The Advocate

The current number of the Advocate is by far the best that has been issued this year. It contains fewer pieces than the typical number; but its stores, poems and editorials are all good. The leading contributions, long, carefully arranged and artistically written stories, are a happy exchange for the usual expanded daily themes. "Counterfeiting," by A. H. Gilbert '01, is an ingenuous and amusing little sketch of a somewhat conventional sort. The Hon. Jack Castleton, a shy, weak youth of the "gilded set" and the educated valet are familiar figures; but the writer puts them through their parts with skill and humor. A throughly studied final situation gives the sketch the needed balance.

Very different from "Counterfeiting," is J. A. Graydon's delightful Irish dialect story, "In the Study." Throughout this yarn there is a great deal of characterization, and in the homely, wholesome sayings of Terry, an Irish peasant, there is much "horse sense." The theme of the story is, of course, love; but there is nothing commonplace in the way in which this very conventional subject is treated. The phrasing used is slightly precocious, but this--if anything--adds to the charm of the story. In style, "In the Study" is the equal of any story which has appeared in the Advocate this year. "Seven Hours," by M. Seasongood '00, is not a very clever tale. Its plot is weak, and the dialect which is sprinkled through it is hardly successful. In "The Hangers -On," by L. D. Humphrey, is seen that much over worked form of the short story,--the expanded daily theme.

Of the poetry, there is little to say, and that in praise. "The Old Song," and "The Plaidie," both by Charles Sibley Gage '67, have that indefinable power which characterizes the verses of Robert Burns. They are bits of sweet melody, whose strength lies in their simplicity. The editorials are timely; the book notices are mediocre.