rhetorical taste would improve Miss Hartman's style, and we are certain
that it possesses a fundamental merit which will make improvement an
easy matter. With the usual regret we observe an instance of "simple
spelling", which Mr. Dowdell, who does not fall into this vice himself,
has evidently overlooked in editing. The news items this month are
timely and vivacious, exhibiting "Bruno" at his best.
THE LAKE BREEZE for March inaugurates a very welcome revival of the
United's foremost news sheet, now to be issued monthly. Mr. Daas is so
active an amateur, and so closely connected with the development of the
association, that his ably edited journal has almost the authority of an
official organ.
The editorial entitled "Ashes and Roses" is a powerful and convincing
reply to a rather weak attack lately made on the United by a member of a
less active association. Mr. Daas uses both sense and sarcasm to great
advantage, leaving but little ground for his opponent to occupy.
"The Amateur Press" is a well conducted column of contributed reviews,
among which Mrs. A. M. Adams' eulogy of Mrs. Griffith's essay in Outward
Bound is perhaps the best. "What is Amateur Journalism?", by "El
Imparcial", is a sketch of the various types of amateurs, with a
suggestion of the ideal type. While free from glaring defects, the essay
gives no really new information, and brings out no strikingly original
ideas. "Some Objections to Moving Pictures", by Edmund L. Shehan,
presents a strong array of evidence against one of the most popular and
instructive amusements of today. We do not believe, however, that the
objections here offered are vital. The moving picture has infinite
possibilities for literary and artistic good when rightly presented, and
having achieved a permanent place, seems destined eventually to convey
the liberal arts to multitudes hitherto denied their enjoyment. Mr.
Shehan's prose style is clear and forceful, capable of highly
advantageous development.
LITERARY BUDS for April is the first number of a paper issued by the new
Athenaeum Club of Journalism, Harvey, Ill. Though the text of most of
the contributions has suffered somewhat through a slight misapprehension
concerning the editing, the issue is nevertheless pleasing and
creditable.
"A la Rudyard", a poem by George A. Bradley, heads the contents. While
hampered by some of the heaviness natural to authors of school age, Mr.
Bradley has managed to put into his lines a laudable enthusiasm and
genuine warmth. The editorial column is well conducted, the second item
being especially graphic, though the "superdreadnought" metaphor seems
rather forced. Clara Inglis Stalker, the enthusiastic and capable
educator through whose efforts the club was formed, gives a brief
account of her organization, under the title "The History of an
Eight-Week-Old", and in a prose style of uniformly flowing and
attractive quality. "A Love Song", Miss Stalker's other contribution, is
a poem of delicate imagery and unusual metre. "Our Paring Knife", by
Gertrude Van Lanningham, is a short sketch with an aphorism at the end.
Though this type of moral lesson is a little trite, Miss Van Lanningham
shows no mean appreciation of literary form, and will, when she has
emerged from the "bud" stage, undoubtedly blossom into a graphic and
sympathetic writer. "Co-Education", by Caryl W. Dempsey, is an
interesting but only partially convincing article on a topic of
considerable importance. The author, being enthusiastically in favor of
the practice, enumerates its many benefits; yet the arguments are
decidedly biased. While the advantage of co-education to young ladies
is made quite obvious, it remains far from clear that young men receive
equal benefit. A desirable decline of cliques and hazing might, it is
true, result from the admission of women to men's universities, but the
young men would undoubtedly lose much in earnest, concentrated energy
and dignified virility through the presence of the fair. The experiment,
radical at best, has failed more than once. The style of this essay is
slightly wanting in ease and continuity, yet possesses the elements of
force. "The Traitor", by Agnes E. Fairfield, is a short story of
artistic development but questionable sentiment. The present fad of
peace-preaching should not be allowed to influence a writer of sense
into glorifying a socialistic, unpatriotic fanatic who refuses to uphold
the institutions that his fathers before him created with their toil,
blood, and sacrifice. It is not the right of the individual to judge of
the necessity of a war; no layman can form an intelligent idea of the
dangers that may beset his fatherland. The man is but a part of the
state, and must uphold it at any cost. We are inclined to wonder at Miss
Fairfield's mention of a king, when the name Phillipe La Roque so
clearly proclaims the hero a Frenchman. France, be it known, has been a
republic for some little time. "Penny in the Slot", by Vaughn Flannery,
possesses a humor that is pleasing and apparently quite spontaneous. We
should like to behold more of Mr. Flannery's efforts in this field.
