RANSACKING round in an old artist’s studio in Brompton Road, London, some few months ago, a Canadian antiquarian, Mr. J. M. Simpson, of Toronto, collected a mass of curios, which he purchased and brought out to Canada. Among the odds and ends was an old copper plate, black with age.By S. A. Warner27 min
MR. RICH dismissed the fluffy-haired stenographer with a curt, “That’s all.” and a wave of a pudgy hand. When the door of the inner office swung to behind her, Mr. Rich settled back in his chair with a deep chuckle of satisfaction, not a ripple of which showed on his stern, aristocratic face.By Archie P. McKishnie25 min
AMONGST the smaller European States there is none of such importance as Roumania, geographically, ethnically, economically, and because the kingdom of King Charles represents the one stable element in the unrest of Southeastern Europe from Budapest to Constantinople, Roumania is the decisive factor in the Near Eastern question, not only because the Roumanians have steadily fitted themselves to fulfil that role, but because they are in a national position to draw the full benefit from their geographical situation.By Alfred Stead in Fortnightly Review12 min
THERE are few Caliphesses. Women are Scheherezades by birth, predilection, instinct, and arrangement of the yocal chords. The thousand and one stories are being told every day by hundreds of thousands of viziers’ daughters to their respective sultans.By O. Henry in American Magazine12 min
Fwe wish to understand the real causes of the crisis which disturbed the economic life of America during the last few months, we must look beyond financial difficulties to the struggle between the trusts and the people. It was this struggle which destroyed the confidence of the people in the stability of the economic order and of those industrial and financial institutions which are supposed to support it.By Arthur Beaves in the International12 min
FROM stranded actor to member of the Imperial House of Commons, from an amateur ’longshoreman to Parliamentary Secretary of a British Cabinet Minister, from a cattle drover to a Barrister-at-Law of Gray’s Inn—all within the period of thirteen years—reads more like the stirring romance of a twentieth century novelist than a stern recital of fact.By G. B. VanBlaricom11 min
OF all our extravagances, and we Americans are a notably extravagant people, fire is the greatest, the most foolish, the most useless and shameful. And it has become a national habit. The story of fire is told in colossal figures. Carelessness and ignorance are the causes of incalculable wastage through this element.By F. W. Fitzpatrick in McClure’s Magazine10 min
IT is luxurious idleness alone which appeals to the American woman. In literature and life this is the clue to her actions. It is an eternal law—at least it has been a law since the beginning of created things —that an organ, an animal or a species cannot exist independently of its function.
EVERY history has its obscure beginnings, and that of the new civic spirit in Grand Rapids is no exception. Four years ago there was some public spirit in the people of the city, but it was blind and uninformed. And being blind and uninformed, it believed that all that ailed the city was politics.By John Ihlder in World To-Day10 min
THE BOX Office is the barometer of public opinion, the machine that records the vox populi, which is far nearer the vox Dei than the voice of the expert witness. Before discoursing of the Box Office in its widest sense, let us consider for a moment the case of the actor.By Judge Parry in Cornhill10 min
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