The First Advocate,

The first number of the Advocate for the present year is of unusually even quality, with no one article that is especially noteworthy. Naturally enough, the editorials are somewhat longer than they generally are.

Of the stories, "Tom Morley, Waiter," by Arthur Holden Gilbert, is written in an offhand vein well suited to the subject. The point might have been reached as well in fewer words. Though the plot of "A Spool of Thread" by Forbes Watson, seems a bit trivial, the story is well told, with good detail and imagination. The best part of "The Sea," by A. P. Wadsworth, is the straightforward style in which it is told. A clean setting is made in the fewest possible words and the story is free from interruptions.

Of the three selections of verse the best from a literary point of view is a sonnet entitled "Poetry," by Lauriston Ward. It is unconventional, has much freedom of movement and expresses the thought admirably. In a very different vein is "The Ballad of the Overconfident Pollywog," by F. R. DuBois. This "fable for Freshmen" is full of life, amusing, and all the better for being quite different from the usual run of Advocate verse. "Sunset in Penobscot Bay" by W. B. W. shows appreciation of nature and is written in a metre well adapted to the subject. The number closes with several long book-reviews.