Viewed in its entirety, allowance being made for its present essentially
juvenile nature, Literary Buds may be regarded as a pronounced success.
That it will mature in consonance with the club which it represents is
certain, and each future issue can be relied upon to surpass its
predecessor.
OLE MISS' for March, edited by Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Renshaw, easily falls
into the very front rank of the season's amateur journals. In this
number Mr. Joseph W. Renshaw makes his initial appearance before the
members of the United, producing a very favorable impression with his
pure, attractive prose. The introduction, credited in another column to
Mr. Renshaw, is of graceful and pleasing character, recalling the
elusively beautiful atmosphere of the Old South which is too soon
passing away.
"The Humble Swallow", an anonymous essay, praises with singularly
delicate art a feathered creature whose charms lie not on the surface.
The concluding paragraph, condemning the wanton slaughter of this winged
friend to mankind, is especially apt at a time of hysterical peace
agitation. While the well meaning advocates of peace call wildly upon
men to abandon just warfare against destructive and malignant enemies,
they generally pass over without thought or reproof the wholesale murder
of these innocent little birds, who never did nor intended harm to
anyone. "A Higher Recruiting Standard", by Mrs. Renshaw, is an able
exposition of the newer and loftier type of ideals prevailing in the
United. Our association has never lacked numbers, but would undoubtedly
be the better for an increased standard of scholarship such as is here
demanded. Mrs. Renshaw's work as a recruiter is in keeping with her
policy, and this, together with Mr. Moe's work amongst the English
teachers, seems destined to raise the United far above its lesser
contemporaries. "An A. J. Suggestion", by Mr. Renshaw, deals ingeniously
and logically with the always difficult problem of selecting a printer.
Though evidently written quite independently, it ably seconds Paul J.
Campbell's original suggestion in the UNITED AMATEUR. The advantages of
having one printer for all amateur work are many, and the well presented
opinions of Mr. Renshaw should aid much in securing this desirable
innovation.
The poetry in Ole Miss' is all by Mrs. Renshaw, and therefore of first
quality. "Some One I Know" is a lightly amatory piece of tuneful rhythm.
"Night of Rain" gives a peculiarly pleasing aspect to a type of scene
not usually celebrated in verse. The only jarring note is the rather
mundane metaphor which compares the trees to a "beautiful mop". Though
Mrs. Renshaw holds unusual ideas regarding the use of art in poetry, we
contend that this instance of rhetorical frigidity is scarcely
permissible. It is too much like Sir Richard Blackmore's description of
Mount Aetna, wherein he compares a volcanic eruption to a fit of colic;
or old Ben Johnson's battle scene in the fifth act of "Catiline", where
he represents the sun perspiring. "Man of the Everyday" is a noble
panegyric on the solid, constructive virtues of the ordinary citizen,
portraying very graphically the need of his presence in a world that
heeds him but little.
Considered in all its aspects, Ole Miss' is a notable contribution to
amateur literature, and one which we hope to see oft repeated.
THE PASSING SHOW for February is the "second annual production" of an
excellent though informal little paper by Nita Edna Gerner, a new member
of the United, and the daughter of an old-time amateur. Miss Gerner is
an enthusiast on all matters pertaining to the theatre, and has
impressed her hobby very strongly on the pages of her publication.
The dominant theme of the current issue is that of amateur romance,
exhibiting the press associations in the role of matrimonial agencies.
"The Twos-ers", by Edwin Hadley Smith, is a long list of couples who
became wedded through acquaintanceships formed in amateur journalism.
This catalogue, recording 26 marriages and engagements from the
earliest ages to the present, must have cost its author much time and
research. "A Romance of Amateur Journalism", by Edward F. Daas, is a
very brief statement of facts in unornamented style. "An 'Interstate'
Romance", by Leston M. Ayres, is more elaborate in treatment, and
displays an easy, colloquial style.
The editorial column, headed "Through the Opera-Glasses", is bright and
informal. We note with regret that Miss Gerner has seen fit to adopt the
popular mutilated orthography of the day, a fad which we trust she will
discard in time.