THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



83 



THE FORUM. 



The November Forum is so full of good 

 things it is hard to decide which merits 

 the most notice. To those interested in 

 political questions the article by Hon. 

 John G. Carlisle, ex-Secretary of the 

 Treasury, on "Dangerous Defects of our 

 Electoral System," the first part of which 

 is given, will be appreciated. Under the 

 heading ''The Mississippi River Problem" 

 Robert Stewart Taylor upholds the levee 

 system as the one protection against de- 

 structive overflows from the river, while 

 Gustave Dyes is in favor of using dredges 

 to lower the river bed, in preference to 

 building levees. Edwin F. Atkins in 

 writing of "Our Proposed New Sugar In- 

 dustry" advances some practical ideas that 

 farmers would do well to heed. The sec- 

 ond part of Justin S. Merrill's article, 

 "Notable Letters from my Political 

 Friends" appears in this issue. As the 

 letters given were written from 1855-65, 

 at the time when slavery was the question 

 of vital importance, and by such noted 

 politicians as James G. Blaine, Charles 

 Sunnier, Horace GreeJey, J. Collamer and 

 others, they cannot fail to be of reminis- 

 cent interest. A fac simile of a short 

 letter from Thaddeus Stevens is given and 

 for illegibility his writing rivals that of 

 Horace Greeley. The titles of other ar- 

 ticles are England and the Famine in 

 India and Letters to Living Authors. 



SCRIBNER. 



The Christmas number is unusually at- 

 tractive, with a number of fine illustra- 

 tions, some in colors. The leading story 

 is entitled "A Christmas Loss" and is a 

 tale of Christmas day, fifteen hundred 

 years ago. "The Posing of Vivette," by 

 J. Russell Taylor, is a little bit beyond 

 ordinary readers. "The Martyrdom of 

 Fame," and "A Guilty Conscience" are 

 good short stories, and the article on "Sir 



Edward J. Poynter, P. II. A." by Cosmo 

 Monkhouse, with illustrations will interest 

 those connected with art. A youthful 

 portrait of Louis Stevenson is given, with 

 a poem by James Whitcomb Riley. 



MCCLURES. 



McClures for December gives us the 

 beginning of another Zenda story by An- 

 thony Hope, called "Rupert of Hentzau." 

 Rudyard Kipling contributes "The Tomb 

 of His Ancestors" in true Kipling vein. 

 W. T. Stead's "Hymns That Have 

 Helped," giving examples of hymns that 

 have spurred men on to deeds of heroism 

 and valor, is interesting reading. "In 

 Unexplored Asia" by R. H. Sherard, 

 is an account of the adventures of Dr. 

 Sven Hedin. "The Incident of the Brit- 

 ish Ambassador," by Bliss Perry, a story 

 by Robert Barr and a continuation of 

 "Chas. A. Dana's Reminiscences" make 

 up the remainder of the number. 



THE GENTLEMAN FARMER. 



We must give a word of praise to The 

 Gentleman Farmer for it certainly is de- 

 serving of it, being one of the neatest got- 

 ten up magazines. The leading article in 

 the November issue is by William Stowe 

 Devol, director Arizona Experiment sta- 

 tion; and is in regard to Canaigre. The 

 New Congressional Library has an ar- 

 ticle devoted to it and is carefully illus- 

 trated. The customary Thankgiving story 

 is contributed by Virginia Hunter, and 

 is called "Silas Blanchard's Thanksgiving." 



Space forbids mention of numerous other 

 periodicals. 



The reasoij why weeds grow faster than 

 the corn is explained by a wise old gar- 

 dener. The weeds are the natural chil- 

 dren of the soil, while the vegetables are 

 only step-children. 



