The last number of the Advocate is interesting and refreshing; the question as to why the standard of the paper is not more uniformly up to that of the present number, naturally suggests itself to the reader of this issue. The stories are varied in character, not all being narrowed down to College life, as is so often the case, nor venturing out too far into an unfamiliar world. Most of them are drawn more or less from the experience of the writers and are, therefore, strong in their vividness and sincerity. "Salem Skinner, Sportsman," is perhaps the most entertaining" story in the number. The writer has not allowed humor to run riot and has tempered his ridiculous situation with a very appropriate touch of the sentimental side of boy human nature. "From the Front Platform" suffers somewhat from unnecessary length, but the story, which the old horse-car driver tells, is dramatic and abounds in well-drawn pictures. "Coward" is a railroad story with an exciting situation but the writer fails to make it very clear why the "coward" deserves to be called by that name. "A Reason for Secrecy" is a vague in its ending but it is a good bit of description. "Adelaide Maurice, 'Cure'," and "A Class Game" are two humorous stories, the former too impossible to be effective, the latter a very amusing story of a college practical joke.

The verse is varying in its quality. "Self-Pity" by F. C. Gulick is an introspective sonnet which loses much by the obscurity of its symbolism and a bit of awkward phrasing. In "To a Stuffed Owl" and in "The Interval," W. Bynner has shown his versatility. "What the Sea Shell Told" is a pleasing bit of rhyme, but has no claim to originality of thought or treatment.

The number contains an excellent editorial on "Journalism" that sums up the present state of the "profession" with clearness and force and suggests a possible way for its betterment and for the training of newspaper men, that might relate closely to Harvard.