The central attraction in the April number of the Monthly, out today, is a carefully written and thoughtful analysis of the "Dramas of Herman Sudermann," by Gaillard T. Lapsley. After critically reviewing the principal plays of that author, the writer characterizes Suderman as powerful, though ineffective through diffusion. The coarseness and obsceneness so evident in the plays are excused on the ground that Sudermann, like all Germans, was not so sensitive to this sort of thing as are the English speaking people.

The first two chapters of a story by Arthur Stanwood Pier, entitled "A Considerate Fraud," although well written, are inclined to bore the reader with needless details. The introductory chapters, however, promise an interesting sequel.

"A Strange Story," by D. Winter, seems to have been rightly named, for it is unreal in the extreme. The author, after leading his readers through a mass of unreality to a tragic climax, leaves off abruptly, offering no clue of any kind to the mystery. The stroy is ineffective largely on this account.

The entire contents of the April number are as follows:-

The Dramas of Hermann Sudermann.

Gaillard T. Lapsley.

August. P. H. Savage.

A Considerate Fraud. Arthur S. Pier.

Lethe Waters. Beulah Marie Dix.

A Strange Story. D. Winter.

Editorial.

Book Notices.