The Argosy, April 1916 — page 199: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE LOG-BOOK. 189 patient, and seeks to ascertain what has happened to him. What she finds is mystery dark and dreadful, the unreeling of which will keep the reader on the edge of his chair to the finish. Don’t forget, then, that “ From Dusk to Dark ” end in July. Manifestly, with two new serials beginning, Arcosy for very many short stories. begins in May and will there will not be room in the May But I mean to try to get in “ Movie Men For a Day,” by a new writer. This is a love story, well calculated to make my correspondent from the Philippines “ live once again in the PREFERENCES IN THE PHILIP- PINES You may remember that some months ago I inquired whether my readers did not prefer to read stories that dealt with the environment in which they themselves lived. It appears that they do. Here is a letter, of especial interest, bearing on this subject that has just :ome to hand, writ- ten in far-off Manila a few days before Christmas. 450 Santa Mesa, Manila, Philippine Islands. I have been taking (and reading) THE ARrcosy for about five years now, and so far am cntirely satisfied with it. One of my chief pleasures is the perusal of the Log-Book, and really ?: more than amuses me to zead the “kicks” of < -.: of the readers. They pose as judges of fiction, and they certainly do register some awful kicks as to this class of literature, that class of literature, and the other class of literature. Now, while I admit that I like some authors that write for your magazine better than others, yet I also use the sense that I am supposed to enjoy, and feel like giving the other fellow a chance to read and enjoy his favorite author, therefore I do not kick. THE Arcosy, as an organ of fiction, is one of the best I have ever seen. When I want action, I turn to THE ArGosy and get it; when I want phantasmagoria, I search the pages of THE Arcosy and get that, too; when I am just aching for something with an Oriental flavor—harems, date-palms, eunuchs, intrigues, and all that kind of thing, don’t you know, well, THe Arcosy is always handy. When I want to lose myself among the palm-fringed atols of those “ emerald isles set in a sapphire sea,’ my dear old friend THE Arcosy supplies my want most obligingly; when I am in a romantic vein and feel like hark- ing back to the days of my youth, and from the recesses of my mind conjure before my mental vision the days when the sun was always shining and all the birds sang love songs in the trees, the days when forty years of age seemed eons in the future, then Iseek my Arcosy, and in the glamour of one of the inimitable love stories that appear anon in its pages, live once again the golden days that were. Now, Sefior Editor, when it comes to my choice, I frankly state that my favorite stories are island tales, tropical island tales I mean, with their accompanying background of golden days, nights of silver enchantment, and the eternal ver- dure. And my reason for liking tales of these palm-fringed, incense-laden, sun-washed lands is because I have lived in tropical islands among all the sights that I have just described for thirty- one years out of the forty of my life. I was born in the West Indies, have visited golden days that were.” Borneo, Singapore, the Bermudas, Algeria, Egypt, India, China, Japan, and Korea; have campaigned in Cuba and the Philippine Islands, and am now living in the Philippines.. Small wonder, then, that I like tropical stories best. But while men- tioning my choice, I have nothing whatever against the stories that take one to the ultra- civilized centres of old Madre Tierra, not a word; the other chap likes them, and why should I criticise his taste? In my modest library of some 200-odd volumes “ Robinson Crusoe” and “The Thousand and One Nights” occupy honored places, and are the most well-thumbed of them all. Also, if you care to give my library a closer inspection, you will possibly not be at all surprised to see all of the John Solomon stories dignified by a Sunday coat of black with a dark-green gold-lettered back; also Zane Grey’s “ Desert Crucible,” and I also foretell a like fate for “The Brides of Sana.” As a reader I am omnivorous, reading every- thing with avidity—history, travel, poetry—and when I get surfeited with the heavy literature, what better can I do than shake hands with Crusoe once more, or wander again with Sinbad the Sailor, or perhaps, better still, turn to the everlasting charm in the tales of the good old ARGOSY ? Epwarp D. W. S. HELarre. IS STRONG FOR THE GOOD OLD U. S. A. Below you will find fresh proof of the fact that city folk like best city tales and dwellers in the open prefer to read about deserts, whether they be in the shape of islands or plains. Note that Mr. Royhe, of Paterson, enjoyed hugely “Why There Was a Murder on Pearl Street ” while having no use for a tale of Arabia that our friend in the Philippines has already decided to bind up separately for his library. Several of THE Arcosy stories have been filmed for the screen, one that I call to mind at the moment being “ His Stolen Fortune,” By George M. A. Cain. His “ From Dusk to Dark,” beginning next month, will make a dandy movie. Paterson, New Jersey. Must compliment you for starting off 10916 Arcosy with the complete novel by George Fox- hall, and hope you will keep up the standard throughout the year. leaders in THe Arcosy the last ten years, and often wonder why they are never converted for the screen. Some would be splendid feature- pictures. What do you think about it? Don’t give us readers any more tales such as “The Brides of Sana,” and others with unpro- MICLOOOKS Have read a good many . C@ in