The editorials in the sixth number of the Advocate - which came out Saturday - are above the average of Advocate editorials and deal with such pertinent subjects as anonymous contributions, the college conference on Athletics, the Western Club, and the forensic work. The latter topic is dwelt upon at some length and the defects of the present system are clearly pointed out. The Advocate suggests as remedies for the difficulty - the low standard of morality in the course, - a reduction of the yearly number of forensics and "the establishment of a professorship in farensics of sufficient dignity and emolument to secure the services of a man of experience in argument and in argumentative composition."
One of the most delightful character sketches which has appeared in the Advocate for some time is "The Awakening of Benjamin Franklin" ("last name, Jones," as the author himself parenthetically states). It is a little darkey of thirteen years, for whom heroine-worship does wonders, that the author describes and the touches of local color are carefully laid on. It is distinctly the best piece of prose in the issue.
"A Spiteful Story" is the longest article of the number and is a well-written piece of fiction. The theme of the story is rather threadbare but the tale itself is certainly a carefully drawn picture of real life and its author has adopted an easy, colloquial style with much success.
"An Inartistic Hero," in a certain quaintness of conception and peculiarity of style, reminds us of its author's production in the last number of the Advocate, "Husband versus Poet." The idea of the tale is original and the effect is, on the whole, good, - although marred in places by incoherence of diction.
"Thoughts Suggested by Lowell's 'Cambridge Thirty Years Ago' " quotes some of Lowell's thoughts on old Cambridge and answers his complaint "that the picturesque old characters have disappeared" by asking if Old John, Billy the postman, Mrs. Belcher, and Mr. Foster are not filling the same niches of fame today that Lewis, and other beloved old worthies did in Lowell's days.
It is in College Kodaks, however, that Harvard men who aspire to be periodical post-prandial speakers will find perhaps the most interesting matter of the issue. For there are at least two distinctly good humorous stories or ancedotes - the fourth and the sixth Kodaks - and all of them are above of the average.
"Three Cooks at the Broth, or the Parson's Trousers" is a versified tale written in the metre of the ordinary dinner-poem. It deals with the trials and tribulations of one "Parson Wetley" and has a humorous climax.
The only other poetry of the number is a rondean, "In Harvard 5." The lines are characterized by much smoothness and elegance of diction, although Dobson's touch is lacking.
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