CARRY ON THE O. HENRY TRADITION

Memorials as a rule are the futile attempts of friends to perpetuate the fame of one, who has been endeared to them; futile because of the quick change of human conditions and the rapid forgetfulness of man. As has often been said, a man's best monument is the work that he has accomplished, and undoubtedly this is true of the great master of the American short-story, O. Henry. Those who knew him personally, and many who knew him through his writing alone, have done well, nevertheless, in establishing an Annual Memorial Award, as an inspiration for workers in the field of the short story, for by a definite form of recognition, O. Henry's chosen art is given a genuine standard of merit.

In 192a selection, considered by the committee in charge as representing to the greatest degree, the American short-story at its best, was published; while the tale considered worthy of the highest and second highest ranking were, at the same time rewarded by individual prizes. The first volume was enough of a success to justify the publication of a second, which has just appeared.

The difficulty of judging the comparative merits of short stories is greater than in many other forms of literary effort, inasmuch as the decision is more than likely to rest, not on the method of handling the material, but upon the subject matter itself. A short story is a flash, a glance--nothing more; picturing a bit of life, a short series of incidents, of the effect of events upon the participants. Considering this, the committee has in its general selection been extremely happy. No one field of human endeavor has the more ponderous, more "literary" type prevailed entirely. One thought alone seems to have guided the choices; the interesting and accurate presentation of life. Young men's carefree interoperations of existence, old men's reminiscences, athletic narratives, tales of animal life have all been included.

The final choice is as wise, as it must have been, difficult. "Each in His Generation", by Maxwell Stretchers Burt, published first in Scribbler's Magazine, is undoubtedly and understanding depiction of real people, one that grasps the attention of the reader in sprite of himself. "Contact" by Frances Noyes Hart less certainly deserves its high rating, but, at the same time, the motive that actuated its selection, is clear. It is a story of the spiritualistic outgrowth of the war, highly imaginative, but more than slightly difficult to understand.

Of the other stories among those that deserve the greatest commendation are C. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Camel's Back", Alice Duer Miller's "Slow Poison", L. H. Robbins "Professor Todd's used Car", and "Alma Mater" by O. F. Lewis. The last, as might be supposed from the title, is a college story, a narrative abreast of the progress in American university matters.