EDITOR'S CORNER. 



SHALL WE INCREASE THE SIZE OF 

 RECREATION ? 



A year or more ago I made an appeal to 

 my subscribers to send me in one new sub- 

 scription each, and pledged myself, in re- 

 turn to enlarge and otherwise improve 

 Recreation. While the subscribers did 

 not all respond, many of them did. In 

 fact a number of them did much more than 

 I asked and sent in 5, 10, or 20 new sub- 

 scriptions each. I kept my promise, and 

 since that time have added 32 pages to 

 Recreation. I have greatly improved it 

 in the matter of illustrations and in other 

 ways. 



Now I repeat the request. I have on my 

 books 35,000 regular subscribers, besides 

 the trade of newsdealers. If only these 35,- 

 000 subscribers would each induce a friend 

 to subscribe* it would increase my income 

 $35,000 a year. This would enable me to 

 add at least 16 pages more to Recreation, 

 which I am anxious to do. These 16 pages 

 would add about $250 a month to my prin- 

 ter's bill, besides increasing the postage 

 materially, and I cannot afford to incur 

 this additional expense without a substan- 

 tial increase in circulation. 



I should also have 20 pages more of 

 advertising. As I have before remarked, 

 there are at least a dozen gun makers, 

 powder factories, and fishing tackle 

 makers, who are advertising in all, or 

 nearly all, the other sportsmen's periodi- 

 cals, and who have not yet been in Recre- 

 ation. My readers could greatly aid me 

 in inducing these people to advertise in 

 this magazine by writing them and telling 

 them of its large circulation; its great 

 influence among sportsmen; and the val- 

 uable work it is doing in behalf of game 

 protection and in fostering a love of out- 

 door sports. Will you not all do this? 



My friends who buy Recreation of 

 newsdealers can aid me in this work just as 

 well as those who subscribe for it. You can 

 induce your friends to buy it as you do, 

 or to subscribe direct. You can also ad- 

 vise these doubting Thomases to advertise 

 in it. Will you not do so? 



Let us see how many new subscribers the 

 readers of Recreation can secure within 

 the next 3 months. 



More evidence is being presented in ev- 

 ery encounter with the Spanish troops or 

 ships as to the marvellous skill of Ameri- 

 can gunners. The press of this country is 

 wont to laud our great commanders, and 

 Recreation has no desire to detract in 

 any way from their glory, but the honor is 

 not all theirs It is 



" The gray eyed devils 

 Who stand behind the gleaming tubes of steel " 



that work such terrible destruction on the 

 Spanish ships and on Spanish troops. 



The Spanish, in common with all Latin 

 nations, have black eyes. Many Americans 

 also have black eyes, but, as a rule these 

 are not the men who sink ships and pick 

 off Spanish soldiers at long range. If you 

 will consult the histories of all the long 

 range rifle teams in the world, and examine 

 all the naval gunners, and all the men in 

 the regular army who wear badges as sharp 

 shooters, or as honorable marksmen, you 

 will find that 9 out of 10 of these have either 

 gray or blue eyes. The black eyed man 

 may shoot all right up to say 200 yards; 

 but the men who do the terrible destruction 

 to ships at 1,000 vards, or one mile, or 2 

 miles, or 3 miles, have gray or blue eyes. 



Captain Dunn, of the" Coney Island Po- 

 lice, has issued an order to the effect that 

 women shall not be allowed on the streets 

 in bicycle attire unless riding or accom- 

 panying their wheels. Truly, this is an ex- 

 ample of straining at a gnat and swallowing 

 a camel. A woman walking in a bicycle 

 costume does not show so much of her legs 

 as when riding a wheel; but the Captain 

 seems to think it makes no difference how 

 much of these members she shows when 

 on the wheel. He evidently reasons that 

 the wheel takes the curse off from any such 

 exhibition, and that it is immodest to show 

 even her ankles when walking. 



This is a serious blow at the Rainy Day 

 Club, and at thousands of modest and sen- 

 sible women who choose to wear short 

 skirts on the street, in bad weather, rather 

 than wipe up the mud with long skirts. 

 Captain Dunn must be a relic of the Puri- 

 tan days, and should be assigned to duty 

 at Plymouth Rock or Cape Cod. 



An alleged sportsmen's journal published 

 in lower Broadway, roasts the '98 Year 

 Book of the American Canoe Association. 

 This is because the aforesaid journal is not 

 the official organ of the A. C.. A. and be- 

 cause it did not get the contract to publish 

 the Year Book. 



I understand " Teddy " is already engaged 

 in writing his great book entitled, " How 

 I Licked Spain." 



. " Bird Neighbors " is one of the best 

 books on Ornithology published since the, 

 days of Audubon. $2 gets a copy of that 

 book and a yearly subscription to Recrea- 

 tion. How can anybody afford to be with- 

 out that book, when it can be had at l /z 

 the publisher's price? 



231 



